Paul Daley draws Kazuo Misaki for March return to Strikeforce

British brawler Paul Daley is set to make his way back to Strikeforce after a little less than a year away from the promotion when he fights in March as part of the organization?s show in Columbus, Ohio. Daley was last seen under the Strikeforce banner in July 2011 where he lost a decision to [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/01/09/paul-daley-draws-kazuo-misaki-for-march-return-to-strikeforce

Steve The Snake Claveau  Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs 

Hockey Fight of the Day: Zac Rinaldo vs. Zenon Konopka

Contrary to popular belief not all hockey fights start as an immediate response to action on the ice. In fact, in many cases the two participants will discuss the likelihood of throwing down before the game even starts. Case in point, the Philadelphia Flyers’ Zac Rinaldo and Ottawa Senators’ Zenon Konopka are caught talking to [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/01/10/hockey-fight-of-the-day-zac-rinaldo-vs-zenon-konopka

Karn Grigorian Karen Grigoryan Kendall Grove Clay Guida

Is Anthony Johnson too small for middleweight?

A 15-pound jump is huge in the fight world, unless you're a guy who walks around 40 pounds heavier than your weight class.

This weekend at UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro, Anthony Johnson is moving from 170 pounds to middleweight against veteran Vitor Belfort.

Belfort is no small 185 pounder. He spent most of his career at light heavyweight before the drop down. Watching the UFC 142 prefight conference today and judging by some photos it was hard to tell if Johnson is making a mistake from a size standpoint.

George Garcia from MMAjunkie radio thought Johnson looked undersized.

Looking at the photo above, he might be right, but then in the photo below Johnson looks like the bigger fighter.

In the end, it probably won't matter unless the fight features plenty of clinch work. Johnson says Belfort won't be able to handle his onslaught on the feet.

"Versatility will be a key in this fight," Johnson told HeavyMMA. "I have punches, kicks, takedowns, and he still has a long way to go. But I'm not looking past his abilities or anything like that. I just don't see anything Vitor can do to me that I can't do to him and then some.

Watch UFC 142 right here on Yahoo! Sports

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/anthony-johnson-too-small-middleweight-185326862.html

Jesse Forbes Xavier Foupa Pokam Hermes Franca Rich Franklin

Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Countdown Preview Show - Strikeforce

Fight Network previews Strikforce's heavyweight Grand Prix featuring Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers taking place on June 18, 2011 in Dallas, Texas.

Source: http://mmalice.com/strikeforce/strikeforce-overeem-vs-werdum-countdown-preview-show-video_927471d83.html

Ba Te er  Ryan Bader  Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao 

Scott Coker is fighting to keep women?s 145 class

With its champion on the shelf for at least the next 12 months, Strikeforce's 145-pound female division appears to be on life support.

Last night, Scott Coker wanted the media and everyone else to pump the brakes.

On Friday, Dana White threw gasoline on the fire by saying the division might be finished (0:39 mark) with Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos' positive steroid test. Twenty-four hours later, Coker said no determination has been made about the reeling division.

"I don't think it's time to throw [the division] out to the garbage. I still think we have some great fighters at 145 and a lot of girls that maybe haven't been around for a while ... I believe they're going to be motivated to come back because Cyborg won't be there," Coker told the media at the Strikeforce postfight press conference.

The first name that jumps to mind is former 145-pound star Gina Carano, but she's been inactive for over two years and is on the verge of exploding in the entertainment world. Her first major movie, "Haywire" debuts on Jan. 20. Coker sent mixed messages on his former female meal ticket.

"I think Gina Carano is definitely somebody who'd like to fight again, but she's got a big movie guys. I'm not sure if you seen the commercials, it's everywhere," Coker said. "And Steven Soderbergh is gonna be behind her. When that happens, great things are going to happen for her. She might get another picture deal."

Coker doesn't believe Cyborg's suspension and Carano's possible permanent exit from the fighting landscape should bring an end to the division.

"There's girls out there that we can bring in to fight 145. I'm sure we'll evaluate it and make a business decision. I don't think the determination has been made yet," Coker said. "Trust me, there's other girls out there. We have a pulse on it as well as anybody else does."

Showtime also factors into the decision to move forward with two female divisions (135 and 145).

"Showtime loves the female division. Let me tell you, the female division has had some of the highest rated fights on Showtime," Coker said there have been cases in the past where the female fights have drawn stronger ratings on a card than the male fights. "They're going to want the female division. They're going to want great fighters in the female divisions. As long as Showtime wants it, we're going to provide it."

Coker also mentioned Ronda Rousey as a possible candidate to make a run at the vacant 145-pound title if it's made available.

Rousey is challenging 135-pound champ Miesha Tate on Mar. 3. If she loses, she could head back to 145.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/scott-coker-fighting-women-145-class-stay-211510480.html

Per Eklund Jason Ellis Aleksander Emelianenko Fedor Emelianenko

Former UFC champ Sean Sherk expects to fight again in 2012

If asked to list the UFC?s premier lightweights its likely most fans wouldn?t include Sean Sherk. However, Sherk?s probable omission would not be related to ability/accomplishments so much a lack of recent activity due to a series of undisclosed injuries. However, ?The Muscle Shark? hopes to make his way back into the division?s forefront starting [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/01/10/former-ufc-champ-sean-sherk-expects-to-fight-again-in-2012

Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal

Strikeforce postfight: ?King Mo? rips Mousasi, Rockhold still irked, Cormier?s future and Columbus in March is official

LAS VEGAS - The Strikeforce postfight presser was unlike any we've seen in recent memory. The wins either came too easy or Scott Coker needs to bring in some new challenges.

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, Luke Rockhold and Tyron Woodley all sounded bored and uninterested about their future with the promotion. That's bizarre, since one of them has successfully defended his title just one time and the other two are without titles.

Lawal hammered on Gegard Mousasi, his possible challenger for the vacant 205-pound title. He was also asked about a crossover fight with UFC and PRIDE legend Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. King Mo responded by calling him a bum, washed up and a B-level actor.

At least King Mo got his dander up a bit. Rockhold couldn't get past the fact that he fought a guy in Jardine, who'd never fought for the promotion before, or down at middleweight.

"He was pretty tough. He was stronger than I thought he'd be in the clinch. I thought I could dominate a little more in the clinch," shrugged Rockhold. "It was somewhat of a test. A lot of guys couldn't finish him and I told you guys I was going to do what nobody else had done."

Rockhold also gave a half-hearted endorsement of Tim Kennedy being a worthy opponent suggesting he wasn't a very good stand-up fighter.

- Coker seemed to the suggest that the Strikeforce to UFC crossovers will no longer happen.

"The crossovers happened when there was a gray area over whether the Showtime contract was going to be renewed," Coker said. "Now that that's out of the way we're committed to building this league. We're going to continue to do that. That means bringing great fighters here. I think that's what you're going to see all year."

- Woodley vehemently defended his winning fight approach. A media member asked the welterweight contender why he was "reluctant" to stand with Jordan Mein. 

"When you coming forward especially with that kind of range you just don't want to engage in crazy combinations. So when he got within my range, I thought I did what I needed to do, take him down, ground and pound him," Woodley said. "I got the Compustrike [numbers] in my pocket if you want to check it out. I don't think I was reluctant to strike with him."

- Lawal and Rockhold, training partners at AKA, have quickly become pals. King Mo warned that if they're fighting on the same card again in the future, it's an automatic two wins. King Mo threw out nicknames like "Cookies and Cream" or "Domino."

- Strikeforce announced it'll be returning on Mar. 3 in Columbus, Oh. Four fights are officially booked for the Nationwide Arena. Ronda Rousey will challenge Miesha Tate for her 135-pound women's title. KJ Noons will battle Josh Thomson while Paul Daley faces Kazuo Misaki. Sarah Kaufman, another 135-pound contender will face Alexis Davis.

- Coker said the female title fight will not be the main event. The hope was that Strikeforce could finish off its heavyweight Grand Prix that night. Coker didn't sound optimistic about Daniel Cormier's broken hand being ready in time.

"We're waiting to see what happens with DC's hand. We can only wait a couple more days and then we have to make a move one way or the other," Coker said. "I saw an X-ray. And from I what I saw in the X-ray, it's definitely starting to heal, but  will he be ready by March 3rd? I'm not sure. I'm not a doctor. The fighter, once they hit something, they're going to know."

Coker stressed the point that he'd like to get the tournament finished now that it looks like it's going to extend beyond 12 months.

- Some in the media were surprised that Daley was still fighting under Zuffa management. Coker simply said sometimes fighters lose their cool in the heat of the moment, referencing the sucker punch that Daley landed on Josh Koscheck at UFC 113.

"Fighters become emotional sometimes and they say things. You know what? To me, this is a business. I think he's still under contract and they offered him to fight Misaki," Coker said. "You know fighters are emotional. Sometimes promoters are emotional and they come out and say some things they don't mean."

Daley was cut by Dana White, who said he'd never fight for the UFC again.

- Coker was asked about what's next for his lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. He'd like to see Melendez face Thomson for a third time.

"They should have a trilogy fight. Josh is a tough guy. Gilbert, to me, is the best fighter in the world in the lightweight division and he's gonna fight for Strikeforce," said Coker.

Thomson won the first meeting back in 2008 and Melendez took the second fight in 2009 via five-round unanimous decision.

Thomson didn't fight in 2011. His last bout in Dec. of 2010 resulted in a loss to Tatsuya Kawajiri. Kawajiri followed that win with a lopsided loss to Melendez. He's since dropped to 145 pounds where's he won two straight.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/strikeforce-postfight-king-mo-rips-mousasi-rampage-rockhold-194142709.html

Ryo Piranha Chonan  Dan The Sandman Christison  Logan The Pink Pounder Clark  Steve The Snake Claveau 

Anthony Njokuani mixing it up with John Makdessi at UFC 145

Two talented lightweight strikers will take to the Octagon on March 24 when the UFC hits Montreal for UFC 145, as a bout between Anthony Njokuani and John Makdessi has been signed for the show with each man looking to bounce back from defeat and no doubt do so in impressive fashion. The two have [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/01/13/anthony-njokuani-mixing-it-up-with-john-makdessi-at-ufc-145

Dave Gomez Keith Hackney Matt Hamill Volk Han