Filed under: MMA Videos, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosHOUSTON — It’s fight week in the Lone Star State, and MMA Fighting’s E. Casey Leydon has been shadowing some of the headliners involved in Saturday’s Strikeforce: Houston card as they pre…
HOUSTON — It’s fight week in the Lone Star State, and MMA Fighting’s E. Casey Leydon has been shadowing some of the headliners involved in Saturday’s Strikeforce: Houston card as they prepare for fight night.
Watch below as light heavyweight champion Muhammed Lawal, Tim Kennedy, KJ Noons and Bobby Lashley met wounded veterans, work out in front of the media and film the opening segment for the Showtime telecast.
("Actually, Bobby is the one who’s adopted. Long story." Photo courtesy of allelbows.)
Clear your schedules, Potato Nation. CagePotato.com will be liveblogging tomorrow night’s Showtime broadcast of Strikeforce: Houston starting at 10 p.m. …
("Actually, Bobby is the one who’s adopted. Long story." Photo courtesy of allelbows.)
Clear your schedules, Potato Nation. CagePotato.com will be liveblogging tomorrow night’s Showtime broadcast of Strikeforce: Houston starting at 10 p.m. ET, so be sure to stop by. The fighters just stepped on the scales at the Toyota Center, and 86% of them were able to successfully hit their marks. Pretty impressive, guys! The numbers are below:
Preliminary Card Daniel Cormier (249) vs. Jason Riley (256.5) Andre Galvao (170.75) vs. Jorge Patino ()** Vinicius "Draculino" Magalhães (144.5) vs. Rocky Long (146.25) Kier Gooch (155.5) vs. Adam Schindler (155.5) Jose Santibanez (154.25) vs. Reynaldo Trujillo (155.25) Humberto DeLeon (127.25) vs. Chad Robichaux (131)*** Chad Cook (205.25) vs. Arteneus Young (204)
* Gurgel allowed Noons the extra quarter-pound; Noons will not have to shed the additional weight. ** Wasn’t present at the weigh-ins; will weigh-in later this evening. *** Was given an extra hour to lose one pound for the 130-pound catchweight bout.
Unrelated: You have the rest of the weekend to get in your final submissions for our ongoing desktop wallpaper contest with Throwdown. The entries have been awesome so far — but we want MORE! So get hustlin’ for your chance to win that $250 gear package.
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…
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.”
("The first time I got shot at in a war … I knew I was in the right place," PicProps: CanvasChronicle)
There are both positives and negatives about this weekend’s Strikeforce middleweight title fight. On one hand, it obviously sucks t…
("The first time I got shot at in a war … I knew I was in the right place," PicProps: CanvasChronicle)
There are both positives and negatives about this weekend’s Strikeforce middleweight title fight. On one hand, it obviously sucks that Saturday night’s scrap between BJJ whiz ‘Jacare’ Souza and all-around Awesome Dude Tim Kennedy essentially represents another epic fail by Strikeforce when it bungled plans for its totally-rad-sounding 185-pound title tournament. On the other hand, that this fight gives two seemingly very likable athletes their first chance at a major championship, well, it’s hard to hate on that.
Especially in the case of Kennedy, whose status as what the UFC might call “an elite war fighter” should be well-known to you. The active duty Green Beret not only appeared as the special guest on this week’s Bum Rush podcast (which makes him a prince among men, in our opinions) but he also cut a half-fascinating, half-bone-chilling new interview with Old Dad where he shed some more light on how his experiences “Over There” helped prepare him for a career inside the cage. Essentially, it was kind of like using a cannon ball to train for throwing the shot put.
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, BellatorFor all his pre-fight bluster, Chael Sonnen walked into the octagon as a major underdog against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, with most expecting him to emerge chastened and quieted, however briefly. Y…
For all his pre-fight bluster, Chael Sonnen walked into the octagon as a major underdog against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, with most expecting him to emerge chastened and quieted, however briefly. Yet for about 23 minutes, Sonnen did just what he said he would, dominating Silva as he seemingly coasted towards his moment of glory. It was not to be. In a comeback that will live on in MMA lore for years to come, Silva found a way to steal a win from Sonnen’s back pocket, trapping him with a fight-ending triangle/armbar submission.
Even in losing, though, Sonnen did something of immeasurable value to the UFC: he stayed a viable contender. Beyond the UFC’s long-reigning champion, a look at the 185-pound class worldwide shows a wide-open field. More specifically, most of the world’s top 10 middleweights are over 30 years old. While opportunities abound, though, few young 185-pound prospects have distinguished themselves.
Most weight classes have their exciting, young prodigies. Featherweight has Jose Aldo, welterweight has John Hathaway, and light-heavyweight has Jon Jones, among others. So where, we must ask, is the next great, young middleweight?
("Listen, Jacare, those hotel carpets are usually covered in…you know what, forget it.")
Strikeforce Houston is set to blast off this Saturday and your old pal Gambling Addiction Enabler has just one question: Could you loan us a few buck…
("Listen, Jacare, those hotel carpets are usually covered in…you know what, forget it.")
Strikeforce Houston is set to blast off this Saturday and your old pal Gambling Addiction Enabler has just one question: Could you loan us a few bucks until payday? Seriously, man, we’ve got some can’t-miss fight picks cookin’, and we swear it won’t be like last time. Thanks, bro. For real, you won’t regret this. Would it be cool if we used your shower?
* The Cormier/Riley and Galvao/Patino prelim fights will both be streamed live on Sherdog before the Showtime broadcast.
** Jorge Patino is a late replacement for Nate Moore, who has dropped out of the event due to injury. Please make your Fightpicker changes as necessary.
HOUSTON — It’s fight week in the Lone Star State, and MMA Fighting’s E. Casey Leydon has been shadowing some of the headliners involved in Saturday’s Strikeforce: Houston card as they prepare for fight night. 
HOUSTON – If today’s 
For all his pre-fight bluster, 
