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Strikeforce: Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle Should Be for the Title

Where do we start when it comes to this light heavyweight drama with Strikeforce?Earlier this year, former 205-pound champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal tested positive for a banned substance after handing Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin what was temporarily…

Where do we start when it comes to this light heavyweight drama with Strikeforce?

Earlier this year, former 205-pound champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal tested positive for a banned substance after handing Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin what was temporarily the first pro loss of Larkin’s career.

As it stood at the time of Lawal’s initial win, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, to whom Lawal lost the light heavyweight title in Houston, had defeated prospect Yoel Romero.

On the same September night as Feijao’s win over Romero, Mike Kyle ended an HDNet-televised night of fights debuting Marcos Rogerio de Lima.

Meanwhile, Gegard Mousasi, against whom Lawal claimed the light heavyweight title, closed out his 2011 with a win over highly-touted light heavyweight prospect Ovince St-Preux.

So the light heavyweight scene seemed primed to see a new champion emerge in the form of either one of the three former champions, or in the form of the likely underdog Kyle.

Fast forward to right now, and Miesha Tate is scheduled to face Ronda Rousey for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title on an action-packed night of fights that’s expected to be co-headlined by Mousasi and Kyle; Feijao was supposed to face Lawal for the belt.

So, with all that being said, why not just have Mousasi and Kyle face off for the belt?

Mousasi might have an edge on striking, and Kyle may be the more likely to implement his wrestling, but Kyle’s a dangerous striker in his own right with a mean right cross, and Mousasi knows how to work a good submission on the ground once he gets it there.

Stylistically, it may not be the greatest fight possible in terms of excitement, especially if the bout turns technical, but unless the decision is made to let Feijao draw Larkin for the belt, or unless the decision is made to transplant some UFC light heavyweights into Strikerforce, Mousasi vs. Kyle seems like the best fight possible to make into a title fight on the basis of both of their respective styles, and what they can effectively do with their respective arsenals at this level of competition.

Now the ball is in Strikeforce’s court, and while the company has been historically infamous for justifying some questionable business moves, they’ve also been known for delivering on some great fights.

And while Mousasi vs. Kyle might not draw much attention away from the main event as far as excitement potential, even among the hardcore fans, letting the two take the reins—as far as deciding the new Strikeforce light heavyweight, sounds like the best possible move at this point in time.

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Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle Added to March 3 ‘Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey’ Card

A light heavyweight tilt between former Strikeforce 205-pound kingpin Gegard Mousasi and controversial American Kickboxing Academy fighter Mike Kyle has been added to Strikeforce’s March 3 “Tate vs. Rousey” event in Columbus, Ohio.

Kyle revealed the news today via Twitter.

Mousasi, who is undefeated in his past five bouts, including a draw to Keith Jardine last April, has not faltered since losing the Strikeforce strap to Muhammed Lawal back in April, 2010. Recently, the Armenian-born fighter who is the current DREAM light heavyweight champion revealed last year that he may try out for the Dutch Olympic boxing team in February and if all goes well he will compete at the Olympics this summer.

First he will have to prove his pugilistic skills against Kyle, a knockout artist in his own right who racked up 12 of his 19 wins by knockout.

MAK has competed as a moneyweight fighter the past few years with various levels of success, including a surprise KO of future Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in June 2009. Since then he hasn’t fought the same level of competition, except for Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, who knocked him out at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu II in December 2010. In his only fight since, he defeated Marcos Rogerio de Lima by unanimous decision at Strikeforce World Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov in September.

The card will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight championship bout between challenger Ronda Rousey and champion Miesha Tate. Also on tap are a welterweight bout between Paul Daley and Kazuo Misaki as well as lightweights Josh Thomson and KJ Noons.

Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey
March 3, 2012
Nationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio

Main card (Showtime)

Women’s Bantamweight Championship Bout
Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey

Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle
Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki
K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson
Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis
———-

Undercard

Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy
Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun

MMA Monday Headlines with Jade Bryce Playing with Her Toys

An anti-SOPA hacker took over the UFC website yesterday and displayed a picture of Hitler. The hacker belongs to a group called the Underground Nazi HackerGroup which perhaps makes them pro-Hitler because they’re not called.

An anti-SOPA hacker took over the UFC website yesterday and displayed a picture of Hitler. The hacker belongs to a group called the Underground Nazi HackerGroup which perhaps makes them pro-Hitler because they’re not called the Underground Anti-Nazi HackerGroup, in which case, who the f*ck wants to be associated with those guys? I now support SOPA. Aaaaaahhhh propaganda.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira plans to be healed and fight again in June.

Haywire opened at # 5 at the box office with Underworld: Awakening taking the #1 spot because it’s f*cking Underworld!

Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle set for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey card in Ohio on March 3rd.

Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun also set for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey card.

King Mo blames supplements for his positive steroid test.

UFC on FX 1 received 1.3 million viewers but deserved way more! WTF people, tell your friends to watch! And leave your tv on for the cats and dogs to watch while you’re out at a viewing party. Trust me, my Himalayans are improving their jitz.

Enjoy photos of Jade Bryce that she’s recently tweeted out of her playing with various toys. No, not those kind.

Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle Set for Co-Main Event of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsRumors of a bout between Gegard Mousasi and Mike Kyle have spread at various times over the last year. In fact, the duo seemed destined to meet in both April and September of 2011 before various issues sidetracked the pair…

Filed under: Strikeforce, News

Rumors of a bout between Gegard Mousasi and Mike Kyle have spread at various times over the last year. In fact, the duo seemed destined to meet in both April and September of 2011 before various issues sidetracked the pairing from being made.

Now, it’s on again.

Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the Mousasi-Kyle matchup has been agreed to as the co-main event of March 3’s Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event.

Mousasi (32-3-2) was last seen just over one month ago, showing improved takedown defense to go with his usual aggressive striking game en route to a unanimous decision over Ovince St. Preux.

Meanwhile, Kyle (19-8-1, 1 no contest) is coming off a unanimous decision victory of his own, this one coming against Marcos Rogerio de Lima in September.

The winner of the bout may eventually earn a chance to fight for the vacant Strikeforce light-heavyweight title.

Mousasi-Kyle is the co-headliner just underneath a women’s bantamweight title bout with Miesha Tate against Ronda Rousey. As MMA Fighting reported earlier Monday, a lightweight fight between Conor Heun and Ryan Couture was just added to the event as well.

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On This Day in MMA History: August 15 – Cyborg Chases Carano Away From MMA for Two Years

(Surprised they didn’t call this one “Beauty and the Beast.”)

On this day in MMA history two years ago Strikeforce held it’s first event headlined by a women’s championship fight. Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg, which featured a bout between Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos for the inaugural Strikeforce Women’s middleweight (145 pound) championship, took place on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

(Surprised they didn’t call this one “Beauty and the Beast.”)

Cyborg dominated Carano, who was being groomed to be the face of Strikeforce, defeating the Xtreme Couture fighter with just one second left in the opening round. After the bout Gina considered retiring and has not fought since the loss, opting instead to pursue an acting career. Her return bout was scheduled for June 18 of this year against Sarah D’Alelio, but Strikeforce announced the week of the fight that Carano had failed her pre-fight medicals. No details have been released as to the nature of what was wrong with her.

Alistair Overeem, who won the Strikeforce heavyweight title against Paul Buentello in 2007 was supposed to put the strap on the line for the first time against Fabricio Werdum on the card, but the bout was called off after “The Demolition Man” suffered a hand injury in training. Mike Kyle stepped in to face Werdum in a non-title bout.

Joe Riggs was originally scheduled to face Nick Diaz on the card, but pulled out of the bout three weeks prior to the event because of a drug reaction he had. He was replaced by Jay Hieron and the bout was upgraded to welterweight championship status, but Diaz missed a scheduled pre-fight drug screening and wasn’t granted a license by CSAC. As a result, he was replaced by Jesse “JT Money” Taylor and the bout was reduced to a non-title affair.

Then-Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson was also forced out of a unification bout with interim champion Gilbert Melendez due to injury and was replaced by Shooto, PRIDE and DREAM veteran Mitsuhiro Ishida.

The event, which peaked at 856,000 for the Carano vs. Santos bout, averaged 576,000 viewers on Showtime, more than doubling Strikeforce’s previous best — their June 6, 2009 Lawler vs. Shields event, which averaged 275,000 viewers. The event also set a new MMA ratings record for the specialty cable network previously set in February 16, 2008 by EliteXC: Street Certified which featured a main event heavyweight bout between Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbot. That show averaged 522,000 viewers.

The results and payroll for the event were as follows:

Cristiane Santos ($25,000 – includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Gina Carano ($125,000)
Gegard Mousasi ($25,000 – no win bonus) def. Renato Sobral ($75,000)
Gilbert Melendez ($50,000 – no win bonus) def Mitsuhiro Ishida ($30,000)
Fabricio Werdum ($50,000 – includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Mike Kyle ($14,000)
Jay Hieron ($55,000 – includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Jesse Taylor ($12,000)
Scott Lighty ($4,000 – no win bonus) def. Mike Cook ($2,500)
Justin Wilcox ($5,000 – includes $2,500 win bonus) def. David Douglas ($5,500)
James Terry ($6,000 – includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Zak Bucia ($2,000)
Alex Trevino ($3,500 – includes $1,500 win bonus) def. Isaiah Hill ($2,000)

Strikeforce Booking Alert: Mousasi vs. Kyle, Gurgel vs. Duarte

(Careful, Gegard. If he bites you, you become one of them. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce)

According to a new report, former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi could meet Mike Kyle at the promotion’s September 10th card (venue TBA).

The two fighters were originally scheduled to meet at the ‘Diaz vs. Daley’ card in April, but Kyle was forced to withdraw due to a broken hand; Mousasi wound up fighting to a disappointing draw against late-replacement Keith Jardine. The “Armenian Assassin” is already slated to defend his DREAM light-heavyweight belt against Hiroshi Izumi in Tokyo on July 16th.

(Careful, Gegard. If he bites you, you become one of them. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce)

According to a new report, former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi could meet Mike Kyle at the promotion’s September 10th card (venue TBA).

As for Kyle, the American Kickboxing Academy moneyweight vet most recently suffered a TKO loss against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva — after stepping in as an injury replacement for Valentijn Overeem last December — but he’s 2-0 as a light-heavyweight under the Strikeforce banner, with stoppage wins over Rafael Cavalcante and Ron “Abongo” Humphrey. In other booking news…

Jorge Gurgel has confirmed that he will face Joe Duarte in the main event of Strikeforce Challengers 18 (August 12th; Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas). In March, Zoila’s husband snapped a two-fight Strikeforce losing streak by choking out journeyman Billy Vaughn in 44 seconds. Duarte, who you may vaguely remember from TUF 8, is on a four-fight win streak, most recently submitting Saad Awad in April.