Strikeforce Light Heavyweight bout: Dan Henderson vs. Renato Sobral
Odds: ( Henderson / Sobral )
Betting Pick: Henderson
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In the main event of the evening, UFC veteran Renato “Babalu” Sobral and former two-division PRIDE champion Dan Henderson will meet in a rematch more than ten years in the making. The last time these two met was February of 2000, with Henderson taking an extremely narrow majority decision in the Rings King of Kings finals. Both men have had very successful careers since then, and this should be another very competitive fight.
“Babalu”, a long-time mainstay at the top of UFC’s Light Heavyweight division, was let go due to an unfortunate incident in which he held a choke for too long, rather than for a decline in performance. A jiu-jitsu expert with fierce striking and solid wrestling, Babalu is a very well-rounded fighter with a lot of offensive tools in his belt. He isn’t the kind of guy who is going to just overwhelm his opponents, but he is a threat to finish in every range and doesn’t have any glaring holes in his game.
Henderson is also very well-rounded, with great wrestling, especially in the clinch, and huge power punching. His top game is fairly solid, but he does his best work throwing big shots on the feet and using the clinch to neutralize his opponents and bruise them up. He has an excellent chin as well, but his actual ground game is a bit lacking and he is susceptible to being swept and even submitted.
On the feet, Babalu is faster and more technical, but Henderson has far more knockout power and throws his huge looping punches from unorthodox angles. Babalu definitely has a better submission game, but I don’t think he is going to have the ability to really force Henderson into a ground game. I think Henderson will bully Babalu around in the clinch and bruise him up with dirty boxing before eventually catching him with one of his trademark power punches for the T/KO win.
Prediction: Dan Henderson via second round T/KO.
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