Strikeforce tonight (April 17) stormed the "Nashville" Bridgestone Arena with three featured title bouts on the line during the CBS telecast of "Saturday Night Fights" from the heart of "Music City" in the cowboy-friendly state of Tennessee.
And if there was ever a "Yee-Haw!" moment, it was definitely when Jason "Mayhem" Miller shat on the post-fight celebration of Jake Shields by demanding a rematch.
First rule of MMA: Never start shit inside the cage with the Diaz brothers present. As expected, all hell broke loose and fists went flying on national television. Regrettably, it was the most exciting action to take place inside the cage all night.
Dan Henderson looked like his old self in the first round of the night's main event, stalking the 185-pound champion Jake Shields and dropping him with a blitzkrieg of punches.
Then he just looked old.
From the second round on, Hendo was unable to recapture his fire from the first frame, eventually succumbing to the champion's effective mixture of takedowns and ground and pound.
And credit to Shields, who showed the heart of a champion by surviving the rough waters and executing his gameplan over the additional four rounds.
Who's next in line for the Strikeforce Middleweight Champion?
And what's next for Dan Henderson?
In what was supposed to be an exciting battle of well-matched lightweights, Gilbert Melendez and Shinya Aoki struggled to make their 155-pound title bout exciting for the fans as the DREAM import spent most of the time perfecting his butt-scoot.
Ever see a dog wipe its ass on the carpet with that front paw crawl?
"El Nino" tried to unleash hell on more than one occasion but "The Tobikan Judan" either circled out of danger or tied him up on the ground. I don't normally condone booing in the arena but this fight fell far short of expectations and the crowd let them know it.
Nevertheless, Gilbert Melendez holds on to his lightweight strap and told the fans in attendance after the fight that he considered himself to be "top three" in the world in his division.
Do you agree or disagree?
Gegard Mousasi and Muhammed Lawal got the CBS televised portion of the card started in light heavyweight action with the "The Dreamcather's" 205-pound title on the line.
Easy come, easy go.
"King Mo" proved that he is indeed royalty by using his powerful wrestling and stingy ground control to dominate all five rounds and overthrow Mousasi's reign as champion. It wasn't a particularly exciting fight as both men spent a good duration of the bout struggling for position, but there was no disputing the outcome.
Simply put, Mousasi was ill-equipped to handle the world-class wrestling of Lawal -- and it cost him his title. King Mo is the new light heavyweight champion. Does Strikeforce have a 205-pound fighter that can stop him?
As promised, Scott Coker found a way to shoehorn highlights of Jason Miller's TKO victory into the CBS broadcast.
Not much to analyze here, as opponent Tim Stout was clearly out of his league and did little more than give "Mayhem" a workout, who now looks to be in line for a rumored bout opposite "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler a few months down the road.
It was a decent night of fights with a wild and wacky ending.
What fighter showed you the most tonight? Will Shields defect to the UFC after this latest win? Is Dan Henderson starting to show his age? How impressive was "King Mo?"
Let's hear your take, Maniacs.
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