Strikeforce Lightweight bout: Shinya Aoki vs. Lyle Beerbohm
Odds: (-275 Aoki /+215 Beerbohm )
Betting Pick: Aoki
Bet on this fight at: Sportsbook.com
In the second bout, Japan’s premier jiu-jitsu artist, Shinya Aoki, returns to Strikeforce to square off against Washington’s Lyle Beerbohm, who is quite an accomplished grappler in his own right. Beerbohm is definitely the better-rounded fighter, but Aoki is arguably the best grappler on Earth at 155 pounds, so this is a very compelling matchup. Aoki can easily be handled on the feet, so Beerbohm is going to need to try to exploit his striking advantage and keep this fight off the ground if he wants to avoid a spot on Aoki’s highlight reel.
Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm, although he is coming off a disappointing loss on the Challengers Series, is a very effective and well-rounded young fighter. His ground game is very solid and he has good technical boxing with heavy hands to go along with it. His wrestling is decent, but that is probably irrelevant in this fight. If Beerbohm wants a chance, he is going to have to keep this fight standing at all costs. He is more than capable of punishing Aoki on the feet, but if this fight winds up on the ground he is going to be in a load of trouble.
Shinya Aoki is the most dynamic and effective submission artist in the sport. He is extremely one dimensional, but that one dimension is spectacular. His boxing is extremely amateurish and he isn’t a very good wrestler, but once a fight hits the ground there is no one in the world at Lightweight who can hang with him for long. He has crazy submissions from every position and it is nearly impossible to shake him off. There is no question what his gameplan will be, and he will do anything to get a fight to the ground, including pull guard.
Beerbohm is a talented young fighter, but he is just not ready for such a huge step up in competition. He has the standup advantage, but he is not a dominant enough striker to put Aoki away before Aoki can drag him down and not a dominant enough wrestler to keep Aoki from finding a way to ground the fight. It is only a matter of time before Aoki adds another submission to his impressive resume.
Prediction: Shinya Aoki via second round
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