The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament chugged along last night without the presence of Fedor Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem. And on a night billed as their best top-to-bottom event on paper, Strikeforce delivered.
The above highlight video from Showtime Sports runs through the results of last night's main card. In the opener, Pat Healy upset 4-to-1 favorite Maximo Blanco, weathering an early storm from the Venezuelan before wearing him down and submitting him with an exotic rear naked choke in the second. Muhammed Lawal planked Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu superstar Roger Gracie with a right hand to the temple in the waning moments of round one. Luke Rockhold, returning to action after a nineteen-month absence, acquired the Strikeforce middleweight title from Ronaldo Souza in the second big upset of the evening.
In the Grand Prix portion of the tournament, former U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team captain Daniel Cormier shocked the world, by method if not the result, when he battered Antonio Silva standing before finishing him off just under the four minute mark of the first round. In the main event, Josh Barnett demonstrated his superior grappling against Sergei Kharitonov, holding mount for the majority of the first round before submitting the Russian with an arm triangle at 4:28.
SBN coverage of Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov