Tag: Tyron Woodley

Rockhold vs. Jardine Predictions

Filed under: StrikeforceCan a move down to middleweight revitalize the career of Keith Jardine? Or will Luke Rockhold simply be too much for the Dean of Mean? Will King Mo Lawal make a case that he’s the top light heavyweight on the Strikeforce roster,…

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Can a move down to middleweight revitalize the career of Keith Jardine? Or will Luke Rockhold simply be too much for the Dean of Mean? Will King Mo Lawal make a case that he’s the top light heavyweight on the Strikeforce roster, or is Lorenz Larkin set for the biggest win of his career? Can Tyron Woodley, Jordan Mein, Tarec Saffiedine of Tyler Stinson put on the kind of performance that gets people interested in the Strikeforce welterweight division again?

We’ll attempt to answer those questions and more as we predict the winners of Saturday night’s Strikeforce event below.

What: Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine

When: Saturday, the undercard will be televised by Showtime Extreme starting at 8 p.m. ET and the Showtime televised main card begins at 10.

Where: Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas

Predictions on the five Showtime televised fights below.

Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine
 Giving Jardine a Strikeforce middleweight title shot is an odd move: Jardine left the UFC on a four-fight losing streak, fought to a draw with Gegard Mousasi in his only Strikeforce fight, and has never fought at middleweight before. So, yes, the matchmaking here is a little strange. But Rockhold is the promotion’s middleweight champion, and Strikeforce needs to find him high-profile opponents, and given the current middleweight depth in Strikeforce, Jardine was about as good as it was going to get.

So how does this fight go? I have a feeling Jardine is going to be weakened by the weight cut, and that Rockhold will have better cardio and have his way with Jardine on the ground. Eventually I like Rockhold to finish Jardine on the ground.
Pick: Rockhold
Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov
 The matchmaking here is a little strange, too, but the fight itself should be a lot of fun: Lawler and Amagov are both heavy hitters with exciting styles. Lawler has lost four of his six fights since signing with Strikeforce in 2009 and may be fighting for his job, and I think he’ll come out focused and ready to finish Amagov quickly.
Pick: Lawler
Muhammed Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin
 Larkin is one of the most fun fighters to watch on the entire Strikeforce roster, as evidenced by a cult following he developed while winning three straight Challengers Series fights. But while Larkin has a 12-0 record with eight wins by knockout or TKO, he’s never faced anyone even remotely as good as King Mo. Lawal is so much better a wrestler than Larkin that he can easily grind out a decision on the ground if he chooses to, and the biggest question may be whether Lawal decides to keep it safe and win a decision or take some chances and try to put on a show. I expect Mo to take the latter approach, which means there’s a chance Larkin catches him with one of his patented unorthodox strikes, but the much more likely result is that Mo proves he’s simply too skilled a mixed martial artist for someone as raw as Larkin.
Pick: Lawal
Tyron Woodley vs. Jordan Mein
 Woodley is a great wrestler who’s getting better standing up and is now 9-0 in his professional MMA career. Mein has looked good recently and is on a six-fight winning streak, and he might test Woodley’s chin. But Woodley shouldn’t have much trouble clinching with Mein, taking him down and winning a decision.
Pick: Woodley
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson
 Saffiedine lost to Woodley a year ago and then bounced back with a good win over Scott Smith. Stinson won his Strikeforce debut with a 15-second knockout of Eduardo Pamplona in July, but he’s going to struggle trading strikes with Saffiedine.
Pick: Saffiedine

 

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The Bum Rush Interview Series: Tyron Woodley Talks New Gym, Next Fight and PEDs in MMA

We had the opportunity to speak with Strikeforce welterweight contender Tyron Woodley yesterday ahead of the busy grand opening weekend of his St. Louis American Top Team affiliate gym, ATT Evolution and we touched on a variety of topics including his upcoming bout with Canadian prospect Jordan Mein, his gym’s revolutionary youth program and the rampant use of PEDs in the sport. We also touched on his thoughts on the inevitable GSP-Diaz match-up and why he thinks Stockton’s best fighter was right to turn down a fight with him.

You can download the interview directly HERE if you aren’t subscribed to The Bum Rush on iTunes.

Check out the highlights of our chat with T-Wood after the jump.


We had the opportunity to speak with Strikeforce welterweight contender Tyron Woodley yesterday ahead of the busy grand opening weekend of his St. Louis American Top Team affiliate gym, ATT Evolution and we touched on a variety of topics including his upcoming bout with Canadian prospect Jordan Mein, his gym’s revolutionary youth program and the rampant use of PEDs in the sport. We also touched on his thoughts on the inevitable GSP-Diaz match-up and why he thinks Stockton’s best fighter was right to turn down a fight with him.

You can download the interview directly HERE if you aren’t subscribed to The Bum Rush on iTunes.

Check out the highlights of our chat with T-Wood below:

 

On being matched up with relative Strikeforce newcomer, Mein:

He’s had 30 fights in total, so whether they were under the Strikeforce banner or not, he’s fought some legitimate guys and he’s a worthy opponent, so I know why it makes sense to fight him. Once people see us fight, they’ll know why it makes sense as well.

On why Nick Diaz wouldn’t fight him:

His kryptonite is wrestlers — wrestlers in good shape and wrestlers who have power and boxing ability. For him, at that point in his career he wanted to basically fight guys that were strikers, fight guys that would entertain with slugfests. For him to fight a guy like me who wasn’t yet ranked in the top 10 and was trying to make a name for myself, it wouldn’t have been wise for him to take a risky fight, lose and then his marketability goes down. You fight Georges St-Pierre and you make like quadruple the amount of money you make when to fight me. Win or lose you still kind of stay at the same market you’re at or you go up higher.

On who he sees winning an eventual Diaz-GSP match-up:

It all depends on which GSP we get. We’ve seen several GSPs. We’ve got the one ace who fought Matt Hughes and Jon Fitch — the guy who was just really dominant. I think he wins the fight and I think he wins every last round, but I think if he over-utilizes the jab and is super conservative and super patient and just does enough to squeak out the rounds, Diaz might take those shots and he might get in there and give him a run for his money.

On which discipline is dominating the sport right now:

If you look at it, it’s the wrestlers with the striking. Look at Jon Jones…look at Dominick Cruz…look at all of these guys who are successful…except Anderson Silva…. Look at every champion that we have — even Cain Velasquez who just lost — and they were 99.9 percent wrestlers with the exception of Anderson Silva. I consider Georges St-Pierre a wrestler. He does a lot of wrestling and goes against wrestlers and takes them down. I think where our sport is transitioning to is high level wrestling, great conditioning and amazing striking and guys that are just tough. I think the slower-paced fighters are going to get weeded out.

On his new gym and his revolutionary youth program that extends far beyond the mats:

What I’m trying to do with this project is incorporate fitness into the household. We cater to the families and offer classes from two to four every day for kids and anybody can get involved. I’ve seen 80-year-olds in the gi. We let the parents know why we’re doing this and how we plan on doing it and let them know it’s a safe environment. If they get into a fight they’re in trouble with me. If they’re acting up and are disrespectful [at home], they’re in trouble. If they’re fighting at school, they’re going to sit and watch. For me, I reinforce what they’re doing in the home and overall I think the parents are going to appreciate what we’re doing and how we’re going to bring it to their family.

On the alleged epidemic of fighters using PEDs:

I think for me it would be [a case of me] doing more research [it would take too much time and energy] to find out who’s doing what and in what way they’re using it and how they’re trying to… At the end of the day, it’s like with anything done fast, it really don’t last. I haven’t seen anybody that’s been a drug dealer retire from [the money they’ve made] selling drugs. You know what I mean? They either stop while they’re ahead, they go to jail or they end up dead. In this case, most people that are doing [PEDs], they don’t want to work, but they want to surf by. I feel that most of the people doing PEDs or growth hormones or whatever they’re using, if I lose to them, I was going to lose to them [anyway], because they’ve still gotta train, they’ve still gotta be in shape and they’ve still gotta know the discipline. Taking a shot or a pill doesn’t teach you how to punch or proper technique. I have confidence that I’m in good enough shape and training tough enough that I win my bouts whether my opponents are using those extreme supplements or not.

It would take way more energy for me to investigate and form an opinion about it then to just go and train hard. It’s pretty gross out there; let me just tell you that right now. It’s rampant. It’s all over the place and it’s not even really frowned upon anymore. It’s casually distributed and used. It’s unfortunate. It’s not like it’s a situation where certain people have very low testosterone levels and they’ve been prescribed [TRT] through a physician a proper level so they can compete. Most of those people are 40-something and over. I think if you’re 29 and you train hard, your testosterone levels are fine. What we have is people who have access to physicians who are like, ‘You know that, you’re a little bit low. Let me get you back up there where you need to be or higher.’ From the studies I’ve heard that basically if you do it moderately or as recommended, then usually there’s a point where you get off. Nobody ever gets off. They stay on it the whole time. They feel how strong they get, they feel how fast they recover and it’s never used with any formula. Even with the scientific glitch in there, nobody ever gets off it. They just keep going. I just try to focus on the training because I’d be all day trying to figure out who’s on it, who’s not and all of the above.

Strikeforce Booking Update: Daley vs. Woodley Slated for July 30th, King Mo vs. Roger Gracie Bumped to September

(Tyron Woodley vs. Andre Galvao, 10/9/10)

In the wake of Evangelista Santos’s recent injury withdrawal, undefeated welterweight contender Tyron Woodley will step up to replace him against Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, July 30th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Despite our impassioned pleas to give Woodley a shot at the gold, the fight will reportedly be a non-title affair.

That shouldn’t come as a big surprise, considering Zuffa’s hatred of Paul Daley; the company likely wants to avoid any situation in which they might have to refer to him as a “champion.” So maybe Woodley will get a shot at Strikeforce’s now-vacant welterweight title if he wins this fight. And at that point, Strikeforce’s 170-pound division will be so thin and cleaned out that their welterweight belt will have about as much prestige as a goddamned Burger King crown.


(Tyron Woodley vs. Andre Galvao, 10/9/10)

In the wake of Evangelista Santos’s recent injury withdrawal, undefeated welterweight contender Tyron Woodley will step up to replace him against Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, July 30th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Despite our impassioned pleas to give Woodley a shot at the gold, the fight will reportedly be a non-title affair.

That shouldn’t come as a big surprise, considering Zuffa’s hatred of Paul Daley; the company likely wants to avoid any situation in which they might have to refer to him as a “champion.” So maybe Woodley will get a shot at Strikeforce’s now-vacant welterweight title if he wins this fight. And at that point, Strikeforce’s 170-pound division will be so thin and cleaned out that their welterweight belt will have about as much prestige as a goddamned Burger King crown.

Woodley has won six fights under the Strikeforce banner, most recently a decision over Tarec Saffiedine in January. Meanwhile, Daley will be looking to dust himself off after getting TKO’d by Nick Diaz in April.

One fight that won’t be on the 7/30 card is the scheduled light-heavyweight battle between BJJ scion Roger Gracie, and former Strikeforce champ Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal. Gracie has withdrawn due to a foot injury, and both fighters have agreed to meet at the September 10th event instead.

Paul Daley Thinks He Deserves to Fight For Vacant Strikeforce Strap, Then to Coach on TUF and Then to Fight for UFC Belt


(“…and I want water made from the iceberg the Titanic hit and….”)

When Strikeforce announced over the weekend that Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, who lost to Nick Diaz in his last fight in January, would  be facing Paul Daley — Diaz’s last victim — on SF’s July 30 card,  it was surprising to hear murmurs that the winner might take home the promotion’s vacant strap for a number of reasons.


(“…and I want water made from the iceberg the Titanic hit and….”)

When Strikeforce announced over the weekend that Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, who lost to Nick Diaz in his last fight in January, would  be facing Paul Daley – Diaz’s last victim – on SF’s July 30 card,  it was surprising to hear murmurs that the winner might take home the promotion’s vacant strap for a number of reasons.

For one, both men are coming off losses. Sure they were to Diaz, who was as dominant of a champion as Strikeforce has ever known, but why not make them earn a shot at the title like everyone else. You could argue that undefeated Tyron Woodley, (who we were told by a source close to Daley a few days prior to Santos being pulled from his bout with Tarec Saffiedine to instead face the brash Brit was Semtex’s original opponent) deserves a shot before either fighter.

Secondly, why should Daley and Santos get back-to-back title shots? Doesn’t that somehow cheapen the belt and make it a runners up prize? Why not just give it to the second place finisher then like they do with the Miss America title when the winner is unable to fulfill her duties?

Anyway, Daley is of the opinion somehow that he thinks he deserves to immediately fight for the belt again, like a do-over is common in MMA championship bouts.

“Nothing’s been said but, to me, it makes sense,” Daley said ESPN ‘s UFC Podcast. “Nick Diaz vacates the title, we were the last two guys to contend for the Strikeforce welterweight title, so it’s the only thing that makes sense to me. I would suggest, if I was promoting it, that the next fight is for the title.”

He would also like to suggest that he be allowed back in the UFC and be given a coaching gig on season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Josh Koscheck in spite of Dana White’s assertion that he will never fight for the Zuffa-owned promotion again. Can’t balame a guy for tryin’.

“[TUF] would be good! That would be very interesting. Would Dana White let it happen? I doubt it. I don’t mind TV, I don’t mind going up against Koscheck,” he explained. “My season would definitely be interesting because I say things how they are. I don’t play up for the cameras. It would be funny.”

If White doesn’t go for that suggestion, Daley says he’s got many more suggestions about how he should run his business that involve him being given plenty of big opportunities.

“I want a Diaz rematch. If Diaz loses to GSP and my fight’s for the title, I’ll get the title and then use it to line up a rematch with Diaz. I know it’s within my power to beat Diaz. It sounds stupid because I lost to him, but had I not have got caught with a certain shot around the two-minute mark, I wouldn’t have been fighting on instinct and the fight would have been a lot different,” he said. “He had the ability, the skill or the fortune to land that shot to the temple, which I couldn’t recover from with the pace he was setting.”

As far as his loss to Diaz, Daley sees the finish a lot differently than pretty much everyone else. He maintains that, in spite of the close-up that clearly showed him wobbly and stunned sitting on the stool and asking what the hell happened after eating a slew of shots from Diaz that saw Big John McCarthy step in and save him from taking more damage, he wasn’t in trouble and likely would have recovered sufficiently to mount a come-from-behind win.

“A different ref, a different day… we’ve recently seen the Jose Aldo versus Mark Hominick fight, we’ve seen the Shane Carwin v Junior Dos Santos fight. Those guys were in far greater trouble than I was and the fight was allowed to go on. John McCarthy refereed the Hominick fight and let it continue, but he was different with me. He stopped it with three seconds to go, yet when I landed six shots after Diaz face-planted he didn’t even bat an eyelid. There’s frustration about that because I think McCarthy is a good ref, but there is no consistency. If you’re gonna let a fight continue when Hominick’s got a big f***ing lump on his head and on numerous times he’s in bad spots, you can’t stop a championship shot with three seconds to go. I had my guard up, I was kicking Diaz’s legs… had Herb Dean been refereeing I think the fight would have been allowed to continue.”

Sure, buddy. Keep telling yourself that.

As far as regretting the punch he threw at Koscheck, Daley obviously hasn’t learned how to “play the game” like Diaz.

“[The punch ] is a bit hard to comment on, but I would have thought I could have thrown a better punch and knocked him out, given that Koscheck wasn’t expecting it.

 

 

Tyron Woodley Eyes July Return, Hopes for Paul Daley Now, Nick Diaz Next

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsNo sooner had Nick Diaz retained his Strikeforce welterweight title in April when he started discussing his future possibilities. There was a potential boxing match with Fernando Vargas thrown around, t…

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No sooner had Nick Diaz retained his Strikeforce welterweight title in April when he started discussing his future possibilities. There was a potential boxing match with Fernando Vargas thrown around, then another one against Jeff Lacy. There was a suggestion that he could face UFC champion Georges St-Pierre in an MMA superfight.

One option that Diaz seemed to immediately dismiss, however, was a rising star in his own company, within his own division, Tyron Woodley. The unbeaten Woodley, in Diaz’s opinion, would be “in a little over his head” moving so quickly into the title picture.

And so the waiting game for Woodley began. At 8-0, he seems stuck in a purgatory between prospect and top-flight contender, and with no easy route to his intended destination at the top. Woodley hopes that road will begin this summer, when he is expecting to fight at a still officially unannounced July 30 show, against an opponent yet to be determined.

While he says the uncertainty of his opponent is not a source of frustration for him, he believes he should only be fighting one of two men: Diaz or Paul Daley. By their account, he’s not ready for them. And by his own, he’s beaten most of the contenders directly below him in the division, and facing anyone else wouldn’t make much sense. What we’re left with is a matchmaking stalemate.

“I think the fans want to see it,” he told MMA Fighting. “You check Twitter and message boards, and the fans want to see me fight these guys. These guys had to fight someone to get a name. Diaz had to beat someone, to knock them out, like he did with Robbie Lawler in the UFC. Daley had to knock out Martin Kampmann. I’m not going to stop asking for these fights.

“They’re calling out people they want to fight, people with names,” he continued. “And I have to sit back and hear them say, ‘Oh, he’s not ready yet,’ or ‘I’ll mess this kid up.’ That’s what they’re saying to the camera, but deep down inside, they don’t believe that.”

Woodley went into his Jan. 7 match against Tarec Saffiedine with the belief that a win would get him a crack at the belt. He handled Saffiedine in a unanimous decision victory and waited to see what would happen next. First, Daley took a fight in the UK and missed weight, but ended up winning. That set him up to fight Diaz, and the fight ended in a first-round TKO for the champion.

Under the currently accepted Strikeforce rankings, Daley is the only contender ahead of Woodley that is free to fight in the summer. He has no idea if it’s a fight being considered, but he doesn’t think it’s one Daley wants.

“For Daley, his wrestling and jiu-jitsu are his weak points,” he said. “He doesn’t want to get put on his back like Josh Koscheck did, like Jake Shields did, like Pat Healy did, especially by a kid who is not in the top 10 rankings, who doesn’t have the same name recognition that these guys have. Daley? I don’t think he wants to fight wrestlers.”

He views the Diaz situation entirely differently. He says straight-up, “I don’t think Diaz avoids bouts with anybody” and that he’s a “fan” of watching him fight. At his best, he can even look at Diaz’s situation objectively, even if it means he’s the odd man out.

“I can’t knock him, I can’t hate on him for what he’s doing,” Woodley said. “Realistically, it’s a lose-lose situation for him. If he fights me, he’s gonna hear he’s not fighting top guys because I’m not as well known. And if he loses, he lost to a prospect while I made my mark off of him. Now where do you go? So he looks around and says, ‘Maybe I’ll get the fight with Georges St-Pierre.’ Why not fight the No. 1 guy in the world? Look at the risk vs. reward, and I can see where he’s at.”

When he shifts back into sportsman mode though, he says things should be more simple. In any other sport, when it gets to postseason or tournament format, or more specifically, when you’re fighting for a championship, winners fight other winners. Victors move forward, and losers are weeded out. And he hasn’t lost. Look around the rest of the division, and few others can say that. Daley lost his last fight. So did Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, and Scott Smith, and KJ Noons and Saffiedine, and the list goes on.

With his six Strikeforce wins, he’s a proven winner, and he emphasizes that he is not “calling out” anyone out of disrespect, but out of ambition. He says he won’t be upset if he doesn’t get Daley or Diaz next, and it won’t change his target.

“If I don’t keep moving towards a world championship, what the heck am I in MMA for?” he said. “I respect these guys as fighters and competitors, but do I want to fight you? Yes, if you’ve got the belt, I do. It’s nothing personal.”

Last week, Zuffa held its annual fighter meetings in Las Vegas, and Woodley looked around the sea of fighters, saw a few he’d fought in the past, others he wants to fight in the future. Diaz was not one of them. He never got a look at him. He did see Daley, however, and the two shook hands and exchanged quick pleasantries.

Afterward, Woodley returned back home, where he is helping his wife take care of their newborn, 3-month old Dylan. Back in the gym, Woodley is working to refine his striking and get back to basics on his considerable wrestling skills, well aware that the highest levels of MMA will require him to be more than proficient at both. Diaz and Daley are very different fighters, and will require very different preparation.

He just doesn’t think they have the preparation to beat him.

“I’m not a good fight for either one,” he said. “I’m faster, more explosive and a much better wrestler than Diaz. He has gas for days, can take a punch better than anybody at 170, and his jiu-jitsu is world class, but look at his three losses: Diego Sanchez, Joe Riggs, Sean Sherk. Nobody recently has fought Diaz on their own terms. They always engage him in his war and they always lose.

“As far as Daley, I just think it’s a good fight for me, a cool bout,” he continued. “Realistically, I don’t get to decide who’s next, but my next fight needs to see a performance like I had against Andre Galvao, like in my first couple bouts. I watched [Bellator’s] Michael Chandler fight the other day, and I was thinking, ‘That’s how I used to fight.’ Putting pressure on guys, heavy pressure. After the second round, he made a gesture with his hands like he was breaking a stick. He was saying, ‘I broke him.’ I’ve got to get back to that. I’m so excited to train, and I’m looking forward to getting back in the cage. I need a big fight.”

 

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Joe Rogan: ‘I Like Nick Diaz as Nick Diaz’

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsDana White told MMA Fighting earlier this month that Nick Diaz “could be a big star if he would just calm down a little bit and not be so angry with everybody.”

But UFC color analyst Joe Rogan said on …

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Dana White told MMA Fighting earlier this month that Nick Diaz “could be a big star if he would just calm down a little bit and not be so angry with everybody.”

But UFC color analyst Joe Rogan said on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour that he likes Nick Diaz just the way he is.

“I like Nick Diaz as Nick Diaz. I don’t think he has to do anything different,” Rogan said.

“I think what Nick Diaz needs is big fights. I think what Nick Diaz needs is promotion and big fights. Obviously, I’m biased when it comes to this whole Strikeforce-UFC thing, both under the same umbrella, but what I hope it leads to is super-fights. I want to see Nick Diaz against the very best in the UFC. I would love to see Nick Diaz vs. Josh Koscheck. I would love to see Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre.”