Who should they fight next: SF HW GP Final

Cormier - Mir/JDS winner
Barnett - Carwin (when's he coming back), Mir/JDS loser
Melendez - UFC: Showtime, SF: uhh... who's left? Thompson round 16 or Pat Healy
Thompson - UFC: Maynard/Guida loser, SF: Kawajiri
Feijão - Mousasi
Kyle - Larkin/Lawler winner if he's serious about moving down to 185.

Cormier vs winner of Werdum/Russow

Barnett vs Mir when he gets knocked out by JDS

Melendez vs Pat Healy

Thompson vs Isaac Vallie-Flagg for next title shot

Feijao vs Gegard for belt

Strikeforce champ Melendez, CEO Coker say no to fourth fight with Thomson

http://mmajunkie.com/news/28807/coker-feijao-vs-mousasi-likely-for-vacant-strikeforce-light-heavyweight-title.mma

Quote :

Following an ACL injury he recently revealed to MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), Gegard Mousasi won't be back in the cage anytime soon.

And that's just fine with his likely next opponent, who's expected to fight Mousasi for Strikeforce's vacant light-heavyweight title.

Following a grueling training camp, Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (12-3 MMA, 5-2 SF) – who made quick work of Mike Kyle at Saturday's Strikeforce event – is looking for a little rest and relaxation before his tentative title fight with Mousasi (32-3-1 MMA, 3-1-1 SF), a fellow ex-champ.

Cavalcante stunned Kyle with a knee and ultimately tapped him out with a guillotine choke just 33 seconds into their Showtime-televised main-card fight, which was part of "Strikeforce: Heavyweight Grand Prix Final" at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. It was revenge for Cavalcante, who suffered a second-round knockout loss to Kyle three years ago at "Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields" in his promotional debit.

"It feels good," Cavalcante said. "I'm back on track."

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker concurred. And though many fans felt Cavalcante vs. Kyle II should have earned the winner a shot at the belt (one Dan Henderson vacated with his move to the UFC in late 2011), Coker said the belt soon will be on the line again.

"I think the likely candidate you'll see in the future at some point (for Cavalcante) is Gegard Mousasi," Coker said of the recovering fighter, who's 4-0-1 since losing the belt to Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal in 2010. "When that fight happens happens, I'm not sure – or if it all – but I think it's a natural progression for 'Feijao.'"

Since that Kyle loss back in 2009, "Feijao" is 5-1. It included winning the Strikeforce belt from Lawal, though he surrendered the belt to Henderson in his next outing.

Through it all, and especially after the first Kyle fight, Cavalcante said he learned what he needs to do to win. Granted, the four-month camp was exhausting, and he hopes to get a nice long rest as Mousasi recovers, but he said it set him up for success.

"In my first fight with [Kyle], I spent like three months here in the United States," Cavalcante said. "It was alright training, but it was far from my coaches and from my team. These things make a difference.

"This win for sure isn't about me. It's about my coaches. It's about the support they give me."

For more on "Strikeforce: Heavyweight Grand Prix Final," stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.

Melendez should ask for Pettis or Alvarez.

Cormier - Ideally he would fight for the UFC HW title in the next fight, but Zuffas anti-euthanasia SF thing fucks that up. Hopefully Fedor.

Barnett - Frank Mir after he likely loses to JDS.

Gilbert Melendez - Josh Thomson, period. See above about Strikeforce terminal cancer and not pulling the plug. Any mma fan who has seen all of their fights cannot make a good argument for why they wouldn't want to see these two fight again.

Josh Thomson - Gilbert Melendez. Josh won that fight Saturday, despite it bearing similarity to their last fight in that the action was stopped 3 or more times again due to illegal strikes from Gil. This time the eye rakes were less debilitating than the nutcrackers.

Rafeal Cavalcante - Gegard Mousasi, because like every other single division in SF, they are down to one remaining significant fight.

Mike Kyle - Robbie Lawler or Lorenz Larkin, winner or loser.

I like Thomson vs Masvidal. I'd also like Thomson vs Noons if Josh promised not to point grub for 15 minutes.


Kyle to 185 is really interesting. As was Larkin. Don't really care who he fights, I just think he could cause problems down there.

Side not to the 185's, what ever happened to Yancy?