...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The loss of Shane Del Rosario from next month's Strikeforce event on Showtime will not take Daniel Cormier out of the event, as Strikeforce has given him the biggest fight of his career against the most experienced fighter he's ever faced.
The organization announced this weekend that Cormier will now meet Jeff Monson at the event, marking Monson's first return to a Zuffa owned event since losing to Tim Sylvia in a UFC Heavyweight Championship fight at UFC 65 in 2006.
Monson's been extremely busy since he last appeared in the UFC, fighting 24 times over the last five years and racking up a 19-5 record in that stretch, including winning his last eight fights.
The 7-0 Cormier will have a chance to end "The Snowman's" streak and notch an impressive win in this fight. A big win will would get him a shot at another fighter higher up the ladder, and continue the Olympian's impressive start to his career.
The June 18 event airs live on Showtime from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, headlined by the Heavyweight World Grand Prix fight between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.
Penick's Analysis: This is an excellent fight for both right now. Cormier's being lauded as one of the more promising prospects, and a win over an established and, regardless of what anyone else thinks, relevant opponent in Monson would be the biggest win he's notched to date. For Monson, a return to a major televised promotion is a big chance for him to prove that, despite his age, he's still capable of winning at a high level; and a win over Cormier would also be perhaps Monson's most impressive win since defeating Sergei Kharitonov in 2009. This is a nice piece of matchmaking, and a good replacement fight for Cormier on a little over a month's notice.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
