Tag: Roger Gracie

Strikeforce – Rockhold vs. Kennedy MMAFix Staff Picks

Luke Rockhold (-290) vs. Tim Kennedy (+245) Ryan: Both fighters are pretty well rounded, but I give Rockhold an edge in almost every skill. Rockhold by decision. Winner: Rockhold Alan: This fight sets up perfectly.

Luke Rockhold (-290) vs. Tim Kennedy (+245)

Ryan: Both fighters are pretty well rounded, but I give Rockhold an edge in almost every skill. Rockhold by decision. Winner: Rockhold

Alan: This fight sets up perfectly for Rockhold. He should be able to defend Kennedy’s takedowns and strike his way to victory. Winner: Rockhold

Nate Marquardt (-115) vs. Tyron Woodley (-105)

Ryan: Woodley’s wrestling won’t be enough to control Marquardt. Just too strong and too skilled. Marquardt by KO. Winner: Marqaurdt

Alan: I’m torn on this fight. We’ll know as soon as Woodley shoots the first time how this fight will play out. I’m going with Woodley’s wrestling ability and the weight cut to welterweight breaking Marquardt down over five rounds. But if Marquardt can defend the takedown, he should cruise to victory. Winner: Woodley

Robbie Lawler vs. Lorenz Larkin

Ryan: Lawler could end the fight at any time with one punch, but he hasn’t been very consistent. Larkin is the more diverse striker and I think that will be the difference in this fight. Larkin by decision. Winner: Larkin

Alan: This fight is almost impossible to predict, which I’m guessing is why there’s no line at any of the major sites. Larkin is the better striker but Lawler has the power. I’m going to guess that Larkin won’t be able to stand for fifteen minutes without getting dropped but it could just as easily of the other way. Winner: Lawler

Roger Gracie (-260) vs. Keith Jardine (+180)

Ryan: I’m going with Gracie based on the fact that Travor Prangley was able to work Jardine over, while Gracie tapped him out quick. Gracie by submission. Winner: Gracie

Alan: This is another fight that could go either way. Gracie is a significant favorite but I’m going with the underdog. I’m betting on Jardine finding Gracie’s somewhat glassy chin before Gracie can drag him down to the mat. But if Gracie does get the fight to the ground, this one will be over instantly. Winner: Jardine

Strikeforce – Rockhold vs. Kennedy: Pre-Fight Analysis

Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy Headlining the Strikeforce card on Saturday night is a middleweight title fight between champion Luke Rockhold and challenger Tim Kennedy. Rockhold has earned eight straight victories after suffering his only.

Luke Rockhold vs. Tim Kennedy

Headlining the Strikeforce card on Saturday night is a middleweight title fight between champion Luke Rockhold and challenger Tim Kennedy. Rockhold has earned eight straight victories after suffering his only loss in his second career fight. His last two victories have been his most impressive coming against Ronaldo Souza and Keith Jardine. Kennedy has put together back to back victories over Melvin Manhoef and Robbie Lawler after losing a championship fight against Souza.

Rockhold comes in with momentum after dominating Jardine and finishing him via TKO in the first round. But his victory before that against Souza to win the belt was even more impressive. Souza is one of the better fighters in the middleweight division and Rockhold managed to keep the fight mostly on the feet and battered him from there. He has shown an increasingly diversified striking game combined with a defensive wrestling and scrambling ability that allow him to take advantage of his strengths in the standup. He will look to do just that against Kennedy who prefers to take fighters down and work for submission. Kennedy is a good striker but Rockhold should have the advantage and as long as he can keep the fight standing, he should be able to earn the victory. Kennedy will be tough to finish but if he does it, that would be another impressive statement. More likely is a unanimous decision after five rounds of high level striking.

Kennedy’s biggest asset to this point in his career has been his grappling. He has found the most success by taking his opponents down and working for submissions. He has also shown some excellent ground and pound. If he wants to use those skills, he has a tough task as Rockhold has shown excellent takedown defense and Kennedy isn’t a great wrestler. He will need to mix in his takedowns with his striking and time his shots as counters to Rockhold’s striking to have the best chance of success. He will also need to work hard to keep Rockhold down as he has shown an excellent ability to get back to his feet once on he hits the ground. If Kennedy can get Rockhold down and keep him there, he can win this fight. But that will be difficult to do and he will need to keep Rockhold guessing and off balance in order to do it.

Rockhold is the big favorite at -310 with Kennedy at +255. This fight sets up in Rockhold’s favor as he should be able to defends against Kennedy’s takedowns and keep the fight standing. If that happens, Rockhold should have the advantage and strike his way to a victory. But if Kennedy can somehow find a way to get the fight to the mat and control Rockhold , he could pull of the upset.

Nate Marquardt vs. Tyron Woodley

The first title fight of the night will feature former UFC contender Nate Marquardt and undefeated prospect Tyron Woodley competing for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight belt. Marquardt comes to Strikeforce after alternating wins and losses in his last five UFC appearances. He earned a decision victory over Dan Miller at UFC 128 in his last fight after losing to Yushin Okami in a title contender elimination fight. Woodley has been impressive in his undefeated Strikeforce run earning victories over Jordan Mein and Paul Daley in his last two fights bringing his record to ten wins and no losses.

Marquardt has long been one of the better fighters in the middleweight division but has been unable to climb to the top of division. Because of that, he has decided to not only drop to welterweight but has also made the jump from the UFC to Strikeforce where he can fight for a title immediately. Marquardt basically had no choice but to be a big fish in the small Strikeforce pond after the UFC released him. He has lost a bit of credibility in the past year with his testosterone replacement therapy saga but this fight is an opportunity to get his career back on the right track. He brings a well-rounded skill set to the cage with the ability to finish from any position. Against an excellent wrestler like Woodley, expect him to try to keep the fight standing. The key to this fight will be his defensive wrestling. If he can fend off Woodley’s takedowns, he should have the advantage in the striking game. But if he finds himself on his back, he’ll be in trouble. The other key will be how his body handles the weight cut. If this fight goes five rounds, his body will be tested. Any time a fighter makes a change in weight class the first fight is always a bit of a challenge and five rounds will only make the challenge even more difficult.

Woodley’s win streak to start his career is now at ten fights and he will look to make it eleven by earning the first title of his MMA career. He is not as well-rounded as his opponent and will rely almost entirely on his wrestling to earn the victory. He needs to be able to get Marquardt down and control him on the ground. At this point in his career, he doesn’t have the striking to compete on the feet. He has the power to land a haymaker but not the technique to consistently outstrike Marquardt. Because of that, he needs to focus on getting the fight to the ground and grinding his way to victory. The more he can force Marquardt to wrestle the better his chances of wearing him out and testing the weight cut become. His chances also improve as the fight goes longer for the same reasons. If Woodley wants to win, he has to make the fight slow and ugly. And luckily for him, that’s exactly his style.

Marquardt is the slight favorite in this fight at -130 with Woodley coming in at +110. That seems about right as Marquardt has a significant advantage in experience and Woodley has never faced anyone of his caliber before. If Marquardt’s defensive wrestling is good enough to keep the fight standing, he should be able to earn the victory. But if Woodley can be successful with his takedowns and maintain top position, he’ll grind his way to a decision.

Robbie Lawler vs. Lorenz Larkin

Strikeforce is showing a little love to the fans by giving us a guaranteed slugfest and more than likely a KO or TKO finish with a middleweight fight between Lorenz Larkin and Robbie Lawler. Both fighters prefer to stand and both have the power to finish. Larkin is the more technical fighter and uses a more well-rounded striking attack incorporating a variety of kicks into his game. Lawler prefers to box and mix in some powerful knees when the opportunity arises. However, Lawler may have the slight advantage in power and explosiveness.

The analysis for this fight is pretty straightforward. These guys are going to stand and bang and eventually one of them is probably going to fall. None of the major sites have a line on this fight but if they did, it would have to be close. Either fighter is capable of landing the strike that ends the fight at any moment. I could stretch this out longer to try to sound smarter but this fight is what is so enjoy it for as long as it lasts. I know I will.

Roger Gracie vs. Keith Jardine

To open a big night for Strikeforce that features two title fights, Roger Gracie will face Keith Jardine in the light heavyweight division. Gracie carries the banner for the first family of MMA into this fight against Jardine who carries the banner for ugly fighting styles. These two fighters are polar opposites in their approaches with Gracie coming from a storied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background and employing a traditional style that led him to great success on the grappling circuit while Jardine seems to come into every fight looking to make it an ugly brawl to create openings for his powerful punches.

Gracie’s striking has improved in recent fights but he is still a grappler first. He will be looking to get the fight to the mat as quickly as possible and avoid engaging Jardine on the feet. The question will be whether or not he has the wrestling to succeed in taking down Jardine. If he can, the fight will likely be over quickly after that. Jardine will be looking to ugly up the fight as much as possible and use his unorthodox striking to keep Gracie off balance. While Gracie has shown a willingness to strike, he still doesn’t seem to respond well to getting hit and if Jardine can land one of his looping punches, he could get an opportunity to finish his opponent. But he needs to be careful because if he stuns Gracie and follows him to the ground to try for a finish, he could find himself in a submission.

The bookmakers have Gracie as a solid favorite at -260 with Jardine at +180. I’m not sure why Gracie is such a big favorite given that the fight will start on the feet and Jardine has a significant advantage in that area. I’m also not convinced that Gracie will be able to drag Jardine to the mat before eating a few shots. Both fighters have a clear path to victory here and the winner will be determined by who executes his gameplan more efficiently. If Gracie gets the fight to the ground, he should be able to wrap it up quickly. But if Jardine can keep the fight standing, he has the power to finish Gracie.

Roger Gracie to Make Middleweight Debut Against Keith Jardine in July


(And for my next trick, I will enter a state of comatose using only a roided man’s fists and sheer determination.) 

On the heels of a devastating one-punch knockout at the hands of Muhammed Lawal in September, it looks like Roger Gracie will make his moderately-anticipated middleweight debut at an upcoming Strikeforce event in July. Rejoice. Across the cage from the Jiu-Jitsu phenom will be none other than UFC veteran and member of the undead army, Keith “The Dean of Mean” Johnson Jardine. Jardine has had a rough run of things as of late, dropping six of his last nine including a recent ill-fated title bid against Luke Rockhold in January.

But a matchup with Gracie is one that Jardine stands a better chance of winning than any fight in recent memory, believe it or not. Jardine has never been submitted in professional competition, and Gracie’s complete lack of the kind of striking game that has felled Jardine in the past might just make for a victory over a big name that has eluded “The Dean” since his UFC 89 split-decision win over Brandon Vera. In fact, the closest Jardine has even come to scoring an upset victory in recent years was his Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley performance that saw him fight to a majority draw with the heavily favored Gegard Mousasi.

Though it was previously reported that Gracie was on his way up to the UFC, those rumors were quickly squashed by UFC President Dana White, who stated, “[expletive] that [expletive] you [expletive] [expletive] Samuel L. Jackson [expletive] smartphone [expletive] hotspacho [expletive].” Something like that. *

In other fight booking news…


(And for my next trick, I will enter a state of comatose using only a roided man’s fists and sheer determination.) 

On the heels of a devastating one-punch knockout at the hands of Muhammed Lawal in September, it looks like Roger Gracie will make his moderately-anticipated middleweight debut at an upcoming Strikeforce event in July. Rejoice. Across the cage from the Jiu-Jitsu phenom will be none other than UFC veteran and member of the undead army, Keith “The Dean of Mean” Johnson Jardine. Jardine has had a rough run of things as of late, dropping six of his last nine including a recent ill-fated title bid against Luke Rockhold in January.

But a matchup with Gracie is one that Jardine stands a better chance of winning than any fight in recent memory, believe it or not. Jardine has never been submitted in professional competition, and Gracie’s complete lack of the kind of striking game that has felled Jardine in the past might just make for a victory over a big name that has eluded “The Dean” since his UFC 89 split-decision win over Brandon Vera. In fact, the closest Jardine has even come to scoring an upset victory in recent years was his Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley performance that saw him fight to a majority draw with the heavily favored Gegard Mousasi.

Though it was previously reported that Gracie was on his way up to the UFC, those rumors were quickly squashed by UFC President Dana White, who stated, “[expletive] that [expletive] you [expletive] [expletive] Samuel L. Jackson [expletive] smartphone [expletive] hotspacho [expletive].” Something like that. *

In other fight booking news…

Coming off a brutal knockout loss of his own to Dan Henderson in December of 2010, Renato “Babalu” Sobral will return to the ring for the first time in nearly two years at OneFC’s “Destiny of Warriors” event, which goes down at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on June 23rd. After signing with OneFC in December of 2011, Sobral was expected to face Melvin Manhoef and his explosive shins at OneFC 3, but pulled out of the bout to participate as Wanderlei Silva’s wrestling coach on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. Sobral is currently 36-9 in MMA competition, most recently sandwiching a win over Robbie Lawler between a pair of KO losses to Gegard Mousasi and Henderson, the former of which cost him the Strikeforce light heavyweight title.

Sobral will be facing a game opponent in Tatsuya Mizuno, who holds notable victories over Melvin Manhoef and Trevor Prangley and has only gone to the judges scorecards once in his professional career. Mizuno is coming off an arm-triangle submission victory over Ilima Maiava at the mediocre-but-improved ProElite 3 event back in January.

Who you got for these, Potato Nation?

*OK, it went nothing like that. There was no interview. We apologize for deceiving you. 

-J. Jones

Roger Gracie Called up to the UFC

Strikforce’s paper-thin light-heavyweight division just lost another one.

As GRACIEMAG first reported yesterday, Strikeforce light-heavyweight Roger Gracie has been called up to the UFC. While a date and an opponent have yet to be named for his UFC debut, Roger Gracie has hinted that he may enlist Anderson Silva to help him train for the bout. Roger Gracie is currently 4-1 in his career, with his last fight being a first round knockout loss to King Mo at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov.

On paper, it’s pretty strange to call up a guy with five professional fights who just lost to the big leagues. But it makes a little more sense when you actually look over Strikeforce’s light-heavyweight division. With King Mo on the shelves for a while, there really isn’t much to offer Gracie in Strikeforce. As the age old saying goes: If Gracie fights Ovince St. Preux or Gegard Mousasi in Strikeforce and no one watches, does the fight even matter? At least I think that’s how that one went.

 

Strikforce’s paper-thin light-heavyweight division just lost another one.

As GRACIEMAG first reported yesterday, Strikeforce light-heavyweight Roger Gracie has been called up to the UFC. While a date and an opponent have yet to be named for his UFC debut, Roger Gracie has hinted that he may enlist Anderson Silva to help him train for the bout. Roger Gracie is currently 4-1 in his career, with his last fight being a first round knockout loss to King Mo at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov.

On paper, it’s pretty strange to call up a guy with five professional fights who just lost to the big leagues. But it makes a little more sense when you actually look over Strikeforce’s light-heavyweight division. With King Mo on the shelves for a while, there really isn’t much to offer Gracie in Strikeforce. As the age old saying goes: If Gracie fights Ovince St. Preux or Gegard Mousasi in Strikeforce and no one watches, does the fight even matter? At least I think that’s how that one went.

So what say you, Potato Nation? Given Gracie’s past performances, who does the UFC match him up against? And who wins it?

Three Replacement Opponents For Machida at UFC 140 Since Davis is Still Recovering From Surgery


(“Get a clue, Rashad. It’s not happening.”)

Within an hour today UFC president Dana White announced and then promptly recanted the news that Lyoto Machida would be squaring off with Phil Davis at UFC 140 in Toronto in December. According to White, the announcement was premature since, unbeknownst to him, Davis is still recuperating from knee surgery to fix the injury that forced him out out of his scheduled UFC 133 bout with Rashad Evans.

Luckily for Dana and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, we have three viable replacements lined up for Machida and we won’t even charge our usual finder’s fee.

Agree or disagree with our line-up after the jump.


(“Get a clue, Rashad. It’s not happening.”)

Within an hour today UFC president Dana White announced and then promptly recanted the news that Lyoto Machida would be squaring off with Phil Davis at UFC 140 in Toronto in December. According to White, the announcement was premature since, unbeknownst to him, Davis is still recuperating from knee surgery to fix the injury that forced him out out of his scheduled UFC 133 bout with Rashad Evans.

Luckily for Dana and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, we have three viable replacements lined up for Machida and we won’t even charge our usual finder’s fee.

Agree or disagree with our line-up after the jump.

3. Roger Gracie

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ShoSports)


In spite of his loss to Muhammed Lawal, if Roger can take Lyoto down, we may have an interesting situation on our hands. Machida is a black belt, but Gracie is a different kind of black belt and we’ve never seen how “The Dragon” fares against a submission specialist, unless you count Sam Hoger, and we’re pretty sure nobody does.

2. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMAHighlights11)
“Rampage” has a win over Machida that even he admits is suspect, so why not let the two of them settle the score? With how in shape he was and how focused he seemed for his fight with Jones last week, Jackson will be hungry to get back on track and Machida’s eight-month layoff since his win over Randy Couture at UFC 129 in April could be an advantage.

1.  Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal

(Video courtesy of YouTube/RandomCoolStuffHD)


“King Mo” just brutalized Roger Gracie and would love the chance to take a “W” away from Team Black House since the last fighter from the camp he faced, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, took his belt and snapped his undefeated streak with a third-round TKO. After dominating the fight for the better part of the first two rounds, Lawal got caught by a well-timed straight right up the pipe and Cavalcante didn’t give him a chance to recover. Mo’ is a better version of Phil Davis and doesn’t get the respect he deserves for how well-rounded his arsenal has become thanks to his analytical approach to the game.

Outside possibilities: Gegard Mousasi and Ovince St. Preux

(Video courtesy of YouTube/JonnyLofgren)

 Both fighters are slated to face each other in December at Strikeforce 37, but could be available if needed. Before you scoff at Mousasi being included in this list, remember that besides not knowing how to deal with Keith Jardine’s Saturday night at the Dairy Queen parking lot fighting style, his only real uninspired performance came against Lawal, but that was because Lawal’s performance and gameplan was that much better.

Barnett Top Money Earner On $942,150 Payroll for Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov Event Saturday Night


(“Cormier has been fighting how long and he made how much?!” -Photo courtesy of Ric Fogel/ESPN.com)

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist Josh Barnett’s $150,000 salary accounted for 16 percent of the $942,150 payroll of Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event in Cincinnati. The man Barnett defeated, Sergei Kharitonov and his fellow HWGP finalist Daniel Cormier both tied for the second best paid fighters of the night with $100,000 a piece for their efforts, followed closely by Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal who received a flat fee of $85,000 for his win over Roger Gracie, who got $80,000.

Newly-crowned Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold netted $50,000 for his win over Ronaldo Souza, who took home $70,000 and no belt.


(“Cormier has been fighting how long and he made how much?!” -Photo courtesy of Ric Fogel/ESPN.com)

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist Josh Barnett’s $150,000 salary accounted for 16 percent of the $942,150 payroll of Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event in Cincinnati. The man Barnett defeated, Sergei Kharitonov and his fellow HWGP finalist Daniel Cormier both tied for the second best paid fighters of the night with $100,000 a piece for their efforts, followed closely by Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal who received a flat fee of $85,000 for his win over Roger Gracie, who got $80,000.

Newly-crowned Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold netted $50,000 for his win over Ronaldo Souza, who took home $70,000 and no belt.

If not for Tito Ortiz’s $450,000 payday for his win over Ryan Bader, this card’s payroll would have eclipsed UFC 132′s, which is the last UFC event with a mandatory disclosed salary ledger.

Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov
Saturday, September 10, 2011
U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio

Main Card

Josh Barnett: $150,000 (no win bonus) def. Sergei Kharitonov: $100,000

Daniel Cormier: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)
def. Antonio Silva: $100,000

Luke Rockhold: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Ronaldo Souza: $70,000

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal: $85,000 (no win bonus) def. Roger Gracie: $80,000

Pat Healy: $17,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Maximo Blanco: $13,000

Preliminary Card

Mike Kyle: $44,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus) def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima: $5,000

Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Yoel Romero: $10,000

Jordan Mein: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos: $20,000

Alexis Davis: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Amanda Nunes: $7,500

Dominique Steele: $5,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Chris Mierzwiak: $3,000

Disclosed fighter payroll: $942,150

———-

UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber
Saturday, July 2, 2011
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada

Main Card

Dominick Cruz: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Urijah Faber: $32,000

Chris Leben: $92,000 (includes $46,000 win bonus) def. Wanderlei Silva $200,000 (flat rate)

Dennis Siver: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Matt Wiman: $18,000

Tito Ortiz: $450,000 (flat rate; no win bonus) def. Ryan Bader: $20,000

Carlos Condit: $68,000 (includes $34,000 win bonus) def. Dong Hyun Kim: $41,000

Preliminary Card

Melvin Guillard: $64,000 (includes $32,000 win bonus) def. Shane Roller: $21,000

Rafael dos Anjos: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. George Sotiropoulos: $15,000

Brian Bowles: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. Takeya Mizugaki: $12,000

Aaron Simpson: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. Brad Tavares: $10,000

Anthony Njokuani: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Andre Winner: $14,000

Jeff Hougland: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Donny Walker: $6,000

Disclosed fighter payroll: $1,277,000 58,045.45