...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante was supposed to get a Light Heavyweight Title shot against Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral on Strikeforce's second Showtime event on June 6th. When the organization moved the tentative May date to June, Sobral opted out of the fight with the birth of his daughter on the horizon.
A replacement stepped up for Sobral in Jared Hammann, but according to a report from MMAJunkie.com Hammann has suffered an injury during training for the bout and has been forced to pull out of the fight, leaving "Feijao" without an opponent yet again. The report states that Hammann's likely replacement is the American Kickboxing Academy's Mike Kyle. Kyle, who hasn't fought since August of last year, has appeared twice for Strikeforce and has had stints in the UFC and WEC as well as in many other organizations. The eight year veteran holds an 11-6-1 record.
"Feijao" is 7-1 in his professional career, with his one loss being due to a disqualification for an illegal kick against Marcio Cruz. He's riding a three fight win streak in EliteXC, with all three coming by first round ko or tko. He has been out of action since the July 26th "Unfinished Business" event on CBS.
The bout is expected to take place on the undercard of the Shields vs. Lawler event, airing live on Showtime on June 6th.
Penick's Analysis: You've got to give Kyle credit for stepping in on short notice and taking this fight, but this is a daunting task for him. "Feijao" is an extremely impressive young light heavyweight fighter that is going to be a face of Strikeforce in the next few years. He was going to give Sobral everything he could handle in their bout, and Kyle's just not in that level of competition. He's no push-over, but "Feijao" is likely going to be too much for him early on in this bout. It's just a shame we likely won't get to see "Feijao" on the Strikeforce broadcast.
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.
