It wasn’t long ago that this coming Saturday’s Strikeforce card, would have been fodder for an exhaustive, roll your eyes debate as to whether or not the world’s #2 promotion could indeed compete with the UFC. Of course, Strikeforce was the latest property to be bought in the most recent round of Zuffa Monopoly, so guess there won’t be any post-fight, ‘Dana should be worried’ discussion.
The latest Strikeforce offering is looking pretty damn sweet, as in addition to the main event between welterweight champ Nick Diaz and Paul ‘What Bell?’ Daley, there’s several great fights lined-up, including Lyle Beerbohm vs. Dream lightweight champ Shinya Aoki. Now, due to the systematic beatdown that Melendez delivered Aoki in his Strikeforce debut, the hype train surrounding the submission wiz has been somewhat derailed. That said, we are talking about a dude that has tapped out top ranked fighters like Tatsuya Kawajiri, Eddie Alvarez and Joachim Hansen (not to mention snapping Mizuto Hirota’s arm), so there’s still cause for concern right? Well, while speaking to MMA Fighting, the 15-1 Beerbohm offered the following:
“I like to go to the ground, and he’s one of the best grapplers in the world at lightweight. I think it should be an exciting fight, and I’m not afraid to go to the ground with him. I’m really not. He might think that no one wants to go there with him, but we’ll see what happens when we get there.”
Beerbohm also stated that he’s looking to “beat him up against the cage” or “get on top of him”; maybe staying away from the ground altogether here is the best idea. Guess we’ll see. To bet on the bouts head here.