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MMA Fighting
29 July 2010 | 11:07 am
Filed under: Strikeforce, News
Ryan Couture, son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, has signed a multi-fight contract with Strikeforce and will make his professional MMA debut at Strikeforce Challengers 10 on Aug. 13 in Phoenix, AZ.Randy Couture first revealed the signing Monday to ESPN's MMA Live and Strikeforce has since confirmed the bout details.
The 27-year-old Ryan trains out of his dad's Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, where he also works as a gym manager.
Ryan fought to a controversial draw against 10th Planet jiu-jitsu black belt Sean Bollinger this past March, closing out his own amateur MMA career with a record of 5-1-1.
Ryan Couture Signs With Strikeforce originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
29 July 2010 | 9:45 am
Filed under: MMA Media Watch, Strikeforce
Newer fans of mixed martial arts know Jason "Mayhem" Miller as the goofy guy who hosts Bully Beatdown, not as a bully himself. Even when Miller instigated a brawl at the end of Strikeforce's last CBS show, it came across more like a prank gone bad than an attempt to pick a fight. And in the clip above, Miller decries Nick Diaz for making MMA fighters look like "thugs."
But it wasn't that long ago that Miller had a reputation as one of the thugs in MMA. He was placed on probation for beating someone up in a bar and later charged (and acquitted) with first-degree burglary. Miller doesn't talk about that part of his past very often, but he opens up about it to Michael Schiavello in an interview that will air on HDNet Friday night.
But whether the guy deserved it or not, Miller paid a price for his actions when he found out later that he was being charged with assault, and that his training as a mixed martial artist made the crime rise to the level of assault with a deadly weapon.
"I was like, 'No way,'" Miller said of the assault with a deadly weapon charge. "I thought that was a myth."
It wasn't a myth, and Miller ended up behind bars.
"I spent like a month in jail with murderers," Miller said. "My cellmate was a dude who shot his friend in the leg and shoved him in the trunk, only to open the trunk and beat him with the car antenna. I punched a dude in a bar -- one time."
Miller says he learned a valuable lesson from the incident: "If you have martial arts training don't punch someone in the face."
Probably good advice for those who don't have martial arts training, too.
The Voice vs. Mayhem Miller premieres on HDNet Friday at 10 PM ET.
Mayhem Miller Talks About His 'Month in Jail With Murderers' originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
29 July 2010 | 1:41 am
Filed under: Strikeforce, News
Just two weeks before its first women's tournament, Strikeforce might be losing one of its competitors.There have been reports that Carina Damm, of Brazil, is having a hard time getting her visa secured so she can travel to Phoenix for the Aug. 13 welterweight (135 pounds) tournament, and Strikeforce spokesman Mike Afromowitz confirmed that speculation on Wednesday night in an e-mail to members of the media.
Damm is scheduled to be one of four participants in the tournament, which will be held at Phoenix's Dodge Theatre as part of a Strikeforce Challengers event that will air live on Showtime. The main event of the card is a 182-pound catchweight bout between Joe Riggs and Louis Taylor.
Damm (15-3) hasn't fought outside her native Brazil in more than two years. She has a 10-fight winning streak.
Miesha Tate, Hitomi Akano and Maiju Kujala are the three other women booked for the tournament, which Strikeforce expects to determine the No. 2 contender for Sarah Kaufman's title. Kaufman defended her belt with a knockout slam against Roxanne Modafferi last week and will next defend her title against top contender Marloes Coenen.
In his e-mail, Afromowitz said the show will go on without Damm if necessary.
"Strikeforce is working diligently to help Carina secure a visa in time to make the trip for next month's event," Afromowitz said. "In the event that she is unable to acquire a visa, however, we have identified a qualified replacement for the tournament and will release her name if Carina is officially forced to withdraw from the event. This prospective replacement has been in training camp for several weeks and is prepared to take on the task at hand."
Strikeforce will hold a blind draw the night of the weigh-ins to determine the semifinal bouts and the tournament fights will be three 3-minute rounds.
In a release, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said recently the purpose of the tournament was to quickly determine the next top contender - after Coenen - for the 135-pound title.
"We are going to fast-track these four talented prospects in a quest to determine the best in this deep women's division," Coker said in the release. "Having all four women square off on one night with the chance to separate themselves from the pack is what Strikeforce Challengers is all about."
Strikeforce Confirms Visa Issues for Carina Damm originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
26 July 2010 | 7:58 pm
Filed under: Strikeforce
Strikeforce fighters Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Nick Diaz have been having a little conversation with one another over the internet recently. Maybe conversation is the wrong word. It implies an exchange of information, perhaps even a constructive one. What Diaz and Miller have been doing is working with one another into a frenzy.It started with Miller's anti-Diaz rant on Joe Rogan's Ustream Podcast last week. Miller painted Diaz as the main driver in the post-fight brawl in Memphis that resulted in suspensions for most of the parties involved, and he took aim at Diaz's "gangsta" persona, saying it "embodies what's wrong with America."
Of course, it didn't take long before Diaz saw the video and, naturally, decided to hit back with one of his own.
In reality, however, the video does more to bolster Miller's case than Diaz's.
Not that we should have expected anything different. When a video begins with someone adjusting the camera to ensure that both his middle fingers are plainly visible, that should give you a pretty good idea what you're getting into. When the title of the video includes the two expletives that make up roughly 75% of all the words spoken over the course of the five-minute opus, that should remove all doubt as to whether this is an argument you should take seriously.
If Miller's position is that Diaz's MMA gangster mentality is equivalent to "just being a little kid," then Diaz's decision to respond by making fun of Miller's hair and calling him a stream of profanities more or less makes the point for "Mayhem." While everyone seems to like and respect Diaz the fighter, Diaz the person seems intent on making that increasingly difficult.
In the whole of Diaz's response there's only point that borders on being valid. While Miller keeps talking about how much he'd like to face him, the two compete in different weight classes. Miller's a middleweight, while Diaz is the Strikeforce welterweight champ (though he's been known to fight at 185 pounds in the past).
But the point remains, why waste time with this viral video beef unless one of them is willing to jump divisions?
Wouldn't you know it, Miller had a response to that, too. On his Twitter account Monday afternoon, he wrote, "So now Nick Diaz is suddenly a 170 pounder only when he has to fight someone who can whip his [expletive]? Not so gangster, is he?"
Sounds like the ball is back in Diaz's court. If you're expecting a more thoughtful response this time, prepare to be disappointed.
War of Words With 'Mayhem' Miller Not Helping Nick Diaz Make His Case originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
24 July 2010 | 11:56 am
Filed under: Strikeforce
It happened again. For the second time in as many events in the Strikeforce: Challengers series, one of the night's most compelling attractions ended with the winner pleading/demanding to be taken off Challengers and put into a major event.
Last time it was Matt Lindland, who's never been shy about his expressing his opinions. This time it was 135-pound women's champ Sarah Kaufman, who mentioned her desire to be on a proper Strikeforce card every single time there was a microphone nearby.
The thinking behind the Challengers cards is that it's a proving ground for up-and-comers, hence the tagline, "Where champions are made." In theory, that's a pretty solid concept, or at least it would be if so many of the fighters featured on the event didn't openly interpret their own presence there as an insult.
Now, on to the fights...
Biggest Winner: Sarah Kaufman
I know, I know, she was the heaviest favorite on this card, so what's so special about her doing what every oddsmaker out there thought she would? That's a reasonable question, but if you're asking it I can only assume you didn't see the way that fight ended. It's somewhat rare in women's MMA to see someone knocked out cold. It's even rarer to see it done via a "Rampage" Jackson-style slam. Kaufman needed a finish to help her make the case that she deserves to be promoted as a real champion and not some second-tier belt-holder. If you can think of a better way to do that than by slamming your opponent into the land of wind and ghosts, I'd love to hear it.
Biggest Loser: Lolohea Mahe
He said before this fight that it would determine whether his career was headed up or down. Since it was only his seventh pro fight I'm not sure whether a do-or-die mentality was really warranted, but by his own metric it would seem that Mahe has found his limits in this sport. He took some heavy shots from del Rosario, but it was the blow to the body that really shut him down. Clearly, he's a big, tough guy who can hit. He just lacks some of the polish and athleticism that he needs to get to the next level.
Best Prospect: Shane del Rosario
Now that he's 10-0 after dismantling Mahe in the first round, it would seem that Strikeforce is coming around to the idea of giving him a name opponent and moving him off the Challengers cards. He says he's "over" the idea of fighting Bobby Lashley, which is probably just as well in Strikeforce's eyes, but Andrei Arlovski would be an opponent that makes a lot of sense for him. One way or another, someone's getting knocked out in that fight. Then Strikeforce will have another heavyweight to promote, which is never a bad thing.
Loss Most Symptomatic of Cultural Differences: Roxanne Modafferi
She might be from New England, but Modafferi definitely fights like many Japanese fighters. She doesn't have a ton of head movement, but she wants to get in close, tie up, and get to the mat. She did that a couple of times against Kaufman, but lacked the sense of urgency necessary to avoid the quick stand-ups on an American fight card. Her single-minded focus on getting the submission cost her in the end, as she held on to the arm she was trying to trap even as Kaufman drove her into the mat. She's a tough girl with an infectious enthusiasm and a great personality, but like Shinya Aoki, maybe she could benefit from a training camp in the states.
Best Case of Toughness Trumping Skill: Bobby Voelker's win over Cory Devela
Pretty early on Devala showed that he was the more technically proficient fighter with more weapons in his arsenal. Voelker did well just to last through the first round, but then his resilience started to pay off as Devala faded a bit in the later rounds. Let that be a lesson to all you young fighters out there. You don't always have to be better than the other guy; sometimes it's enough to just be able to take everything he's got and keep coming after him.
Most Mediocre Case for a Title Shot: Mike Kyle's win over "Abongo" Humphrey
Judging by the commentary and the post-fight interview by Mauro Ranallo, Strikeforce is eyeing Kyle as a future contender for the light heavyweight title after "King" Mo Lawal and "Feijao" Cavalcante square off for the strap in August. Kyle owns a win over Cavalcante, but I'm not sure if his performance against Humphrey warrants a shot at the gold. He got taken down much too easily and looked very beatable on the mat. I realize Strikeforce doesn't have a ton of talent at 205 pounds that could or would (looking at you, "Babalu" Sobral) challenge for Lawal's title, but if he gets past "Feijao" you can bet the King is going to be more interested in moving up in weight that thumping on an also-ran like Kyle.
Falling Action: Best and Worst from Strikeforce: Challengers 9 originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:56:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
24 July 2010 | 2:20 am
Filed under: Strikeforce
Shane Del Rosario is still undefeated after easily beating yet another overmatched opponent Friday night, beating Lolohea Mahe by first-round TKO on another Strikeforce Challengers card."I've been working really hard," Del Rosario said afterward. "It's finally paying off."
It's been paying off for Del Rosario for quite some time, and now he's 10-0, with nine of his 10 victories coming in the first round.
Del Rosario showed off some punching power, including a left hand that rocked Mahe, but it was Del Rosario's knees that really finished the fight, with a knee to the head and one to the body knocking Mahe down and putting into the fetal position, which is what led the referee to bring the fight to an end. Mahe was no threat to Del Rosario, and it's time for Strikeforce to put Del Rosario in the cage with better opponents.
More Coverage: Strikeforce Challengers 9 Results | Latest Strikeforce News
So who might a better opponent be? There's been talk that Bobby Lashley would fight Del Rosario, but Lashley doesn't want that fight, and it doesn't appear likely to happen. Del Rosario said afterward that he wanted to take on former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, and that fight could make sense. Del Rosario is ready for the big time.
Shane Del Rosario Improves to 10-0, TKOs Lolohea Mahe originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
24 July 2010 | 1:59 am
Filed under: Strikeforce
In one of the most stunning endings to a women's fight that mixed martial arts has ever seen, Sarah Kaufman knocked out Roxanne Modafferi by picking her up and slamming the back of her head against the canvas in the third round of their Strikeforce title fight.Kaufman used it as an opportunity to tell her promoters that they need to do a better jof of promoting her.
"Get me on main cards on Showtime," Kaufman said afterward. "I think I deserve it. Put me on there."
More Coverage: Strikeforce Challengers 9 Results | Latest Strikeforce News
Kaufman is right: The victory was the biggest of Kaufman's career, and it improved her record to 12-0, with nine victories by knockout or TKO. She's one of Strikeforce's best fighters, and she should be fighting on its biggest cards.
The always game Modaferri got things started by charging toward Kaufman and throwing a flying knee at the beginning of the first round, and throughout the fight she was a relentless and tough challenger. But while Modafferi made things difficult for Kaufman in the first round, at the start of the second Kaufman landed several clean punches to Modafferi's face, and she showed throughout the second round that she was the superior striker.
And then came that crazy ending to the third round, when Modafferi pulled guard and attempted an arm bar on the ground, only to have Kaufman pick her up, slam her down and knock her out. A great ending to a great victory for a great fighter.
Sarah Kaufman KOs Roxanne Modafferi With a Slam originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
24 July 2010 | 12:59 am
Filed under: Strikeforce
This is the Strikeforce live blog for Shane Del Rosario vs. Lolohea Mahe, the main event of tonight's Strikeforce Challengers 9 card in Everett, Wash.Del Rosario (9-0) and Mahe (6-1-1) are heavyweight prospects looking to make a mark in arguably, Strikeforce's premier division.
The live blog is below.
More Coverage: Strikeforce Challengers 9 Results | Latest Strikeforce News
Round 1: Del Rosario comes out with a strong leg kick. Mahe throws a left. Del Rosario again chops with leg kicks. In clinch, Del Rosario lands two knees to the stomach. Mahe gets through with an uppercut. Mahe attacks with a knee in clinch. Del Rosario presses Mahe against the cage and lands a couple of shots. Restart in the center of the cage. Mahe misses on a combo. Rosario's head kick is blocked. Mahe clinches and looks for a takedown. Despite being the bigger man (Mahe 264; Del Rosario 243.6), Mahe is getting controlled by Rosario. A low blow by Rosario pauses the fight. Back on, the southpaw Rosario slows Mahe with an overhand left. They clinch and Rosario relentlessly tosses knees. An especially hard knee to the body sends Mahe crashing to a knee. Referee stoppage. Mahe is slow to get up, complaining about the rib shots.
Del Rosario wins by TKO - Round 1, 3:48
Strikeforce Live Blog: Shane Del Rosario vs. Lolohea Mahe Updates originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
24 July 2010 | 12:59 am
Filed under: Strikeforce
In a sign of how much Mike Kyle has done to resurrect his career -- and a sign of how shallow Strikeforce's light heavyweight division is -- Kyle is being discussed as a light heavyweight title contender after choking out Abongo Humphrey on Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers card.Kyle and Humphrey engaged in some exciting if not particularly technically proficient striking first round, and then in the second round Kyle forced Humphrey to tap to a rear-naked choke, improving his record to 17-7-1. Afterward Strikeforce's television announcers suggested that the victory makes Kyle the No. 1 contender in the light heavyweight division.
More Coverage: Strikeforce Challengers 9 Results | Latest Strikeforce News
Strikeforce light heavyweight champion King Mo Lawal will defend his title against Rafael Cavalcante next month, and Kyle beat Cavalcante last year. So it makes sense, in that respect, to consider Kyle a title contender.
But it's also a little bit baffling that Strikeforce is talking up Kyle as a title contender now, when prior to this fight Strikeforce hardly promoted the Kyle-Humphrey fight at all. If Strikeforce is going to sell Kyle to the fans as a No. 1 contender, it has some work to do. But he gave them some good highlights to use with his win on Friday night.
Mike Kyle Makes a Case for a Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title Fight originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
24 July 2010 | 12:58 am
Filed under: Strikeforce
This is the Strikeforce live blog for Sarah Kaufman vs. Roxanne Modafferi, the women's 135-pound championship bout on tonight's Strikeforce Challengers 9 card in Everett, Wash.The undefeated Kaufman (11-0) puts her belt on the line against Modafferi (15-5), who is coming off a win over highly-regarded Tara LaRosa.
The live blog is below.
More Coverage: Strikeforce Challengers 9 Results | Latest Strikeforce News
Round 1: It's on! Modafferi rushes towards Kaufman at the sound of the bell and jumps into clinch. They battle for position, taking turns pushing the other against the cage. Modafferi eventually pushes Kaufman down, but Kaufman quickly places her own back against the cage to try to escape. However, Modafferi is able to turn to her right and place Kaufman on her back. Modafferi punches, but still, referee calls for action. Premature call by the referee to stand them up. That's not going to bode well for Modafferi if the referee continues to officiate like this. Short exchange and they are back in clinch. Modafferi is working hard for a takedown but Kaufman is doing a good job defending. Round one ends in clinch.
MMAFighting.com scores the round 10-9 for Modafferi.
Round 2: Modafferi is throwing her hands and legs out there, but they're empty. The strikes, including a Superwoman punch, allow Kaufman to land counter shots. We can tell Kaufman is the far better striker of the two. In trouble, Modafferi drops for a takedown but Kaufman defends. They return to clinch where Kaufman aggressively digs for the underhooks. Modafferi looking for a pick and Kaufman unloads with punches. Modafferi throws a spinning backfist but it's really just for show. She pulls guard, but Kaufman maintains her posture, forcing Modafferi to open her legs and land on her feet. Kaufman landing the better knees in clinch. Modafferi almost lands a hip toss, and Kaufman almost reverses. Back in clinch. Kaufman continues to land more knees. They separate with 20 seconds left and Kaufman connects cleanly on about nine punches.
MMAFighting.com scores the round 10-9 for Kaufman.
Round 3: Quick exchange of punches and they tie-up. Modafferi trips Kaufman at the 3:39 mark and she works inside the closed guard of Kaufman. Modafferi stands up in an effort to pass. Kaufman waits for an opening and kicks her way to her feet. They return to clinch halfway into the round. The referee pauses the fight to cut a small piece of loose tape off Kaufman's glove. Kaufman with a jab, cross. Modafferi pops out jabs and she eats another jab, cross. They trade knees in the Muay Thai clinch. Modafferi jumps into guard with 30 seconds left. Modafferi looks for an armbar, but Kaufman picks up Modafferi and slams her down. Modafferi is dazed and the referee jumps in!
Kaufman defends her belt by TKO (slam) - Round 3, 4:45
Strikeforce Live Blog: Sarah Kaufman vs. Roxanne Modafferi Updates originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 23:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
