Strikeforce News

Awards Time

By Ariel Helwani
Jan 9th 2012 5:13PM
Referee Kim Winslow received a fair share of criticism for her work at Saturday night's Strikeforce event in Las Vegas, most notably from Muhammed Lawal, but Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer did not feel the criticism was warranted.

"I had no issues with the stoppage," Kizer wrote to MMAFighting.com on Monday when asked for a response to Lawal's post-fight comments about the referee.
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By Ben Fowlkes
Jan 9th 2012 12:42PM
News that Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos tested positive for steroids following her last Strikeforce 145-pound title defense provoked a wide range of responses last week, but shock wasn't one of them. Some reacted with bitter disappointment, others with cynical detachment, but no one who's ever so much as seen a picture of the Brazilian fighter can say that they haven't at least considered the possibility that her biceps might have gotten that way via some not-so-natural processes.

For as long as she's been in the spotlight, that's kind of been Santos' thing. She's the woman with the muscles, the female fighter who looks every bit as terrifying as she fights. The positive steroid test just confirmed what most fans already suspected: there's a reason you don't see more women like "Cyborg" running around.

Maybe that's what's so disappointing about this whole story. It just seems so obvious. It reminds us once again that the MMA world isn't some magical, mystical place. Instead, it's just like the rest of the world. When you suspect someone is a cheater, you eventually find out that you were right. Then you wonder why you ever gave them the benefit of the doubt to begin with.
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By Ray Hui
Jan 9th 2012 12:08PM
Middleweight Robbie Lawler was the highest earner at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine, banking a flat purse of $150,000 in his fight against Adlan Amagov.

The next highest paid were Muhammed Lawal and Luke Rockhold at $95,000 and $90,000, respectively, at this past Saturday's Showtime-televised card in Las Vegas.

Below are the Strikeforce fighter salaries, reported by Strikeforce to the Nevada state commission.
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By Ben Fowlkes
Jan 9th 2012 10:30AM
Hope you enjoyed your free preview weekend of Showtime in all its MMA-tastic glory. Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine went down more or less exactly as expected on Saturday night, with every favorite notching a victory and every underdog taking a beating that was almost perfectly in line with how long their odds of success were.

With the event over and the Showtime preview curtain drawn closed, it's time once again to sort through the action in search of the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.
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By Michael David Smith
Jan 8th 2012 7:53AM
Saturday's Strikeforce card, headlined by a main event of Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine was a perfectly good night of fights. And yet something was missing -- something that Rockhold himself put his finger on in his post-fight interview.

What's missing from Strikeforce these days is enough talented, recognizable fighters to fill up a full fight card, and enough talented, recognizable fighters to put together a complete weight class. And so it was no surprise that when Rockhold was asked after the fight who he'd like to defend his middleweight title against next, Rockhold said he'd like to fight someone from the UFC.

"I like fighting, I like getting paid, but I love competition and striving to be the best," Rockhold said. "Right now all the best guys are in the UFC, at least the Top 10 ranked -- besides myself, maybe, in some rankings. Those are the guys I want. I want to climb to the top, I want to fight the best in the world, and I think they should bring over some top contenders. Let's see who the true No. 1 contender is, because I believe I am, and I'd love the chance to prove it."
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By Ray Hui
Jan 7th 2012 11:50PM
This is the Strikeforce live blog for Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine, the main event of tonight's Strikeforce on Showtime event from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Rockhold (8-1) is putting his Strikeforce middleweight belt on the line for the first time after beating Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza last September by way of unanimous decision. Jardine (17-9-2) made his Strikeforce debut last April, battling Gegard Mousasi to a majority draw. Jardine will be making his middleweight debut.

The live blog is below.
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By Michael David Smith
Jan 7th 2012 11:42PM
Robbie Lawler knocked out Adlan Amagov in the first round of one of the strangest fights you'll ever see on Saturday night, one in which Amagov committed a blatantly illegal knee to the head, then got finished thanks to a legal knee to the head from Lawler.

When the fight started, Amagov seemed to surprise Lawler by going for a takedown. That takedown was successful, but Amagov then landed a blatantly illegal knee to Lawler's head on the ground, leading to a point deduction for Amagov.

After Lawler got a moment to compose himself and the fight re-started, he charged forward with a flying knee that appeared to only graze Amagov's head -- but which was enough to knock Amagov down, face-first. Lawler jumped on Amagov and bashed him with punches, and referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in to stop the fight.
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By Ray Hui
Jan 7th 2012 11:30PM
This is the Strikeforce live blog for Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov, a middleweight bout on tonight's Strikeforce on Showtime event from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Lawler (18-8), who lost both his fights in 2011 against Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Tim Kennedy, is looking to prevent the first three-fight skid of his career. Russia's Amagov (9-1-1) is taking a step up in competition after winning twice on Strikeforce Challengers shows in 2011.

The live blog is below.
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By Michael David Smith
Jan 7th 2012 11:25PM
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal gave Lorenz Larkin a one-sided beatdown on Saturday night's Strikeforce card, looking very impressive with ground and pound to finish the fight.

The victory improves Lawal's record to 9-1, and he said he's hoping to re-take the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt in his next fight. That belt is currently vacant, but it would make sense for Lawal to get one of the two spots in a fight for the vacant title.

"Next person is taking a beating like this, too," Lawal said.
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