Strikeforce was back in action last night with their Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields fight card on Showtime.

The main fight card boasted five strong match-ups and promised to deliver excitement throughout the night. While the fight card nearly lived up to expectations, there were a few low spots.

• The night started off with a rather boring fight as Kevin Randleman seemingly forgot that he was allowed to actually fight back and strike with Mike Whitehead. Now, I don’t mean to belittle Mike Whitehead as he dominated the fight from start to finish and continues on his impressive run over the past several years. Randleman, to his credit, was only appearing in his second fight since 2006; however, “The Monster” was never really in the fight last night.
• While we are on the subject, Kevin Randleman gassed last night vs Mike Whitehead. Phil Baroni gassed against Frank Shamrock and again last night against Joe Riggs. Mark Coleman gassed against Fedor Emelianenko and Mauricio Rua. What do we learn from this? First, Team Hammer House should now be referred to as The Gas Factory. Second, taking steroids saps your stamina.
• Joe Riggs looked very impressive last night in his dismantling of Phil Baroni. Riggs was quick and crisp in the first round as he gamely worked his grappling game and strong jabs on the feet. In the second and third rounds, Riggs fought a supremely smart fight, as he knew he was controlling Baroni and easily picked him apart on the feet. There were several occasions where it looked like Riggs should rush Baroni and finish the fight, but Riggs calmly backed away and kept chopping down Baroni without leaving himself exposed to getting caught.
• Nick Diaz continues to look impressive and put on exciting fights. Sure, you might not like Diaz’s personality, but you have to enjoy watching his exciting fighting style. For three rounds, Diaz once again peppered his opponent with his strong, unorthodox striking style and continuous pressure. To his credit, Scott Smith, once again, stood his ground and worked to stay in the fight. Unfortunately, Smith was frustrated by Diaz’s style and fell prey to his taunts and baiting on several occasions and played right into Diaz’s hands.
• How sad was it to watch Andrei Arlovski’s eyes begin to well up in the aftermath of his flash KO loss to Brett Rogers. Once again, Arlovski’s increasingly fragile jaw was his downfall as Brett Rogers rushed the former UFC champion and put him to sleep in the blink of an eye. A strong win for Rogers, only because of his opponent’s name, not because of the actual fight, but give him credit for a job well done. And I’ll say again, Arlovski really needs to reconsider that career in professional boxing as he clearly doesn’t have the chin for it.
• Well, Jake Shields once again showed everyone why having superior BJJ skills is probably the biggest asset an MMA fighter can have. Robbie Lawler’s larger physical presence was an issue for Shields, but Lawler’s lack of strong submission defense played right into the welterweight’s hands. A nice victory for Shields who improved his already impressive stature.