Thoughts on Upcoming Strikeforce "Melendez vs Masvidal"

December 17th is the next Strikeforce event, the main card being the lightweight title fight between champion Gilbert Melendez and challenger Jorge Masvidal. Following that will be the women's featherweight championship fight Cyborg vs Yamanaka, with light heavyweights Mousasi vs St. Preux and lightweights KJ Noons vs Billy Evangelista afterwards.

According to Sherdog, the MMA site I go to occasionally, the main fight should be an exciting one as long as it stays a stand-up battle. From what I've seen, both Melendez and Masvidal are good strikers with very polished technique, which, from personal taste, I prefer watching over an all-out brawler. Sherdog predicts Melendez will win after Masvidal gets tired in the final rounds. With UFC keeping an eye on Melendez, I'm sure he's gonna work extra hard to outshine and KO his challenger. However, I'd like Masvidal to win based purely on the fact I like his face more I'm allowed to be shallow every once and a while.* 

But as you all should expect from me by now, the point of real interest to me, and the fight I know more background about, is the women's fight. Cyborg is gonna fight!!!! She hasn't had a challenger since June of last year, so the world of women's MMA is itching to see Cyborg in the ring again. Following the Melendez vs Masvidal fight is the featherweight championship battle between title holder Cris "Cyborg" Santos and her challenger Hiroko Yamanaka.

Cyborg is a fast and aggressive fighter without sacrificing too much technique. Thought not as technical a fighter as Gina Carano was, her strength lies in her ability to properly channel aggression and in her raw power that most women fighters cannot match. Not only is her stand-up striking game impressive (8 of her 10 wins have been from TKOs,) the woman is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and if you take her to the ground, she will make you pay.

Elaborating on properly channeled aggression, compare Cyborg to Zoila Frausto, who is a Bellator fighter. Frausto is aggressive and throws devastating power strikes; but Frausto's aggression appears uncontrolled and her technique is sloppy (WHY does she have a title belt, Bellator? WHY?) Cyborg has just as much, if not more, aggression than Frausto, but her strikes remain clean and, despite the brute force she delivers, she seems controlled, balanced, and alert.

Ranked #2 featherweight fighter in the world and standing at 5'11", Yamanaka has a height and reach advantage over Cyborg, which she will have to exploit in order to keep the champion out of striking range. Reviewing Yamanaka's fights, she is a very technical Muay Thai fighter who does indeed know how to use her height to her advantage. She will have to be able to take punishment from Cyborg, however, if she intends on winning.

Sherdog predicts Cyborg will TKO Yamanaka in the first round, but because we all know Dana White the UFC will be watching, I hope, for more than just entertainment's sake, they fight for longer. While it would be interesting to see an upset, and probably beneficial to give Cyborg a worthy opponent since Gina Carano's been so woefully absent, I can see Yamanaka being overwhelmed by Cyborg's aggression.

I might paper-view pay-per-view and watch the events on Showtime this weekend, but I'm not sure. If not I can always youtube the fights, because Strikeforce has never really seemed to mind having people put their fights on the internet.

I'll post my reactions when I get the chance to watch!



*(I also used to root for the Baltimore Ravens because I liked their jerseys more than anyone else's in the NFL, but now I do because they Ball So Hard. Fan's gotta start somewhere.)