People say you should end things with a bang and that is what Strikeforce did last night. They had a really exciting undercard to get the crowd going. The main card started with Ovince St.Preux vs Benji Radach in a light heavyweight showdown in which St.Preux dominated Radach and knocked him down in the first round but couldn't finish him and the crowd was booing because of that. That is something that St.Preux and his camp need to steadly work if he is going evolve into a true mixed martial artist. Next for St.Preux? According to Strikeforce President Scott Coker, a fight on the card at the end of January. Radach? According to sources close to us, he is going to take a couple months off and decide what is next. Our sources also said that he weighed 225 heading into fight and didn't have the proper time to prepare and will be fighting at 185 next where a possible matchup with Tim Kennedy or a returning Luke Rockhold could be in his plans.
Mike Kyle vs Antonio Silva was an amazing bout and showed the fighting spirit of both fighters. Kyle came out as expected rushing at Silva and drops with an immediate right hand to floor silva but remarkably Silva surivived the round. In the 2nd round, Silva went to work as took Kyle to ground and locked in an anaconda choke, but Kyle showed the heart of champion and was able to get of it, but then Silva got in full mount and finished Kyle by grounding and pounding to a TKO victory. it was disclosed during the post-fight press conference that Kyle broke two bones in his right hand and pre-empts a potential bout with Gegard Mousasi in February. Kyle can fight at either heavyweight or light heavyweight but his best option is at LHW as he has won his last ten bouts at 205. Next for silva? Could be the much anticipated bout with Fedor Emeliananko.
Robbie Lawler vs Matt Lindland was your classic wrestler vs puncher matchup and this time the puncher won as Lindland tried to stand with Lawler and he knocked out Lindland 59 seconds into the very first round. This fight showed Robbie Lawler is a player at 185 and according to Scott Coker the fight with Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jacare will be on his agenda to make. Lindland? Hopefully, for the sake of him and closest to him, he retires and keeps training. Two devasting KO's in the last year and you start to really about the safety of the fighter. Lindland looked every bit of 40 last night and for the sake of him and his legacy he does retire.
Paul Daley vs Scott Smith was everything you were expecting. It was the most highly anticipated bout of the evening and it delivered. They traded some shots to begin the fight, but Daley's shots were having more of a effect as you can tell that the weight cut had an effect on Smith. Daley hit Smith with an amazing triple left hook combination and then a few moments knocked Smith out with a left and Smith fell flat on his face. What's next for Daley? Daley said at the press conference that he would prefer KJ Noons as that is a money fight, but Noons hasn't made an announcemnet as to what weight class will be next for him.. If the Noons fight doesn't happen the fight, the fight that makes the most sense would be with Evangelista Cyborg then the winner would get a title shot at Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. What's next for Smith? That's the million dollar question. He looked drained at 170 and just didn't look right and he seems like he's too small for 185 as he told at the pre-fight press conference that he only weighed 189 a couple weeks after the Cung Le fight in June. So, the future is on hold for Scott Smith as his future is in limbo.
Dan Henderson vs Babalu was the main event of the evening and both fighters had a lot on the line. For Babalu, this was his chance to make a big statement with a victory over a legend and finally get a chance to reclaim his Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title and for Henderson this was a chance to regain some momentum after his loss to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut. With a loss it would hard for Strikeforce to retain him as Strikeforce gave him all that big money after his win over Michael Bisping at UFC 100. And Henderson didn't disappoint as at the beginning of the round he was trying close the distance with Babalu occasionally throwing a jab with Babalu really not do anything and being defensive. Then when Babalu tried throw a looping right hand, Henderson charged at Babalu and staggered him with a couple right hands and Babalu tried a single leg takedown as Henderson was able to get Babalu into full mount and ground and pounded his way to victory. What is next for Henderson? Scott Coker said that he will looking make Henderson vs Feijao for the title and have that fight take place in the beginning of 2011. That fight makes the most sense right now for Stirikeforce as they are thin at 205 with only Mousasi coming off a loss to King Mo in his last Strikeforce bout, King Mo is injured and Mike Kyle is injured and his return is unknown. What is next for Babalu? That is a question many people are wondering as he did not attend the press conference. A possible move to 185 isn't out of the question.
Strikeforce had a lot riding on this card last night and they delivered. They were going head to head with the UFC and they delivered. There last 3 fights ended in first round knockouts and the Silva vs Kyle ended in the 2nd. The guys that needed to win did win and only leads to better things for Strikeforce. When we will see Fedor? Sources close us tell us that they are close to deal and that will include a deal to where Showtime will air four M-1 Challenge series fights. That would be a coo for M-1, but it shows once again that Showtime/Strikeforce need fedor more than Fedor really needs them. Strikeforce also announced last night that highly touted prospect Tyron Woodley will be returning to action to face rising prospect Taric Saffiedine and Daniel Cormier faces Dennis Cole in the first Challengers series event of 2011 in Nashville. What a great way to start the year for Strikeforce. Start the year like the way they ended 2010 and that's with a definitve bang.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu main card
Benji Radach vs Ovince St.Preux
RD 1: Fight starts as both fighters circle each other as St.Preux throws a body kick and then Radach shoots and takes down St.Preux and St.preux gets back to his feet and then Radach presses St.Preux against the cage and St.Preux throws a body kick to knock down Radach floats over on tonto Radach's back and is throwing punches to the head and Radach os tring to block them, so St.Preux throws shots to the body and the head and St.Preux keeps attempting a rear naked choke and just unleashing bombs as Radach wasn't defending himself but the referee wasn't stopping it as the round ended...
RD:1 10-8 St.Preux
RD 2: St.Preux drops Radach to open the round and gets on radach back but is showing his inexpereience by not being able to finish the fight... Radach is trying to get up but unsuccessfully and St.Preux presses Radach's body into the cage as the crowd is booing for the lack of action... St.preux continues to throw punches while on the back of Radach to end the round
Rd 2: 10-8 St.Preux
Rd 3: St.preux starts the round by kicking Radach into the cage and then Radach starts throwing uppercuts and connecting and then St.Preux lands a straight left to knockdown Radach and takes his back but doing nothing while in the postion and the referee stands them up... Radach starts throwing overhand rights to knock St.Preux into the cage but unsuccessfully taking him down... radach once again shoots for a takedown but unsuccessful as both fighters are showing there fatigue and the ref puts them back in the middle and Radach shoots unsuccessfully for a takedown and finally gets down St.Preux but too little too late to finish...
Rd 3: 10-9 Radach and we have it 29-26 St.Preux
Winner: Ovince St.Preux vua unanimous decision (30-27,30-27,30-25)
Mike Kyle vs Antonio Silva
RD 1: Both fighters circling each other to begin the round... Kyle drops Silva with a right hand and continues his ground and ... pound and Silva keeps trying to block his shots and Kyle keeps going and as he keeps trying to pound Silva and tries to pass into half guard and now gets into closed guard... Kyle keeps pounding the body and as it looks silva is trying to conserve his energy to end the round...
Rd 1:10-9 Kyle
Rd 2: Silva tries for overhand right and takes down Kyle and starts ground and pounding Kyle as passes into side control and floats over to Kyle's head and back into side control... Silva gets Kyle into a guillotine and floats into an anaconda choke and Kyle slips out of it... And Silva gets into full mount and drops hammerfists and punches on Kyle and referee John McCarthy stops the bout
Winner: Antonio Silva via TKO (punches) 2:49 in Round 2
Robbie Lawler vs Matt Lindland
Rd 1: Both guys start by trading punches... Lindland and Lawler trade punches and then Lawler clips Lindland and drops and Lawler hits him one time as he waits for the referee to stop it as the referee stops the bout
Winner: Robbie Lawler wins by KO, 0:57 seconds in Rd 1
Scott Smith vs Paul Daley
Rd 1: Left nahnd by Smith to start the round as Daley tries a wild overhand right that misses... Daley hits left-right combination to knock down Smith but Smith gets back up... They trade punches and Daley staggers Smith with a a triple left hook combination and then Daley hits Smith with a left hook Smith falls on his face...
Winner: Paul Daley via KO, 2:09 in Rd 1
Main Event: Dan Henderson vs Babalu Sobral
Rd 1: Start in clinch with a short right by Henderson... Attempted overhand right by Henderson misses... Double jab by Henderson... Henderson throws a left and misses and a right by Babalu misses and Henderson charges at Babalu and babalu tries for a single leg and Henderson turns and lands onto babalu and starts landing devasting right hands onto Babalu and got into full mount on Babalu and knock him out with a hammerfist and the referee stops the fight
Winner: Dan Henderson wins via TKO (punchees) 1:53 into round 1
RD 1: Fight starts as both fighters circle each other as St.Preux throws a body kick and then Radach shoots and takes down St.Preux and St.preux gets back to his feet and then Radach presses St.Preux against the cage and St.Preux throws a body kick to knock down Radach floats over on tonto Radach's back and is throwing punches to the head and Radach os tring to block them, so St.Preux throws shots to the body and the head and St.Preux keeps attempting a rear naked choke and just unleashing bombs as Radach wasn't defending himself but the referee wasn't stopping it as the round ended...
RD:1 10-8 St.Preux
RD 2: St.Preux drops Radach to open the round and gets on radach back but is showing his inexpereience by not being able to finish the fight... Radach is trying to get up but unsuccessfully and St.Preux presses Radach's body into the cage as the crowd is booing for the lack of action... St.preux continues to throw punches while on the back of Radach to end the round
Rd 2: 10-8 St.Preux
Rd 3: St.preux starts the round by kicking Radach into the cage and then Radach starts throwing uppercuts and connecting and then St.Preux lands a straight left to knockdown Radach and takes his back but doing nothing while in the postion and the referee stands them up... Radach starts throwing overhand rights to knock St.Preux into the cage but unsuccessfully taking him down... radach once again shoots for a takedown but unsuccessful as both fighters are showing there fatigue and the ref puts them back in the middle and Radach shoots unsuccessfully for a takedown and finally gets down St.Preux but too little too late to finish...
Rd 3: 10-9 Radach and we have it 29-26 St.Preux
Winner: Ovince St.Preux vua unanimous decision (30-27,30-27,30-25)
Mike Kyle vs Antonio Silva
RD 1: Both fighters circling each other to begin the round... Kyle drops Silva with a right hand and continues his ground and ... pound and Silva keeps trying to block his shots and Kyle keeps going and as he keeps trying to pound Silva and tries to pass into half guard and now gets into closed guard... Kyle keeps pounding the body and as it looks silva is trying to conserve his energy to end the round...
Rd 1:10-9 Kyle
Rd 2: Silva tries for overhand right and takes down Kyle and starts ground and pounding Kyle as passes into side control and floats over to Kyle's head and back into side control... Silva gets Kyle into a guillotine and floats into an anaconda choke and Kyle slips out of it... And Silva gets into full mount and drops hammerfists and punches on Kyle and referee John McCarthy stops the bout
Winner: Antonio Silva via TKO (punches) 2:49 in Round 2
Robbie Lawler vs Matt Lindland
Rd 1: Both guys start by trading punches... Lindland and Lawler trade punches and then Lawler clips Lindland and drops and Lawler hits him one time as he waits for the referee to stop it as the referee stops the bout
Winner: Robbie Lawler wins by KO, 0:57 seconds in Rd 1
Scott Smith vs Paul Daley
Rd 1: Left nahnd by Smith to start the round as Daley tries a wild overhand right that misses... Daley hits left-right combination to knock down Smith but Smith gets back up... They trade punches and Daley staggers Smith with a a triple left hook combination and then Daley hits Smith with a left hook Smith falls on his face...
Winner: Paul Daley via KO, 2:09 in Rd 1
Main Event: Dan Henderson vs Babalu Sobral
Rd 1: Start in clinch with a short right by Henderson... Attempted overhand right by Henderson misses... Double jab by Henderson... Henderson throws a left and misses and a right by Babalu misses and Henderson charges at Babalu and babalu tries for a single leg and Henderson turns and lands onto babalu and starts landing devasting right hands onto Babalu and got into full mount on Babalu and knock him out with a hammerfist and the referee stops the fight
Winner: Dan Henderson wins via TKO (punchees) 1:53 into round 1
Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu Undercard
To begin the undercard, JW Wright defeated Josh Epps via submission (Guillotine choke) 1:29 of the 1st round.
2nd bout of the undercard has Coltin Cole vs Booker Derousse
Cole rocks Derrousse with an overhand right and tries to finish Derousee with ground and pound but Derousse locks in a a triangle but Cole slams him a couple times and Cole reverses to end the round... 10-9 Cole
2nd Round: Cole went for a leg and couldn't grasp the leg and Derousse started ground and pounding for the victory...
Winner Booker Derousse
3rd Bout: Lee Brousseau vs Mike Glenn
Brousseau bumrushes Glenn and hits him with a big right hook, and both fighters trade but Brousseau is landing the better shots... Glenn then drops to his knees and Brousseau starts landing vicious shots and Glenn amazingly gets back to his feet. brousseau goes for a guillotine choke but Glenn passes to side control and gets the mount and grounds and pounds as the referee stops the fight...
Winner Mike Glenn via TKO 2:00 into RD 1
4th Bout: Tom Aaron vs Matt Ricehouse
Both fighters were a little tentative in the 1st round with Aaron landing more strikes and a takedown towards the end of the round sealed it for him
1st Round: Aaron 10-9
2nd Rd: Both fighters are still a little tentative to begin the round and Ricehouse presses him to the cage and just keeps leaning into him while referee John Mccarthy has let it go and 3:30 into the round McCarthy puts them in the middle of the cage as Aaron then takes down Ricehouse but Ricehouse passes into side control and did nothing with it to the end the round.
2nd Round: 10-9 Aaron
3rd Rd: Aaron gets a single leg takedown to begin the round, as Ricehouse tries to passes into full mount and lands punches and Aaron gets out of it and both guys are on their feet and aaron tries to takedown Ricehouse but was stuffed as both guys get back to there feet and a couple nice forearms by Ricehouse and then a takedown by Ricehouse. he is in Aaron's full guard but doing nothing with it as now he is Aaron's closed guard and passes into side control to end the round.
3rd Rd: 10-9 Ricehouse... We have it 29-28 Aaron
Winner by unanimous decision: Matt Ricehouse
5th Bout: Lucas Lopes vs Cortez Coleman
Both guys trading shot to begin the round... Lopes tries to takedown Coleman, but Coleman hiptosses him onto the mat... As both guys stand up Coleman drops Lopes into a guillotine and Lopes taps out.
Winner: Cortez Coleman via submission (guillotine choke) 2:04 into Round 1
6th Bout: Terrell Brown vs Pat Cummins
Rd 1: Each fighter exchanges punches as Brown throws a right outside leg kick that buckles Cummins leg and as Brown tries a guillotine Cummins goes into side control.... Nothing really happening as Cummins is throwing punches to the head and now to the body as the face and Brown is unable to continue and the referee stops the bout
Winner: Pat Cummins wins via TKO (punches) 2:44 into Round 1
7th Bout: Justin Lawrence vs Max Martynuk
Rd 1: Both fighters circle each to begin the round and Martynuk goes forward and Lawrence shoots in for a takedown and gets into half guard and then passes into full mount and slips into side control and slips in an arm triangle and releases the hold after a minute and really didn't have it in deep... Lawrence stays in side control and landing punches the side of the really with no damage sustained...
RD 1: 10-9 Lawrence
Rd 2: Both fighters circle each other to begin the round with very little action in the 1st minute... And lawrence hits Martyunuk with a right hook to stagger and hits with a couple more shots to knock him down and then grounds pounds and the fight looked like it was going to stopped but Martynuk started to defend himself and Martynuk gets back to his feet... both fighters circling each other as Larence throws an occasional leg kick and both fighters circle each other to end the round...
RD 2: 10-9 Lawrence, 20-18 Lawrence
RD 3: Round begins with Lawrence hitting a left hook and throws a kick to the face but referee John McCarthy pulls him away as you cannot throw a kick on the ground and the ringside doctor stops the bout after looking at Martynuk...
Winner: Justin Lawrence wins via technical decision (30-27 x 3)
8th bout: Wayne Phillips vs Fernando Bettega
This is the last undercard fight of the evening... Both fighters start the round by attacking each other with punches and Bettega presses Phillips into the cage trying for a takedown... Phillips is attempting to lock in a kimura and throwing elbows to Bettega and a sloppy single leg takedown by Phillips... Now in closed guard, phillips attempts an arm triangle and Bettega gets on a loose guillotine onto Phillips as Phillips slips out of it with a minute left in the round and the referee stands them up... Both fighters circle each other as the round ends...
Rd 1: 10-9 Phillips
Rd 2: The round begins with each fighter exchanging jabs, as right now Battega is winning the standup battle... Battega presses Phillips into the cage with each fighter throwing knees and Phillips reverses it as presses battega into the cage... Now both fighters are just circling each other with the fans getting restless and start booing anmd the round mercifully...
Rd 2: 10-9 Battega
Rd 3: Both fighters begin doing the same thing as they are circling each other as Battega is trying to press the action by throwing a couple hooks but to no avail... Both fighters look exhausted trying to throw punches and Battega takes down Phillips and locks in a guillotine as Phillips slips out into closed guard and throwing punches onto Battega... Phillips keeps trying to pass into side control but Battega has his left leg locked around him and continues throwing punches...
Rd3: 10-9 Phillips, 29-28 for Phillip
Winner via split decision Fernando Battega (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
2nd bout of the undercard has Coltin Cole vs Booker Derousse
Cole rocks Derrousse with an overhand right and tries to finish Derousee with ground and pound but Derousse locks in a a triangle but Cole slams him a couple times and Cole reverses to end the round... 10-9 Cole
2nd Round: Cole went for a leg and couldn't grasp the leg and Derousse started ground and pounding for the victory...
Winner Booker Derousse
3rd Bout: Lee Brousseau vs Mike Glenn
Brousseau bumrushes Glenn and hits him with a big right hook, and both fighters trade but Brousseau is landing the better shots... Glenn then drops to his knees and Brousseau starts landing vicious shots and Glenn amazingly gets back to his feet. brousseau goes for a guillotine choke but Glenn passes to side control and gets the mount and grounds and pounds as the referee stops the fight...
Winner Mike Glenn via TKO 2:00 into RD 1
4th Bout: Tom Aaron vs Matt Ricehouse
Both fighters were a little tentative in the 1st round with Aaron landing more strikes and a takedown towards the end of the round sealed it for him
1st Round: Aaron 10-9
2nd Rd: Both fighters are still a little tentative to begin the round and Ricehouse presses him to the cage and just keeps leaning into him while referee John Mccarthy has let it go and 3:30 into the round McCarthy puts them in the middle of the cage as Aaron then takes down Ricehouse but Ricehouse passes into side control and did nothing with it to the end the round.
2nd Round: 10-9 Aaron
3rd Rd: Aaron gets a single leg takedown to begin the round, as Ricehouse tries to passes into full mount and lands punches and Aaron gets out of it and both guys are on their feet and aaron tries to takedown Ricehouse but was stuffed as both guys get back to there feet and a couple nice forearms by Ricehouse and then a takedown by Ricehouse. he is in Aaron's full guard but doing nothing with it as now he is Aaron's closed guard and passes into side control to end the round.
3rd Rd: 10-9 Ricehouse... We have it 29-28 Aaron
Winner by unanimous decision: Matt Ricehouse
5th Bout: Lucas Lopes vs Cortez Coleman
Both guys trading shot to begin the round... Lopes tries to takedown Coleman, but Coleman hiptosses him onto the mat... As both guys stand up Coleman drops Lopes into a guillotine and Lopes taps out.
Winner: Cortez Coleman via submission (guillotine choke) 2:04 into Round 1
6th Bout: Terrell Brown vs Pat Cummins
Rd 1: Each fighter exchanges punches as Brown throws a right outside leg kick that buckles Cummins leg and as Brown tries a guillotine Cummins goes into side control.... Nothing really happening as Cummins is throwing punches to the head and now to the body as the face and Brown is unable to continue and the referee stops the bout
Winner: Pat Cummins wins via TKO (punches) 2:44 into Round 1
7th Bout: Justin Lawrence vs Max Martynuk
Rd 1: Both fighters circle each to begin the round and Martynuk goes forward and Lawrence shoots in for a takedown and gets into half guard and then passes into full mount and slips into side control and slips in an arm triangle and releases the hold after a minute and really didn't have it in deep... Lawrence stays in side control and landing punches the side of the really with no damage sustained...
RD 1: 10-9 Lawrence
Rd 2: Both fighters circle each other to begin the round with very little action in the 1st minute... And lawrence hits Martyunuk with a right hook to stagger and hits with a couple more shots to knock him down and then grounds pounds and the fight looked like it was going to stopped but Martynuk started to defend himself and Martynuk gets back to his feet... both fighters circling each other as Larence throws an occasional leg kick and both fighters circle each other to end the round...
RD 2: 10-9 Lawrence, 20-18 Lawrence
RD 3: Round begins with Lawrence hitting a left hook and throws a kick to the face but referee John McCarthy pulls him away as you cannot throw a kick on the ground and the ringside doctor stops the bout after looking at Martynuk...
Winner: Justin Lawrence wins via technical decision (30-27 x 3)
8th bout: Wayne Phillips vs Fernando Bettega
This is the last undercard fight of the evening... Both fighters start the round by attacking each other with punches and Bettega presses Phillips into the cage trying for a takedown... Phillips is attempting to lock in a kimura and throwing elbows to Bettega and a sloppy single leg takedown by Phillips... Now in closed guard, phillips attempts an arm triangle and Bettega gets on a loose guillotine onto Phillips as Phillips slips out of it with a minute left in the round and the referee stands them up... Both fighters circle each other as the round ends...
Rd 1: 10-9 Phillips
Rd 2: The round begins with each fighter exchanging jabs, as right now Battega is winning the standup battle... Battega presses Phillips into the cage with each fighter throwing knees and Phillips reverses it as presses battega into the cage... Now both fighters are just circling each other with the fans getting restless and start booing anmd the round mercifully...
Rd 2: 10-9 Battega
Rd 3: Both fighters begin doing the same thing as they are circling each other as Battega is trying to press the action by throwing a couple hooks but to no avail... Both fighters look exhausted trying to throw punches and Battega takes down Phillips and locks in a guillotine as Phillips slips out into closed guard and throwing punches onto Battega... Phillips keeps trying to pass into side control but Battega has his left leg locked around him and continues throwing punches...
Rd3: 10-9 Phillips, 29-28 for Phillip
Winner via split decision Fernando Battega (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Preview of Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu
Strikeforce: Henderson vs Babalu takes place tonight at the Scottrade Center in St.Louis, MO. The card is headlined by former Pride Champion Dan Henderson as he takes Babalu Sobral, with the co-main event has the welterweight debut of Scott Smith as he takes on the returning Paul Daley as it is Daley's return to the big stage after his incident with Josh Koscheck at UFC 114, Robbie Lawler takes on veteran Matt Lindland in a middleweight bout, Antonio Silva takes on Mike Kyle in a heavyweight showdown and Benji Radach takes on Ovince St.Preux in a light heavyweight bout.
Tonight's card has title implications in two bouts as Scott Smith takes on Paul Daley in the co-main event. It seems like daley overlooking Smith and look towards a possible fight with either Tyron Woodley or KJ Noons and there is no guarantee that Noons' will even come back up to 170 for his next bout. And then after that fight, he wants a shot at Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. You can never overlook an opponent and this is Daley's big chance to erase what happened earlier this in the incident with Josh Koscheck.
Scott Smith is making his welterweight debut after a successful stint at 185 including two great bouts with Cung Le including his KO win last December at the card headlined by Gilbert Melendez-Josh Thomson II and then the loss the past June at Fedor-Werdum. The reason for Smith moving down was he told me that, " a couple weeks after the Le, I only weighed 189, so it made sense to move down to 170 as I will be quicker and be more powerful than I have ever been."
My prediction is: Scott Smith TKO Round 3
In the main event of the evening, MMA Legend Dan Henderson takes on Babalu Sobral. Henderson looks to rebound from his loss to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut in April at the infamous brawl afterwords in Nashville. Henderson looked fatigued after a very dominating first round as he had Shields on the ropes and couldnt' finish as Shields dominated the last four rounds to an easy unanimous decision victory. Henderson disclosed in the last weeks couple weeks that he wasn't 100 percent heading into the Shields bout with a hard weight cut and a back injury and took some bad medication that made his weight cut a little more difficult than usual. henderson says his back is 100 percent and feels more comfortable fighting at 205 at this stage of his career.
Babalu Sobral is a former Strikeforce Light heavyweight Champion and is coming off a victory over Robbie Lawler at the Strikeforce: Los Angeles in a catchweight bout at 195. He was scheduled to face former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight King Mo Lawal and refused to fight him as they are training partners and Lawal went to face Feijao and lost the title to him in August at Strikeforce:Houston.
Babalu stated that he wanted to fight Henderson again as his first loss was to Henderson at the RINGS tournament in 1999.
Both fighters have stated that they didn't learn anything from the first bout as they both evolved into true mixed martial artists. It will be war and the winner of the main event is guaranteed the next shot at the Light Heavyweight Championship.
My Prediction: Henderson via decision
Tonight's card has title implications in two bouts as Scott Smith takes on Paul Daley in the co-main event. It seems like daley overlooking Smith and look towards a possible fight with either Tyron Woodley or KJ Noons and there is no guarantee that Noons' will even come back up to 170 for his next bout. And then after that fight, he wants a shot at Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. You can never overlook an opponent and this is Daley's big chance to erase what happened earlier this in the incident with Josh Koscheck.
Scott Smith is making his welterweight debut after a successful stint at 185 including two great bouts with Cung Le including his KO win last December at the card headlined by Gilbert Melendez-Josh Thomson II and then the loss the past June at Fedor-Werdum. The reason for Smith moving down was he told me that, " a couple weeks after the Le, I only weighed 189, so it made sense to move down to 170 as I will be quicker and be more powerful than I have ever been."
My prediction is: Scott Smith TKO Round 3
In the main event of the evening, MMA Legend Dan Henderson takes on Babalu Sobral. Henderson looks to rebound from his loss to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut in April at the infamous brawl afterwords in Nashville. Henderson looked fatigued after a very dominating first round as he had Shields on the ropes and couldnt' finish as Shields dominated the last four rounds to an easy unanimous decision victory. Henderson disclosed in the last weeks couple weeks that he wasn't 100 percent heading into the Shields bout with a hard weight cut and a back injury and took some bad medication that made his weight cut a little more difficult than usual. henderson says his back is 100 percent and feels more comfortable fighting at 205 at this stage of his career.
Babalu Sobral is a former Strikeforce Light heavyweight Champion and is coming off a victory over Robbie Lawler at the Strikeforce: Los Angeles in a catchweight bout at 195. He was scheduled to face former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight King Mo Lawal and refused to fight him as they are training partners and Lawal went to face Feijao and lost the title to him in August at Strikeforce:Houston.
Babalu stated that he wanted to fight Henderson again as his first loss was to Henderson at the RINGS tournament in 1999.
Both fighters have stated that they didn't learn anything from the first bout as they both evolved into true mixed martial artists. It will be war and the winner of the main event is guaranteed the next shot at the Light Heavyweight Championship.
My Prediction: Henderson via decision
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)