Three years ago, eight elite world heavyweights were matched up to compete in the Strikeforce circuit for the Grand Prix title. Daniel Cormier came in as a second round replacement for Alistair Overeem. Overeem was injured in the first round of the bracket in his victory over Fabricio Werdum. Cormier then went on to beat Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Josh Barnett to become the Strikeforce Grand Prix Champion. Most of the fighters are still seen as world elite heavyweights, but one has hung up his gloves and another has even set foot in Kickboxing.
“Bigfoot” Silva is currently under the UFC banner and fought just last Saturday. He has notable victories and knockouts over contenders Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem, but fell short as he challenged Cain Velasquez for the UFC Heavyweight title. He then had an epic back and forth draw with Mark Hunt, but it was turned into a no-contest because Silva was found with elevated levels of testosterone. Most recently he fought in his home country against Andrei Arlovski, but was dropped unconscious on the mat in the first round.
After his first stint in the UFC, Andrei Arlovski spent some time in smaller circuits for a while and had six victories, one loss and one no-contest before earning his way back into the UFC. He came back to the UFC to win a split-decision against UFC veteran Brendan Schuab and was paired up in the headlining bout of UFC Fight Night 51 against Bigfoot Silva, where Arlovski was seen as the heavy underdog. Arlovski showed glimpses of the 2005 version of himself, when he was seen as the most dangerous heavyweight in the world, and left Silva unconscious on the ground to most likely solidify himself in the UFC top ten.
Fabricio Werdum was one of the main focuses at the Grand Prix because he was the first man to ever submit the great Fedor Emelianenko. He lost a very tentative decision to Overeem and felt that he really let himself down in that bout. He then caught fire in the UFC by beating Roy Nelson, knocking out Mike Russow, submitting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and outclassing Travis Browne to earn his shot in his upcoming bout with champion Cain Velasquez.
Alistair Overeem had high hopes to become UFC champion and there was a lot of hype behind him. He clobbered Brock Lesnar’s body to take him out in the first round and then was supposed to fight Junior dos Santos for the championship, but tested positive for elevated testosterone. He then suffered knockout defeats in three of his next four bouts and his win against Frank Mir was a very lackluster decision. Most casual fans see Overeem on his way out and, not a big draw as he once was.
Fedor Emelianko is considered by many as the greatest Mixed Martial Artist ever. He had one of the most spectacular careers in MMA history. There was a time he was considered unbeatable by many; however, it was proven he was human in his losses to Werdum, “Bigfoot” Silva, and Dan Henderson. He finished his spectacular career with a knockout victory over Pedro Rizzo.
Josh Barnett was a finalist in the Grand Prix. He lost to Cormier in the championship, but claimed that he had badly broken his hand in the first round. He then came to the UFC and landed a brutal knee to take out former champion Frank Mir. He paid the price for trying to take Travis Browne down and was blasted by elbows in that defeat. A highlight outside of MMA was his submission over Dan Lister at Metamoris 4. Barnett feels that he does have a few fights left in his career.
Daniel Cormier took the world by storm coming in as an alternate as he blasted Bigfoot Silva and threw around Barnett to capture the Strikeforce Grand Prix title. He has been unstoppable ever since and has actually gone down to light heavyweight division, where he has looked like an absolute monster. He literally threw Dan Henderson around like a ragdoll and showed his strength at Light Heavyweight. He is clearly un-matched by anybody in the division. He has had highlights with his brawl with Jon Jones at a UFC press conference and is scheduled to compete with Jones at UFC 182 in January 2015.
Sergei Kharitonov has gone 3-0 in MMA since the Grand Prix and 3-2 in kickboxing. It is uncertain if he will ever compete in the UFC, or if he will just continue to fight in Russian organizations with some kickboxing bouts along the way.
Brett Rogers has gone 5-5 and one no-contest after his loss against Barnett in the Grand Prix and has not shown much promise to be that successful in MMA. The highlight of his career was a 22-second TKO victory over Arlovski, but his lack of well-rounded ability and legal problems have kept him out of the interest of mainstream MMA circuits.
It is great to see these elite heavyweights carry on and show why this tournament is so significant to MMA history. With Werdum and Cormier awaiting their title bouts, it shows that the competitors in the Grand Prix were no joke. It is quite comparable to the 2005 Pride Grand Prix in MMA significance and hopefully other organizations will host these types of glorious challenges.
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