This is the Strikeforce live blog for Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov, a middleweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce on Showtime event from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Lawler (18-8), who lost both his fights in 2011 against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Tim Kennedy, is looking to prevent the first three-fight skid of his career. Russia’s Amagov (9-1-1) is taking a step up in competition after winning twice on Strikeforce Challengers shows in 2011.
Round 1: Lawler aggressively moves forward only to have Amagov dump him down with a quick double-leg. Lawler tries to get up and Amagov holds a front headlock. Amagov lands an illegal knee and loses a point. Lawler grazes Amagov on the top of the head with a huge flying knee and Amagov collapses face first to the floor. Lawler turns around and finishes with left hands.
Lawler jumped so high with the flying knee that he almost jumped over Amagov. Cool finish.
Robbie Lawler wins via TKO (flying knee followed by punches) – Round 1, 1:48
This is the Strikeforce live blog for Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov, a middleweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce on Showtime event from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Lawler (18-8), who lost both his fights in 2011 against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Tim Kennedy, is looking to prevent the first three-fight skid of his career. Russia’s Amagov (9-1-1) is taking a step up in competition after winning twice on Strikeforce Challengers shows in 2011.
Round 1: Lawler aggressively moves forward only to have Amagov dump him down with a quick double-leg. Lawler tries to get up and Amagov holds a front headlock. Amagov lands an illegal knee and loses a point. Lawler grazes Amagov on the top of the head with a huge flying knee and Amagov collapses face first to the floor. Lawler turns around and finishes with left hands.
Lawler jumped so high with the flying knee that he almost jumped over Amagov. Cool finish.
Robbie Lawler wins via TKO (flying knee followed by punches) – Round 1, 1:48
Filed under: StrikeforceStrikeforce returns on Showtime tonight, and thanks to the free preview weekend it’s available even for you non-subscribers out there. So what are you going to be looking at when you accidentally stumble onto the channel that yo…
Strikeforce returns on Showtime tonight, and thanks to the free preview weekend it’s available even for you non-subscribers out there. So what are you going to be looking at when you accidentally stumble onto the channel that you usually breeze right past on your way to Nat Geo Wild? Here are just a few of the major storylines and pressing concerns heading into Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine.
I. For the sake of argument, let’s try and justify the decision to give Keith Jardine a middleweight title shot:
a) For starters, there’s Scott Coker’s ‘anything can happen’ defense, which suggests that because it’s not impossible for Jardine to win, it must therefore be reasonable for him to get the chance. That has a certain simplistic beauty to it, but if you accept that you must also accept that any fight would, by that logic, be acceptable. Rockhold vs. a bloated Tyron Woodley? Yep, that works. Rockhold vs. a dangerously emaciated Bobby Lashley? That too. As long as we’re at it, I could make 185 pounds no problem. So why didn’t my phone ring with an offer, forcing me to immediately fake a staph infection? You get the point.
b) Then there’s what I like to call the ‘cumulative effect’ defense. This argues that when you look at Jardine’s entire history as a fighter — from his 2006 TKO of Forrest Griffin to his 2007 split decision over Chuck Liddell to his recent draw with Gegard Mousasi — it’s not too shabby. And that’s true. Taken as a whole, Jardine’s career is pretty solid. It’s just the last few years — including the 2-5-1 record his last eight bouts — that have been pretty dismal. But hey, if we’re giving out title shots as lifetime achievement awards now, I assume Wanderlei Silva’s shot at Anderson Silva must be coming up any day now.
c) Finally, the old ‘he was the best we could find on short notice’ defense. What it lacks in poetic flourish, it makes up for with cold, hard pragmatism. Tim Kennedy was hurt, according to Coker. Robbie Lawler was coming off two straight losses. ‘Mayhem’ Miller, Jake Shields, and Dan Henderson had all fled the organization, and ‘Jacare’ Souza just fought Rockhold back in September. Who else is left to take this fight? The answer, apparently, is Jardine. And so here we are.
II. But no matter what you think of the matchmaking, don’t blame Jardine. He’s been saying he wants to drop down to middleweight for a while now, and from his perspective, why not say yes to a title shot in his first fight there? He’s got nothing to lose. If he wins, he’s the Strikeforce champ and his career is revitalized. Even if he loses he can still earn some brownie points for making a fight out of it. Really, the only way he comes off looking bad is if he gets knocked out or submitted in the first two minutes. That’s always a possibility — the old ‘anything can happen’ saw cuts both ways — but let’s just say the bar is set very low for him here. He made the weight, which is a good start. Now it’s up to him to see if he can’t justify this bizarre matchmaking and get his name back in the news for the right reasons.
III. Luke Rockhold summed up his reaction to the Jardine fight in one word: “dumbfounded.”At least he’s honest. It’s the kind of fight a rising young champ absolutely cannot lose. It’s also the kind where he can’t afford to be anything but totally and completely dominant. Basically, it’s a bad fight for Rockhold, and he knows it. But hey, what could he do besides sign on the dotted line and make the best of it? As his management no doubt told him, now is not the time to be making waves in Strikeforce. Now is the time to keep your head down and win.
IV. Number that will continue to blow my mind every time I’m given a reason to look it up: 29. That’s how old Robbie Lawler is heading into his 28th professional bout. How is that even possible? The guy’s been a pro fighter since 2001. He debuted in the UFC in 2002. He’s been doing this since back when Dana White had hair, and you’re telling me he’s not even 30 years old yet? If he were a Cuban Little League pitcher, no one would believe it. Lawler seems like he was born with a thousand-yard stare and a laconic nonchalance about his own ability to knock people stiff with one punch, and not much has changed over the years. He’s still more or less the same fighter he’s always been. His game plan for his 28th fight will probably be roughly the same as it was for his tenth. He still makes interviews more difficult than they have to be, and still has the same general disdain for all the non-fighting aspects of the fight game. At least Adlan Amagov knows what he’s up against. But then, so have a lot of people who ended up flat on their backs at the end of the night.
V. Only one person can beat Mo Lawal on Saturday night, and it’s Mo Lawal. I know, I know — anything can happen — but let’s stick to what’s likely to happen. He’s a good enough striker that he doesn’t have to dive in for a takedown right away, and yet his takedowns are such a constant threat that Lorenz Larkin will have to worry about them every time he opens up with an attack. Lawal’s best chance to lose this fight is to decide to keep it standing for too long in some misguided attempt to prove a point. That would be dumb, but it also might be the kind of thing a guy with an oversized ego would do. From the outside Lawal might seem like a Ric Flair-esque narcissist, but he’s actually a pretty savvy student of the game. At least, most of the time. Like most pro fighters, no matter how sober his analysis is when he’s watching others, his vision gets a little hazy when he turns his focus upon himself. The only way he doesn’t win this fight is if he gets to thinking too highly of his own striking skills and not highly enough of Larkin’s. Even the best wrestler is going to have trouble scoring takedowns if he only shoots after he’s been stung on the feet.
VI. Fun fact about Jordan Mein: seven fights into his pro career, he had a losing record. He began his pro career with a loss, in fact, to Rory MacDonald. That one must have started to look better as time went by, but Mein also dropped fights to several guys who didn’t go on to become UFC standouts. After back-to-back losses at the end of 2006 and beginning of 2007, he was a very mediocre 3-4 as a pro. A lot of guys might have quit then, maybe decided to take their family’s advice and finally entered that management trainee program at the rental car place. Mein kept at it, and just a few years later he’s poised to take the leap from Strikeforce prelim fighter to solid undercard performer. It’s almost fitting that he should take on Tyron Woodley, the former Mizzou wrestler who seemed destined for big things in MMA right off the bat, and has been groomed as such in his time with Strikeforce. You never know from its beginning what a guy’s career will look like by the end. Sometimes those early struggles prove helpful later on.
VII. Know where to find Showtime Extreme in the premium cable labyrinth? If so, then you can watch the prelim bouts before the main card gets underway. While the old Strikeforce used to treat those fights as if they weren’t even worth turning the cameras on for, the new Strikeforce seems to realize that you might as well do something with them, even if probably not a whole lot of people will be ignoring the Lions-Saints NFL playoff game to watch Trevor Smith and Gian Villante go at it. Still, it’s a step in the right direction, as is the decision to time this event to coincide with a Showtime free preview weekend. If Showtime wants to be in the MMA business, it needs to get all the way in. Just like I first made the decision to pony up for HBO so I could watch the last season of The Wire in real time, I’ll admit that I never felt the urge to get Showtime until they had Strikeforce. I can’t be the only MMA fan who feels that way, so why not get behind it and push it as the asset that it is? Besides, with the avalanche of commercials that accompany any NFL playoff game, we’ll have plenty of chances to switch back and forth and check on how Villante is doing.
Filed under: StrikeforceIf you’re tired of all those UFC events loaded with nothing but competitive fights, Strikeforce has got some good news for you. Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine event features no shortage of long odds and lopsi…
If you’re tired of all those UFC events loaded with nothing but competitive fights, Strikeforce has got some good news for you. Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine event features no shortage of long odds and lopsided match-ups, complete with a title fight that oddsmakers seem to think will be among the biggest mismatches of the night.
Let’s jump right into it and see which big underdog has just enough of a chance to convince us to do something stupid with our hard-earned cash, shall we?
Honestly, I’m a little surprised the line is this close. In Jardine’s last performance he fought to a draw against Gegard Mousasi in a fight that left his face looking like a watercolor painting gone wrong. The odds for that fight looked exactly the same as they do here, and yet I can’t help but feel like Jardine has even less of a chance this time. Rockhold is a better defensive wrestler than Mousasi was then, so Jardine probably won’t be able to score with takedowns as easily. Rockhold’s also a little more unpredictable on the feet, and I can’t think that losing a significant amount of weight at this point in his career will do much to help Jardine’s already suspect chin. Really, the only thing Jardine has going for him here is the fact that he has no business in this title fight at all. That means he has nothing to lose, but more importantly it means that Strikeforce is tempting the MMA gods, and they have a way of punishing matchmaking hubris like this. It would almost serve Strikeforce right if it ended up with a 36-year-old middleweight champ who had only one middleweight fight on his record. Then again, you really want to bet on a cruel twist of fate to catapult an aging journeyman over a rising young star? My pick: Rockhold. Barring anything totally weird — though, let’s face it, some nights this is a really weird sport — I don’t see how he doesn’t win this. At these odds, it’s prime parlay material.
Amagov may not be a household name in MMA just yet, but believe me when I tell you that he’s no joke. He can grapple and he can bang, and his record reflects both. But then, there’s a big difference between fighting Ronald Stallings and fighting Robbie Lawler. It’s easy to look at Lawler’s record and come away thinking that the hard-nosed brawler is falling off. He’s lost four of his last six, after all, and he’s currently on a two-fight skid. Then again, look at who he’s been losing to: Tim Kennedy, “Jacare” Souza, Renato Sobral, Jake Shields. Any one of those guys would be the test of Amagov’s young life, but for Lawler it’s just a normal couple of years. That experience matters, as does Lawler’s ability to knock your fondest childhood memories out of your brain with one punch. Amagov is a serious fighter and he may be on his way up the ranks, but he’s never fought anyone quite like Lawler before. As long as Lawler doesn’t let that fact go to his head, he should bounce back here. My pick: Lawler. Assuming he’s more or less healthy and doesn’t fight a dumb/reckless fight, I like his chances to find Amagov’s chin sooner or later.
On paper, Larkin looks like an impressive fighter, but it’s what you don’t see on his resume that could make all the difference. He might be undefeated in MMA, but he’s lacking two things: 1) a serious wrestling pedigree, and 2) experience against high-level opponents. Lawal has both, which should help explain why he’s such a heavy favorite. The question here is whether Lawal will approach this fight with the right temperament, or whether he’ll let his considerable ego get the better of him. His striking has come a long way in recent years, but that doesn’t mean he has to rely on it here. He can probably take Larkin down at will beat him up on the mat; he just has to believe that this is the right way to go and stick with it. Reasons to think he’ll do that: Lawal’s no dummy, and the AKA crew he’s working with knows how to put together a game plan and drill it into a fighter’s head. Reasons to think he won’t: Lawal is a showman, and he’s got just enough of a chip on his shoulder to want to do whatever his haters think he can’t. My pick: Lawal. It’s entirely possible that he could get himself into a boxing match that doesn’t favor his skill-set, but even then he always has wrestling to fall back on. I’ll put him right next to Rockhold in the parlay.
As anyone who saw him turn on the go-go-gadget elbows against Evangelista Santos already knows, Mein is for real. He’s got a six-fight win streak going, and the last few have come against increasingly challenging opponents. Woodley, however, represents a different kind of test altogether, and it’s the variety that Mein has yet to prove he can pass. We all know what the former Mizzou wrestler brings to the table. His stand-up game might be coming along, but it’s not what he relies on to win fights, as his takedown-heavy performance against Paul Daley showed. Mein has shown in the past that he can be outwrestled, but Woodley’s shown that he doesn’t always have much of a plan B when he faces someone who can stuff a takedown or two. The line here seems to suggest that Woodley will stomp all over Mein, but I’m not sure that’s the case. If Woodley wins, it’ll probably have to be via decision. That gives Mein plenty of opportunities to figure something out and exploit an opening. Or maybe it just gives him plenty of chances to get taken down. My pick: Mein. Of all the big underdogs on this card, he’s the one with the best chance to surprise some people. Woodley has looked a little too one-dimensional lately, and Mein is undervalued. That’s all a riverboat gambler like me needs to know.
Saffiedine is one of those fighters that Strikeforce has been grooming in its Challengers shows for a while now, but those days are done. He looked solid while out-pointing Scott Smith in his last outing, but his game is not without its holes. The question is, can Stinson exploit those holes before Saffiedine goes upside his head with a flashy combo? Probably not. Stinson’s been in with some tough customers during his time, and he’s come away with wins over a few of them. Still, Saffiedine seems more polished. Anybody who has a 15-second knockout of Eduardo Pamplona on his record — as Stinson does — needs to be taken seriously. But if Saffiedine plays it smart and keeps this from turning into a streetfight, he should take this. My pick: Saffiedine. I’ll admit that I was tempted to leave Mein alone and take Stinson as my big underdog, but I just don’t see it here. He’s been too up and down, and the ups haven’t been quite high enough to make me a believer yet.
The ‘For Entertainment Purposes Only’ Parlay: Rockhold + Lawler + Lawal.
Filed under: StrikeforceCan a move down to middleweight revitalize the career of Keith Jardine? Or will Luke Rockhold simply be too much for the Dean of Mean? Will King Mo Lawal make a case that he’s the top light heavyweight on the Strikeforce roster,…
Can a move down to middleweight revitalize the career of Keith Jardine? Or will Luke Rockhold simply be too much for the Dean of Mean? Will King Mo Lawal make a case that he’s the top light heavyweight on the Strikeforce roster, or is Lorenz Larkin set for the biggest win of his career? Can Tyron Woodley, Jordan Mein, Tarec Saffiedine of Tyler Stinson put on the kind of performance that gets people interested in the Strikeforce welterweight division again?
We’ll attempt to answer those questions and more as we predict the winners of Saturday night’s Strikeforce event below.
What: Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine
When: Saturday, the undercard will be televised by Showtime Extreme starting at 8 p.m. ET and the Showtime televised main card begins at 10.
Where: Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
Predictions on the five Showtime televised fights below.
Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine Giving Jardine a Strikeforce middleweight title shot is an odd move: Jardine left the UFC on a four-fight losing streak, fought to a draw with Gegard Mousasi in his only Strikeforce fight, and has never fought at middleweight before. So, yes, the matchmaking here is a little strange. But Rockhold is the promotion’s middleweight champion, and Strikeforce needs to find him high-profile opponents, and given the current middleweight depth in Strikeforce, Jardine was about as good as it was going to get.
So how does this fight go? I have a feeling Jardine is going to be weakened by the weight cut, and that Rockhold will have better cardio and have his way with Jardine on the ground. Eventually I like Rockhold to finish Jardine on the ground. Pick: Rockhold
Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov The matchmaking here is a little strange, too, but the fight itself should be a lot of fun: Lawler and Amagov are both heavy hitters with exciting styles. Lawler has lost four of his six fights since signing with Strikeforce in 2009 and may be fighting for his job, and I think he’ll come out focused and ready to finish Amagov quickly. Pick: Lawler
Muhammed Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin Larkin is one of the most fun fighters to watch on the entire Strikeforce roster, as evidenced by a cult following he developed while winning three straight Challengers Series fights. But while Larkin has a 12-0 record with eight wins by knockout or TKO, he’s never faced anyone even remotely as good as King Mo. Lawal is so much better a wrestler than Larkin that he can easily grind out a decision on the ground if he chooses to, and the biggest question may be whether Lawal decides to keep it safe and win a decision or take some chances and try to put on a show. I expect Mo to take the latter approach, which means there’s a chance Larkin catches him with one of his patented unorthodox strikes, but the much more likely result is that Mo proves he’s simply too skilled a mixed martial artist for someone as raw as Larkin. Pick: Lawal
Tyron Woodley vs. Jordan Mein Woodley is a great wrestler who’s getting better standing up and is now 9-0 in his professional MMA career. Mein has looked good recently and is on a six-fight winning streak, and he might test Woodley’s chin. But Woodley shouldn’t have much trouble clinching with Mein, taking him down and winning a decision. Pick: Woodley
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson Saffiedine lost to Woodley a year ago and then bounced back with a good win over Scott Smith. Stinson won his Strikeforce debut with a 15-second knockout of Eduardo Pamplona in July, but he’s going to struggle trading strikes with Saffiedine. Pick: Saffiedine
First up, former light-heavyweight champion Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal will face off against undefeated up-and-comer Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin, whose 12-0 record includes three wins at Strikeforce Challengers events. Mo last competed in September, when he scored a first-round knockout against Roger Gracie. The winner of this fight could very well earn a shot at TBA for Strikeforce’s vacant 205-pound strap.
First up, former light-heavyweight champion Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal will face off against undefeated up-and-comer Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin, whose 12-0 record includes three wins at Strikeforce Challengers events. Mo last competed in September, when he scored a first-round knockout against Roger Gracie. The winner of this fight could very well earn a shot at TBA for Strikeforce’s vacant 205-pound strap.
Back in the middleweight division, Robbie Lawler will try to snap his two-fight losing streak against Chechen fighter Adlan Amagov (9-0-1, 2-0 in Strikeforce Challengers bouts), who’s perhaps best known for this spinning hook-kick knockout. Lawler has lost three out of his last four fights, most recently a decision to Tim Kennedy in July, so he’ll need a good showing if he wants to keep his Zuffa contract.
A welterweight bout between Tarec Saffiedine and Tyler Stinson has also been announced for the event. I’mma be straight with you guys: As it stands now, this card is a dog with extra fleas. On the other hand, a few of Strikeforce’s contracted fighters will be able to pay off their holiday bills, and that’s as close to happy ending as you’re going to get in this sport.
Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsStrikeforce on Thursday announced four of the five televised bouts slated for its Jan. 7 event at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
The new matchups are Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov, Muhammed “…
Strikeforce on Thursday announced four of the five televised bouts slated for its Jan. 7 event at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
And as previously reported, the main event will be middleweight champion Luke Rockhold defending his belt against UFC veteran Keith Jardine.
“Jardine is a big name who’s fought a lot of tough guys in this sport,” Rockhold said in a statement. “I’m not going to sleep on him or this opportunity. This isn’t just another fight for me, I’ve wanted my chance to prove I’m a champion and a five-round title defense is the way to do it.”
Rockhold (8-1), undefeated in seven Strikeforce fights, captured the middleweight strap away from Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza by unanimous decision in September. Jardine (17-9-2) made his Strikeforce debut in April, fighting Mousasi to a draw. Jardine will be making his 185-pound debut.
Lawler (18-8) will be looking to snap a two-fight losing streak. In 2011, Lawler lost to both Souza and Kennedy. Amagov (9-1-1) made the jump from the Russian MMA scene to Strikeforce in July and has since won two bouts.
In his lone fight in 2011, Lawal (8-1) scored a first-round knockout over Roger Gracie. Larkin (12-0) won four fights this year, three of which took place inside the Strikeforce cage.
Saffiedine (11-3) lost to Tyron Woodley in January and then bounced back to beat Scott Smith in July. Stinson (22-7) made his Strikeforce debut in July and earned an impressive KO over Eduardo Pamplona.
This is the Strikeforce live blog for Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov, a middleweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce on Showtime event from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Strikeforce returns on Showtime tonight, and thanks to the free preview weekend it’s available even for you non-subscribers out there. So what are you going to be looking at when you accidentally stumble onto the channel that you usually breeze right past on your way to Nat Geo Wild? Here are just a few of the major storylines and pressing concerns heading into 
If you’re tired of all those 
Can a move down to middleweight revitalize the career of 
Strikeforce