Action-packed night here in St. Louis for Strikeforce in support of Alistair Overeem’s first heavyweight title defense.  I wanted to share my favorites from Strikeforce with y’all before I shove everything I’ve been dragging around for two weeks into my luggage and catch my flight home for a day.  I’m off to Portland next for Strikeforce Challeners: Lindland vs Casey.  Not our Casey, but Kevin Casey.

Anyway, I think I did pretty fancy last night — there was ridiculous amounts of activity in Arlovski-Silva so I have probably too many photos from that fight.

Also included are some shots from Ribeiro vs Beerbohm.

Actually, I thought every fight was good save one undercard fight that wasn’t so much boring but disappointing. Okay, it was kind of boring.  And moreso because I saw the winner fight another boring fight before, at another Missouri card.  But that has nothing to do with these shots.  Because these are from AWESOME fights. No, seriously.

I had a great time in St. Louis, especially the evening where I was regaled with tales of the old days (I’m new to the biz, only three years) by the journalist legends of this industry from Sherdog and MMAWeekly.  I did NOT get to go up into the arch like I planned, but I have a feeling I will be back here, likely within the year.

After the fight, I ran into a drunk dude leaning on a wall while trying to buy a soda from the vending machine.  He walked slowly towards me, two hands up like he was going to grab me, but at snails pace, and eeked out, “Fiiiiive? FFFive?”  Oh. I asked, “Fifth floor? Elevator is down that corridor.”  To which he nodded and whispered thanks, and trudged like a zombie towards the elevator.  I guess he didn’t make it up to the fifth floor because later he was in the lobby with a bucket.

Thanks St. Louis for having a lovely grocery in downtown and pizza open until 3 am.  Thanks Crowne Plaza for your broken, wide-open revolving door and the idiots who still tried to push it, and the customary post-fight drunkard, poisoned in the lobby, paramedics attending to him and his pail o’ puke.

For your consideration: Strikeforce! Heavy Artillery! Overeem vs Rogers!!