Strikeforce – Los Angeles takes place June 16th in, you guessed it, Los Angeles. Forgive the less than stellar poster…I couldn’t find one for this event for some reason so I had to make one to put there. The main event will match up two former UFC fighters and top contenders Renato “Babalu” Sobral and “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler. Allegedly, the winner of this fight will get a title shot in their respective weight classes. Also appearing on the Strikeforce – LA card are Marius Zaromskis, the male version of Cyborg Santos, Trevor Prangley, KJ Noons and Tim Kennedy.
As always, Mike Hammersmith, a friend and freelance MMA writer for sites like MMAMafia, will be giving MMAMoneyLine viewers another viewpoint along with additional analysis and recommendations. Here are myself and Mike’s top plays for tomorrow’s Strikeforce – Los Angeles card. To check out Mike’s picks for the full card, check out his writeup at MMAMafia or MMAMoneyLine’s Strikeforce – Los Angeles Pros’ Picks.
Conor Heun – Mike Hammersmith (+335 on Bookmaker)
Probably more famous for his role on Bully Beatdown than his actual fighting prowess, Conor “The Hurricane” Heun is a full-time submission grappling and wrestling trainer at Legends MMA, and a veteran of several mid-tier MMA organizations. Those he’s not a full-time fighter, Heun has had a successful career with eight wins, and all of this three losses coming by way of decision.
He will be facing off-again on-again MMA fighter KJ Noons, who has spent the majority of his fighting career inside a boxing ring, rather than the cage. Having already made his comeback to MMA in Japan, he took on Andre Amade in an affair that showed both ring rust, and a series of very bad habits picked up from his several years away from the sport and learning the sweet science.
While Noons can clearly out-strike Heun in a standing battle, Heun brings more than enough wrestling and submission grappling to put Noons down consistently in this bout, and make his boxing skills all but useless. My concern here is that Heun will prefer to bang it out with Noons, as he’s shown a willingness to scrap even when it doesn’t favor his chances of winning. Despite sometimes being his own worst enemy in the cage, Heun comes into this bout at +335 and makes for a great bet in what is likely a dead even fight.
Marius Zaromskis – MMAMoneyLine (-245 on Bookmaker)
I imagine some people are not as high on “The Whitemare” now after his drubbing at the hands of Nick Diaz. However, Marius Zaromskis is still an extremely devastating striker with KO power in both hands and feet. Strikeforce, in my opinion, gave him a pretty good match up in Evangelista Santos. Cyborg is also heavy handed, but he isn’t as fast or technical as Zaromskis. I have little doubt that this entire contest will unfold with both participants upright, and nothing of Cyborg’s recent fights has shown me that he is going to be able to hang with Zaromskis. Taking Joey Villasenor to a split decision was impressive, but I believe Zaromskis has better striking than Smokin’ Joe. After a close first frame, look for the Whitemare to land a few leg kicks in the second and ultimately sneak in his trademark high kick for the KO win.
MMAMoneyLine Official Picks:
Sobral/UD
Zaromskis/TKO/2
Kennedy/SD
Heun/SUB/2
MMAMoneyLine Official Wagers (1 unit = 2% of bankroll):
Zaromskis – 1 u. at -245 on Bookmaker
Heun – .25 u. at +335 on Bookmaker