The Casual MMA Fan’s Guide To Strikeforce: Houston

While it’s easy for hardcore MMA fans such as myself to justify dropping $50 every time the UFC has an event on pay-per-view it’s a different story completely for casual fans of mixed martial arts. Saturday night Strikeforce makes the trek to Houston for an event that will be broadcast on Showtime at 10:00pm ET. While the show isn’t “free” as it costs a subscription to showtime there are plenty of MMA fans who order Showtime for a single night to get the charge prorated. So let’s run down what to expect should you choose Strikeforce over watching preseason football.

- The main event features “King Mo” Muhammad Lawal making the first defense of his Strikeforce light heavyweight (205 pound) title against Brazilian Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. Feijao was one of the rising stars of the now defunct EliteXC promotion after running up a string of impressive TKO victories but was sidelined for 11 months before he returned to action against Mike Kyle in June of 2009. Kyle pulled off the major upset and set the rusty Feijao back significantly. The only other loss in Cavalcante’s career to that point was a disqualification. He would return to action in November getting a TKO victory over Aaron Rosa and fighting again this May, demolishing the tough Antwain Britt in the first round. Saturday night represents a chance for the once highly regarded prospect to make good and win his first “major” title in the sport.

- Standing in the way of Feijao is no ordinary man. “King Mo” Lawal brings a deep and decorated amateur wrestling career to the table. A former NCAA All-American and for a while considered the best wrestler in America, Mo has been able to translate his wrestling game to MMA in a way that many others have not. Lawal entered his championship bout with Gegard Mousasi a significant underdog but used his takedowns to control the fight and completely dominate the bout, winning a five round decision and the championship. His wrestling is a handful for anyone in the sport and he’s not afraid to let anyone know it.

- Lawal is a love-him-or-hate-him fighter whose outspoken nature has earned him the admiration of many and the dislike of many more. In a recent interview with the Ring Psychology podcast Mo talked about the fans:

Some are cool, some are idiots. They’re fans-they don’t know what the f**k they are talking about. That’s why I’ll say it again: ‘f**k the fans.’ A lot of them ain’t educated. They’re just bandwagon jumpers...

- There is a second title on the line as middleweights Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza takes on Tim Kennedy. Kennedy served in the United States Army special forces including multiple stints during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition to his outstanding service to his country Kennedy is 12-2 in MMA and since 2009 is 3-0 with dominant victories over very tough veterans Nick Thompson (38-12-1) and Trevor Prangley (22-6-1). Kennedy’s rise from a man with a great story to a legitimate high-level middleweight has been spectacular to watch.

- As for Jacare, he is one of the best practitioners of Brazilian jiu jitsu on the planet and has developed into a complete mixed martial artist by constantly improving his striking game. His complete domination of former UFC middleweight champion Matt Lindland signaled his arrival as a potential champion and he will have a chance to prove how far he has come when he gets in the cage with Kennedy.

- An undercard bout will take place between former EliteXC lightweight Champion Karl “KJ” Noons and Jorge Gurgel. Noons, also a pro boxer, is the last man to defeat Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz and he did so in dominant fashion, busting Noons up prior to opening a cut that forced the doctor to stop the fight. Gurgel is a former UFC fighter who has great jiu jitsu credentials but usually chooses to fight standing up in exciting striking wars. The more technical striker (Noons) should win the bout but it promises to be action packed.

- The final main card bout is an undercard clash between former WWE champion Bobby Lashley and relative unknown Chad Griggs. While Lashley is compared by most to Brock Lesnar due to the former pro-wrestling ties he has not fought stiff competition in his career as Lesnar has, instead opting to pursue a very slow course of development. Bobby does have legitimate wrestling credentials though and has used those to get takedowns and pound out victories. Griggs is 9-1 in his career the fights are against regional fighters and he only has one fight since 2007, a win over Jon Alexander (who was making his pro debut). Lashley needs to look extremely impressive for the fight to carry much meaning to anyone watching.

- Two undercard bouts will be streamed on Sherdog.com, a relatively uninteresting clash between André Galvão and late replacement Jorge Patino as well as arguably the top heavyweight prospect in MMA right now, Daniel Cormier and Jason Riley. Cormier is a former top national wrestler and was even the captain of the 2008 Olympic team although he was unable to compete due to health issues.

So there you have it, a great night of fights featuring pro boxers, world-class wrestlers and jiu jitsu greats. If you have even the slightest interest in MMA this is a card that you absolutely should not pass up.