CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPWINDOWS APPRSS
NEW FORUM

GOT THE MMATORCH APP YET?
iPhone & iPad
Android
Kindle Fire
Windows Phone
MMATORCH IPHONE APP

MMATORCH

All the MMA News • Plus Intelligent, Brilliant, Addictive Points of View!
Independently Covering MMA Since 1993 • No Big Corporate Bosses

Strikeforce Events
STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Scott Coker says title shots are on the line for both Robbie Lawler and Renato "Babalu" Sobral at Strikeforce: Los Angeles
Jun 9, 2010 - 4:15:35 PM
STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Scott Coker says title shots are on the line for both Robbie Lawler and Renato "Babalu" Sobral at Strikeforce: Los Angeles
DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM
...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!



By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce_Logo_152.jpg
Next week's Strikeforce: Los Angeles main event between Robbie Lawler and Renato "Babalu" Sobral may be a catchweight bout, but Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker says there is definitely something on the line for both fighters in this bout.

"If 'Babalu' looks good and wins the fight, I think that he will be first in line for a matchup [with] 'King Mo,'" Coker said during a media call for the event. "Robbie, if he wins the fight, he'll be first in line to have a title shot at 185 pounds against 'Jacare' (Souza)... Normally we don't put those fights out there, but I wanted to let everybody know that this fight will have consequences. It'll be an interesting show, and we're looking forward to putting it on."

While not completely ruling out a re-signing of Middleweight Champion Jake Shields, Coker's comments suggest that plans for a middleweight "tournament" have been scrapped in place of what would be a singular title bout for a vacant belt.

Sobral has not fought since losing to Gegard Mousasi last August, but nevertheless Coker says he's likely the first challenger to "King Mo" Lawal should he get past Lawler. For Sobral, the Lawal fight is not necessarily one he's eager to take, as the two have trained together in the past. He's more interested in fights against Dan Henderson and a rematch with Gegard Mousasi, but he would take the Lawal fight if presented.

Strikeforce: Los Angeles takes place from the Nokia Theater next Wednesday on Showtime.

Link to MMAJunkie.com Report

Penick's Analysis: Strikeforce has a major credibility problem in this situation. It's infuriatingly short sighted to set this fight up in the first place, and to try to rationalize putting this fight together by giving the winner a title opportunity is even more short sighted. How, after defeating a middleweight in a fight at 195 lb., would "Babalu" earn the #1 contender spot? He was beaten by Mousasi in a minute last August. The same Mousasi that just got handled by "King Mo" for five rounds.

And how does Lawler move to the top of the heap with a win out of the division? I'd have no problem with him getting a spot in a tournament, but immediately getting plugged into this title shot against "Jacare" with a win doesn't make a whole lot of sense. None of the setup for this fight makes sense outside of the need for a headliner on this card.

It's hard to take any of their Champions seriously with their Championship fights set up this way. Giving Brett Rogers a title shot was excusable at the time because with Fedor and Werdum wrapped up in a bout there was no one high enough up to be given a title shot at that point, but neither of these options is sensible right now coming out of this fight.

Rich Hansen's Added Analysis: In short, if Lawler wins a fight at 195 lb., Lawler gets a shot at the 185 lb. belt. A belt currently held by someone who choked him out in like 2 minutes at 182 lbs.

And if Babalu wins a fight at 195 against someone who has never fought abouve 185 in his career, Babalu gets a shot at the 205 belt. In essence leapfrogging Mousasi who knocked him out in a minute in Babalu's most recent fight.

Things like this make my brain cry.


DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Rich Hansen's Running Commentary for Strikeforce "Marquardt vs. Saffiedine"
STRIKEFORCE "ROCKHOLD VS. KENNEDY" LIVE RESULTS: Penick's round by round event report
STRIKEFORCE "BARNETT VS. CORMIER" LIVE RESULTS: Penick's round by round coverage of Grand Prix Finals event

comments powered by Disqus
HERE ARE EVEN MORE ARTICLES THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU

SELECT ARTICLES BY CATEGORY
SEARCH MMATORCH BY KEYWORD


MMATORCH CALENDAR OF EVENTS
CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF UPCOMING MMA EVENTS
CLICK TO SEE A UFC VIDEO BELOW

ARTICLES OF INTEREST ELSEWHERE
MMATORCH POLL - VOTE NOW!

Will T.J. Dillashaw and Urijah Faber eventually fight?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Do you think Daniel Cormier will defeat returning Jon Jones to legitimize UFC Light Heavyweight Title reign?
 
pollcode.com free polls

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS

MMATORCH WEEKLY LIVECAST
Listen to the weekly MMATORCH LIVECAST on Blog Talk Radio


MMATORCH STAFF

EDITORS:

Wade Keller, supervising editor
(mmatorch@gmail.com)

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.

MORE MMA SITES
CONTACTABOUTFACEBOOKTWITTERPODCAST IPHONE APPANDROID APPAMAZON APPWINDOWS APPRSS
THE TORCH: #1 IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE | © 1999-2013 TDH Communications Inc. • All rights reserved -- PRIVACY POLICY