If Strikeforce gave out performance bonuses like their big brothers at the UFC, the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov” prelim match between Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and rising Canadian star Jordan Mein would be a front-runner for Fight of the Night. After two entertaining rounds of stand-up, Mein ended the match in the third frame with the nastiest display of standing elbows in MMA history. Seriously, that’s not an exaggeration. Skip to about the 1:45 mark and tell me I’m wrong — this might even give Anderson Silva vs. Tony Fryklund a run for its money. To see the first two rounds of the fight (and everything else from the prelims), swing by IronForgesIron.
Mein’s victory upped his career record to 23-7, and lengthened a win streak that includes victories over Joe Riggs, Josh Burkman, and Marius Zaromskis. He’s been fighting professionally since 2006, and he’s 21 years old. You do the math on that one.
After the jump: Another highly satisfying knockout from the Strikeforce prelims, this one involving former light-heavyweight champ Rafael Cavalcante and Olympic freestyle wrestling silver medalist (and Strikeforce first-timer) Yoel Romero. We set up the video to skip past the first ten minutes of Romero avoiding the fight and taunting Feijao at every opportunity; trust us, we’re doing you a favor. When Cavalcante finally catches up with his dick-headed opponent, it is so, so good.
If Strikeforce gave out performance bonuses like their big brothers at the UFC, the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov“ prelim match between Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and rising Canadian star Jordan Mein would be a front-runner for Fight of the Night. After two entertaining rounds of stand-up, Mein ended the match in the third frame with the nastiest display of standing elbows in MMA history. Seriously, that’s not an exaggeration. Skip to about the 1:45 mark and tell me I’m wrong — this might even give Anderson Silva vs. Tony Fryklund a run for its money. To see the first two rounds of the fight (and everything else from the prelims), swing by IronForgesIron.
Mein’s victory upped his career record to 23-7, and lengthened a win streak that includes victories over Joe Riggs, Josh Burkman, and Marius Zaromskis. He’s been fighting professionally since 2006, and he’s 21 years old. You do the math on that one.
After the jump: Another highly satisfying knockout from the Strikeforce prelims, this one involving former light-heavyweight champ Rafael Cavalcante and Olympic freestyle wrestling silver medalist (and Strikeforce first-timer) Yoel Romero. We set up the video to skip past the first ten minutes of Romero avoiding the fight and taunting Feijao at every opportunity; trust us, we’re doing you a favor. When Cavalcante finally catches up with his dick-headed opponent, it is so, so good.
CINCINNATI — MMA Fighting caught up with former Strikeforce champion Rafael Cavalcante after his knockout win over Yoel Romero. ‘Feijao’ talks about his frustrating first round, his spinning backfist and what it meant for him to get back into the win column.
CINCINNATI — MMA Fighting caught up with former Strikeforce champion Rafael Cavalcante after his knockout win over Yoel Romero. ‘Feijao’ talks about his frustrating first round, his spinning backfist and what it meant for him to get back into the win column.
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, Light HeavyweightsJon Jones is the undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, but figuring out who deserves to be No. 2 at 205 pounds is tough.
Is it Rampage Jackson, who gets the next crack at Jone…
Jon Jones is the undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, but figuring out who deserves to be No. 2 at 205 pounds is tough.
Is it Rampage Jackson, who gets the next crack at Jones’ title? Is it Shogun Rua, the previous champion? Is it Rashad Evans, who beat Jackson? Is it Lyoto Machida, who beat Evans? Is it Dan Henderson, who ran through the Strikeforce light heavyweight division and then beat an opponent who outweighed him by 16 pounds in Fedor Emelianenko?
Good arguments can be made for any of them. So who do I have at No. 2? Find out below.
1. Jon Jones (1): Jones was in Denver on July 19, his 24th birthday, for a press conference promoting his upcoming fight with Rampage Jackson. Jones said several times that now that he’s 24 he doesn’t think anyone should call him young anymore, but the reality is that Jones is both the best fighter in the division and the youngest in the Top 10. His age is an important part of why people are so excited about what he can do: He could be a long-reigning champion in a division that has seen a great deal of turnover at the top.
2. Rashad Evans (4): Evans’ impressive victory over Tito Ortiz at UFC 133 moves him back up to No. 2 in my book. Evans looked as good as he’s ever looked, and it was especially noteworthy that he looked physically stronger than he ever had before. The way he picked Ortiz up and slammed him down with a minute left in the first round was particularly impressive. Whether Jones or Jackson is the light heavyweight champion after their UFC 135 fight, Evans will be a very worthy opponent.
3. Shogun Rua (2): We’ll learn a lot about Shogun when he takes on Forrest Griffin at UFC 134. If Rua can avenge the loss to Griffin from four years ago and come out of the fight healthy, he’ll be in the mix (as Dana White likes to say) for a shot at the light heavyweight title some time in 2012. But Rua’s knees have given him so many problems that it’s hard not to wonder, even though he’s only 29, if he’s on the down side of his career.
4. Lyoto Machida (3): Machida’s decision to turn down a fight with Evans was a surprise, because Machida thoroughly whipped Evans when they fought two years ago. If Machida had accepted that fight and won, he’d probably be next in line for a title shot. Now he may be sidelined for an extended period of time, as most of the other top light heavyweights already have fights lined up.
5. Rampage Jackson (5): Jackson looked sluggish in his UFC 130 victory over Matt Hamill, and at age 33 he doesn’t seem to have the punching power he once had: In the last four years, Rampage has fought 23 rounds inside the Octagon, and other than his knockout of Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92, he’s never been particularly close to finishing anybody. If we’re going to see an upset of Jon Jones at UFC 135, we’re going to have to see a much better Rampage than we’ve seen recently.
6. Dan Henderson (6): Henderson is the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, but his impressive win over Fedor Emelianenko was probably his last fight in Strikeforce: His return to the Octagon is likely coming soon. Machida would be a good opponent for him in his UFC return.
7. Forrest Griffin (7): Griffin will have a great chance to move up in the rankings when he takes on Shogun Rua at UFC 134. A win over Rua, whom Griffin has already beaten once, would vault Griffin into the Top 5 and probably put him only another win away from another shot at the light heavyweight title.
8. Phil Davis (8): A knee injury forced the 9-0 Davis to pull out of his scheduled UFC 133 fight with Evans, and there’s no word yet on when he’ll return to the Octagon. With five UFC wins in less than 14 months from February of 2010 to March of 2011, Davis had been building up a lot of momentum that this injury slowed down. But he’ll be back and quite likely fighting for the light heavyweight title by the end of 2012.
9. Thiago Silva (9): Silva is currently serving a one-year suspension for using a banned substance and cheating on his UFC 125 drug test. Some will drop him from the rankings for that, but Silva’s record (14-2 with 11 wins by knockout, two wins by submission and losses only to Evans and Machida) is strong enough that I don’t think you can put together a list of the Top 10 light heavyweights without him.
10. Rafael Cavalcante (10): The former Strikeforce champion, Feijao will face a largely untested opponent, the 4-0 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Yoel Romero, in his return to the cage on September 10.
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.
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.
Filed under: StrikeforceAt the age of 40, Dan Henderson is a champion again.
Henderson, the former Pride champion of two different weight classes, has won the Strikeforce light heavyweight title, defeating Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante Saturday night in …
At the age of 40, Dan Henderson is a champion again.
Henderson, the former Pride champion of two different weight classes, has won the Strikeforce light heavyweight title, defeating Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio with a third-round technical knockout.
Henderson got off to a slow start but put on a tremendous finish, drilling Feijao with a hard right hand to knock him down, then finishing him with about half a dozen more punches on the ground before referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight, awarding Henderson the TKO win.
Filed under: StrikeforceAfter a February show that kicked off the Heavyweight Grand Prix in style, Strikeforce will do its best on Saturday night to keep the momentum going despite a long delay before the next Grand Prix fight. And the man they’ll coun…
After a February show that kicked off the Heavyweight Grand Prix in style, Strikeforce will do its best on Saturday night to keep the momentum going despite a long delay before the next Grand Prix fight. And the man they’ll count on to help them keep the momentum going is the most prominent non-heavyweight the promotion has ever signed: Dan Henderson.
Henderson, whose signing was heralded as a major coup for Strikeforce in 2009, will now fight for the promotion’s light heavyweight title after falling short of earning the middleweight belt a year ago. Although Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante is the champion, Henderson is the undisputed main draw on Saturday night’s four-fight Showtime card, which we’ll preview here.
What: Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson
When: Saturday, the live Showtime card begins at 10 PM ET.
Jon Jones
COLUMBUS, Ohio – This is the Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson live blog for 
At the age of 40, 
After a February show that kicked off the Heavyweight Grand Prix in style, Strikeforce will do its best on Saturday night to keep the momentum going despite