The Strikeforce heavyweight tournament final featuring Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier is scheduled to go down on May 19 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The following videos show the fights and the path that led to the finals.
Quarterfinals
It all started on Feb. 12, 2011, at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J. when Fedor Emelianenko took on Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Andrei Arlovski took on Sergei Kharitonov in the first round of quarterfinal bouts. Silva ended up taking out Fedor via TKO in the second round and Kharitonov knocked out Arlovski in the first.
Fast-forward to June 18, 2011, at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Alistair Overeem squared off with Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett faced Brett Rogers in the second round of quarterfinal match-ups. Also, Jeff Monson took on Daniel Cormier in a heavyweight grand prix alternates bout.
Overeem out-pointed Werdum for a unanimous decision win and Barnett dominated Rogers, submitting him in the second round via arm triangle. In the alternates bout, Cormier put on a striking clinic, winning a very dominant unanimous decision.
Semifinals
The semifinals took place on Sept. 10, 2011, at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. As an alternate, Cormier replaced Overeem after a disagreement between Overeem’s management company and Zuffa led to his removal from the tournament. Cormier went on to knockout out “Bigfoot” Silva in round one and Barnett submitted Kharitonov via arm triangle choke in the first round.
Finals
Now, Cormier and Barnett will face off on May 19 for the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix championship. The winner is expected to fight one more time under the Strikeforce banner before moving over to the UFC’s heavyweight division, marking the dissolution of Strikeforce’s heavyweight division once and for all.
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
Fedor Emelianenko | RD 2 | |||||||||
Antonio Silva | TKO | |||||||||
Antonio Silva | RD 1 | |||||||||
Daniel Cormier** | KO | |||||||||
Alistair Overeem | RD 3 | |||||||||
Fabricio Werdum | UD | |||||||||
Daniel Cormier | ||||||||||
Josh Barnett | ||||||||||
Andrei Arlovski | RD 1 | |||||||||
Sergei Kharitonov | KO | |||||||||
Sergei Kharitonov | RD 1 | |||||||||
Josh Barnett | SUB | |||||||||
Josh Barnett | RD 2 | |||||||||
Brett Rogers | SUB | |||||||||
** = Replacement
Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament Recap
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (February 12, 2011)
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Andrei Arlovski (February 12, 2011)
Daniel Cormier vs. Jeff Monson (June 18, 2011)
Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum (June 18, 2011)
Brian Rogers vs. Josh Barnett (June 18, 2011)
Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov (September 10, 2011)
Daniel Cormier vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (September 10, 2011)