Punch Drunk Preview: Strikeforce Los Angeles

The good folks at Strikeforce must have known that I would be exhausted after spending last week on the mainland covering UFC 115 for the Vancouver-based newspaper I work for.

That has to be the reason that just 24 hours before they take to the cage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California there isn’t a complete fight card available for analysis. Unless all they plan on putting on is six fights, at which point I renew my “Why didn’t they just combine this with the Fedor card?” objection.

Anyway…

The four fights that make up the main card are actually all pretty solid, and while the main event doesn’t completely make sense to me, I don’t have to agree with the company decisions to enjoy a good ol’ fashioned scrap.

The two undercard fights that are announced are getting left out of this endeavour because, well, because they are. Here we go…

KJ Noons (8-2-0) vs. Connor Heun (8-3-0)

Having KJ Noons back in the cage is something I can get on board with because (1) he’s a talented lightweight in an organization devoid of talented lightweights and (2) his old man is kind of crazy and I like crazy old men.

The former Elite XC lightweight champion looked strong in defeating “Dida” Amade in Japan earlier in the year, and while facing off with the last man to beat him would have been fun to see, any appearance of the fighter formerly known as “Crazy Horse” always has the potential of disaster.

Connor Heun is a tough kid who impressed a lot of people – me included – with his slugfest last year against Jorge Gurgel. Sure he lost, but you can’t win’em all, and much like Jason Brilz against “Lil’ Nog,” Heun earned the admiration of the fans and more of a following in defeat than he had with his eight wins.

Trevor Prangley (22-5-1) vs. Tim Kennedy (11-2-0)

Two dudes that people don’t give enough credit meet up in a middleweight contest with potential title ramifications, as the durable Prangley faces the former Green Beret Kennedy in what should be the best fight on the card.

Kennedy is one of those “under the radar” guys that addicts like me love; a potential star who has only lost to Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith, while posting wins over Miller and Nick Thompson between tours of duty as a bad-ass army commando. He also won the Army Combatives tournament not once, not twice, but thrice. Excellent…

Trevor Prangley has literally fought everywhere; UFC, Shark Fights, MFC, Bodog, Strikeforce. The guy would probably fight in your backyard in front of 37 people if it was properly regulated and there was a belt on the line. He’s also tough as nails, having only been finished twice. Hell, he’s only lost five times in his career and they’re all to quality competition.

See why I’m excited for this fight?

Marius Zaromskis (13-4-0) vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (17-13-0)

While Santos’ record is remarkably close to Kevin Randleman territory, the male “Cyborg” is a much more dangerous opponent at this stage of life than “The Monster,” and Zaromskis will need to be careful.

All the pressure in this contest is on Zaromskis, the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix winner who was last seen losing a welterweight title fight to Nick Diaz in Miami. A second consecutive loss under the Strikeforce banner would put him in limbo, too talented to get cut, but too many losses to be a marketable name.

When you add the Chute Boxe / crazy factor Santos brings to the table, this could be a firefight from the opening bell… and one that doesn’t make it to the end of the first round.

Robbie Lawler (17-5-0, 1 NC) vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral (35-8-0)

Title implications and catchweight silliness aside, I like this fight. It’s a battle of opposing styles that has the chance to showcase both fighters’ strengths and weaknesses all at once.

Sobral brings a great submission fighting game to the table, but he’s also cocky enough to spend some time standing in opposite Lawler. On the other hand, Lawler brings the lethal hands that dropped Melvin Manhoef last time out, but also enough of a wrestling pedigree that he might take a chance or two on the ground with Sobral.

Conventional wisdom leads me to favor “Babalu” because he’s the bigger of the two – Lawler is really a beefed up welterweight – but watching Manhoef fall from the first right Lawler landed is the great equalizer. Sobral could be doing everything right and then WHAM! Night-night.

This one, like the rest of the main card, should be entertaining. Now how it entitles the winner to a title shot is another story altogether…

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