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.

Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza Reflects on Middleweight Title Win

Filed under: MMA Videos, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosHOUSTON — MMA Fighting caught up with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza following his middleweight title win over Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce: Houston.

The Brazilian discussed the way the fight play…

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HOUSTON — MMA Fighting caught up with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza following his middleweight title win over Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce: Houston.

The Brazilian discussed the way the fight played out, his improving striking skills and who he would like to fight next.

Check out the video interview below.

Strikeforce Live Blog: Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza vs. Tim Kennedy Updates

HOUSTON — This is the Strikeforce: Houston live blog for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Tim Kennedy, a middleweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce card on Showtime happening from the Toyota Center.

Strikeforce will crown a new champion between Souza and K…

HOUSTON — This is the Strikeforce: Houston live blog for Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Tim Kennedy, a middleweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce card on Showtime happening from the Toyota Center.

Strikeforce will crown a new champion between Souza and Kennedy following former champ Jake Shields’ departure to the UFC.

The live blog is below.



Strikeforce: Houston Preview and Predictions

Filed under: Strikeforce
Two Strikeforce belts are on the line Saturday night in Houston, with King Mo Lawal making the first defense of his light heavyweight title, and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Tim Kennedy squaring off for the middleweight belt that…

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Two Strikeforce belts are on the line Saturday night in Houston, with King Mo Lawal making the first defense of his light heavyweight title, and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Tim Kennedy squaring off for the middleweight belt that Jake Shields vacated. We’ve got the full preview and predictions below.

What: Strikeforce: Houston

Where: Toyota Center, Houston

When: The Showtime televised card begins Saturday at 10 PM ET.

Titles on the Line, But No Hard Feelings at Strikeforce: Houston Press Conference

Filed under: StrikeforceHOUSTON – If today’s Strikeforce: Houston pre-fight press conference had a theme, that theme was ‘respect.’ It made for a calm, congenial, and somewhat boring atmosphere, but perhaps that’s just what happens when all eight fight…

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HOUSTON – If today’s Strikeforce: Houston pre-fight press conference had a theme, that theme was ‘respect.’ It made for a calm, congenial, and somewhat boring atmosphere, but perhaps that’s just what happens when all eight fighters on the televised portion of the card like one another too much.

Even defending Strikeforce light heavyweight champion “King” Mo Lawal, who usually likes some trash talk to go along with his pre-fight press obligations, explained that he just couldn’t work up the same animosity toward new challenger Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante that he had for Gegard Mousasi in his last fight.

“I respect Feijao,” said Lawal. “We’ve trained with some of the same people. He’s never questioned my character like Mousasi did. Mousasi was quick to go on record saying that I’m full of myself and I’m this and I’m that. Me and Feijao, we don’t need to do that. We’ll do that Saturday. We’ll fight Saturday and have fun.”