“It’s okay. He probably didn’t know you were a Strikeforce fighter when he told that last joke…”
Strikeforce is continuing to add fights to its August 18th card, which will go down at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. Headlined by Ronda Rousey’s first title defense against Sarah Kaufman, the promotion has announced three more bouts for the event.
It may be an exercise in futility to rank Strikeforce bouts in terms of significance, but there are still some interesting matchups on this card. Perhaps the most intriguing of the three recently announced matches is a middleweight showdown between former champion Ronaldo Souza and Derek Brunson. Since losing the strap to Luke Rockhold last September, ‘Jacare’ scored a third round arm-triangle choke over Bristol Marunde in March. Jacare looks to maintain momentum with a win over NCAA D2 All-American wrestler Derek Brunson, which is far easier said than done. Brunson is coming off of an extremely close loss to Kendall Grove at ShoFIGHT 20 two weeks ago after accepting the fight on four days’ notice. That fight, which was the first loss of Brunson’s career, could have easily gone his way. Expect a close fight here.
In welterweight action, Team Quest product Tarec Saffiedine will meet Roger Bowling on this card. Saffiedine has won five of his last six outings, with his most recent fight being a split-decision over Tyler Stinson at January’s ‘Strikeforce – Rockhold vs. Jardine’. Likewise, Bowling will look to make it three straight victories when he steps in the cage against Tarec Saffiedine. His last two bouts, against Jerron Peoples and Brandon Saling, have both ended in knockouts. Will Bowling be able to make it three straight knockouts, or will Saffiedine prove to be too much of a test for “Relentless” Roger?
Also of note, a light-heavyweight tilt between Ovince St. Preux and TJ Cook is also set for the event. St. Preux was on an eight fight win streak until Gegard Mousasi momentarily derailed his hype train with a unanimous decision victory over the former University of Tennessee linebacker at Strikeforce – Melendez vs. Masvidal in December. Likewise, Cook is coming off of a loss by way of a first round guillotine choke at the hands of Trevor Smith at November’s Strikeforce Challengers 20.
We’ll keep you up to date as this card continues to fill out. For the time being, who ya got for these bouts?