Strikeforce?s Three Stars: Cormier, Lawal and Mein

Who stood out from the thrilling card delivered by Strikeforce on Saturday night in Cincinnati? Read Cagewriter's picks, then tell us your stars in the comments or on Facebook.

No. 1 star -- Daniel Cormier: When Strikeforce announced the heavyweight Grand Prix, did you ever expect that one of the finalists would be Cormier? The two-time Olympian was given a golden opportunity when Alistair Overeem left the tournament. Cormier seized the moment, knocking out the much larger Antonio Silva in the first round. Unfortunately, he injured his hand in the process. The timing of his finals bout against Josh Barnett will depend on the severity of the injury.

No. 2 star -- "King Mo" Lawal: After a layoff of more than a year, Lawal showed no signs of injury or ring rust, knocking out Roger Gracie in the first round. After the win, he said he is interested in going after the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt again, but not if it's a bout to win a vacant belt. Lawal and Cormier's wins were part of the 4-0 night by American Kickboxing Academy.

No. 3 star -- Jordan Mein: One of the best performances of the evening was on the preliminary card, as Bas Rutten-trained Mein took out Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. With his father in his corner, the 21-year-old Mein handled Santos' leg and body kicks before unloading a flurry of strikes on Santos' face in the third round and then finishing with five right elbows.

Steve The Snake Claveau  Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs 

?Big? John McCarthy talks about officiating, MMA history and his new book

MMA referee John McCarthy never expected to write a book about his life, but he also never expected that his own story would be woven in so closely with the sport of MMA.

"The truth is, I was originally talked into it by Loretta [Hunt, the book's co-author]. The reasons she gave me were valid," McCarthy told Cagewriter. "It wasn't so much about me, it was about the history of MMA and the way things actually happened. There's a lot of people out there that are fans of MMA, but have been fans since "The Ultimate Fighter" was on TV. A lot of them think that's where it started, and there's a long history before that. It's not that many years, but it's a long history with the people that have done a lot to put themselves out to try to help the sport."

That story was written into "Let's Get It On," a tome that follows McCarthy's life from a police officer in Los Angeles to one of MMA's best known referees. McCarthy's applause during pre-fight introductions often rivals that of fighters. He is still surprised by the attention.

"I joke and say, 'People recognize me because I have an ugly face and it's burned into their memory.' I'm very appreciative to people who have paid attention to the work I've done and who will give me a moment of applause. That's super-nice. It makes me feel good, but I try to tell all referees that our job is not to be popular. Our job is not to have people like us. Our job is to look out for the safety of a fighter. Sometimes you're going to do things that will make you not popular based on what you have to do for the safety of the fighter."

A well-known referee is unique to combat sports, as officials in other sports try to stay inconspicuous. In MMA, referees are one of three people in the cage, and have to be involved in ending fights. Fading into the background isn't an option, but McCarthy doesn't mind that as long as officials do their job correctly.

"It's very hard to have an official in MMA or boxing to not be noticed. It's not what people notice, but it's how the person conducts the bout, and when they actually decide to bring themselves into the action, and when they don't, that's going to determine how much someone is going to notice the referee in MMA. At times, that's something a referee has no control of, and other times it's something he has no control of. It really is dependent on the fighters."

McCarthy thinks that officiating in MMA is in a good place, but needs to be consistent across the sport.

"Officiating today, as a whole, is much better than it was 10 years ago. The sport has evolved and many of the officials have evolved with it. It still needs to continue to improve and evolve with the sport. The consistency is what we need to have from show to show, so that the fighters, fans, everyone becomes accustomed to it, no matter the show."

McCarthy's jobs of police work and officiating both revolve around keeping order. He says that a sense of right and wrong were clear to him from an early age.

"I was brought up with a serious sense of what is right and what is wrong, and sometimes, what's right goes against the rules, and sometimes what's right is with the rules. Common sense has everything to do with law enforcement, if you're going to be good at it, and it has everything to do with a referee, in any sport. You have to look at something, understand the spirit of the law, and dispense it in a fair fashion."

"Let's Get It On" is available at bookstores everywhere.

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Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz: Live Round-by-Round Updates

MMA Fighting has a Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz live blog for round-by-round updates for one of the top boxing fights of the year.

The main event will start a little after 11:30PM ET. Check out our Mayweather vs. Ortiz results page to find out what happened on the undercard.

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More Coverage: Floyd Mayweather, Larry Merchant Go Toe to Toe | Mayweather vs. Ortiz Results

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Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz
The undercard is over and the main event is up next. Ortiz is in the ring. Mayweather is in the ring.
Round 1:
This fight is underway. Mayweather quickly comes in with a jab and then ducks down under Ortiz's punch. Mayweather lands a couple of body shots and shows off his trademark quick hands, and then Ortiz backs him off. Floyd lands a thudding right hand. Good right hand from Mayweather but then Ortiz lands to the body in the corner. Mayweather's quickness is already striking, and Ortiz needs to get in closer if he's going to hit him. Good first round goes to Mayweather, 10-9.
Round 2:
The crowd is chanting "Ortiz! Ortiz!" at the start of the second round. Ortiz lands a left hand and backs Mayweather into the corner. Ortiz lands a good right hook, then goes to the body. Now Mayweather lands a good right hand and then Ortiz pushes him into the corner. Ortiz is looking good in this round. Mayweather hits Ortiz a couple times but Ortiz walks right into him and won't back down. Another good round, which I give to Ortiz, 10-9.
Round 3:
Ortiz lands a couple of right jabs. Mayweather responds by using his left hand and landing it. Now it's Mayweather backing Ortiz up, and Ortiz doesn't look as comfortable when he's not coming forward. Mayweather lands a big right hand. Mayweather is landing much more effectively, with Ortiz starting to look frustrated. Ortiz lands a left cross late in the round but it was a good round overall for Mayweather, 10-9.
Round 4:
Mayweather comes out with a huge combination in the first 30 seconds of the round. Big-time punches landing from Mayweather, and Ortiz is starting to look a little worse for wear. And now it's Ortiz battering Mayweather against the ropes. Mayweather is shaking his head as if he wasn't hurt, but Ortiz definitely landed a couple of hard punches. Ortiz swings hard with his right hand but comes up short. Now Ortiz goes after Floyd against the ropes and there's a clash of heads. The referee takes a point away from Ortiz for a head butt. And now down goes Ortiz! It's over!
Floyd Mayweather knocks out Victor Ortiz

 

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?King Mo? flashes the power with KO finish of Gracie at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal is back. A wrestler by trade, the flamboyant fighter returned from a serious knee injury to drop Roger Gracie late in the first round. After eating a big right behind the ear, Gracie hit the floor. Gracie's body was locked up on the ground before he took two more grazing shots as the fight was finished at the 4:37 mark of the first round.

Lawal (8-1) had been away from the cage for nearly 13 months after suffering a TKO loss at the hands of Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante in August of 2010. After that fight, Lawal admitted he'd fought on a badly injured knee. To no one's surprise tonight, he told Showtime's Mauro Ranallo he'd like a rematch against Feijao. Cavalcante won earlier in the night with a big knockout of Yoel Romero Palacio.

King Mo passed a big test tonight against another MMA fighter from the famed Gracie family. Gracie's jiu-jitsu is very dangerous and Lawal had the task of finding a way to get inside against the 6-foot-5 Brazilian. Lawal whiffed on most of his shots until the fighters came together trying attempt jabs.

Gracie (4-1) got the worst of a mild headbutt. With the distance closed, Lawal jumped into a big overhand right. It landed behind Gracie's left arm and he went down in a heap.

"The fight felt good," Lawal said. "I underestimated him cause. I didn't respect him. I had my hands down. He was catching me with a few shots. He caught with a couple of good knees, but man, I'm a fighter. I came here to fight."

The 33-year-old Lawal, a former elite wrestler on the world wrestling scene, has quickly picked up on the striking game. He creditied a big jump forwarded to his recent work at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Ca. AKA is the home of UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez along with Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Jon Fitch and dozens more elite fighters.

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News and notes from Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov press conference

CINCINNATI -- In preparation for the semifinals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, the promotion's top fighters held court with media at the U.S. Bank Area. Here's what you need to know:

-- The start time is at 10:30 p.m. ET because of a documentary airing on Saturday night. Called "The Love We Make," it's a documentary about a show that Paul McCartney put together right after September 11. Strikeforce's bouts will start after that.

-- Daniel Cormier was added to the GP after Alistair Overeem -- who is now signed with the UFC -- dropped out of the tourney. Cormier isn't concerned about being a replacement adding extra pressure because he already puts pressure on himself.

"It's not that big of a deal to me. Pressure would be only if I didn't put high expectations on myself. I put enough pressure on myself to begin with, so being in this tournament could not add anything more."

He also said he was surprised that Overeem, or anyone would drop out of the tournament because it was such a good opportunity.

-- Mo Lawal said that he has been ready since January, but hasn't been able to get a fight until now. Though all of the major MMA media outlets were there, Lawal was disappointed in the turnout at the press conference.

"I was hoping there would be more media. More questions. Roger and me are going to put on a good fight, but everyone's going to miss it because they're worried about other issues."

-- Roger Gracie is known for his ground game, as he is a highly accomplished jiu-jitsu player. But with Lawal's world class wrestling background, Gracie may not be able to control where the bout will take place.

"It's hard to predict. Mo Lawal is a great wrestler. We'll just have to see and be prepared for everything. He's a good striker but an unbelievable wrestler. You try to plan a strategy, but you have to be prepared for everything," Gracie said.

Quoteworthy:

"It'll be a main-event worthy fight. I know he's going to bring a never-say-die attitude. It'll be a good tussle. I think we're going to finish one another. No decisions here." -- Josh Barnett, on his Grand Prix bout with Sergei Kharitonov.

"Josh said that he and Sergei were going to finish their fight. Just to put it out there, I'm fine winning the decision." -- Daniel Cormier

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UFC 131 Weigh In Highlight: Dos Santos vs Carwin - UFC 131

Watch these two monsters of the Octagon square off tomorrow night at UFC 131 .

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Strikeforce Weigh Ins Overeem Werdum Barnett Rogers Griggs Noons Masvidal - Strikeforce

SHOWTIME Sports presents the official weigh-in for the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournment. Check out all ten fiighters on the super-sized June 18th fight card: Chad Griggs, Valentijn Overeem, Daniel Cormier, Jeff Monson, KJ Noons, and Jorge Masvidal. Plus headliners Brett Rogers, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, and Fabricio Werdum.

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