Fourteen months ago we were so insanely excited about the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix we made a movie about it. If you would’ve told us at the beginning of 2011 that we’d be seeing the conclusion of the tournament almost a year and a half after it’s inception with Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett in the finals I would say ‘I can see Barnett in the finals easily given his seeding, and Daniel Cormier? The guy who just beat Devin Cole?’.
Now here we are, with the fallen tournament members headed to the UFC in full force, clad in their SF HWGP jackets thrown over their shoulder and being held by a single finger, looking all cool. With this sudden injection of heavyweight goodness one could say May 26th, 2012 is shaping up to rival February 12th, 2011 as one of the heaviest (pun 100% intended) cards in North American history. Zuffa announced yesterday that Frank Mir will be battling Cain Velasquez for the right to face the winner of that night’s main event: JDS and Reem. Then, to sweeten the pot they threw in Roy Nelson Vs. Bigfoot Silva, which is sure to entertain (it’s funny how Roy goes to wanting to drop to 205 to fighting one of the biggest guys in the division). Still, there’s more. Shane Del Rosario makes his first return to MMA since Fedor/Silva after having his career threatened by a car accident, and the undefeated talent is taking on Gabriel Gonzaga to round out all of the heavyweight action. Check out the heavies on 146.
- Junior dos Santos Vs. Alistair Overeem
- Cain Velasquez Vs. Frank Mir
- Roy Nelson Vs. Antonio Silva
- Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Shane del Rosario
Now let’s look at the first Strikeforce HWGP card for no real reason whatsoever. I guess for the sake of comparing cards featuring heavyweights:
- Fedor Emelianenko Vs. Antonio Silva
- Andrei Arlovski Vs. Sergei Kharitonov
- Shane Del Rosario Vs. Lavar Johnson
- Valentine Overeem Vs. Ray Sefo
- Chad Griggs Vs Gianpero Villante
We need to face facts and get Mark Hunt Vs. Werdum on this card. It’s like what Jimmy Darmody says to Nucky Thompson at the beginning of Boardwalk Empire: ‘You can’t be half a gangster’.
[Source]
