Strikeforce: Miami delivered an excellent night of fights to a packed house at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL Saturday night, and though the official numbers have yet to come in, we would estimate 7,500-10,000 fans filled the modified arena along with countless celebrities and top fighters including Georges ‘Rush’ St. Pierre, Thiago ‘Pitbull’ Alves, as well as New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan who was interviewed during an intermission and subsequently drowned in boos by the loyal Miami Dolphins fan base in attendance.

Highlights from the night include a surprise knockout of Melvin Manhoef by a crippled Robbie Lawler, a tough Marloes Coenen nearly going the distance with Cyborg, and the crowning of a new Strikeforce welterweight champion in Nick Diaz who was able to drop Marius Zaromskis in the final moments of the first round. Below you will find a recap of all the best action, including our take on what to expect next from each fighter:

Lashley Still Unproven As He Destroys Sims In Seconds

Bobby Lashley was not intimidated by the size, experience, or taunts of veteran Wes Sims as he began firing on all cylinders the moment the first bell rang. Sims attempted to keep Lashley at bay with his long jab and significant reach advantage, but Lashley’s speedy footwork allowed him to get inside quickly for his signature single leg take down, a staple move from his days as a wrestler. Once Sims was on his back it was all but over as Lashley immediately took full mount and turned Sims into a punching bag. The referee may have stopped the bout a bit too early as Sims was still able to defend himself from serious damage, but there was no question as to how this one was going to end.

Wes ‘A Whole Show’ Sims (22-13-1)
Though Sims has been very successful on the regional circuits lately, his national performances have been huge disappointments. Between his brief stint on the ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights’ and Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Miami appearance he looked simply awful. Granted Sims had less than a week to train for the bout with Lashley, but we hope to see a much better effort in his next scheduled appearance against former UFC heavyweight champion Tim ‘The Maine-iac’ Sylvia which is set for March 20 in Ohio.

Bobby Lashley (5-0-0)
Lashley remains unbeaten but also unproven as he steamrolled Sims to elevate his status as a potential heavyweight title contender. That might sound contradictory, but with talks of Alistair Overeem possibly leaving Strikeforce there is a thin, but quality, roster of heavyweights to choose from that may force Lashley to step up his competition. He has already begun talking about the possibility of fighting Fedor Emelianenko who is a heavy favorite to beat Fabricio Verdum this April, but we would prefer to see Lashley against a Brett Rogers or Mike Whitehead before standing in against a true elite.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNXX84P-oOI&feature=player_embedded

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Herschel Walker Successful Yet Not Impressive In MMA Debut

Though it received more hype than any other bout on the card, Herschel Walker vs Greg Nagy (pronounced ‘Nudge’) was hands-down the least entertaining fight of the night. Walker was clearly the aggressor and stronger fighter who forced Nagy into uncomfortable ground positions, took his back, and basically advanced his position at will. However Walker never showed the killer instinct needed to finish the fight despite having countless chances to do so, which may have been a result of his conditioning. The NFL Hall-of-Famer looked great on the scales, but lacked the gas to go the distance at even half speed it seemed. That being said, Walker completely dominated his opponent from start to finish with the end coming at 2:17 of the third round as Nagy was unable to defend himself against the umpteenth ground strike from Walker which forced the referee to step in and stop the contest.

Herschel Walker (1-0-0)
In speaking with Walker before the fight he said it would be up to his trainers at American Kickboxing Academy to decide whether or not he should continue fighting, and post-fight Walker’s position remained the same. Though his skills were not worthy of top billing on a major event, for a 47-year-old rookie Walker fared pretty damn well. We fully expect to see him inside the cage again, but against who is anyone’s guess.

Greg ‘Dangerous’ Nagy (1-2-0)
Greg Nagy was a complete unknown prior to this fight and though he may receive future recognition for being associated wwith Walker on this card, his performance at Strikeforce: Miami will certainly not have promoters blowing up his phone. Next up for Nagy is best answered with a question – do you know anyone looking to fight?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLU1F_W4lc8&feature=player_embedded

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Lawler Puts Manhoef On Ice With A Mean Right In Upset Victory

The underdog ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler lived up to his nickname after rallying from a series of brutal leg strikes from world class Dutch kickboxer Melvin Manhoef that crippled Lawler’s stance and forced him on the defensive for nearly the entire bout. From start to finish Manhoef stalked Lawler around the cage like an animal fixated on its prey, and after it looked almost certain that Lawler would become Manhoef’s next kill, he timed up a right hook that caught the Dutchman square on the jaw, shutting the lights off instantly. Before the referee could stop the action Lawler pounced to land an additional ground strike only be tackled by the referee to prevent any further damage to Manhoef’s brain.

Melvin ‘No Mercy’ Manhoef (24-7-1)
Losing this bout is a minor setback for Manhoef as he remains a tremendously talented fighter who simply made a fatal mistake. This loss should not drastically affect his status as a top middleweight, especially given that Lawler is a fierce opponent whom Manhoef dominated for the entire match until he slipped up and let his guard down. Look for Manhoef to face either Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller or Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza later on this spring.

‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler (19-5-1)
Lawler displayed championship character and tremendous heart in his knockout victory over Manhoef, proving that he remains a threat even when taking a serious. With Dan Henderson already set to face Jake Shields for the middleweight title in April, Lawler probably has the option to either sit back and wait to see how that plays out, or take a fight during the interim perhaps against Nick Diaz if he is willing to step up in weight while the newly crowned champ awaits the next challenger to be named at 170lbs.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOBfyv9-Vv0&feature=related

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Coenen Impressive Against Cyborg, But Fails To Take Her Title

Marloes Coenen said going into the fight that her plan was to stand and bang with Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos, and for two plus rounds she did exactly that – though with little success. Coenen is by trade a submission specialist, but she insisted on sticking to her game plan, believing that she possessed the power to stop Cyborg cold. Unfortunately for Coenen things did not go accordingly to plan as Cyborg got the better of nearly all standing exchanges, and by the third round Coenen was reduced to lying on her back, daring Cyborg to challenge her on the ground. The women’s champion would not take the bait, choosing instead to posture up above her downed opponent to rain strikes from a standing position. Once Coenen softened up, Cyborg advanced to mount and finished the fight via TKO officially at 3:40 of the third round.

Marloes ‘Rumina’ Coenen (17-4-0)
Prior to her bout with Cyborg we knew very little of Coenen who proved to be an extremely tough competitor, ‘the toughest ever’ to face Cyborg as the women’s champion said herself in the post-fight interview. Based on what we saw Saturday night Gina Carano (7-1-0) seems to be an excellent match for Coenen as both women possess similar styles and each has felt the sting of Cyborg’s Muay Thai. This seems to be an ideal matchup to determine which fighter deserves a rematch with the champion, and we hope to see this happen before summer.

Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos (10-1-0)
As it stands now the Strikeforce women’s roster is very thin and with Cyborg having run through the two top contenders it may be difficult to find a quality opponent for her next title defense. Strikefroce will likely need to look outside its current ranks to ink a suitable fighter to take on Cyborg, or position Carano vs Coenen as a setup to determine the next top contender for the women’s lightweight championship.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh5xHyqyBv8&feature=response_watch

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Diaz Survives Onslaught, Puts ‘Whitemare’ To Bed Early

This is how main events are supposed to go down – dramatic and hard hitting with both fighters pushing a furious pace in their quest for welterweight gold. Diaz struck first, using his long jab to frustrate Zaromskis’ attempts to get inside which he followed up with a series of mean combinations before clinching Zaromskis against the cage. Once cornered, Zaromskis proved resilient as he fired back with a huge right hand that immediately dropped Diaz which changed the momentum in ‘The Whitemare’s favor. Diaz jumped right up from the mat but Zaromskis seized the opportunity to get inside on his weakened opponent, though he may have been too aggressive in doing so. Zaromskis kept his head down while charging Diaz who countered beautifully with Thai knees followed by a series of combinations that were visibly wearing Zaromskis down. Diaz dialed-in and continued to batter his opponent with blows to the head and body from all angles that eventually caused ‘The Whitemare’ to buckle which provided the opportunity for Diaz to finish him off with a right hook that delivered a new Strikeforce welterweight champion.

Marius ‘The Whitemare’ Zaromskis (12-4-0)
Marius Zaromskis may not have lasted a full round in his Strikeforce debut, but it was still a memorable performance having been able to drop the champion even after taking a beating. Fans appreciate that kind of toughness and with his past success in the Japanese promotion DREAM it is likely that Zaromskis will remain among the featured bouts, likely against Joe ‘Diesel’ Riggs in his next appearance inside the octagon.

Nick Diaz (21-7-0)
As the new Strikeforce welterweight champion, Nick Diaz may have first right or refusal of his next opponent, but all signs point to his first title defense coming against Jay Hieron. Hieron has been publicly lobbying for a title shot and with his big win over Joe Riggs earlier Saturday night, it seems his shot at greatness has finally arrived. Look for Diaz vs Hieron later this spring or early summer.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASNtW2LaRDg

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