Finally got a chance to watch the whole Big Foot Silva/Andrei Arlovski fight, and came away somewhat impressed wth Silva's game plan, but I'm sure this was not the fight either of these veteran competitors was hoping for.

Saw someone post somewhere that it was a victory of sorts that Arlovski survived and didn't get knocked out, which I think is not the best logic, even though there is some truth to the observation, with Andrei coming off of two brutal knockout losses. It seemed that Arlovski could have pressed a speed advantage in the striking game, but when push came to shove, Silva was getting off better counters, and landing the harder blows. Also thought Silva was open all day for more and better leg kicks, but Arlovski just didn't pursue that avenue. As a former UFC champ, having faced marginally better opponents, and having been touted for much improved striking, seemed on paper like Arlovski should have fared better, but he didn't have a lot of answers for the clinch, and fell victim, especially in the third round, to the takedown, leaving him on the wrong side of the 29-28 decision.

Big Foot, having come out of muay thai and BJJ, has always seemed to me somewhat plodding, more dogged than inspired, and not especially athletic for a big guy. On this night, no question he did the better job, but to me and I'm sure for a lot of the fans at ringside, it was not the kind of performance that left me really anticipating watching him in the future with any kind of excitement. I lilked the takedowns, I liked his pushing Arlovski into the cage, but then it was kind of a stalemate, where Silva couldn't direct the fight into more dangerous waters for his opponent. Silva hit harder and more often, but was not able to seal the deal, and for a guy with a preponderance of knockouts on his record, makes me think Silva may have played this one a little safe, grinding out a win, but in less than spectacular fashion.

Still, a win is a win, but where does this leave Silva and Alrovski in the Strikeforce heavyweight picture? While SF is lacking depth in most divisions, with the resurgence of interest in the big boys of late, it seems to me that both of these guys should go back to the drawing board, train hard, and try to come up with more aggressive gameplans, to give the fans a better show and to impress the matchmakers and MMA pundits in hopes of stirring further interest in their repsective careers. Arlovski has a lot of fans, many of whom continue to erroneously (in my humble opinion) credit him with having done so well in the Fedor fight previous to suffering neural short circuit, and I know those fans want to see this fighter rise again. Silva may have less of a fan base, but did a solid if uninspired job in this latest contest, so I guess time will tell what opportunities these two will have in their futures with the Strikeforce promotion. Andrei Arlovski/Bobby Lashley? Big Foot/Brett Rogers?