“Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson” main card recap: Henderson rallies to TKO Fedor

In MMA, a fight can turn in an instant.  For “The Last Emperor” that turn may have ended his career.

After a furious start to the bout, Fedor seemed to be on the cusp of victory, but within seconds found himself on the canvas with referee Herb Dean standing over him, the victim of a TKO loss.

The come-from-behind TKO victory by Dan Henderson was a stunning turn of events.

“I’ve been a huge fan of Fedor’s forever,” Henderson said. “I respect him so much. That’s a huge accomplishment compared to a lot of the things I’ve done.”

It was a surreal finish to an exciting bout that marked the third consecutive loss for the MMA legend.

The action leading up to the finish was just as exciting. Fedor came out swinging from the bell, throwing and landing his trademark leaping punches as he applied immediate pressure on Henderson.

The Strikeforce light heavyweight champion responded, putting together a counter combination of strikes that backed up the advancing Emelienenko. Henderson then went to his clinch game, pressing Fedor against the cage as blood started to flow from Fedor’s eye.

After the break from the clinch, Fedor came forward with a flurry of strikes that dropped Henderson to the canvas against the cage, and it seemed that the bout was all but over. As Fedor looked for the finish, Henderson turned the tables in an instant by scrambling out of trouble, and then landed a crushing uppercut under the right arm of Emelianenko that sent “The Last Emperor” crashing to the mat.

Referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the action just as Henderson (28-8 MMA, 5-2 UFC, 3-1 SF) landed additional blows to the prone Emelianenko. Fedor (31-4 MMA, 1-3 SF) seemed to be recovering at that point, as he rolled over and put his arms up to defend, but by that time the fight had already been called.

Tate takes title from Coenen

In the highly anticipated women’s 135-pound title bout tonight, it was the submission artist that would be submitted.

Miesha Tate locked up a fourth round arm-triangle that forced the tap, and in the process made her the Strikeforce 135-pound champion, with her submission victory over Marloes Coenen.

Tate wasted little time in the opening frame, closing the distance quickly and working her clinch game looking for opportunities to get the fight to the mat. She found herself in a tight guillotine after Coenen pulled guard on a take down attempt, and it appeared that Tate was very close to tapping. She fought through the choke attempt, and advanced to side control, spending the majority of the round on top.

Tate came out in the second looking for take downs again, and once again found herself in a bad spot as Coenen scrambled her way to the back of Tate after they hit the mat. Coenen immediately locked up a body triangle and started looking for the rear naked choke, but Tate defended very well, implementing a picture-perfect two-on-one defense.

Although Tate was unable to free herself completely from the back control of Coenen, she did survive the submission attempts to take the fight into the third round.

Tate seemed a bit fatigued in the third, but capitalized on a Coenen kick, taking the champion back down to the mat again. Tate did enough on top to keep the fight there, with spurts of strikes to the head and body of Coenen. The champion was able to sweep late in the round, but by that time the bell was sounding and the bout was headed to the championship rounds.

The fourth round would once again see the bout on the mat, with Coenen looking for another shot at the guillotine, but Tate moved to side mount and started to work against the cage. After kicking off the cage, Coenen seemed to be on the verge of escaping, but Tate trapped her right arm, then slid across her body, locking up a tight arm-triangle on the opposite side.

Coenen defended at first, but Tate used her right leg to create more of an angle for the choke, pushing on the hips of Coenen.

With the additional pressure, the tap came quickly, and Tate (12-2 MMA, 3-1 SF) was crowned as the new champion.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Tate said. “She had never been submitted, and that’s what I came in here to do. She’s really tough. I told everyone I wasn’t going to come in here with such a rigid game plan. If I saw an opportunity, I was going to take it, and I did.”

Kennedy routs Lawler

A bloodied and bruised Tim Kennedy proved that looks can be deceiving in MMA, as he cruised to a unanimous decision victory over Robbie Lawler.

Kennedy was relentless with his take downs, earning three out of his seven attempts in the first round. Lawler did an amazing job of escaping the other attempts as he scrambled all over the cage to defend. The constant threat of the take down forced Lawler to be overly cautious as he failed to put together any significant combinations in the opening round.

Lawler finally drew blood in the second as he caught Kennedy coming in with an uppercut that opened the floodgates of blood flow from the nose of Kennedy. Despite the damage, Kennedy drove through the big punch and put Lawler on his back, dripping blood like a faucet all over the mat.

After two rounds of action, it appeared that Lawler would need a finish to win the bout. Kennedy appeared to be way ahead on the score cards, and also visibly fatigued which seemed to be Lawler’s opportunity to change the outcome of the fight.

Inexplicably, Lawler feinted more than he threw, showing absolutely no sense of urgency as the time wound down on the fight. Kennedy recovered enough for one last take down to seal the deal as the fight ended.

The final scores were 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, all in favor of Tim Kennedy who moves to 14-3 overall, and 5-1 under the Strikeforce banner.

Woodley outpoints Daley

Tyron Woodley continued his undefeated run toward a title shot with a convincing unanimous decision victory over Paul Daley.

Woodley’s constant threat of take downs made Daley a little gun shy, but it was Daley that was most impressive in the opening frame. Daley was able to avoid all of the take down attempts of Woodley early in a very close first round.

That would all change in the second as Woodley started to find his rhythm. Woodley finally put Daley on his back, and that’s where he stayed for the remainder of the round. Woodley landed sporadic ground and pound from the top, but it was enough to win him the round.

Daley continued to defend very well in the third as well, sprawling and punishing the body of Woodley from the top. Woodley remained true to his game plan and once again was able to work Daley to the mat.

After three rounds of action, Woodley (9-0 MMA, 7-0 SF) did enough to edge out the unanimous decision victory 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.

Saffiedine dominates Smith

Tarec Saffiedine showed off his well rounded game in a one-sided domination of Scott Smith.

Saffiedine showed off his quick feet and hands in the first stanza, beating Smith to the punch, while mixing in kicks for good measure, taking the first round easily on the scorecards.

Smith showed just how bad a speed advantage for your opponent can be for a fighter, as Saffiedine repeatedly landed first, with much cleaner strikes that put the slugger on wobbly legs. Smith is known for his come from behind one-punch heroics, but Saffiedine effectively picked him apart with crisp combos throughout the round. Saffiedine was unable to put Smith away, so a third round was in order.

Saffiedine (11-3 MMA, 4-1 SF) continued to dominate in the final frame, and cruised to a lopsided unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27.

“That was the most difficult fight I have ever been in, and Scott is a very tough guy,” Saffiedine said. “I knew he was going to be durable coming into the fight. I’m happy with my performance, and I tried very hard for the finish but came up a little short.”