Tim Kennedy is Not Afraid to Name Names of All Y’all Who are Ducking Him

(This is, like, the only bag in the gym that would agree to be kicked by Tim Kennedy. PicProps: MilitaryTimes.com)
About a month ago we brought you news that bonafide badass Tim Kennedy was having a tough time finding an opponent in Strikeforce’s 185-p…


(This is, like, the only bag in the gym that would agree to be kicked by Tim Kennedy. PicProps: MilitaryTimes.com)

About a month ago we brought you news that bonafide badass Tim Kennedy was having a tough time finding an opponent in Strikeforce’s 185-pound division. Well, as of this writing Kennedy has been out of action nearly five months and with nothing yet scheduled he apparently got so fed up with waiting that this week he decided to say "fuck it" and start naming names. Dig this interview with MMAFA.tv, where Kennedy alleges that nearly every middleweight in Strikeforce has said “thanks, but no thanks” to a meeting in the cage with him during the last few months.

“It’s absolutely atrocious,” Kennedy says. “Strikeforce approached me for the December and January card. I said, ‘Definitely, just give me a name and I’ll take the fight.’ Benji Radach was the name, I said yes. Then they tell me he doesn’t want to fight me. Joey Villasenor was another name, but I understand him saying no because we trained at Jackson’s (team) together. Matt Lindland was another guy who said no. Robbie Lawler has turned me down three or maybe four times. They asked Melvin Manhoef to fight me and he said ‘(expletive) no.’ ”

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Tim Kennedy Can’t Get Anyone to Fight Him So He May Have to Go to Japan Where Homies Aren’t Scared

(Hopefully somebody Rangers Up soon.)
According to a report from FiveOuncesofPain.com, Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy is having a hell of a time finding an opponent for his next fight.
The 12-3 retired Army Ranger who last fought and l…


(Hopefully somebody Rangers Up soon.)

According to a report from FiveOuncesofPain.com, Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy is having a hell of a time finding an opponent for his next fight.

The 12-3 retired Army Ranger who last fought and lost by decision to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for the Strikeforce middleweight strap four months ago was offered two opponents for last weekend’s Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu event, but both declined the fight, leaving Kennedy in the lurch.

“I said yes to two different names for the December 4th card but both guys turned down the fight,” Kennedy explained. Though the humble 31-year old did not reveal names, he did explain he’s being proactive about the situation – a quality [that] likely serv[ed] him well throughout his decorated military career.

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State of the Strikeforce Middleweights

Filed under: StrikeforceIn the last three years, the Strikeforce middleweight title has been vacated more times than it’s been defended, and 2010 has been another long year for the promotion’s 185-pound division. Its champion, Jake Shields, whipped its…

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In the last three years, the Strikeforce middleweight title has been vacated more times than it’s been defended, and 2010 has been another long year for the promotion’s 185-pound division. Its champion, Jake Shields, whipped its big free agent acquisition, Dan Henderson — and then promptly bolted for the UFC. And then a much-discussed middleweight tournament failed to materialize.

But there’s some hope that Strikeforce will have big fights in the year ahead, even if the middleweight division fizzled in 2010. Below we look at what some of those big fights might be and where the middleweight belt is headed as we survey the state of the Strikeforce middleweight division.

Four Rubber Matches That Absolutely Need to Happen

(We should all be that fired up, at least once in our lives. Props: UFC.com)
When BJ Penn knocked out Matt Hughes at UFC 123, one of the greatest rivalries in MMA history finally got its conclusion. And while not every two-fight series needs an immed…

BJ Penn UFC 123
(We should all be that fired up, at least once in our lives. Props: UFC.com)

When BJ Penn knocked out Matt Hughes at UFC 123, one of the greatest rivalries in MMA history finally got its conclusion. And while not every two-fight series needs an immediate tie-breaker — the Internet has already informed Dana White what we think of Lesnar vs. Mir III — there’s something incredibly dramatic and satisfying about a good rubber-match. Off the top of our heads, here’s a few others we’d like to see…

Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Tim Kennedy
Tim Kennedy Jason Mayhem Miller MMA photos
History: Kennedy def. Miller via decision @ Extreme Challenge 50 (2/23/03), Miller def. Kennedy via decision @ HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon (12/15/07)
Why it needs to happen again: Look, I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for Jason Miller to agree to a catchweight fight with Nick Diaz under 185 pounds. Mayhem hasn’t even fought for Strikeforce since he squashed Tim Stout in April, and Kennedy is still without an opponent himself after dropping a decision to Jacare Souza in August — and he’s already mentioned that he wants another go-round with Mayhem. Strikeforce has two talented, unattached middleweights at their disposal with a storyline already in place. It doesn’t take rocket appliances to figure this out, guys.

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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.