Strikeforce Announces Tim Kennedy vs. Robbie Lawler Signed For July 30 ‘Fedor vs. Henderson’ Card in Chicago

Continuing in Zuffa’s new social media trend of announcing newly-signed bouts before the MMA media gets wind of them, Strikeforce announced today via Twitter that a middleweight bout between Tim Kennedy and Robbie Lawler has been added to its July 30 Fedor vs. Henderson card in Chicago.

Continuing in Zuffa’s new social media trend of announcing newly-signed bouts before the MMA media gets wind of them, Strikeforce announced today via Twitter that a middleweight bout between Tim Kennedy and Robbie Lawler has been added to its July 30 Fedor vs. Henderson card in Chicago.

The bout should be a good one between the pair, who coincidentally both lost to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and beat Melvin Manhoef in the past year and a half. Kennedy lost a unanimous decision to Souza in August at Strikeforce: Houston and beat Manhoef at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson in March by way of first-round rear naked choke. Lawler lost to Jacare by third-round rear naked choke at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg in January and knocked out Manhoef at Strikeforce: Miami in January of last year.

The promotion did not clarify if the fight would be on the main televised portion of the card that will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Former PRIDE champions Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson, but it’s likely considering both fighters have not seen prelim action in some time.

 

Robbie Lawler vs. Tim Kennedy Added to Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson Card

Filed under: StrikeforceA fight pitting recent middleweight title challenger Robbie Lawler against Tim Kennedy has been added to Strikeforce’s July 30 show outside Chicago.

Strikeforce announced the fight via Twitter on Thursday. The fight is expecte…

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A fight pitting recent middleweight title challenger Robbie Lawler against Tim Kennedy has been added to Strikeforce’s July 30 show outside Chicago.

Strikeforce announced the fight via Twitter on Thursday. The fight is expected to be part of the main card for Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, which takes place at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a northwest suburb of Chicago.

Lawler (18-7, 1 NC, 2-3 Strikeforce) fights for the first time since a January submission loss to Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in San Jose, Calif. Lawler got that title shot on the strength of a 50-second knockout of Matt Lindland about two months earlier in St. Louis.

Kennedy (13-3, 4-1 Strikeforce) returns after making quick work of Melvin Manhoef at Strikeforce’s March show in Columbus, Ohio. In that fight, he submitted the Dutch kickboxing specialist in the first round.

Kennedy, too, has a loss to Jacare on his resume. Kennedy, a Bronze Star medal winner in the Army, fought Jacare for Strikeforce’s vacant middleweight title after Jake Shields vacated the belt to sign with the UFC. That loss was his only one in six fights.

Lawler, the former EliteXC middleweight champion, has had an up-and-down stretch since winning that belt in September 2007 against Murilo “Ninja” Rua. After EliteXC folder, Lawler picked up with Strikeforce – but it was almost a year between fights for him. Since his Strikeforce debut, a loss to Shields, he had a pair of 2010’s best knockouts against Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland, plus a decision loss to Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Lawler hasn’t had a winning streak since 2007.

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson features a main event between light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson and former pound-for-pound MMA kingpin Fedor Emelianenko, who is looking to rebound from consecutive losses for the first time in his career.

The card also features a women’s welterweight title fight between champion Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, a welterweight bout between Paul Daley and Evangelista Santos and a light heavyweight bout between Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Roger Gracie.

The show will be Strikeforce’s second in the Chicago area, and second at the Sears Centre. The promotion’s first trip to the venue featured a heavyweight tilt between Fedor and Brett Rogers, a fight Fedor won by second-round TKO – his last victory. That main card was broadcast live on CBS. The July 30 show’s main card will be televised by Showtime.

 

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Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson Fight Card

Filed under: StrikeforceThe Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson fight card features a Dan Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko main event on July 30 and emanates from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman States, Ill.

The superfight between former PRIDE champions…

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Fedor vs. Henderson fight card.The Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson fight card features a Dan Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko main event on July 30 and emanates from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman States, Ill.

The superfight between former PRIDE champions will be at a catchweight of 220 pounds. Fedor finds himself on a two-fight losing streak after getting bounced from the Strikeforce Heavyweight GP by Antonio Silva. Meanwhile, Henderson is moving up in weight after capturing the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt over Rafael Cavalcante in March.

The fight card is below.

Showtime Bouts
Dan Henderson vs. Fedor Emelianenko
Marloes Coenen vs. Miesha Tate
Paul Daley vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos
Roger Gracie vs. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal


Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET.

 

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Dream a Little Dream of Strikeforce vs. UFC

Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceSaturday’s announcement that Zuffa, parent company of the UFC, had bought top rival Strikeforce took the MMA world by surprise.

It also gave UFC president Dana White a new No. 1 catch phrase when “business as usual,” spok…

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Anthony Pettis ninja kicks Ben Henderson.Saturday’s announcement that Zuffa, parent company of the UFC, had bought top rival Strikeforce took the MMA world by surprise.

It also gave UFC president Dana White a new No. 1 catch phrase when “business as usual,” spoken dozens of times during his interview with MMA Fighting and on Monday’s media call, replaced “he’s in the mix,” his previous favorite go-to response.

But even though, as White says, the UFC and Strikeforce will continue, for now, to operate the same way as they did last week, last month and last year – “business as usual” as separate promotional entities – it hasn’t stopped MMA fans from early salivation over some potential fights that used to be just pipe dreams.

And even though “business as usual” might prove to be legit and they may never happen, having the UFC and Strikeforce under the same banner at least can make us feel a little bit like Lloyd Christmas in “Dumb and Dumber”: “So you’re tellin’ me there’s a chance …”

Let’s take a look at a pair of dream superfights in each crossover weight class (lightweight to heavyweight) between current UFC fighters and current Strikeforce fighters. And hey, if any of them ever get booked, you can always say you read it here first.

Strikeforce Undercard Live Blog: Jorge Gurgel, Roger Bowling, More

Filed under: StrikeforceCOLUMBUS, Ohio – This is the live blog for the untelevised preliminary card of Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson, which takes place tonight at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The main card of the event, Strikeforce’s f…

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – This is the live blog for the untelevised preliminary card of Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson, which takes place tonight at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The main card of the event, Strikeforce’s first in Ohio, features two title fights and will be broadcast live on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern. The preliminary card features six fights – with 11 of the 12 fighters hailing from Ohio.

Highlights on the preliminary card include Roger Bowling, who had a pair of entertaining fights against Bobby Voelkler last year, vs. Josh Thornburg, a Cesar Gracie fighter who will have Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz in his corner; Jorge Gurgel, who looks to snap a two-fight skid against Billy Vaughan, who took the fight on four days’ notice; and heavyweight Jason Riley, whose Strikeforce debut last year was a quick submission loss to unbeaten rising star Daniel Cormier.

Strikeforce Live Blog: Rafael Cavalcante vs. Dan Henderson Updates

Filed under: StrikeforceCOLUMBUS, Ohio – This is the Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson live blog for Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante vs. Dan Henderson, the light heavyweight championship main event at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Feijao (10-2, …

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Rafael Cavalcante vs. Dan Henderson.COLUMBUS, Ohio – This is the Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson live blog for Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante vs. Dan Henderson, the light heavyweight championship main event at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Feijao (10-2, 3-1 Strikeforce), defends his 205-pound title for the first time since upsetting Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal at Strikeforce: Houston last August with a third-round TKO, handing Lawal his first career loss. Feijao owns all 10 of his wins by stoppage – nine knockouts, one submission – and has never gone to a decision.

Henderson (26-8, 1-1 Strikeforce), a two-time Olympian and former two-division Pride champion, is coming off a knockout of Renato “Babalu” Sobral in December. Prior to that, he lost his Strikeforce debut to Jake Shields, challenging for his middleweight title and losing by decision after a dominant first round. Henderson left the UFC for Strikeforce, after three straight wins, when his contract expired.

The live blog is below.