Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Press Conference Notes and Quotes

All the major players participating in Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Grand Prix hit the podium yesterday inside the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers in New York. During Wednesday’s press conference, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was clearly pumped to kick off his 265-pound tournament. While the UFC has monopolized the MMA market, both domestically and internationally, Coker insisted the [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/67661/strikeforce-heavyweight-grand-prix-press-conference-notes-and-quotes/

Marcus Davis  Tony DeSouza  Edwin Dewees  Nick Diaz 

STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Strikeforce "Diaz vs. Cyborg" peaks with 853,000 viewers on Showtime

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Strikeforce's first show of 2011 set a high ratings bar for the organization for the year, as they brought in an average of 561,000 viewers for the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg event on Showtime, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.

The card, headlined by the Welterweight Championship between Nick Diaz and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, also featured the second fight for former NFL veteran Herschel Walker, as well as a Middleweight Championship fight between Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Robbie Lawler.

The card peaked with 853,000 viewers, just shy of Strikeforce's best peak rating on Showtime, which went to the August 2009 event headlined by Gina Carano vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.

The event was the second highest rated Strikeforce card on Showtime behind that Carano vs. Cyborg event. It also marked a massive upswing from December's event, headlined by Dan Henderson vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral. In fact, this card brought 220,000 more viewers on average than the December 4 card.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Well, Herschel Walker's second fight had more average viewers for the event than his first, so it's a positive sign that there was still interest generated with his involvement. Diaz has also been heavily featured throughout his run with the organization, so the familiarity for Strikeforce fans was a factor as well. Whatever the reasons, these were great numbers for Strikeforce for what was a highly entertaining event, and hopefully they can build upon that moving forward with their upcoming events.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_8334.shtml

Matt Hughes B J Penn Georges St Pierre Matt Serra

BELLATOR NEWS: Welterweight tournament pairings set, four quarterfinal bouts coming to Bellator 35

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Bellator Fighting Championships kicks off their fourth season on March 5 with all four quarterfinal bouts in their welterweight tournament.

The organization officially announced on Tuesday that all four pairings will take place on the first card of season four, coming from the Tachi Palace Casino & Resort in Lemoore, California.

"This Welterweight tournament is stacked. Every fight should be hyper-competitive," said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "Any one of these eight fighters could win it, make $100,000 and earn the right to fight [Ben] Askren for our world title."

The previously announced pairings will see "Judo" Jim Wallhead meet Rick Hawn, Steve Carl vs. Jay Hieron, Dan Hornbuckle vs. Brett Weedman and Lyman Good vs. Chris Lozano.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Bellator/article_8392.shtml

Jason Reinhardt Eddy Rolon João Roque Kristian Rothaermel

Snowvereem: The most disturbing video of Pat Barry you'll ever see

UFC heavyweight Pat Barry is a New Orleans native who lives in Milwaukee to train with Duke Roufus, so forgive him for not knowing how to handle the epic snowstorm that is hitting the Midwest. True Midwesterners know that it's generally a good idea to wear clothes while playing in the snow. 

Hopefully, Barry learned a lesson about proper snow wear, or he will soon be streaking the streets of Milwaukee. Considering that he's tweeted pictures from the men's room, would anyone be surprised? 

For the Cagewriter readers who are contending with this storm, please, be careful. 

Thanks to Bloody Elbow for the heads up.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Snowvereem-The-most-disturbing-video-of-Pat-Bar?urn=mma-315522

Joe Hybrid Duarte Aldrin de Jesus  Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman 

'Jacare' Souza keeps belt with win over Lawler at Strikeforce

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza defended his Strikeforce middleweight championship belt using the world-class jiu-jitsu he is known for, submitting Robbie Lawler with a rear naked choke at Strikeforce in San Jose on Saturday night.

Jacare took Lawler down early in the first round, but when he switched to a guillotine, Lawler was able to get back to his feet. From there, violent stand-up erupted with Lawler throwing big strikes. He used a knee and a combination of punches to knock him to the ground. For some reason, Lawler followed Jacare to the ground, and was controlled on the ground until they were stood up with just 0:25 left in the round. Lawler finished the round strong, throwing strikes until Jacare tried for another takedown. 

In the second round, Jacare controlled Lawler on the ground. He punished Lawler with strikes and tried for several submission attempts, but Lawler showed evolution in his fight game, working out of each and every submission attempt with one of MMA's best grapplers.

That submission defense magic disappeared in the third round, as Jacare took Lawler down early. He took his back, slapped on a body triangle and then slipped in a rear naked choke. Lawler tapped at 2:00 in the third.

The difference in this fight was takedown defense. Though Lawler is now training in Arizona with former All-American wrestlers Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway, he couldn't stop four of Jacare's six takedown attempts. 

Souza is undefeated with Strikeforce after fighting for Dream and Brazilian-based promotions, earning a record of 14-2. Lawler, who just signed a new contract with Strikeforce, is 18-7.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Jacare-Souza-keeps-belt-with-win-over-Lawler-a?urn=mma-314201

Fedor Emelianenko Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson

'Jacare' Souza keeps belt with win over Lawler at Strikeforce

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza defended his Strikeforce middleweight championship belt using the world-class jiu-jitsu he is known for, submitting Robbie Lawler with a rear naked choke at Strikeforce in San Jose on Saturday night.

Jacare took Lawler down early in the first round, but when he switched to a guillotine, Lawler was able to get back to his feet. From there, violent stand-up erupted with Lawler throwing big strikes. He used a knee and a combination of punches to knock him to the ground. For some reason, Lawler followed Jacare to the ground, and was controlled on the ground until they were stood up with just 0:25 left in the round. Lawler finished the round strong, throwing strikes until Jacare tried for another takedown. 

In the second round, Jacare controlled Lawler on the ground. He punished Lawler with strikes and tried for several submission attempts, but Lawler showed evolution in his fight game, working out of each and every submission attempt with one of MMA's best grapplers.

That submission defense magic disappeared in the third round, as Jacare took Lawler down early. He took his back, slapped on a body triangle and then slipped in a rear naked choke. Lawler tapped at 2:00 in the third.

The difference in this fight was takedown defense. Though Lawler is now training in Arizona with former All-American wrestlers Ryan Bader and C.B. Dollaway, he couldn't stop four of Jacare's six takedown attempts. 

Souza is undefeated with Strikeforce after fighting for Dream and Brazilian-based promotions, earning a record of 14-2. Lawler, who just signed a new contract with Strikeforce, is 18-7.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Jacare-Souza-keeps-belt-with-win-over-Lawler-a?urn=mma-314201

Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul Buentello  Josh Burkman 

Strikeforce's Three Stars: Diaz, 'Jacare' and de Randamie

Strikeforce flew through their event in San Jose on Saturday. In fact, none of the professional bouts on the card required the use of judges. They all ended in submission or knockout. Who stood out?

No. 1 star -- Nick Diaz: While Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos was tenderizing Diaz's legs with whipping kicks, Diaz somehow fought both aggressively and patiently. He battered Cyborg with bunches of strikes in a back-and-forth first round, and then waited until Cyborg got tired and made a mistake in the second round. Cyborg's takedown was his undoing, allowing Diaz to show off the BJJ skills he attained in earning a black belt from Cesar Gracie. 

No. 2 star -- Ronald "Jacare" Souza: Speaking of amazing grapplers, Jacare withstood an early onslaught of strikes from Robbie Lawler to come back and lock up a textbook rear naked choke on Lawler. He is undefeated since his first fight with Strikeforce in late in 2009.

No. 3 star -- Germaine de Randamie: In her third MMA bout, de Randamie showed off the Muay Thai expertise that earned her a 48-0 record in that discipline. Watch here to see her outlast Stephanie Webber's grappling, then knock her out with a knee. She still has much to learn about MMA, but it will be fun to watch her grow into a mixed martial artist. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Strikeforce-s-Three-Stars-Diaz-Jacare-and-de?urn=mma-314464

Daniel Moraes Scott Morris Johnnie Morton Ben Mortimer