June 20, 2011 – Last night’s Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event came at Dallas’ American Airlines Center came to conclusion with Heavyweight Grand Prix a little closer to finals stage as Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett join Antonio Silva and Sergei Kharitanov in the semi-finals after winning their bouts in the Texas leg of the quarterfinals.
In the main event of the evening, Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem took on Fabricio Werdum in a rematch of a match Werdum once won long ago against a much smaller “Demolition Man.” Citing a changed result as a credit to adding “forty-pounds of whoopass,” Overeem was able to take the fight against “Vai Cavalo” in a unanimous decision despite a spirited effort by the Brazilian. It wasn’t a dominant performance by any means with Werdum actually landing some shots but in the end, all the butt-flopping after Overeem landed strikes likely swayed the judges in the favor of the Dutchman, who will not take on Antonio “Big Foot” Silva in the semi-finals of the Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Also moving on semi-final action was Josh Barnett. The “Baby-faced Assassin” took on a severely overmatched Brett “The Grim” Rodger, wasting no time in taking down the hard-hitting Minnesotan early in the first round and tiring him out en route to a second round finish by arm-triangle. With the win, Barnett will now move on to face Russian kickboxer and sambo specialist Sergei Kharitanov with a birth in finals on the line opposite the winner of Overeem/Silva.
Also winning out on the night in a lightweight eliminator was Jorge Masvidal. The “Gamebred” former street-fighter showed complete disregard for most pundits’ prognostications that KJ Noons was supposed to be the better man standing, bloodying and bruising the former Houston resident with jabs, kicks, and everything else, beating him to the punch for the entirety of the three round affair. Masvidal took it to Noons, landing takedowns at will and battering “King Karl” en route to a dominant victory and a possible title shot against division kingpin Gilbert Melendez.
In other action, heavyweight wrestling Olympian Daniel Cormier extended his perfect record to 8-0 against fellow grappler Jeff Monson. Cormier chose to keep the fight on the feet and boxed his way to a unanimous victory in a bout that as anything but close. Cormier used his superior reach to land over six-times the amount of shots as his shorter opponent was able to do.
Another heavyweight bout opened the night as the final bout on the main card as Chad “The Grave Digger” Griggs took out Oldereem, or rather Valentijn Overeem, the older brother of the heabyweight champion. Griggs landed an early takedown and pounded on the fifty-fight veteran until the referee called a stop to the action via first-round GNP TKO.
Strikeforce: Dallas – Full Results
Main card (Showtime)
- Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal bout: Alistair Overeem def. Fabricio Werdum via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal bout: Josh Barnett def. Brett Rogers via Submission (arm triangle choke) – round 2.
- Lightweight bout: Jorge Masvidal def. K.J. Noons via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Heavyweight bout: Daniel Cormier def. Jeff Monson via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Heavyweight bout: Chad Griggs def. Valentijn Overeem via TKO (punches) – round 1.
Preliminary Card (HDNet)
- Welterweight bout: Todd Moore def. Mike Bronzoulis via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – untelevised due to time constraints
- Lightweight bout: Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante vs. Justin Wilcox – No Decision – Round 2 (due to an accidental eye poke)
- Lightweight bout: Conor Heun def. Magno Almeida via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Catchweight (180 lbs) bout: Nah-Shon Burrell def. Joe Ray via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Catchweight (175 lbs) bout: Isaac Vallie-Flagg def. Brian Melancon via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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