“I’m serious about being a factor in this division. First and foremost I want my belt back. I know Lesnar is a huge guy but I’ve noticed several holes in his top game during his last fight that I could capitalize on. Yeah he beat Mir, but Frank Mir doesn’t possess the level of jiu-jitsu I have, which is really needed to neutralize the size advantage of Brock. Personally I don’t get the hype, I think I was more impressive against Randy than Lesnar was, it looked like Randy was breaking him mentally until he landed the last shot… Yeah I’ve been approached about [fighting Fedor Emelianenko], nothing’s final yet but that’s a fight I would definitely want. I know people will say I don’t have a chance, but I destroyed the guy who handed Fedor his only loss. Fedor is a great fighter but, the training I’ve done at Wolfslair has improved my game tremendously so I think I’ve got a great shot at beating him.”
In a recent interview with cagereport, Ricco Rodriguez former UFC heavyweight talks about current champ Brock Lesnar and possbily fighting Fedor Emelianenko. Strikeforce is yet to sign Fedor for a fight, although it has been slated the russian standout will be fighting sometime in Ocotober. With strong rumors circulating and Rodriguez now mentioning being approached for this bout, it seems he might be Fedors first opponent. Ricco, who was previoulsy a successful heavyweight and Bas Rutten protege, has had his up’s and down for years now, battling drug addiction. With lucklustre comeback performances against Jeff Monson and Travis Wulf – this future fight seems strange, if anything.
Cris “Cyborg” Santos needed less than one round to become the first-ever Strikeforce 145-pound women’s champion, knocking out Gina Carano in the opening round of Saturday’s Strikeforce headliner at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
After an exciting start to the main event that saw Cyborg pick Carano apart with powerful punches, Santos used a late flurry of ground and pound to force the referee to step in and stop the bout just one second remaining before the end of the opening frame.
With the victory, Cyborg improves to 8-1 with eight-straight wins dating back to 2005, while Carano falls to 7-1 after suffering he first career loss.
In other main card bouts, Gegard Mousasi became the new Strikeforce light heavyweight champion with a 60-second knockout of Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Gilbert Melendez retained the promotion’s interim lightweight title with a third-round TKO of Mitsuhiro Ishida, and heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum submitted Mike Kyle in the opening round to kick off the Showtime broadcast.
Jay Hieron, Scott Lighty, Justin Wilcox, James Terry, and Alex Trevino were all victorious on the event’s preliminary card.
The official results for Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg were:
Strikeforce Female 145-Pound Championship
Gina Carano vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos def. Gina Carano via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:59
Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi Mousasi def. Renato “Babalu” Sobral via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:00.
Strikeforce Lightweight Championship
Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida Gilbert Melendez def. Mistsuhiro Ishida via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:56.
Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle Fabricio Werdum def. Mike Kyle via submission (guillotine) round 1.
Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor Jay Hieron def. Jesse Taylor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Mike Cook vs. Scott Lighty Scott Lighty def. Mike Cook via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:05.
David Douglas vs. Justin Wilcox Justin Wilcox def. David Douglas via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:16.
Zak Bucia vs. James Terry James Terry def. Zak Bucia via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:23.
Isaiah Hill vs. Alexander Trevino Alex Trevino def. Isiah Hill via submission (side choke) – Round 1, 3:56.
Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, both made their 145 required weight (you can see their weigh-in video below). Scott Coker, Strikeforce CEO made sure of it (see video below). However, Jess Taylor the former TUF alumni was not so fortnante, as he was the only fighter not to make weight. Weighing in at 172 pounds; 1 pound short of his his required limit. Although, two hours later, on his second attepmt Taylor qualified for his limit, weighting in at 169.
145 lbs.: Gina “Conviction” Carano (143lbs) vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (144.5lbs)
155 lbs.: Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (155lbs) vs. Mitsuhiro “Endless Fighter” Ishida (155lbs)
205 lbs.: Renato “Babalu” Sobral (201lbs) vs. Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi (204lbs)
170 lbs.: Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron (169lbs) vs. Jesse Taylor (172lbs)
265 lbs.: Mike Kyle (219lbs) vs. Fabricio Werdum (228lbs)
205 lbs.: Scott Lighty (202lbs) vs. Mike Cook (205lbs)
155 lbs.: David Douglas (156lbs) vs. Justin Wilcox (154lbs)
170 lbs.: James Terry (169lbs) vs. Zac Bucia (170lbs)
155 lbs.: Isaiah Hill (156lbs) vs. Alex Trevino (156lbs)
Note: Fighters are allowed to weigh one pound more than the division limit in non-title fights.
Gina Carano / Cris Cyborg Weighin Video
Scott Coker on Gina and Cris making weight:
Stay tuned to fight burger for round-by-round updates when the card goes live.
Rashad Evans joins the MMA Live panel to help review UFC 101 and WEC 42. In addition, a preview of the biggest fight in women’s MMA history as Gina Carano and Cris ‘Cyborg’ battle on August 15th.
Baroni (13-11), was recently released from his Strikeforce contract a few days ago. Strikeforce’s CEO Scott Coker made this announcement in a press release :
“We wish Phil the best of luck and hope he can revive his career, if he can, maybe one day, he can return and fight for us.”
Phil, who lately lost to Joe Rigs on Strikeforce’s – Lawler vs. Shields card in June, has had a somewhat patchy career. With UFC’s recent releases of Tandem McCory and Thales Leites, it seems quite odd to me that the UFC would be targeting someone of Barnoi’s calibre. Stay tuned to our rumors section as more of this story unfolds.
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