Five Reasons Why You Should Watch Strikeforce Tomorrow Night

By Cage Potato contributor S.C. Michaelson
(Hmm..Guess they ran out of space for Cyborg and Gracie on the poster.)
Saturday’s Strikeforce event is the promotion’s first non-Challengers event of 2011. Unfortunately, it’s been toiling i…

By Cage Potato contributor S.C. Michaelson


(Hmm..Guess they ran out of space for Cyborg and Gracie on the poster.)

Saturday’s Strikeforce event is the promotion’s first non-Challengers event of 2011. Unfortunately, it’s been toiling in the shadows of the much-anticipated Heavyweight Grand Prix and hasn’t received much in the way of coverage. There are quite a few reasons to tune in this weekend.

Here are five big ones.

Herschel Walker, Genetic Freak
Though only a novice in the game of mixed martial arts, Hershel Walker is no stranger to high levels of competition. His athletic accolades read like a novel. College football Heisman trophy winner, All-Pro NFL running back, track and field star, black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Olympic bobsledder. Yes, Olympic bobsledder. And after all of this, Walker decides to throw his hat into the cage and try MMA. Did I mention he’s 48? Now, in MMA that may not seem special as we have our own version of a 48-year old wonder in Randy Couture, but Couture looks every year of 48. Walker, on the other hand, could pass for a man in his early 30s and has the physique that men in their athletic primes dream to attain. Herschel Walker, at 48, might be the greatest physical specimen to step foot in an MMA ring or cage…ever.

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On Eve of Second MMA Fight, Herschel Walker Still Making Outlandish Claims About Pretty Much Everything

(Apologies if the vid takes awhile to load. You try squeezing all of Walker’s BS in to a simple embed code. VidProps: Shoot Media)
We’ve been pretty studiously ignoring Herschel Walker since his bout with Scott Carson got postponed b…

(Apologies if the vid takes awhile to load. You try squeezing all of Walker’s BS in to a simple embed code. VidProps: Shoot Media)

We’ve been pretty studiously ignoring Herschel Walker since his bout with Scott Carson got postponed back in November. Somewhere along the way we just got tired of the guy’s running patter. Even last week when the mainstream media grabbed hold of his offhand comment about trying to make a comeback to the NFL when he turns 50 and trumpeted it from the rooftops like it was some kind of actual news, we turned a deaf ear. For our money, 48-year-old dude wants to fight? No big deal. He’s semi-famous, so we gotta put him on the main card? We get it. For real though, the fact that Strikeforce has to go out and sign no-name opponents for the express purpose of getting beat up by Herschel Walker in 220-pound catchweight fights pretty much says it all about the legitimacy of his MMA career.

However, this latest video from the good people at Shoot Media – who in all honesty do pretty great work – sparked our interest. Mostly because it successfully falls in line with the standard Rich-Athlete-Makes-Sacrifices-to-Pursue-his-True-Passion clichés while still giving us a nod and a wink about what an odd, odd man we’re dealing with here. Among other dubious claims made in this vid, Walker says he was just a fat kid with a speech impediment from small town Georgia that no one thought would amount to squat. You know, until it turned out he was one of the greatest natural athletes of all time, rushed for over 3,000 yards in high school, became a national prep scholar-athlete of the year and went on to become maybe the greatest college running back in history. Still, those early years were pretty touch-and-go.

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Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg Preview and Predictions

Filed under: StrikeforceTwo title belts are on the line, and the most famous fighter in the promotion will step into the cage, when Strikeforce returns to its home base of San Jose on Saturday night. We’ve got the full preview right here.

What: Strike…

Filed under:

Two title belts are on the line, and the most famous fighter in the promotion will step into the cage, when Strikeforce returns to its home base of San Jose on Saturday night. We’ve got the full preview right here.

What: Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Where: HP Pavilion, San Jose

When: The Showtime card starts at 10 PM ET on Saturday.

Predictions on the four televised fights below.

Herschel Walker and Scott Carson a Study in Contrasts at Strikeforce Presser

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsSAN JOSE – Herschel Walker made two things very clear at Thursday afternoon’s pre-fight press conference at the HP Pavilion: 1) he is totally, fully invested in his MMA training, no matter what skeptics might think, and 2)…

Filed under: ,

SAN JOSE – Herschel Walker made two things very clear at Thursday afternoon’s pre-fight press conference at the HP Pavilion: 1) he is totally, fully invested in his MMA training, no matter what skeptics might think, and 2) he owns a “chicken company” that somehow doesn’t get any press even with all the media attention on his second pro fight this Saturday night at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg.

“I have a food company. I don’t know if you all know that but you need to write that up,” said Walker. “I have a chicken company that sells to Sysco. It’s the largest minority-owned chicken company in the United States. I have over 600 employees. I’m serious, you need to write that down.”

The point is, the reason the 48-year-old waited so long to get involved in MMA wasn’t because he wasn’t interested, Walker said. It’s just that he was busy with his company, Renaissance Man Food Services, and he doesn’t believe in doing anything just a little bit. That’s why he told his employees that if they called him while he was training at AKA that they would be summarily fired, and also why he’s spent the better part of the last year living in a hotel just to be near the gym.

Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

(Video courtesy YouTube/TheNewYorkBadAss)Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
– If Stann can’t get Wand, he’ll settle f…


(Video courtesy YouTube/TheNewYorkBadAss)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– If Stann can’t get Wand, he’ll settle for Bisping or Belfort  (LowKick)

– Five lessons we learned for UFC Fight for the Troops II (Versus MMA Beat)

Herschel Walker: ‘This is not a gimmick for me. This is life.’  (FiveOuncesofPain)

– Ricco Rodriguez to begin his road back to the UFC against James McSweeney at BAMMA 5 (MiddleEasy)

– A tribute to Chuck Liddell (WMMMALC newcomers ProFighting-Fans)

– Watch Hatsu Hioki choke Mark Hominick unconscious (MMAScraps)

– Tito Ortiz prepared to resume career outside UFC when if he loses to Lil’ Nog’ (5thRound)

– Both UFC and Strikeforce planning 2011 events in Japan (MMAConvert)

– In poll of favorite sports, MMA is overlooked (MMAFighting)

– M-1 Global signs UFC vet Vinny Magalhaes (FightMagazine)

– Elimination round for TUF 13 nixed by UFC and Spike (SBNation/MMA)


One Year Later, Herschel Walker Returns to MMA, Then Hints at NFL Comeback

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsAt 48 years old, Herschel Walker is still looking for ways to challenge himself. On January 29, he’ll be back in the cage for the first time in one year, facing Scott Carson at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg.

Walker doesn’…

Filed under: ,

At 48 years old, Herschel Walker is still looking for ways to challenge himself. On January 29, he’ll be back in the cage for the first time in one year, facing Scott Carson at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg.

Walker doesn’t have any grand plans on fighting beyond that match, choosing to see how his learning progresses, but surprisingly, he may have his eye on another sporting venture. The former football superstar has designs on a possible NFL comeback.

“I know I can play,” Walker said on a Monday conference call. “If I continue to stay in the shape I’m in now, I know I can play when I’m 50. Right now, if you asked if I can play today, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind I can play football today, that I can help out a team today.”