Tag: Strikeforce

Ronaldo “Jacare” Expecting Tim Kennedy to Look for Takedown

Although a lot of people may have been excited about the prospect of Strikeforce holding a tournament to fill its vacant middleweight championship (cue footage of Jake Shields walking into the sunset), any big fan has to be stoked about the promotion’s decision to roll with Ronado “Jacare” Souza vs. Tim Kennedy on August 21st […]

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Although a lot of people may have been excited about the prospect of Strikeforce holding a tournament to fill its vacant middleweight championship (cue footage of Jake Shields walking into the sunset), any big fan has to be stoked about the promotion’s decision to roll with Ronado “Jacare” Souza vs. Tim Kennedy on August 21st instead. Of Strikeforce’s commodities, both Kennedy and Jacare rank right up there, so it makes sense to have one of them as the 185lb. champ (especially with Dan Henderson’s decision to return to 205).

Jacare has continued to impress since the BJJ god decided to transition into MMA (we say an ADCC championship and 5 world titles grants him deity status), and aside from his ‘WTF just happened?’ up kick loss at the feet of Gegard Mousasi, the Brazilian has pretty much cruised through his opponents recently. Of course, Kennedy has also continued to rise up the middleweight ranks, and has wins over notable names like Trevor Prangley and Nick Thompson since signing with Strikeforce.

In a recent interview with Tatame.com, Jacare was asked for his thoughts on Kennedy, and it sounds like the Brazilian isn’t expecting his opponent to stay away from the ground game.

“For sure. I believe he’ll keep doing his game, he’ll try to bring me down, but I’ll be prepared to defend myself while standing and bring him down in order to use my Jiu-Jitsu to try to submit him.”

Jacare was also asked for his thoughts on the upcoming bout between Anderson Silva (his teammate) and Chael Sonnen; guess who he’s picking? To check out the entire interview head here.

Karo Parisyan Talks Failed Strikeforce Deal and Ongoing Stress

(After shaving his chest and face, Karo hit 170 with ease.)
Karo Parisyan spoke with MMAJunkie Radio yesterday and explained in depth the Strikeforce deal, codenamed by the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker as "a cup of coffee," that never materi…


(After shaving his chest and face, Karo hit 170 with ease.)

Karo Parisyan spoke with MMAJunkie Radio yesterday and explained in depth the Strikeforce deal, codenamed by the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker as "a cup of coffee," that never materialized.

According to the beleaguered former UFC fighter who has admitted that he has struggled with anxiety and although he hasn’t confirmed the rumor, is said to have battled addiction to painkillers the past few years, the contract was all but drawn up and it was he who rejected the deal because of certain provisions.

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Strikeforce Sets Middleweight Title Fight, but Misses Out on Tournament Hopes

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveOn Friday night, Strikeforce announced it will fill its vacant middleweight title by pairing Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza against each other in Houston on Aug. 21. But the promotion won’t be filling…

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On Friday night, Strikeforce announced it will fill its vacant middleweight title by pairing Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza against each other in Houston on Aug. 21. But the promotion won’t be filling that title void the way it set out to.

While the solution to make the Kennedy-Souza winner the new 185-pound champion seems simple enough, MMA Fighting has learned from sources with knowledge of the situation that Strikeforce had been planning a one-night, four-man tournament in Houston to determine its next champion. The four competitors were to be Kennedy, Souza, Robbie Lawler and Matt Lindland.

Those plans, however, were nixed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Bobby Lashley Wants Fedor Next…No, Seriously….There’s No Punchline

(Video courtesy HDNet)
Well, it looks like Strikeforce may finally officially jump the shark if Bobby Lashley gets his way.
The former WWE star will make a guest appearance on Inside MMA as part of Ron Kruck’s "Kruck’s Corner" segment to ta…


(Video courtesy HDNet)

Well, it looks like Strikeforce may finally officially jump the shark if Bobby Lashley gets his way.

The former WWE star will make a guest appearance on Inside MMA as part of Ron Kruck’s "Kruck’s Corner" segment to talk about his desire to fight Fedor Emelianenko in his next bout and explain that he feels that promoters are responsible for his lack of quality opponents he has been matched up with thus far in his young 5-0 MMA career.

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Jake Shields Would “Love to See” Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez in the UFC

Heading into Jake Shields’ final Strikeforce bout against Dan Henderson, there was a lot of speculation that the middleweight champion was being set up to lose before exiting from the promotion, an view which was fed ‘all you can eat buffet’ style by UFC Pres Dana White. Of course, Shields earned the UD win over […]

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Heading into Jake Shields’ final Strikeforce bout against Dan Henderson, there was a lot of speculation that the middleweight champion was being set up to lose before exiting from the promotion, an view which was fed ‘all you can eat buffet’ style by UFC Pres Dana White. Of course, Shields earned the UD win over the decorated fighter, and is reportedly a pen stroke or two away from signing with the UFC.

Well, now that Shields has been officially released from the promotion, the fighter has begun to talk a little more openly about his former employers, and in an interview with BJ Penn.com, he wasn’t exactly overly warm…In fact, Shields offered this, while talking about the futures of his Cesar Gracie teammates Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez.

“I don’t want to knock Strikeforce because that’s not my style even though they did treat me like shit which was unnecessary because I never talked bad about them. Honestly I would love to see Gilbert and Nick in the UFC. Even though Strikeforce is a good show, everyone knows it’s the number two show. They have a handful of good fighters but all the top competition is in the UFC and I feel that Nick and Gilbert are good enough to fight at the highest level. I would love to see them come over and once I get signed I’ll have to put that in Dana’s ear.”

For more from the interview head here.

Report: Strikeforce Looking to Negotiate Champion’s Clause With Fedor

It was just a couple of days ago that likely thousands of MMA fans did a re-read, while surveying a report from Sherdog, where Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker made the case that Fedor Emelianenko should fight the promotion’s champion Alistair Overeem next (alas, some staffers here at Fix needed to read it five times..). […]

fedor hitting nogueira

It was just a couple of days ago that likely thousands of MMA fans did a re-read, while surveying a report from Sherdog, where Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker made the case that Fedor Emelianenko should fight the promotion’s champion Alistair Overeem next (alas, some staffers here at Fix needed to read it five times..). Yes, at first read it didn’t really sit well, Fedor loses to Fabricio Werdum but still gets a title shot? Has that ever happened bef…or right Brett Rogers. Now, to be fair, Coker didn’t outright shoot down Fedor’s request for an immediate rematch with Werdum, but with comments like “We just saw Fedor fight Werdum,” it didn’t sound like it was his first choice.

Well, MMA Fighting has an updated report out which helps make a lot more sense of Coker’s idea. According to the story, Strikeforce spokesperson Mike Afromowitz has confirmed to the outlet that the promotion is hoping to negotiate a champion’s clause with Fedor. Meaning, that if Fedor wins the belt, he cannot sign with another promotion. In other words, with one fight on his Strikeforce deal remaining, if Fedor were to beat Overeem he could not cruise to say another promotion, let’s just say for the hell of it, one that by chance uses the letters U.F.C. (like another champion, who let’s say has a name with the letters S.h.i.e.l.d.s., and didn’t have a champion’s clause).

So, as you can see, there’s some shrewd business tactics at work here by Coker- if Fedor beats Overeem, he has to stay;  if he loses, his Strikeforce contract comes to an end having gone 1-2. Still seems a little off though no?