Strikeforce: Columbus - Mar 5th

[edman5555]

Yeah I watched a vid interview with Cavalcante. He was talking about how he changed everything after getting knocked out by Mike Kyle. Diet/training/boxing coach. He claims to be a much improved fighter. Regardless, Mike Kyle has power in his hands, he almost knocked out Bigfoot. That can't be easy. I don't think Hendo has much of a way to win this outside of his big punch. Which he can land..I just don't think that should make him the favorite. His wrestling will help I'm sure but if King Mo can't hold Raf down, Hendo can't.

[MMA_scientist]

Agree on all counts Edman. But, it is a 5 rounder and Hendo has a block for a head. Hendo's wrestling will probably play a role in the later rounds. The flip side is that he is 40 and his gas looked like shit the last time we saw him in a 5 rounder. Probably going to throw a play on Feijao here of at least 1u.

[edman5555]

I thought about Dans jaw and his big right hand. He will be 41 years old in August. I can't help but wonder how long he is going to last. Look at Chuck, he had an iron jaw. I don't think Hendo has taken as much damage as him but he is still 41. He should be losing athletic ability at this point. How many shots can he take to the chin? Cavalcante can hit really hard and if this ends up being a standup battle I don't see why Dan can't get tko'd or at least beaten up real bad. If Dan really does have a hard time holding Caval down/against the cage he will have to bang with him for 5 long rounds. Mo is tough as hell and look what happened to him.

Also, quick poll. Everyone else agree that Mo is a better wrestler than Dan?

[MMA_scientist]

Their actual credentials are comparable, with Dan placing more in inportant comp but Mo actually won a couple things, includng Pan Ams. But Dan did make the olympic team in his day, which Mo missed in 2008. It remains to be seen if he can use it in MMA like Dan. The point is they are comparable wrestlers, but I think at this point Mo's takedowns are better than Dan's.

The thing is, Dan rarely goes for takedowns. He prefers to stand, but when he goes for them, he usually gets it. Now that I think about it, Dan is going to gas. I am thinking about the last several times he has fought grappling oriented or competitive fights. He obviously gassed against Shields. He was gassing against Franklin, and Franklin was starting to take over on him and that was a 3 rounder. He gassed against Rampage, I know that has been a while back, but Hendo won the first round and then faded hard.

[edman5555]

Well he could always be in better shape than last time. Hopefully you are right.

A couple points about Mo Lawal wrestling: He didn't start wrestling until his second year of high school. 3 years of wrestling before he went to college. His first year in d2, he was one win away from all american. His third year he won the national title. His fourth year he finished 3rd in DIV 1.

Mo made it to the finals of the Olympic Trials. He lost that match 7-2 to Cael Sanderson and lost the spot. He may not have made it but it was because he lost to Cael Sanderson.

[trotterz]

Their actual credentials are comparable, with Dan placing more in inportant comp but Mo actually won a couple things, includng Pan Ams. But Dan did make the olympic team in his day, which Mo missed in 2008. It remains to be seen if he can use it in MMA like Dan. The point is they are comparable wrestlers, but I think at this point Mo's takedowns are better than Dan's.

The thing is, Dan rarely goes for takedowns. He prefers to stand, but when he goes for them, he usually gets it. Now that I think about it, Dan is going to gas. I am thinking about the last several times he has fought grappling oriented or competitive fights. He obviously gassed against Shields. He was gassing against Franklin, and Franklin was starting to take over on him and that was a 3 rounder. He gassed against Rampage, I know that has been a while back, but Hendo won the first round and then faded hard.

This is my only concern about that fight, the judging.
Let's say hendo bring Feijao down 2-3 times per round. Even if Hendo can't hold Feijao down for too long and he comes back up everytime. How are the judges going to see those round. If they give the rounds everytime to hendo for the multiple takedowns, he could win a decision.
Against lawal, lawal was up 2 rounds to 0 base on the takedowns before he got knocked out, and with Hendo's iron jaw, he will be hard to knocked out.
Anyway, I think that feijao chances are good since hendo is going to gas, but I can defenetely see him win a lame decision based on a couple takedowns here and there.

[MMA_scientist]

^^ for sure. I wouldn't consider Feijao as a favorite, but at nearly 2:1, I think it is worth a play. I think it is close to even. Hendo could also catch him and knock him out.

[edman5555]

This is my only concern about that fight, the judging.
Let's say hendo bring Feijao down 2-3 times per round. Even if Hendo can't hold Feijao down for too long and he comes back up everytime. How are the judges going to see those round. If they give the rounds everytime to hendo for the multiple takedowns, he could win a decision.
Against lawal, lawal was up 2 rounds to 0 base on the takedowns before he got knocked out, and with Hendo's iron jaw, he will be hard to knocked out.
Anyway, I think that feijao chances are good since hendo is going to gas, but I can defenetely see him win a lame decision based on a couple takedowns here and there.

Well the first round was pretty close. Keep in mind that everytime Lawal took him down, he was up in about 5 seconds or less. Mo held down Mousasi for 5 entire rounds..I really don't feel like Hendo can hold him down. I think Raf will be quite a bit bigger than Hendo too.

[edman5555]

Hendo was fighting at 185 before this. He should be smaller than Raf. He was also controlled there by Jake, who is now fighting at 170.

[trotterz]

Hendo was fighting at 185 before this. He should be smaller than Raf. He was also controlled there by Jake, who is now fighting at 170.

to tell you the truth, I seriously think that feijao will win. But I have seen so many times in mma: a fighter A winning but then the fighter B gets a takedown at 10 sec left in the round and the judges gives him the round because of a takedown. I just hope we don't see that kind of crap in that bout.

[poopoo333]

http://www.tatame.com/2011/02/14/TATAME-TV-Feijao-working-his-boxing-not-wrestling-to-beat-Dan-Henderson

[edman5555]

he is a big dude

[Ludo]

Hendo was fighting at 185 before this. He should be smaller than Raf. He was also controlled there by Jake, who is now fighting at 170.

Don't let Shields now fighting at 170 fool you. Jake was every bit the size of a normal middleweight and he had put the muscle on through his time at Middleweight. Also, I don't know that it's safe to assume Hendo will be too much smaller than Cavalcante. Hendo wanted to enter the Heavyweight Grand Prix(which indicates he was of the kind of size that would allow for that kind of thing.

As far as the fight, I don't know that Hendo will be looking very hard for the takedown at all. Hendo has never really been a huge takedown guy and more of a greco clinch guy who's also a heavy hitter. given the tools I would say Cavalcante has a much better chance at winning than the line reflects. His muay thai is good and his ground game is very good. My only concern is that given Dan's prowess in the clinch the muay thai may not be as effective as it otherwise could be.

[poopoo333]

The more I think about it, I think Hendo is going to lose. I grabbed Hendo @ even because I think it had great value and I knew I'd get an arb opportunity. I might just let it ride. I think we are going to be seeing a lot of what we saw this weekend in the next couple years: an up and comer beating the well known legend.

[poopoo333]

For the unaware: Miesha Tate is injured and Liz Carmouche is in. This happened a week or two ago.