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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Robbie Lawler enters his first title fight in Strikeforce on Saturday night despite only a 2-2 record in the organization. However, though he suffered a submission loss to former Middleweight Champion Jake Shields and a decision loss to Renato "Babalu" Sobral in a catchweight bout, his knockout wins over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland were spectacular enough to give him the nod.
Now facing another grappler in Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Lawler is out to implement his game and force "Jacare" to face him on the feet.
"He'll have no choice but to stand," Lawler said in an interview with Sherdog.com. "That's what I plan on doing. I'm forcing him to stand and seeing how good his standup is."
"I believe if anyone stands, it's just a matter of time before I catch them. I believe I'm better on standup. He's a really good athlete. He's explosive. His takedowns are real explosive and he's got a judo background. I just have to keep it where I want to and not make any mistakes and take advantage of it being on the feet."
Lawler will have time available to him to find his shots, as the bout will be contested through five, five-minute rounds, and "Ruthless" expects one heck of a fight on Showtime between the two of them.
"I believe it's going to be an awesome fight," he said. "Two guys, one guy not wanting to give up the belt and one guy going in there to take the belt. It's going to be a battle."
Penick's Analysis: This is the best fight on the card on Saturday night. It's absolutely the classic striker vs. grappler matchup, but Jacare has shown a fairly adept striking game in his career. However, Jacare needs this fight to hit the ground. Lawler is susceptible to submissions, and though it won't be easy, if Jacare can get him on the ground it will be his best shot to victory. But if Lawler can play his sprawl and brawl game to perfection in this fight, Jacare could be in a lot of trouble.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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