Strikeforce/M1 Card Picks

Pat Healy v. Josh Thomson:

I really enjoy watching Josh 'The Punk' Thomson, and this appears to me as the most evenly matched on the card. Healy is rough and ready. The Punk will win, I think, but it should be a really good bout.

Cung Le v. Scott Smith:

I loved the last fight, which was a prime example of why MMA is so exciting. Smith appeared beaten throughout the first fight. Cung, who had just come back after making Pandorum (A suprisingly good SF movie, in some regards) gassed and the lack of conditioning led him to be careless of his safety, at which point Smith lent his 'Hands of Steel' moniker further weight with a knockout. I hope Smith does it again, but think Cung will own Smith.

Cristiane Santos v. Jan Finney:

Santos is going to mow Finney over. Then again, Finney is so overmatched she might just win if Cyborg gets careless. I feel women's MMA is not best served with this fight. They should have put Cyborg in with Toughill for a good match. The Strikeforce CEO claimed that fight would happen this year at tonight's weigh-in.

Fedor Emelianenko v. Fabricio Werdum:

Fedor to win. Werdum's only chance is a submission, but Fedor is no stranger to the ground game either... Might be a great fight. Much more likely to be short and brutal. That having been said, someone has to de-throne The Last Emperor.

Observations:

Strikeforce's CEO clearly claimed that the winner of Fedor/Werdum fight would be taking on Overeem for the Strikeforce Heavyweight belt. Fedor, after this fight, will have only two more fights on contract with Strikeforce.

Further, he said of Shields, "From a pure business perspective, it looks like we will have to plan a tournament for the middleweight championship." Looks like Shields will be gracing the Octagon soon. His departure will be a serious blow to the Strikeforce Middleweight division, which I think is their deepest weight class. Worse yet, it might cause other dominant fighters of his camp, like Gil Melendez, to leave as well.

An interesting statement was made by M-1's boss, who's name escapes me: He said that the only empediment to Fedor fighting a UFC champ was the fact that Dana White refuses to open the cage he's locked the UFC fighters into.