Strikeforce returns to CBS tonight for a very important show to their survival. They're following up their last appearance that was tarnished by an unfortunate brawl at the end of the main event. Heavy Artillery has some pretty matchups and should be entertaining even if some of the fights are a little lopsided on paper. Sometimes that produces some really great exciting upsets.
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro vs Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm
This is one of the prelims that might not make it to the air but I wanted to talk about it because i'm excited to see Shaolin and I think it'll be short enough to make the broadcast anyway. Shaolin was once considered one of the best 155lbers in the world and I still think he's one of the best grapplers in the world at that weight class. I've only seen "Fancy Pants" (what a gay nickname) a couple of times and he might be unbeaten and known for his submissions but he's not on Shaolin's level.
Vitor "Shaolin" Riberio by submission in Round 1 - probably a triangle choke because that seems to be his favorite submission.
Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante vs Antwain "The Juggernaut" Britt
I've only seen Antwain Britt fight once but he looked pretty good in a TKO doctor stoppage win over Scott Lighty at Strikeforce Evolution. Besides his horrible performance in a loss to Mike Kyle two fights ago at Strikeforce: Lawler vs Shields Feijao has looked pretty solid to me and I think he'll have a bit a of a speed advantage. I think either way this one goes it'll be fun to watch because they both just going forward and striking. The winner could see himself in the title picture to challenge King Mo for the Lightheavyweight title since the division is a bit lacking in quality challengers.
Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante by TKO Round 2
Roger Gracie vs Kevin "The Monster" Randleman
Kevin Randleman will always be crazy and he'll always be explosive and in good shape with a half empty gas tank. The former UFC Heavyweight champion has definitely seen his best days already. His last great win was a shocking upset over Mirko Crocop in the PRIDE 2004 Grand Prix but I seriously doubt we'll see an upset here. Roger Gracie only has 2 MMA fights to his credit and he's one dimensional BUT he's already probably the best grappler at 205 in MMA. They said it best on Sherdog on their preview if you are going to bet just have a pool with your friends as to which submission Gracie taps Randleman with.
Roger Gracie by submission in Round 1
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs Joey Villasenor
Joey Villasenor has been around for a long time and could give almost any 185lber a good fight. Except this one. Jacare is probably the most skilled jiu-jitsu fighter at 185, i'd LOVE to see him fight Demian Maia. As he learns more and more about striking Jacare will evolve into one of the best overall in the world at 185 and this fight is basically set up to showcase that he's their next Middleweight Champion. He may be fighting for a vacated belt however as it seems very likely that Jake Shields has signed a contract with the UFC and intends on making a run at Welterweight to challenge Georges St. Pierre.
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by submission in Round 1
Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva vs Andrei "Pitbull" Arlovski
Silva had a pretty good 6 fight win streak going until his decision loss to Fabricio Werdum. Arlovski of course is the former UFC Heavyweight Champion who is a very fast and well rounded fighter that is often criticized for having a weak chin. After back to back 1st round KO's handed to him by Brett Rogers and Fedor Emelianenko Arlovski is going to come to this fight really hungry for a win. Silva has always been an interesting prospect because of his size and huge frame but I don't think he has an advantage anywhere in this fight. He's giving up too much speed and too much experience to Arlovski.
Andrei Arlovski by TKO Round 2
Strikeforce Heavyweight Title Fight
Alistair "The Demolition Man" Overeem vs Brett "The Grim" Rogers
Ok so we have challenger Brett Rogers who is coming off a good performance in a loss to Fedor Emelianenko and his biggest win in his destruction of Andrei Arlovski. It might be a little weird that's he's getting this shot after a loss but it's only because they couldn't lock down Fedor for this fight. Besides the weirdest thing about it is that Alistair hasn't defended the title since he won it from Paul Buentello in November of 2007. Alistair has since been fighting mostly for K-1 and fighting all of his MMA fights in Japan since then. Some believe since he quickly went from being a 205lb fighter to a 250+ muscular monster in a short time that it's because he's on steroids (they don't test in Japan). We'll find out for sure now as Overeem submitted a drug test on Friday. So with all that being said Brett Rogers has heart, no fear and will come out swinging against Overeem. His size advantage helped him against Fedor and even though he outweighed Overeem by 11 pounds at the weigh in he will not have a strength advantage in this fight. Nor will he have a striking advantage against K-1 superstar Overeem. Rogers has the proverbial puncher's chance but I think Overeem is going to destroy him. Especially if Alistair clinches him and starts landing those devastating knees.
Alistair "The Demolition Man" Overeem by KO round 1 - And hopefully his "horsemeat" diet doesn't come back to haunt him on Tuesday when the drug test results come back. If it comes back that he has more illegal substances in his body than Royce Gracie or Josh Barnett I doubt we'll ever seen Alistair fight in the US ever again.
Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery Preview and Predictions
