Strikeforce grand prix semifinals set for Sept. 10- CARD UPDATES

http://mmajunkie.com/news/24404/sources-strikeforce-grand-prix-semifinals-set-for-sept-10.mma
With four heavyweights remaining in Strikeforce's grand prix, a date has
been set for the semifinals of the eight-man tournament.

Multiple sources close to the promotion on Thursday told MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com) that an event set for Sept. 10 will host the third
leg of the grand prix.

A host city has yet to be confirmed at the time of this writing.

Four bouts are already rumored for the early fall card: A middleweight
title match between current champ Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Luke
Rockhold; a light-heavyweight bout between former champ Muhammed "King
Mo" Lawal and submission ace Roger Gracie; a lightweight matchup between
former lightweight champion Josh Thomson and Maximo Blanco; and another
light-heavyweight tilt between former champ Gegard Mousasi and Mike
Kyle.

None of the bouts have been made official by Strikeforce, nor has the event.

As for the tournament, the semifinals feature two bouts: Alistair
Overeem vs. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Sergei Kharitonov vs. Josh
Barnett.

Overeem (35-11 MMA, 3-0 SF) advanced this past month with a decision win
over Fabricio Werdum while Silva (16-2 MMA, 3-1 SF) pulled a major
upset this past February with a TKO of Fedor Emelianenko due to doctor
stoppage.

Kharitonov (18-4 MMA, 1-0 SF) fought alongside Silva, where he leveled
Andrei Arlovski in the first quarterfinal event, and Barnett (30-5 MMA,
1-0 SF), who also fought this past June, submitted Brett Rogers in the
second quarterfinal event.

Following that event, which took place June 18 in Dallas, Strikeforce
CEO Scott Coker said the semifinals would take place sometime in the
fall with the tournament concluding in February 2012. Although a jump to
pay-per-view has repeatedly been mentioned for the finals, plans have
yet to be finalized.

Hard to imagine all those fights listed being on 1 card, but this could be very big card.

That would be another sick card.

Alistair Overeem vs Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Josh Barnett
Middleweight title fight: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs Luke Rockhold
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal vs Roger Gracie
Josh Thomson vs Maximo Blanco
Gegard Mousasi vs Mike Kyle

GDPofDRC wrote:

That would be another sick card.

Alistair Overeem vs Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Josh Barnett
Middleweight title fight: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs Luke Rockhold
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal vs Roger Gracie
Josh Thomson vs Maximo Blanco
Gegard Mousasi vs Mike Kyle

Sounds like a HDNet prelim worthy card to me.

Someone will get hurt

bobbitt15 wrote:

Someone will get hurt

Yeah you can bank on that. With the trend right now it will be a someone in the main event. So the smartest strategy would be to make Thompson vs Blanco the main event, because the title alone increases injuries by 50%.

No, no, no put mo vs Gracie as the main so Gracie can be hurt again. Then OSP or Lorenz Larkin can replace him. I want to see Blanco vs Punk.

Uber vs Foot may be one of my most anticipated fights in quite a while

bobbitt15 wrote:

Uber vs Foot may be one of my most anticipated fights in quite a while

I agree. This fight will be epic with the winner being the 3rd ranked HW in the world.

bobbitt15 wrote:

Uber vs Foot may be one of my most anticipated fights in quite a while

Yeah the winner will be the true SF HW Champion, belt or not.

GDPofDRC wrote:

No, no, no put mo vs Gracie as the main so Gracie can be hurt again. Then OSP or Lorenz Larkin can replace him. I want to see Blanco vs Punk.

OK we can schedule Othereem vs Snowman and make that the main event. Then no one will give a shit when they tear an ACL in training.

OU wrote:

bobbitt15 wrote:

Uber vs Foot may be one of my most anticipated fights in quite a while

Yeah the winner will be the true SF HW Champion, belt or not.

Overeem is already the true SF HW champ and the lineal champ.

freakzilla wrote:

OU wrote:

bobbitt15 wrote:

Uber vs Foot may be one of my most anticipated fights in quite a while

Yeah the winner will be the true SF HW Champion, belt or not.

Overeem is already the true SF HW champ and the lineal champ.

and if Bigfoot wins those titles are rightfully his.

Eh maybe. Title fights should be 5 rounds and this fight will only be 3. If Silva pulls off a close 29-28 decision would he really deserve the titles?

freakzilla wrote:

Eh maybe. Title fights should be 5 rounds and this fight will only be 3. If Silva pulls off a close 29-28 decision would he really deserve the titles?

Yes, yes he would. But Reem could have his rematch after Bigfoot wins the tourney.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/24457/strikeforce-confirms-sept-10-event-adds-mein-vs-santos-to-card.mma
A welterweight matchup between Canadian prospect Jordan Mein (22-7 MMA,
0-0 SF) and Brazilian slugger Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (18-14 MMA,
1-2 SF) is now official for Strikeforce's developing September event.

Strikeforce brass today officially announced the long-rumored Sept. 10 event while also adding the Mein vs. Santos contest.

Additionally, Strikeforce confirmed previously reported matchups
of middleweight champ Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (14-2 MMA, 4-0 SF) vs.
Luke Rockhold (7-1 MMA, 6-0 SF), Roger Gracie (4-0 MMA, 2-0 SF) vs.
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (7-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) and Maximo Blanco (8-2 MMA,
0-0 SF) vs. Josh Thomson (18-4 MMA, 9-2 SF).

http://mmajunkie.com/news/24498/cincinnati-to-host-strikeforce-heayweight-grand-prix-semifinals-on-sept-10.mma
In Cincy

I was just wondering when Thomson would see action again. Like that matchup alot.


Was psyched for Cyborg vs Daley. This fight im lukewarm on.

captain organic wrote:

I was just wondering when Thomson would see action again. Like that matchup alot.


Was psyched for Cyborg vs Daley. This fight im lukewarm on.

I was looking forward to Kyle vs Mousasi. I'm really bummed that fight isn't going down.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/7/20/2285499/marcos-rogerio-pezao-de-lima-mike-kyle-strikeforce

Still a very nice card so far.

Ronaldo Souza vs. Luke Rockhold
Antonio Silva vs. Daniel Cormier
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Josh Barnett
Roger Gracie vs. Muhammed Lawal
Josh Thomson vs. Maximo Blanco
Evangelista Santos vs. Jordan Mein
Mike Kyle vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima

OU wrote:

captain organic wrote:

I was just wondering when Thomson would see action again. Like that matchup alot.


Was psyched for Cyborg vs Daley. This fight im lukewarm on.

I was looking forward to Kyle vs Mousasi. I'm really bummed that fight isn't going down.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/7/20/2285499/marcos-rogerio-pezao-de-lima-mike-kyle-strikeforce

agree.

And why is Kyle fighting some fresh off the boat prospect?

I have no idea, maybe they are wanting Mousasi to challenge Hendo after the Fedor fight? But still you would think they could come up with a better opponent, atleast in name, for Kyle to fight. They might want to keep him in line for a title shot and this is the best they could come up with.

OK WTF? Why can't we get a Kyle vs Feijao rematch and let the noobs battle eachother?

Damn like 15 minutes away from me. If Reem was still in it I would be there for sure but I'm not dropping the dough otherwise