We bring you our latest Betting Odds videos as our host, Steve Cofield from ESPN Radio and Cagewriter breaks down the top 3 main card events from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix featuring Alistair Overeem.
We bring you our latest Betting Odds videos as our host, Steve Cofield from ESPN Radio and Cagewriter breaks down the top 3 main card events from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix featuring Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum with expert analysts, Damon Martin of MMA Weekly and Larry Pepe of Pro MMA Radio. Watch the videos below to place your best bets:
Alistair Overeem (-350) vs. Fabricio Werdum (+250)
It’s no Ghengis Con joint, but it’s something. VidProps: ShoSports
Nation, amongst all the large names and ginormous dudes fighting this weekend, you may have overlooked Daniel Cormier. This weekend’s bout with heavyweight submission grappler/anarchist/tattoo enthusiast Jeff Monson will be Cormier’s fifth fight for Strikeforce since his debut in September of 2009 under the Challengers banner. Perhaps it’s no shock that Cormier isn’t a household name, considering the lack of promotion from his, uh, promotion, but he’s nonetheless a dude you should know.
Come on in past the jump and better know Daniel Cormier, so you’ll have something intelligent to say at the bar while his fight is on.
It’s no Ghengis Con joint, but it’s something. VidProps: ShoSports
Nation, amongst all the large names and ginormous dudes fighting this weekend, you may have overlooked Daniel Cormier. This weekend’s bout with heavyweight submission grappler/anarchist/tattoo enthusiast Jeff Monson will be Cormier’s fifth fight for Strikeforce since his debut in September of 2009 under the Challengers banner. Perhaps it’s no shock that Cormier isn’t a household name, considering the lack of promotion from his, uh, promotion, but he’s nonetheless a dude you should know.
Come on in past the jump and better know Daniel Cormier, so you’ll have something intelligent to say at the bar while his fight is on.
He’s got mad wrestling cred.
Who is the best pure wrestler in MMA? Daniel Cormier’s resume is the definition of world class: high school champ and All-American, ju-co champ, Oklahoma State alum, member of the US Olympic wrestling team in 2004 and 2008. (Sadly, Cormier could not compete at the 2008 games.) Perhaps the most interesting wrestling experience is his time in the now-defunct Real Pro Wrestling league, where Cormier was a champion. Amateur wrestling rules were tweaked for the RPW, giving Cormier some experience with hybrid grappling and a bridge to MMA competition.
He’s got a great camp.
Cormier hooked up with the people at AKA in San Jose, where he trains with some of the best wrestlers-turned-fighters on the planet: Cain Velasquez, King Mo, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, Kyle Kingsbury… we could go on, but we think you’ve probably heard of this team. Training with smaller guys has kept Cormier quick and sharp, and he can match power with the big heavyweights as well. The team has shown that they can teach wrestlers how to strike, and Cormier is a quick study.
He’s not a lay and pray kind of guy.
Cormier is deceptively quick for a heavyweight, and he mixes strikes and takedowns extremely well. He has gone to decision just once, in his last fight versus Devin Cole; his six other victories are split evenly between subs and TKO wins. Only one of those sub wins was actually a sub win in the usual sense: Soa Palelei and Jason Riley both tapped to strikes. Cormier’s powerful ground and pound should continue to rack up victories for him.
He’s already gone golden.
Cormier was just 2-0 when Xtreme MMA out of Sydney, Australia offered him a fight for the XMMA heavyweight championship. Cormier claimed the gold with a TKO victory over Lucas Browne in the first round. (He went on to successfully defend that title as well.) King of the Cage offered him a fight with newly crowned champ Tony Johnson Jr last August, and he dominated Johnson for an RNC win in just two and a half minutes. (Full fight can be found here.)
He seems like a good guy.
Cormier comes off as a class act in interviews, whether he’s talking about his own progression as a fighter or the enmity between his bro-dog King Mo and Rampage Jackson. He seems thoughtful and humble, and have a very strong grasp of what he does well, and what he needs to improve upon. It’s this introspection that puts Cormier’s potential so high.
He’s small for a heavyweight…
…but don’t sweat it. Cormier gets dinged for being undersized at 265, at only 5’11″ (74 inch reach), but he’s powerfully built. Against wrestlers, Cormier’s lower center of gravity is actually an advantage. Against submission artists, his short limbs make for difficult taps. Against pure strikers, his ability to change levels quickly and mix up strikes and shoots can keep kickboxers from pulling the trigger on big strikes and combos. Put simply, it’s going to take a complete fighter to hand Cormier his first loss.
Cormier will face a big test this weekend against Monson, and this could be his coming-out party, with a large expected audience for the heavyweight GP. And if the winner of the tournament vacates the title and moves over to the UFC, don’t be surprised if Cormier claims the Strikeforce belt quickly. If, that is, he doesn’t join up with the big show himself. And that’s the word.
This Saturday night, Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum goes down in Dallas, featuring two more bouts from the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix: Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers. Submit your predictions for these two fights in the comments section below, including the winner’s name, the method of victory, and the time/round of stoppage, if any. Your entry should be in this format:
This Saturday night, Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum goes down in Dallas, featuring two more bouts from the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix: Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers. Submit your predictions for these two fights in the comments section below, including the winner’s name, the method of victory, and the time/round of stoppage, if any. Your entry should be in this format:
Alistair Overeem def. Fabricio Werdum via TKO, 2:53 of round 3
Josh Barnett def. Brett Rogers via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Please include the judges’ scores if you think a fight will end in a decision, in case we need them for a tie-breaker. The most accurate prediction wins the book, straight up. Entries must be in by this Saturday at noon ET, and we’ll announce the winner by Monday; one entry per person, please. Any other questions, let us know. Thanks for playing, and visit VictoryBelt.com for more great instructional books and DVDs.
Last week, we expressed some concern that Josh Barnett‘s application for a license in Texas was still incomplete, just ten days before he was scheduled to throw down against Brett Rogers at “Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum” in Dallas. But it turned out there was a logical explanation for Barnett’s licensing status that involved pre-fight medicals, and the Babyface Assassin was actually among several other fighters on the card whose applications were incomplete as of last week.
And now it’s official. As MMAJunkie reports, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has issued Barnett a license to fight this Saturday:
Barnett’s license is good for one year…As earlier reported, Barnett was required to provide the TDLR with a clean drug test in addition to the usual pre-fight paperwork as a condition of his licensure. Strikeforce is conducting independent drug testing at the event…
Last week, we expressed some concern that Josh Barnett‘s application for a license in Texas was still incomplete, just ten days before he was scheduled to throw down against Brett Rogers at “Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum” in Dallas. But it turned out there was a logical explanation for Barnett’s licensing status that involved pre-fight medicals, and the Babyface Assassin was actually among several other fighters on the card whose applications were incomplete as of last week.
And now it’s official. As MMAJunkie reports, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has issued Barnett a license to fight this Saturday:
Barnett’s license is good for one year…As earlier reported, Barnett was required to provide the TDLR with a clean drug test in addition to the usual pre-fight paperwork as a condition of his licensure. Strikeforce is conducting independent drug testing at the event…
[TDLR Public Information Officer Susan] Stanford said earlier that Barnett’s history in California is not a factor in his application for licensure in Texas because the fighter is not currently under administrative suspension on a registry of fighters maintained by the Association of Boxing Commissions.
So that’s that. You can all kiss Josh’s ass now.
Related: For the remaining fights in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, a “sudden death” fourth round will be added in case a fight is ruled a draw after three rounds. (On Saturday, this would hypothetically apply to Barnett vs. Rogers and Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum.) The good news is, we won’t have to worry about a sketchy fourth judge showing up to advance one of the fighters; that idea has been thankfully nixed.
It’s perhaps the most common refrain in sports: “I’m not looking past (insert opponent here).”
But KJ Noons has a slightly different take on the adage that nearly all title contenders wind up saying at one point or another. And it just might make sense.
Noons fights Masvidal on Saturday in what Strikeforce has deemed a No. 1 contenders fight for the lightweight belt held by Gilbert Melendez. It will be Noons’ first fight since a welterweight title fight loss to Nick Diaz last October.
Noons (10-3, 2-1 Strikeforce) and Masvidal (21-6, 3-0 Strikeforce) were slated for the preliminary card of Strikeforce’s show at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, which features the next two quarterfinal fights in the promotion’s heavyweight tournament on the main card. But when Gina Carano had to pull out of her return last week, Noons-Masvidal was bumped up for the Showtime audience instead of a prelim card that will air live on HDNet.
And Noons told Helwani he’s put in more work for this fight than he did for his title shot with Diaz, which saw him go up a weight class on relatively short notice.
“He’s definitely top notch, and I think he makes for an exciting fight,” Noons said. “This has been probably the hardest camp I’ve ever had to train for, this fight. This is actually harder than the Diaz fight. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older, or we’re trying to get things more fine tuned.”
With a wedding to his longtime girlfriend looming in the fall, Noons said he would love to make quick work of Masvidal to get his shot at Melendez, then get right back in there with the champion.
“I heard there’s rumors Gilbert wants to fight in August,” Noons said. “I’ve never trained so hard. Once I get my hand raised, I would love to get one more fight before I tie the knot.”
With a layoff of more than eight months, Noons told MMA Fighting earlier this month in Las Vegas that he was itching to get back in the cage. Noons fought four times in 2010 going 3-1, but the Masvidal fight will be his first in 2011 – making this his longest layoff in four years.
And even though he said he’s willing to go back to 170 pounds if the right fight is there, saying he just wants to put on exciting fights, Noons believes 155 is where he’s supposed to be.
“This is definitely my weight class,” Noons told MMA Fighting in Las Vegas. “I was supposed to fight for a title at 155 before the Nick Diaz fight, but they asked me if I wanted to fight Nick Diaz in six weeks at 170. I said, ‘Yeah, I don’t care.’ I fought him in his hometown, on his turf, in his weight class. And you know the outcome. You can’t leave it to the judges, right?
“I’m just ready. It kind of sucks being on the sidelines – but it’s kind of fun, being on vacation. But I’ve still got to pay the bills and fight.”
Noons said the sting of his loss to Diaz will hopefully make him a better fight. Especially since it was to a heated rival whom he had beaten to win the EliteXC lightweight title in November 2007, when Diaz’s cuts were too bad to continue into the second round.
“It always hurts when you lose,” Noons said. “You put in all that time, all that effort with your team. It’s always tough to take a loss. But that’s what makes really good fighters – everybody wants to see somebody rise from the bottom back up top. If you can do that, that’s pretty good. I’ve gotta dust myself off and try to get better, win some more fights and try to get up there again.”
Noons’ loss to Diaz snapped a six-fight winning streak. Masvidal beat Billy Evangelista at Strikeforce’s March show in Columbus, Ohio, but has not won two straight since 2009.
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum takes place Saturday in Dallas. The main card, featuring heavyweight tournament bouts between champion Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers, airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern. The prelims air live on HDNet at 8 p.m. Eastern.
It’s perhaps the most common refrain in sports: “I’m not looking past (insert opponent here).”
But KJ Noons has a slightly different take on the adage that nearly all title contenders wind up saying at one point or another. And it just might make sense.
Noons fights Masvidal on Saturday in what Strikeforce has deemed a No. 1 contenders fight for the lightweight belt held by Gilbert Melendez. It will be Noons’ first fight since a welterweight title fight loss to Nick Diaz last October.
Noons (10-3, 2-1 Strikeforce) and Masvidal (21-6, 3-0 Strikeforce) were slated for the preliminary card of Strikeforce’s show at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, which features the next two quarterfinal fights in the promotion’s heavyweight tournament on the main card. But when Gina Carano had to pull out of her return last week, Noons-Masvidal was bumped up for the Showtime audience instead of a prelim card that will air live on HDNet.
And Noons told Helwani he’s put in more work for this fight than he did for his title shot with Diaz, which saw him go up a weight class on relatively short notice.
“He’s definitely top notch, and I think he makes for an exciting fight,” Noons said. “This has been probably the hardest camp I’ve ever had to train for, this fight. This is actually harder than the Diaz fight. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older, or we’re trying to get things more fine tuned.”
With a wedding to his longtime girlfriend looming in the fall, Noons said he would love to make quick work of Masvidal to get his shot at Melendez, then get right back in there with the champion.
“I heard there’s rumors Gilbert wants to fight in August,” Noons said. “I’ve never trained so hard. Once I get my hand raised, I would love to get one more fight before I tie the knot.”
With a layoff of more than eight months, Noons told MMA Fighting earlier this month in Las Vegas that he was itching to get back in the cage. Noons fought four times in 2010 going 3-1, but the Masvidal fight will be his first in 2011 – making this his longest layoff in four years.
And even though he said he’s willing to go back to 170 pounds if the right fight is there, saying he just wants to put on exciting fights, Noons believes 155 is where he’s supposed to be.
“This is definitely my weight class,” Noons told MMA Fighting in Las Vegas. “I was supposed to fight for a title at 155 before the Nick Diaz fight, but they asked me if I wanted to fight Nick Diaz in six weeks at 170. I said, ‘Yeah, I don’t care.’ I fought him in his hometown, on his turf, in his weight class. And you know the outcome. You can’t leave it to the judges, right?
“I’m just ready. It kind of sucks being on the sidelines – but it’s kind of fun, being on vacation. But I’ve still got to pay the bills and fight.”
Noons said the sting of his loss to Diaz will hopefully make him a better fight. Especially since it was to a heated rival whom he had beaten to win the EliteXC lightweight title in November 2007, when Diaz’s cuts were too bad to continue into the second round.
“It always hurts when you lose,” Noons said. “You put in all that time, all that effort with your team. It’s always tough to take a loss. But that’s what makes really good fighters – everybody wants to see somebody rise from the bottom back up top. If you can do that, that’s pretty good. I’ve gotta dust myself off and try to get better, win some more fights and try to get up there again.”
Noons’ loss to Diaz snapped a six-fight winning streak. Masvidal beat Billy Evangelista at Strikeforce’s March show in Columbus, Ohio, but has not won two straight since 2009.
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum takes place Saturday in Dallas. The main card, featuring heavyweight tournament bouts between champion Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers, airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern. The prelims air live on HDNet at 8 p.m. Eastern.
MMA Fighting recently spoke to lightweight JZ Cavalcante about why it took him so long to get a second fight in Strikeforce, why Zuffa purchasing Strikeforce was a good thing for him, his thoughts on fighting Justin Wilcox at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum on June 18 in Dallas and his take on the Strikeforce lightweight division.
MMA Fighting recently spoke to lightweight JZ Cavalcante about why it took him so long to get a second fight in Strikeforce, why Zuffa purchasing Strikeforce was a good thing for him, his thoughts on fighting Justin Wilcox at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum on June 18 in Dallas and his take on the Strikeforce lightweight division.
It’s perhaps the most common refrain in sports: “I’m not looking past (insert opponent here).”