Strikeforce: Miami Preview and Predictions
Strikeforce: Miami should garner quite a bit of attention, though not necessarily for the right reasons. One of the best fights on the card, a welterweight showdown between Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs, isn’t even scheduled to appear on the main card. However, Strikeforce is putting fights featuring former NFL running back Herschel Walker and former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley on the main card, despite both of those fights looking like squash matches on paper. The card should definitely be interesting, though not necessarily pretty to watch.
Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs: Hieron is one of Strikeforce’s top welterweights, and a title shot is probably coming shortly for him if he can dispatch of Riggs. Hieron is on a six-fight winning streak, last beating Jesse Taylor by decision at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. He’s 18-4 in his MMA career, and had a brief run in the UFC relatively early in his career, dropping fights to Georges St. Pierre and Jonathan Goulet. He trains out of Xtreme Couture, and has a strong wrestling base to go along with decent striking skills. Riggs is also a veteran of the UFC, where he went 4-4. Overall, Riggs is 32-11 in his MMA career, with notable wins over Nick Diaz, Chris Lytle and Kendall Grove earlier in his career. He’s on a 4-fight win streak of his own, and won two fights in December in the Rage in the Cage promotion. His last Strikeforce win came over Phil Baroni at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. Riggs is a threat to Hieron here if he took Riggs too lightly. Riggs has solid knockout power and decent grappling ability. However, despite the fact that Riggs is only 27 years old, his body has taken a lot of punishment over the years. In addition to his 43 fights, Riggs has also fought recurring back issues in the past few years. I think Hieron will definitely have the edge in this fight the longer that it goes. Hieron via unanimous decision.
Herschel Walker vs. Greg Nagy: Kind of a tough fight to breakdown here. Walker, the former NFL running back and Heisman trophy winner, will be making his MMA debut at the age of 47. He has a background in Tae Kwon Do but just started training MMA a few months ago. However, Walker trains with the American Kickboxing Academy, one of the top gyms in the world, and the trainers there say he is a fast learner. How fast he’s picked up the skills remains to be seen, but if the weigh ins are any indication, Walker is in extrordinary physical shape. Nagy isn’t exactly a MMA veteran himself, with a pro record of 1-1. What little film there is on the guy shows a fighter with below average striking, wrestling, and Jiu Jitsu skills, which should make him the perfect matchup for Walker. Walker is the favorite, and his pure athletic talents should carry him to a victory here over a pretty bad opponent. Walker via TKO in the 2nd.
Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims: Strikeforce had a helluva time trying to find an opponent for Lashley. I won’t even get into how many possible opponents were thrown out there, but the end result is Wes Sims. Yikes. Sims got the call with about one week before the fight, and admitted he hasn’t been training. He certainly didn’t appear to be in peak physical shape at the weigh ins today. He was one of the heavyweights on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter, and his first round submission loss to Justin Wren in the opening round of the competition shows where Sims is as a fighter at this point in his career. Sims is 22-12 in his career, but really hasn’t fought anyone since he was released from the UFC following three consecutive losses. His reach can give people problems, but Sims brings very little else to the table. This will be Lashley’s fifth professional fight, and sadly enough, Sims is probably the best guy he’s fought. Lashley’s last fight was a first round win over freakshow Bob Sapp. Lashley was a two-time NAIA wrestling champion before his career in the WWE began, so he does have a solid wrestling base. Lashley’s been training at American Top Team in Florida, one of the top gyms in the sport, but he splits his time between training for MMA and wrestling for TNA. Until he gives up wrestling and focuses on his MMA training full-time, he won’t become an elite fighter. However, right now he’s good enough to beat Sims. I don’t think Sims will be able to stop Lashley’s takedown attempts, and he won’t have anything to offer from the bottom position on the ground either. Part of me wants to see Sims win, just for the hilarity of the situation, but it won’t happen. Lashley via TKO in the 1st.
Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Mahoef: This fight could be the highlight of the night as it features two exciting strikers that aren’t afraid to go toe-to-toe. Lawler is a veteran of the UFC, PRIDE, the IFL, Elite XC and Strikeforce. He’s 18-5 in his career and holds notable wins over Scott Smith, Frank Trigg, Joey Villasenor, and Chris Lytle. He trains with Matt Hughes at the HIT squad, the gym that they co-own. He’s mainly a striker, though training with Hughes and other wrestlers over the years have turned him into an adequate wrestler. He’s struggled with submission defense at times during his career, but that certainly won’t be an issue against Manhoef. Manhoef is one of the most feared strikers in the sport, and has amassed a 24-6 MMA record during his career. His ground game is still very weak, and that is something Lawler will want to expose. If Lawler wants to keep this fight standing, the fight will be wildly entertaining for however long it lasts. I know Lawler’s brain will probably tell him to go for the takedown, but I have a feeling he’ll want to try and slug it out with Manhoef. It’ll be a mistake. Manhoef hasn’t had a MMA fight last past the first round since the middle of 2007, and I don’t think that’ll change tomorrow night. Manhoef via TKO in the 1st.
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Marloes Coenen: Cyborg is coming off a win over Gina Carano at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. Cyborg basically overwhelmed Carano from the opening bell, and Gina had no match for Cyborg’s power. I’m not sure this fight looks a whole lot different. Cyborg is 8-1 in her MMA career, with the lone loss coming by way of submission in her first professional fight. She trains at Chute Boxe alongside mostly men, and she’s been working to improve her ground game as well. Coenen is 17-3 in her MMA career, and is 2-0 in Strikeforce. She last fought at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers where she beat Roxanne Modafferi by submission in the first round. She also has some decent striking skills, though nowhere near the power that Santos has. Her ground game is solid, but I don’t think she really has the wrestling ability to count on that as an advantage. This fight will probably stay standing, and though Coenen may have the technical advantage, all it will take is one power shot from Cyborg to change this fight. Cyborg Santos via TKO in the 2nd.
Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis: This fight will crown the first Strikeforce welterweight champion, so it’s a five-round affair. Diaz hasn’t fought since June of last year due to scheduling problems as well as his own failure to obtain a license from the state of California prior to his scheduled fight with Jay Hieron at Strikeforce: Canano vs. Cyborg. Diaz brings a very good boxing background into this fight to go along with his fantastic Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills, where he is a black belt under Cesar Gracie. He’s 20-7 in his career, and is on a five-fight win streak dating back to the middle of 2008. In his career, he’s defeated Chris Lytle, Robbie Lawler, Josh Neer and Scott Smith. A submission win over Takanori Gomi in PRIDE was changed to a no-contest after Diaz tested positive for marijuana after the fight. Zaromskis has really made a name for himself in the last year after several highlight-reel knockout wins over in Japan. He’s 13-3 in his career and has won his last five fights. The level of competition he’s faced isn’t the same that Diaz has faced during his career, and that certainly is a concern here. Diaz will have a large reach advantage in this fight, and he needs to use it to keep Zaromskis off balance. He needs to be concerned with the incredible head kicks from Zaromskis as well. Diaz will definitely have the advantage on the ground, but like his brother Nate, he seems to have fallen in love with his striking more than his ground game in recent fights. Plus, Zaromskis has improved his takedown defense to at least an adequate level. Although Diaz is the more technical striker of the two, he doesn’t really have enough power to really hurt Zaromskis, while we are positive Zaromskis has enough power to hurt Diaz. I think this fight will be controlled by Diaz early, before he finally gets caught with a power shot from Zaromskis. Zaromskis via TKO in the 2nd.
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