Tag: Rafael Feijao Cavalcante

State of the Strikeforce Light Heavyweights

Filed under: StrikeforceStrikeforce’s light heavyweight title has been held by three different fighters this year, and two more fighters will vie for the right to fight for the belt in the main event of the promotion’s December 4 show. Although the Str…

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Strikeforce’s light heavyweight title has been held by three different fighters this year, and two more fighters will vie for the right to fight for the belt in the main event of the promotion’s December 4 show. Although the Strikeforce light heavyweight division doesn’t have the depth of the UFC, it does have several good fighters and the potential for a bunch of exciting fights over the next year.

So can Strikeforce make those fights happen? If they can, which fights should they book first? And who will be the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion in a year’s time? We answer those questions in our state of the Strikeforce light heavyweight division, below.

‘King’ Mo Lawal: I’m Done Holding My Tongue

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveFormer Strikeforce champion “King” Mo Lawal thinks he did several things wrong in his loss to Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante back in August.

For one, he didn’t use his wrestling as much as he should have, he sa…

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Former Strikeforce champion “King” Mo Lawal thinks he did several things wrong in his loss to Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante back in August.

For one, he didn’t use his wrestling as much as he should have, he said. For another, he was much too humble before the fight. No, that last part is not a typo.

“King” Mo – the man who is never at a loss for words, particularly when those words help him explain how much better he is than most of his peers – feels it was partly his pre-fight humility that hurt him in the cage.

“I wasn’t me,” he told MMA Fighting at last week’s EA Sports MMA media event. “I thought I was going to win, but I tried to play all that humble sh-t. What it comes to is, that’s not me. I know I’m the best, and I’ve got to be able to talk like I’m the best. I’m not going to do all that, ‘Oh, he’s a tough opponent’ stuff. Not anymore. F— that stuff. It doesn’t work for me. I tried to do that so I wouldn’t get this backlash, but it doesn’t work for me. So now, people don’t like me? F— them.”

Falling Action: Best, Worst of Strikeforce: Houston

Filed under: StrikeforceYou can learn a lot about what a fighter is made of by the way he loses. Take “King” Mo Lawal and Bobby Lashley, for instance. Both suffered TKO losses at Strikeforce: Houston, but both showed us something completely different a…

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You can learn a lot about what a fighter is made of by the way he loses. Take “King” Mo Lawal and Bobby Lashley, for instance. Both suffered TKO losses at Strikeforce: Houston, but both showed us something completely different about their respective characters in the process.

Lawal absorbed some brutal knees and punches from a heavy-hitting Brazilian, and he was still scrambling for a desperate takedown right up until the end. When “Big” John McCarthy finally stopped the fight, Lawal pitched face first onto the mat, completely spent after trying everything he could to claw his way back from the brink of unconsciousness.

Lashley, on the other hand, looked like he didn’t even want to get up and walk to his corner after winning the first round. The cut under his eye clearly rattled him, and a few minutes later he was so exhausted he could barely lift his arms or defend himself.

Strikeforce: Houston Results in a Night of Upsets and Controversy

Filed under: StrikeforceOn paper, Strikeforce: Houston looked like it would be a night where a series of favorites stampeded to easy victories. Then again, they don’t fight on paper.

“King” Mo Lawal got off to a good start in his first Strikeforce lig…

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On paper, Strikeforce: Houston looked like it would be a night where a series of favorites stampeded to easy victories. Then again, they don’t fight on paper.

“King” Mo Lawal got off to a good start in his first Strikeforce light heavyweight title defense. He slammed Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante to the mat, deftly avoided most of his offensive assaults, and seemed like he was in complete control.

Then in the third round the Brazilian challenger found his range in the stand-up game and unloaded on Lawal with hard right hands and a series of knees to the head that left the champion wobbled. After dropping Lawal with a left-right combination, Cavalcante poured on the elbow strikes until referee “Big” John McCarthy called a stop to the bout at 1:14 of round three, making “Feijao” the third man to hold the Strikeforce light heavyweight strap in 2010.

“My strategy was to block his takedowns in the first and second rounds, because I knew he was going to get tired, and that’s what I did,” Cavalcante said in the post-fight press conference.

‘Feijao’ Cavalcante Credits Upset Loss to Mike Kyle Following Title Win

Filed under: MMA Videos, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosHOUSTON — MMA Fighting spoke to Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante just moments after his Strikeforce light heavyweight win over Muhammed Lawal Saturday night at Strikeforce: Houston.

The Brazil…

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HOUSTON — MMA Fighting spoke to Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante just moments after his Strikeforce light heavyweight win over Muhammed Lawal Saturday night at Strikeforce: Houston.

The Brazilian talked about his road back after his shocking loss to Mike Kyle last year, how he changed his career, his take on the fight and who he expects to fight next.

Check out the video below.

In Defeat, ‘King Mo’ Displays Grit Worthy of a Champion

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsIt’s easy to say someone fought like a champion when they’re on a winning streak, beating contenders, or wearing gold around their waist. It’s not always so obvious when they walk away from a match as the loser. Yet that’s…

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It’s easy to say someone fought like a champion when they’re on a winning streak, beating contenders, or wearing gold around their waist. It’s not always so obvious when they walk away from a match as the loser. Yet that’s just the scenario around Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal after his Strikeforce light-heavyweight championship loss on Saturday night.

Lawal may have lost the belt to Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante at Strikeforce: Houston (does this mean Cavalcante is now the king?), but the indelible image of the champion desperately clutching at Cavalcante’s legs for a takedown in the final seconds should silence any last doubts about Lawal’s gameness.