THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: juli316uk@yahoo.co.uk
Website: http://twoshedsreview.blogspot.com
Sponsored by Intimidation Clothing, makers of high quality, affordable MMA apparel and T-shirts. Visit their website at www.intimidationclothing.com.
As the UFC were crowning their latest Ultimate Fighter Strikeforce were giving us a re-match ten years in the making as Dan Henderson faced Renato “Babalu” Sobral, shown this past Monday on Bravo 2 here in Britain.
The show began with light heavyweight action as Benji Radach faced Ovince Saint Preux.
The second fight in two weeks for OSP saw him put on a dominating performance, his power advantage allowing him to take Radach’s back a number of times.
However, as the fight went on fatigue became a factor for both men, with Radach mounting something of a comeback as the fight came to an end.
No surprise with the decision, with all three scoring in favour of OSP.
The big boys of the heavyweight division followed as Antonio Silva went up against Mike Kyle.
This was an awesome fight. Despite giving up a ton of weight Pyle dropped Silva with a big right in the first round, controlling the rest of the period with some well place ground and pound.
Bigfoot came back strongly in the second round though, and his size came into play, sealing the TKO win with some great ground and pound after almost getting the win with an anaconda choke.
Then it was down to middleweight as Robbie Lawler took on Matt Lindland.
The proverbial blink and you’ll miss it affair. Both guys came out swinging, but it was Lawler who scored with the big shot, a right send Lindland crashing. The referee quickly stepped in when he realised that Lindland was out cold, giving Lawler the outstanding knockout win.
It was down to welterweight for the next fight as my fellow Brit Paul Daley went up against Scott Smith.
Semtex looked back to his best here, controlling the action with some great striking, knocking Smith down early on. Smith tried to fight back, but a left hook from Daley sent Smith down again, and this time he wasn’t getting up, giving Daley the impressive knockout win.
The main event saw Dan Henderson taking on Renato Sobral in the light heavyweight division.
The third explosive fight in a row began with the feeling out process before both men went to the ground. It was there that Henderson took control, posturing up as he went to work with the ground and pound, and just seconds later it was all over, the referee stepping in and giving Henderson the knockout win.
In conclusion – Strikeforce’s last show of the year gave us two hours of tremendous entertainment. Three knockouts in a row really sent the pulses racing.
So while this was a great show, how did it compare to the UFC’s effort, something it went head to head with in America? The fights here certainly delivered, and the explosive action throughout just edged this one for me.
However, UFC and Strikeforce weren’t the only people holding high profile MMA shows last weekend. Britain’s own Ultimate Challenge also gave us their latest offering, so this trilogy of reviews continues next time.
