Strikeforce Challengers Preview and Predictions

Filed under: StrikeforceThe first Strikeforce event of 2011 takes place on Friday in Tennessee, and it’s a Challengers card that has a good array of young talent and five fights on Showtime that should do a lot to identify some of the up-and-coming con…

Filed under:

Tarec SaffiedineThe first Strikeforce event of 2011 takes place on Friday in Tennessee, and it’s a Challengers card that has a good array of young talent and five fights on Showtime that should do a lot to identify some of the up-and-coming contenders on the Strikeforce roster.

What: Strikeforce Nashville Challengers: Woodley vs Saffiedine

When: Friday, the Showtime broadcast begins at 11 PM ET

Where: Nashville Municipal Auditorium

Predictions on the five televised fights below.

If there’s Ever An In-Cage Death In MMA We’re Pretty Sure That Cecil Peoples Will Be the Referee Involved

(Video courtesy YouTube/LayzietheSavage) When Cecil Peoples isn’t screwing up the judging of important title fights or telling fans who disagree with his bias towards his fellow karate stylists to "go to hell," he’s causing cou…

(Video courtesy YouTube/LayzietheSavage)

When Cecil Peoples isn’t screwing up the judging of important title fights or telling fans who disagree with his bias towards his fellow karate stylists to "go to hell," he’s causing countless near death experiences like the one above inside the cage.

Our pal Layzie the Savage was cageside at the Long Beach Fight Night event Sunday night to capture the latest in a long line of patented Peoples fuck ups.

I used to think that CePe must be wearing a pair of these when he judges to hide the fact that he’s sneaking a few winks and that he already pre-filled out the scorecards before the show, but now I’m thinking he must have Angry Birds installed on his iPhone because he’s proven himself an equally inattentive in-cage official as he is a cageside one.

Seriously, the dude makes Steve Mazzagatti look like Herb Dean.

read more

With Help From UFC Champ, Daniel Cormier Readies for Strikeforce Big Guns

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, interview The news of Strikeforce’s upcoming heavyweight tournament was a bombshell development for a company still working on prying eyes from the UFC. And it’s also a welcome scenario for the Strikeforce …

Filed under: , ,

The news of Strikeforce’s upcoming heavyweight tournament was a bombshell development for a company still working on prying eyes from the UFC. And it’s also a welcome scenario for the Strikeforce athletes, who are well aware of the extra spotlight it is likely to bring, even to fighters who are not part of the field.

One such fighter who may receive added attention from it is Daniel Cormier, an undefeated fighter who is among a group of rising stars in Strikeforce’s heavyweight ranks.

On Friday night, Cormier (6-0) will face Devin Cole in a featured bout on Showtime’s Strikeforce Challenger series.

In 2010, Cormier fast-tracked his development, fighting five times. In 2011, he hopes to take his career to the next level, fighting some of Strikeforce’s stars. A win over Cole, his most experienced opponent at 18-8-1, may be the fight to get him there.

Daniel Cormier on Koscheck-GSP: ‘In Reality, Josh Is the Better Wrestler’

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive MONTREAL — Like millions of others, Daniel Cormier has watched in awe at the excellence of UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Unlike the masses, however, Cormier has earned the right to either critique o…

Filed under: ,

MONTREAL — Like millions of others, Daniel Cormier has watched in awe at the excellence of UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Unlike the masses, however, Cormier has earned the right to either critique or praise perhaps the most lauded part of GSP’s game, his wrestling.

While Cormier is known to some fans as a rising Strikeforce heavyweight, he’s also a two-time US Olympian in freestyle wrestling.

Count him among the people that are stunned by St. Pierre’s rapid wrestling progression despite no background in the discipline, but he parts ways with the group at the suggestion that GSP is a better wrestler than his UFC 124 opponent, Josh Koscheck.

Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

(John Howard discusses his path from the Boston projects to the Octagon. Doomsday takes on Thiago Alves next Saturday at UFC 124. Props: FightMagazine.com)
– Scott Coker Says He’s Not Interested in Gerald Harris; Todd Duffee Turned Down an Of…

(John Howard discusses his path from the Boston projects to the Octagon. Doomsday takes on Thiago Alves next Saturday at UFC 124. Props: FightMagazine.com)

– Scott Coker Says He’s Not Interested in Gerald Harris; Todd Duffee Turned Down an Offer to Fight Antonio Silva (LowKick)

– World MMA Awards Live Chat Tonight (Versus MMA Beat)

– Trial Begins for Man Accused of Manslaughter in Death of Tapout’s ‘Mask’ (MMA Fighting)

– Japanese Fighter Completely Botches Celebratory Backflip (MiddleEasy)

– Dynamite!! in Danger: FEG’s Future Looks Bleak Without NYE TV Deal & Investment Capital (MMA Convert)

– NicktheFace Brings the Goods with ‘Shogun vs. Evans’ Trailer (MMA Scraps)

– Five Fights To Watch For The Rest Of 2010 (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Daniel Cormier Gets an Opponent for January Strikeforce bout (Five Ounces of Pain)

– SB Nation Exclusive Interview: Chris ‘Beast Boy’ Barnett Didn’t Enjoy His Trip To Singapore (SBNation.com/MMA)

State of the Strikeforce Heavyweights

Filed under: StrikeforceThe list of names in Strikeforce’s heavyweight division is undeniably impressive: Former No. 1 fighter in the world Fedor Emelianenko. The man who beat him, Fabricio Werdum. Former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and J…

Filed under:

The list of names in Strikeforce’s heavyweight division is undeniably impressive: Former No. 1 fighter in the world Fedor Emelianenko. The man who beat him, Fabricio Werdum. Former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett. Hot prospects Daniel Cormier and Shane del Rosario. And the champion, K-1 wrecking machine Alistair Overeem.

The biggest question facing Strikeforce is whether it can actually get all of those fighters — and Antonio Silva and Brett Rogers and Lavar Johnson and so on — into the cage, fighting each other. The heavyweight talent is there. The heavyweight fights came all too infrequently in 2010, and as we take a look below at the state of Strikeforce’s heavyweight division, we offer some suggestions on what should happen in 2011.