DFN Sports MMA Blog

Strikeforce returns to St. Louis with a loaded fight card headlined by Dan Henderson’s second fight for the Strikeforce promotion in what is a decade-long rematch with Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Henderson is coming off of a loss to Jake Shields, albeit at middleweight, which is a weight he struggles to make as he is now definitively over the hill. Backing these two veterans up on the main card are what should be a slam-bang punch-up between young strikers Paul Daley and Scott Smith, as well as an odd but strangely appealing bout between two more MMA old-timers: Robbie Lawler and Matt Lindland. Rounding out the card, Mike Kyle steps up to fill the shoes of an injured Valentijn Overeem to face always dangerous Antonio Silva.

The complete Strikeforce: St. Louis Henderson vs. Babalu predictions can be found at ProFighting-fans.com and are brought to you by Intimidation MMA apparel and CarnalDaMMAge.com, a leading online retailer of MMA clothing & t-shirts.

Dan Henderson versus Renato Sobral

Both men have vied for the UFC light heavyweight championship and lost: Henderson to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Sobral to Chuck Liddell. Both have losses to Strikeforce champions in recent fights: Henderson to Jake Shields at middleweight in his last fight when he challenged for the belt earlier this year, and “Babalu” lost his belt to Gegard Mousasi at light heavyweight in 2009. Not to mention their first match (see above), and all the fights they’ve accumulated in a what’s what of MMA promotions in the meantime. This fight will clearly come down to who is still relevant and who wants it more. This fight, again, is for title contention at light heavyweight versus current light heavyweight champ Rafael Feijao. Brazilian fighters currently hold three of Strikeforce’s seven available belts. Americans hold two. It’s not just reputations on the line, it is valor and patriotism.

Henderson is a dangerous and savvy all-around fighter, with knockout power in his perenially-cocked right hand, while he is a mastermind in the clinch and wields soul-crushing top-control. Sobral is a submission specialist with good wrestling. In other words, a classic matchup.

This fight could be determined on the feet. Henderson’s weakness is when he is on his back, while Sobral has a questionable chin. On paper Henderson is the better wrestler, but in MMA this does not always quantify. From any angle, this is a ridiculously close fight to guess. I give the nod to Sobral as he has more momentum and holds the size and age advantage. Henderson, it could be argued, is fighting for paycheques like his training compatriots Randy Couture and Matt Lindland. If he has the gumption to work hard for another belt, the fight is his, but I suspect Sobral wants it more.

Prediction: Sobral by submission

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MMA Recaps:

UFC 115: Rich “Ace” Franklin showed off more than just his skills; he put his biggest asset on display, his heart.  Franklin suffered a broken left forearm early in his fight versus Chuck Liddell.  Despite being left handed, Rich managed to knock out Liddell with a brutal right hand near the end of the first round.  With the victory rumors are circulating that Rich (28-5) will battle Forrest Griffin after his arm is at full strength.  For legendary Chuck Liddell, the ice has melted.  The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion will likely call it quits after a stellar career.  Legendary Pride Fighting Heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop looked very good in his victory over Pat Barry.  Cro Cop obtained the “W” via tap out due to a RNC.  Despite the victory, Cro Cop may also hang up the gloves.

Strikeforce Los Angeles: The main event featured Renato “Babalu” Sobral versus heavy handed Robbie Lawler.  Although Babalu landed several take downs he did little with it, yet he got the decision.  Lawler landed several effective blows which resulted in a cut up face and several stitches.  In my opinion, Lawler clearly won the catch weight (195lb) battle by inflicting more punishment and avoiding damage.  Sobral will likely face Dan Henderson or possibly get a title shot against Mo Lawal.  If Jake Shields bolts for The UFC, Lawler will compete in a 185lb tournament.  If Shields stays, Lawler may face the grappling dynamo for the title.

The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale: “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine was left a bloody mess by Loveland, OH native Matt Hamill.  “The Hammer” pummeled Jardine which led to a victory via a UD.  Hamill moved to 9-2 while Jardine extended his losing streak to four leaving him at 15-8 overall.  Court McGee defeated Kris McCray via tap out due to a RNC in the 2nd round.  McGee controlled the fight throughout which earned him a six figure contract.

MMA Upcoming:

Bellator 23: The Bellator Fighting Championship comes to Louisville, KY on June 24th.  Cincinnati will be on full display as natives Chad Hinton and Daniel Straus will do battle in the lightweight division.  The local flare will also include Ron Sparks vs. Dave Hess and John Troyer vs. Brent Weedman in what should be great battles.  The Middleweight and Featherweight tournament finals are the feature match-ups.  In the middleweight division Bryan “The Beast” Baker will battle unorthodox Alexander Shlemenko for a title shot and $100,000.  Although Shlemenko is hard to handle, Baker will be too much.  With a victory Baker would face the incredibly talented Bellator Middleweight Champ Hector Lombard.  The Featherweight final is a fantastic match-up between Pitbull Freire and Joe Warren.  Pitbull is very good but Warren is a top of the food chain wrestler.  His skills on the ground will be the difference.  A victory by Warren will get him a title shot against the undefeated Joe Soto.  Bellator 23 can be viewed on Fox Sports Net live on June 24th.  If you cannot view the event follow my live blog at ProFighting-fans.com.

Strikeforce Fedor vs. Werdum: The greatest fighter in the sport, Fedor Emelianenko, will be on display against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Fabricio Werdum on June 26th live on Showtime.  Unfortunately Fedor may only have two more fights before retiring and starting a political career in Russia.  With a victory (highly likely), Fedor will face Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title.  Former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson will be back in action against a very tough Pat Healy.  A rededicated Cung Le returns to the cage to battle Scott Smith in a rematch of a very entertaining bout which took place this past December.  In that bout, Le dominated throughout but in typical Scott Smith fashion, he survived and landed heavy strikes in the 3rd round to get the improbable victory.  Ohio native Jan Finney will be a massive underdog when she enters the cage to face SF Women’s Champion Cristiana “Cybor” Santos for the title.  Santos lost her first professional fight in May of 2005 and hasn’t lost since.  She is on a nine fight winning streak which includes a dominating victory over media darling Gina Carano.  Finney, 8-7, is on a four fight winning streak of her own and will look to shock the world.  The event takes place on June 26th airing live on Showtime and the Strikeforce Fedor vs Werdum results will be available online.  MMA fans, don’t miss out on an opportunity to watch the greatest the sport has ever seen.

UFC 116 Lesnar vs. Carwin: The much ballyhooed battle between two behemoths will finally take place on July 3rd live on PPV.  Lesnar has recovered from his medical issues and for the first time will face a combatant as equally strong and dangerous.  Carwin has waltzed through the competition going 12-0.  His most recent victory was an impressive destruction over former champ Frank Mir.  Although this is an even match-up and Lesnar’s ring rust could be a factor, look for the incredible athleticism of Lesnar to be the difference as he will gain a victory via TKO due to strikes in the 3rd round.  The event also features former Pride Champion and cult hero Wanderlei Silva.  The “Axe Murderer” is coming off a big victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 110.  He will face a tough challenge in the form of submission specialist Yoshihiro Akiyama.  If Silva can get the victory, he may be in line for a shot against Anderson Silva.

The month of May will conclude with one of the most anticipated bouts in recent memory as two bitter rivals will do battle at UFC 114 on May 29^th. After Rampage Jackson defeated Keith Jardine at UFC 96 in Columbus, OH, Rashad Evans entered the cage to help hype their upcoming duel. It quickly became heated and unlike many verbal confrontations, the animosity seemed genuine. Their disdain for each other was put on display during their stints as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Season Ten: The Heavyweights which premiered in September, 2009. The trash-talking Jackson and quick-witted Evans created substantial buzz for their bout which was scheduled for UFC 108 on January 2^nd 2010. Despite the buildup, Rampage decided to take the role of BA Baracus in the remake of the classic television show, The A-Team (scheduled to open in theatres on June 11th). UFC President Dana White lambasted Jackson for his decision as did many others. This resulted in heated words and eventually the retirement (although brief) of Rampage Jackson. Instead of facing Rampage Jackson at UFC 108, Rashad faced a tough opponent in Thiago Silva. Evans got the victory, Rampage came out of retirement and now the stage is set – enough drama for you? Yes, the theatrics are outstanding but don’t forget that both of these fighters are tremendously talented. This bout should be extremely entertaining. If you cannot watch on pay-per-view follow a live blog at ProFighting-fans.com.

The same night, Dream 14 will be held in Japan. Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz will be on display as will the extremely talented Joachim Hansen. The most intriguing bout of the night will feature Ralek Gracie against legendary Kazushi Sakuraba (nicknamed The Gracie Killer). The event will be broadcast on HDNET.

The Bellator Fighting Championship tournaments continue on Fox Sports Net every Thursday evening. This promotion features some extremely talented fighters. If you are a MMA fan you should be watching these events and Pro Fighting Fans is staying on top of all Bellator MMA news.

June features a battle of legends UFC 115 as Chuck Liddell will face Rich Franklin on June 12^th atop the UFC 115 fight card. Strikeforce: Los Angeles is slated for June 16^th and will feature the best fighter on the planet, Fedor as he battle Jiu-Jitsu ace Fabricio Werdum @ Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum. There will be more coverage to follow here and at ProFighting-fans.com in the coming weeks.

Cincinnati‘s Local MMA Scene:

Absolute Action MMA is scheduled for June 5^th at the Drawbridge Inn in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky. Highly touted amateur Marcus Finch will be in action as will talented local Shaun Asher. For more on the event visit www.aamma.net.

The ICF reopens its doors on June 5^th at Midwest Hoops in Florence, KY. The event features amateur and pro fights. For more information visit Intimidation Cage Fighting‘s to check out the ICF 20 fight card.

Finally, congratulations to local product Roger Bowling. Bowling showed the nation what everyone in the area already knew; he is an extremely talented fighter with rare athleticism. Bowling dominated Bobby Voelker throughout and got the victory at Strikeforce Challengers 8 in Portland, Oregon.

For coverage of the entire world of MMA visit ProFighting-fans.com.

Scott Dryden is the Editor-in-Chief of ProFighting-fans.com and a Sports Columnist for The Peoples Defender.

Roger Bowling remains undefeated. Making his Strikeforce debut on Friday night at Strikeforce Challengers 8, Bowling faced an experienced Bobby Voekler. After two dominating rounds that featured Bolwing battering the face and body of Voelker, the two went into the 3rd round with Voelker needing a finish. But with the two ties up by the cage the referee separated Bowling & Voelker with Bowling taking a finger or glove to the eye in accidental fashion. Without the ability to open his eye the remainder of the fight and for several hours afterward, the doctors would not allow Bowling to continue as he won a technical unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28.

The Strikeforce welterweight prospect improved to 8-0 in his brief MMA career and he impressed many in voctory. While the eye injury was unfortunate and the fans booed him loudly, he nonetheless opened the eyes, parden the pun, of true MMA fans who watched him batter and bruise a strong fighter in Bobby Voelker.

While the UFC takes a few weeks off between UFC 110 and their first Versus-televised event, the MMA world is now slowing down. Friday night features two major MMA organizations, Strikeforce and the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) hosting events. Strikeforce Challengers 6 will be headlined by a women’s 135 pound title fight between Sarah Kaufman and Takayo Hashi. The only problem is Strikeforce does not know what the woemn’s 135 pound weight class is call referring it to both Bantamweight and Welterweight in separate Press Releases on their site. To further complicate things, Wikipedia’s Strikeforce page calls the 135 pound weight class the Featherweight Division. Strikeforce has also included strong matchups on this card with Trevor Prangley vs Karl Amoussou and Luke Rockhold vs Paul Bradley and the Strikeforce Challengers 6 results will be posted online at ProFighting-fans.com with the event televised on Showtime.

MFC 24: Heat XC will also take place Friday night with an online broadcast being the only option. While the main event has remained intact with Yves Edwards vs Derrick Noble, one of the more intriguing bouts was David Heath vs Dwayne Lewis. However Heath suffered an injury last week and had to pull out of the fight and was replaced by teammate Ryan McClain. The complete MFC 24 results will also be posted online at ProFighting-fans.com for fans to track the winners.

The main card of Strikeforce Miami is about to start and the live Strikeforce Miami blog is about to get underway. After they skipped one of the preliminary fights I can’t say that Strikeforce is looking like the bigtime promotion they should be with David Zitnik vs Michael Byrnes having been skipped. However it’s time to see Bobby Lashley vs Wes Sims and see how Strikeforce Miami plays out. Check out the official Strikeforce Miami results here at Pro Fighting Fans.

Strikeforce returns to action with their first event of 2010 as they look to crown a Welterweight Champion on Showtime. In the fight for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight belt, bad boy Nick Diaz faces newcomer Marius Zaromskis while Christiane “Cyborg” Santos, the Women’s Lightweight (145 pound) Champion will defend her belt facing top contender Marloes Coenen. Our Strikeforce January 30 predictions from select fights are below and fans can find the Strikeforce Miami results after the fights are complete online at ProFighting-fans.com, the online Strikeforce news leaders.

Strikeforce Welterweight Championship Fight – Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis

UFC, Elite XC, DREAM, and Strikeforce cage vet Nick Diaz (20-7, 1 no contest ), 26, gets first crack at capturing the company’s newly-developed Welterweight belt when he meets twenty-nine year old Lithuanian Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis (13-2), who trains in London at the London Shootfighters training center. The two will be pitted against each other at the January 30 th Strikeforce: Miami main event.

Diaz has been a significant mixed martial artist for several years now, due in large to his 6-4 run in the UFC from April 2004 through November 2006. He also earned recognition for his February 2007 PRIDE 33 tapping of Takanori Gomi, however the victory was later changed to a no contest because Diaz failed a post-fight drug test. Since his February no contest, he has posted six victories in seven trips inside the cage. The only loss during the aforementioned period was a November 2007 TKO loss to KJ Noons via a cut that Diaz suffered. His most recent action consisted of a June 2009 rear naked choke submission victory against Scott Smith.

Zaromskis is a longtime participant for the Cage Rage fight promotion where he lost only twice in seven career fights. His breakout moment happened in July of 2009 when he won the 2009 DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix and became the DREAM Welterweight Champion. Since becoming the Champ, Zaromskis has fought only once, an October 25th non-title bout at DREAM 12 against Ho Bae Myeon. “Whitemare” used a perfectly timed head kick to KO the Korean in 19 seconds.

Prediction – Diaz over Zaromskis via decision

Strikeforce returns to action with their first event of 2010 as they look to crown a Welterweight Champion on Showtime. In the fight for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight belt, bad boy Nick Diaz faces newcomer Marius Zaromskis while Christiane “Cyborg” Santos, the Women’s Lightweight (145 pound) Champion will defend her belt facing top contender Marloes Coenen. Our Strikeforce January 30 predictions from select fights are below and fans can find the Strikeforce Miami results after the fights are complete online at ProFighting-fans.com, the online Strikeforce news leaders.

Strikeforce Women’s Lightweight Championship Fight – Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Marloes Coenen

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (8-1) will make her first Strikeforce Women’s Lightweight Title defense against Dutch Jiu-Jitsu specialist Marloes Coenen (17-3) when the two square off in the co-main event at Strikeforce: Miami on January 30 th.

“Cyborg”, 24, won her Women’s Strikeforce Lightweight Championship when she headlined the “Carano vs. Cyborg” Strikeforce event in August 2009, easily defeating Gina Carano via 1 st round TKO. The victory over Carano was her fourth in as many chances since migrating to the States in July 2008. She has fought twice for the now-defunct Elite XC and twice for Strikeforce.

Coenen, 28, a Golden Glory product, began fighting over nine years ago and registered victories in nine consecutive fights to start her career. Overall, Coenen won 13 of her first 14 matches submitting nine opponents along her way. She won her last fight, getting redemption for one of her three career losses, by defeating Roxanne Modafferi via armbar in November on the undercard of the Strikeforce “Fedor vs. Rogers” event.

Prediction – Santos over Coenen via submission

Strikeforce returns to action with their first event of 2010 as they look to crown a Welterweight Champion on Showtime. In the fight for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight belt, bad boy Nick Diaz faces newcomer Marius Zaromskis while Christiane “Cyborg” Santos, the Women’s Lightweight (145 pound) Champion will defend her belt facing top contender Marloes Coenen. Our Strikeforce January 30 predictions from select fights are below and fans can find the Strikeforce Miami results after the fights are complete online at ProFighting-fans.com, the online Strikeforce news leaders.

Melvin Manhoef vs. Robbie Lawler

Dutch striker Melvin Manhoef (24-6-1) and “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (18-5) will try and bring fireworks to the Strikeforce: Miami main card when they square off in a highly anticipated middleweight brawl. Manhoef is fighting in America for only the second time in his fourteen year career. Lawler hasn’t been in action since a June loss to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut.

Manhoef began fighting mixed martial arts in 1995 for a variety of small time promotions in the Netherlands. He began to gain a little notoriety in 2005 when he won the Cage Rage Light-Heavyweight Title in the middle of a ten-fight winning streak. When the British organization was bought out, he moved onto fight for K-1 Hero’s and DREAM in Japan. There, he lost two of his last three fights until earning a 1 st round TKO over Kazuo Misaki at FEG’s Dynamite 2009 event this New Years Eve.

“Ruthless”, 27, a HIT Squad fighter, was 6-0 when signing on to fight for the UFC in 2002. He recorded a 4-2 record for the organization from May 2002 through October 2004, defeating opponents like Aaron Riley, Tiki Ghosn, and Chris Lytle. After losing three of his last four inside the octagon, he bounced around from Icon Sport to King of the Cage to PRIDE to the IFL and then to Elite XC before landing in Strikeforce. He won 8 of 10 including the Icon Sport and Elite XC middleweight titles during that span before his loss to Shields.

Prediction – Lawler over Manhoef via TKO