First of all, someone went mental with the dry ice, it seems. The whole building was a cloud - even the cage was clearly "smokey" during the first round of the early fights. Also, no elbows on the ground was bad enough, but now no forearms either? Ground-and-pound is being killed off in the Challengers series
Medeiros vs Castillo
Castillo looked like he had 0% confidence in his stand-up for the first two rounds. Maybe 25% in the third... Either needs to stay in grappling tournaments or really needs to work stand-up a LOT. Medeiros looked good, but he clearly had a fairly easy time. However, the worst performance was the ref! I didn't agree with the break against the cage (don't agree with seperations for taking "too long" to complete a takedown unless the guy has clearly stopped working and is taking a break), and then what was the complete lack of knowledge of the rules in forcing Medeiros to carry on immediately after a groin shot which clearly hurt him? He'd already waved off Castillo's claim immediately (probably correctly, as it seemed to be a thigh shot which brushed his cup at most) and now he's rushing another fighter back into action. Poor.
Terry vs Saffiedine
Thought Saffiedine looked good, especially his kicks. Combinations were nice and varied, pretty accurate. Great strength in reversing the takedown at the end of the fight, too. Terry is clearly a tough guy, but he looked either tired or wobbled by a shot right from the first round. Did they quickly buy Saffiedine's cap at the merchandise stand out in the hall ready for his interview? It still had the price tag on it
Rockhold vs Bradley
Rockhold was way too much for Bradley and it showed. Good performance. Quadros even said before the fight that if Rockhold won he would be in contention for a title shot - surely being on the Challengers show meant either he is NOT in contention no matter how this fight goes, or he was in the wrong place that night and his match was never going to be competitive? If he is an intended legit contender then Strikeforce need to check their marketing of the Challengers series.
Prangley vs Amoussou
DON'T tell the doctor you can't see and then expect them to let the fight continue (especially if you actually want it to). It's pretty simple. Good job Ranallo knew the rules about 5 minute stoppages for eyepokes - no-one else seemed to. Good fight up until that point. Surely it should have been a no contest though?
Kaufman vs Hashi
Kaufman clearly dominated, looked far too big for Hashi to take her down, and was far better in the stand-up. It was a good fight if you ignored the commentary constantly complaining about a supposed slow pace and "coasting" and a lack of finishing. It was a steady pace, but no-one backed off and there were no extended lulls in the action. They even changed their tune after the post-fight interview...
Overall Mark: 3 out of 5 - Must try harder.
