Strikeforce GP

Might as well start this off with a bang. My official Strikeforce GP predictions.

Round 1
Fedor Emelianenko vs Antonio Silva
Bigfoot has a couple of strong wins, but nothing has prepared him for the mauling that awaits. Few fighters adjust their game as well as Fedor does, and you will not see a repeat of the Werdum fight. It won't quite be a Zuluing, but it will approach it. Fedor via TKO.

Fabricio Werdum vs Alistair Overeem
This has been called a stylistic matchup favoring Werdum's strong BJJ skills. It's also been called a stylistic matchup favoring Overeem's strong striking skills. The way I see it the match straight up plays into Overeem's hands. He's probably not skilled enough on the ground to submit Werdum but he sure as hell has the strength and ability to not get himself submitted, get back on his feet, and put Werdum to sleep. Overeem by KO.

Sergei Kharitonov vs Andrei Arlovski
Out of all the first round matches, this one intrigues me the most. Everyone knows Arlovski and his somewhat checkered recent history. Kharitonov seems to be a mystery to most after falling off the map a bit over the past couple of years. 2010 saw him compete three times, twice in the K-1 ring. About the only question I have going into this fight is how much time Kharitonov has had to prepare. He is, as far as I know, still an active duty soldier in the Russian Airborne, and I can't imagine that leaving much time to commit to training. That said, I'm still picking him over Arlovski. The Pitbull's looked more like a Yorkie as of late. Kharitonov by submission.

Josh Barnett vs Brett Rogers
Rogers is Icarus. He flew too high too fast and ended up losing to FUCKING WARPATH. Oh, sure, he won it on the cards, but he didn't actually win that fight. Just watch it. It was absolute BS. He lost. Period. Barnett on the other hand is a man that lost his top ten status via inactivity. He's still one of the most dangerous grapplers in the sport. This will not be a very long fight. Barnett via very quick submission.

Round 2
Fedor Emelianenko vs Alistair Overeem
The fight. The one we all want to see. I'm not even going to bother breaking this one down. Nothing I write will match the awesomeness of this fight. I'm going with Fedor by a very hard fought split decision.

Barnett vs Kharitonov
This is a fight that in 2006 would have the entire MMA world crapping their pants in anticipation. That was five years ago. Today... well, it will still be just as good. Kharitonov's one deficiency is that he doesn't have a proficiency. He has decent standup, decent ground skills, decent takedowns and submissions. He's not excellent at any one thing. Barnett, on the other hand, is a submission artist. He might not be Mario Sperry but his submission skill is beyond Kharitonov's submission defense. Barnett via sub.

Finals
Fedor Emelianenko vs Josh Barnett
This is a fight that back in 2008 would have the entire MMA world crapping their pants in anticipation. Actually... it DID. But Barnett got in a little roid trouble as he is wont to do from time to time and that fell through. Now it's finally happening. It won't be an easy fight. These two are equally matched on the ground, with Fedor having a slight advantage on the feet simply due to his complete unpredictability with his strikes. I'm a huge fan of both men so it's tough to decide... but it's a no-brainer. Fedor via another hard fought decision.

That's the way I see it panning out. The only fight I'm really wavering on is Arlovski/Kharitonov. That might end up being the best fight out of the lot. All I know is that at the end of the day we're all winners.