Tag: Mike Kyle

Daniel Cormier Remains Undefeated in Australia

Filed under: Fighting, Strikeforce, NewsDaniel Cormier successfully defended his XMMA heavyweight title against Soa Palelei on Friday at Xtreme MMA 3 at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre in Sydney, Australia.

Cormier, a two-time Olympian and American…

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Daniel Cormier successfully defended his XMMA heavyweight title against Soa Palelei on Friday at Xtreme MMA 3 at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre in Sydney, Australia.

Cormier, a two-time Olympian and American Kickboxing Academy product, defeated the Australian Palelei, a former UFC and PRIDE fighter, via first round submission due to strikes.

The win improved Cormier’s record to 6-0. He made his pro MMA debut in September 2009, and five of his first six fights have ended in the first round.

Falling Action: Best and Worst from Strikeforce: Challengers 9

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It happened again. For the second time in as many events in the Strikeforce: Challengers series, one of the night’s most compelling attractions ended with the winner pleading/demanding to be taken off Challengers and put into a…

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It happened again. For the second time in as many events in the Strikeforce: Challengers series, one of the night’s most compelling attractions ended with the winner pleading/demanding to be taken off Challengers and put into a major event.

Last time it was Matt Lindland, who’s never been shy about his expressing his opinions. This time it was 135-pound women’s champ Sarah Kaufman, who mentioned her desire to be on a proper Strikeforce card every single time there was a microphone nearby.

The thinking behind the Challengers cards is that it’s a proving ground for up-and-comers, hence the tagline, “Where champions are made.” In theory, that’s a pretty solid concept, or at least it would be if so many of the fighters featured on the event didn’t openly interpret their own presence there as an insult.

Are Fans Ready To Accept a (Possibly) Reformed Mike Kyle into Their Hearts?

(This moment brought to you by Bob Cook, Cain Velasquez and God. PicProps: Strikeforce)
Allegedly rehabilitated a-hole Mike Kyle notched his fourth straight win on Friday night after a pretty entertaining fight with Ron “Abongo” Humphrey at…


(This moment brought to you by Bob Cook, Cain Velasquez and God. PicProps: Strikeforce)

Allegedly rehabilitated a-hole Mike Kyle notched his fourth straight win on Friday night after a pretty entertaining fight with Ron “Abongo” Humphrey at Strikeforce Challengers 9. The two light heavyweights kept an impressive pace for eight-plus minutes and Kyle displayed some fairly dynamic striking before offering the clearly exhausted Humphrey a way out via rear naked choke roughly 3:30 into the second round. When it was over, Strikeforce play-by-play shouter Mauro Ranallo made somewhat vague reference to the victory being “the resurrection of a career once thought ruined” and a legitimately humble-looking Kyle repeatedly thanked God, trainer “Crazy” Bob Cook and his AKA teammates for “sticking by me when a lot of people didn’t.”

What they were both getting at, of course, was that prior to this current resurgence Kyle had basically done everything he could to drum himself out of MMA, in the process becoming the standard-bearer for bad behavior both in and out of the cage. But with seven wins in his last nine fights and now seemingly on the doorstep of a title shot in Strikeforce’s puddle-shallow 205-pound division, are fans really ready to accept Kyle as a renewed human … or as a valid contender?

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Mike Kyle Makes a Case for a Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title Fight

Filed under: StrikeforceIn a sign of how much Mike Kyle has done to resurrect his career — and a sign of how shallow Strikeforce’s light heavyweight division is — Kyle is being discussed as a light heavyweight title contender after choking out Abongo…

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In a sign of how much Mike Kyle has done to resurrect his career — and a sign of how shallow Strikeforce’s light heavyweight division is — Kyle is being discussed as a light heavyweight title contender after choking out Abongo Humphrey on Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers card.

Kyle and Humphrey engaged in some exciting if not particularly technically proficient striking first round, and then in the second round Kyle forced Humphrey to tap to a rear-naked choke, improving his record to 17-7-1. Afterward Strikeforce’s television announcers suggested that the victory makes Kyle the No. 1 contender in the light heavyweight division.