Over the weekend, there were two shows. UFC on FX 2 was on Friday night and Strikeforce featuring the second biggest women’s fight ever in the US was on Saturday night.

Here are some quick thoughts:

• Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey lived up to all the hype and then some. They were in amazing shape and when they got inside the cage, it was one of the most action packed one-round fights of the year. Tate is absolutely tough as nails and I came away more impressed with her after this fight than after she won the title from Marloes Coenen. Both women are also super athletic and there were awesome transitions and escapes. As an actual athletic competition, it was a better fight than Gina Carano vs. Cyborg. These girls aren’t one dimensional.

• Ronda Rousey is a star. When my buddy Derek who blogs at DWizzle’s World told me a few fights ago that Rousey was going to be a star. I kind of scoffed at the time, but he sure as hell called it right. Now, I’m not sure she can beat Sarah Kauffman who is a really good all-around fighter, but Dana White has to take advantage of this right? He can’t just sit on his hands and lose her like he did with Gina Carano right?

• The Strikeforce show on Saturday overshadowed what was a lackluster UFC show on Friday. The main event featuring Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann wasn’t a bad fight, but didn’t do much for me. Kampmann was losing the fight and caught Alves and submitted him fairly quickly. I thought Alves would try to fight it, but he just tapped. I’m not sure that fight helped Kampmann or just made people more disappointed in Alves, who three or four years ago looked like the killer of the division.

• Poor Ian McCall — I thought he was pretty clearly won his fight in the Flyweight tournament over Demetrious Johnson, but the fight was ruled in Johnson’s favor, and then later in the evening ruled a draw after one of the scorecards was misread live. Even though it’s now not a loss for McCall, it’s still the wrong decision. What’s pitiful is that these tournament fights had special rules in case of a draw. It would go to a fourth round and the winner of that round would win the fight. But because of the misreading of one of the scorecards live, they didn’t go to the fourth round that they were supposed to. I’m sure Dana White is happy about this situation.

Here are the results of the live show:

1. Pat Healy defeated Maximo Blanco in round two by submission (rear naked choke).

2. King Mo knocked out Roger Gracie late in the first round.

3. Luke Rockhold beat Jacare Souza by unanimous decision to win the middleweight championship.

4. Daniel Cormier beat Big Foot Silva via KO in the first round.

5. Josh Barnett beat Sergei Kharitonov via arm triangle in the first round.

Cormier and Barnett will meet in the finals of the tournament, which is scheduled to happen early in 2012.

1. Tarec Saffiedine vs. Scott Smith

Saffiedine wins the round simply by controlling the action. He is out-quicking Smith and beating him to everything. Smith’s trying to load up on shots, but can’t really get off. Smith is cut over his left eye. Smith isn’t moving well and is pretty hittable.

Smith is a shot fighter. Saffiedine landed some wicked combinations including a shot lead left-hook and right low kick. Smith either has the worst stand-up defense or Saffiedine has tremendously fast hand and foot speed. Smith took some harsh punishment.

Saffiedine did a great job of switching back and forth in between stances, throwing off Smith’s timing. And he was just tagging him. Smith tried to press the action late, but could never catch him.

Winner: Tarec Saffiedine by way of unanimous decision

2. Tyron Woodley vs. Paul Daley

Lots of inside fighting, but the biggest shot was probably a low blow by Daley. Daley did a good job at stuffing the takedowns, but neither guy had an advantage.

Well, this one isn’t a classic. Woodley got him down and held him there for nearly the entire round. He grabbed a single and took him down, pushed him against the cage, but Daley stayed active and didn’t get in any bad positions. Near the end of the round, it was Woodley on the bottom and Daley got a couple shots in.

Daley was aggressive at the start, but went to throw a knee and was taken down. Woodley controlled the round, but Daley landed the hardest shots. I’d have Woodley winning the fight. Daley had an omoplata on late in the fight.

Winner: Tyron Woodley by way of unanimous decision

All of the judges scored it 29-28.

3. Tim Kennedy vs. Robbie Lawler

Lawler’s footwork looks tremendous tonight. He’s not just standing in the pocket. Lawler is sprawling well too. Kennedy had Lawler down once after he poked him right in the face and had the mount, but Lawler just pushed him off.

Kennedy got the takedown and might’ve received worse punishment as Lawler was active from the bottom. But Kennedy will probably get the rond again. Lawler landed something that opened Kennedy up like faucet.

Oof, yet another decision here. The first round was good and parts of the second round were exciting too, but the third round was all Kennedy trying to secure his win. Lawler didn’t fight with the urgency needed in the third. Kennedy scored another takedown with some ground and pound to win the round.

Winner: Tim Kennedy by way of a unanimous decision

4. Miesha Tate vs. Marloes Coenen

Coenen had a guillotine on and it looked pretty tight, but Tate took her down and finally got her head out. She used her positioning to get in side mount and ride out the first round.

Coenen had control for most of the round. She had Tate’s back and Tate tried to wall climb, but fell into a choke attempt. Coenen controlled her on the ground for the rest of it.

Tate was on top for most of the round, but ended up on the bottom after a sweep. Tate did nothing for most of it, but she still had control and could probably win the round. These girls are in great shape, but they’ve never fought this long before. Have to be tired.

Wow. Tate sunk in an arm triangle choke and Coenen tapped out. I didn’t expect that.

Winner: Miesha Tate by way of 4th round submission

5. Dan Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko

Wow, this thing started quickly. Fedor bumrushed him and took a left hook from Hendo for all his work. Stopped him completely in his tracks. After they were up against the cage for two minutes, Henderson pushed off and nearly landed a hook. Fedor looks much more comfortable and is using his strength to push Henderson backward. He knocked Henderson down and came in for the kill, but Henderson went out the backdoor and sunk him with an uppercut. Fedor went down and limp and Henderson followed up with two shots on the ground and Herb Dean stopped it.

Winner: Dan Henderson by way of 1st round TKO

First fight is a heavyweight match-up.

1. Chad Griggs Vs. Valentijn Overeem

Hmmm. Griggs had Overeem up against the cage and Overeem pushed forward. Griggs drop stepped and threw him down, sort of like a hip toss. Griggs started punching on the ground, Overeem turtled, and he tapped.

Winner: Chad Griggs by way of 1st submission (via punches)

2. Jeff Monson vs. Daniel Cormier

Cormier’s boxing looked really solid in the first round. He was pretty comfortable in there and was beating Monson to the punch every time. Monson is ducking his head and turning it, which opens up the back of his head a bit to Cormier’s right hand. All boxing and most of it was Cormier.

Second round was more of the same, though both guys look to be getting a bit tired. Cormier is also using kicks to keep Monson at bay. They clinched against the cage a couple of times, which might’ve been more because of being tired than anything else.

Cormier’s shots were getting in much easier and Monson was taking some heavy ones. He tried to goad Cormier to the ground, but it wasn’t happening. Monson is a tough guy. He took some heavy shots and stayed upright. Cormier tossed him to the ground late in the fight, just because he could. Should be a unanimous decision for Cormier. Monson didn’t really come close to winning a round.

Winner: Daniel Cormier by way of unanimous decision

3. Jorge Masvidal vs. KJ Noons

What a first round. Masvidal was winning the stand-up, beating Noons to the punches. He was using his reach and standing tall, while Noons was trying to change levels and move in and out. Noons was also throwing shots off the wrong foot to try and change it up. They went to the ground and Noons tried to grab onto his shoulder. Noons ducked into a kick and I thought he was out. Masvidal followed him to the ground and it was nearly over. But Noons hung on and lasted the round.

Masvidal is very confident now and allowing Noons to try and get off a bit. Noons couldn’t capitalize, but he was making it competitive. Masvidal got a takedown. Noons was charging in and Masvidal was just covering up, leaving himself open for a knee or an uppercut. Masvidal ended the round by blasting Noons with a brutal knee to the face. Noons looked to be wobbled and tried to get his senses back.

This is the second time I’ve seen KJ outboxed. Masvidal’s stand-up is more composed, more patient, more straight-forward, while Noons looks a bit more ragged and jumpy. The fight went to the ground late, which wasn’t good for KJ. Masvidal wins 30-26.

Winner: Jorge Masvidal by way of unanimous decision

He won 30-27 on all cards.

4. Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers

Round was nearly all on the ground. Barnett took Rogers down hard, mounted him early, and Rogers tried to buck him. The round stayed like that for the entirety.

Barnett threw a wide left hook that seemed to land. Rogers covered up and tried to toss Barnett, but Barnett reversed it and took Rogers down again. He was in the mount quickly. He got him in an arm triangle/side choke from the mount and Rogers tapped.

Winner: Josh Barnett by way of 2nd round submission

Josh took the mic from Gus Johnson. Gus absolutely didn’t want to give up the mic. He cut a very wrestling-oriented promo. It wasn’t quite as good as his hard times promo, but it was ok.

5. Fabricio Werdum vs. Alistair Overeem

Werdum is trying some bad takedown attempts and Overeem is strong-manning him to the ground. He’s telegraphing it, but Overeem is also telegraphing his stand-up. Every time Werdum goes to the ground, he tries to pull Overeem in and the crowd is booing. Werdum is using kicks to try and land and when Overeem comes inside, he’s thinking of the takedown and Werdum is getting a few shots in. Overeem is letting Werdum come inside and throw a few shots so that he can counter with his own. Werdum is trying to goad him like he did Fedor, but to no avail. Werdum finally pulled guard and was able to keep Overeem down, but the round ended.

Even though stylistically this fight isn’t flowing well, you still have this eery feeling that it can either end in a big Overeem shot, or Werdum pulling him down and slipping something on. It’s hard to tell if Overeem is landing flushly because Werdum is going down to the ground all the time. A lot of it is purposely. Werdum is getting up slowly, as if he is hoping that Overeem tries to rush him when he’s getting up to get him back on the ground.

Pretty bland third round. Werdum is playing the same game, trying to get Overeem to go to the ground. On the feet, he’s having good success, out-landing Overeem, but doesn’t want to stay there and is constantly going to his back. Werdum grabbed Overeem’s leg at the end of the round and probably won the third. I have Overeem winning 29-28.

Winner: Alistair Overeem by way of unanimous decision

The scores were 29-28, 30-27, and 30-27.

Alistair tried to hit his catchphrase of “40 pounds of whoop-ass”, but he was nearly too exhausted to get it out.