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Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza wants to defend his Strikeforce belt right away (Video)
BJ Penn wants to build MMA, would like to see James Toney 'do good' against Randy Couture at UFC 118
Jorge Santiago defended his Sengoku middleweight belt in a five round war versus Kazuo Misaki late...
Rafael Feijao: Improved boxing and Muay Thai the reason he finished 'King' Mo Lawal
Tim Kennedy 'frustrated' with decision loss to Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza at Strikeforce: 'Houston'
Strikeforce: Nick Diaz next fight and Sarah Kaufman vs. Marloes Coenen announced for Oct. 9 in San Jose
KJ Noons drops Jorge Gurgel, over and over again, at Strikeforce: "Houston" (Gifs). Many more,...

Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza wants to defend his Strikeforce belt right away (Video)

Posted: 22 Aug 2010 06:33 PM PDT

BJ Penn wants to build MMA, would like to see James Toney 'do good' against Randy Couture at UFC 118

Posted: 22 Aug 2010 06:01 PM PDT

Quoteworthy:

"I really would like to see James Toney do good out there. You know what? If Randy goes in there and runs over James Toney in five seconds, I don't think that does anything. I look for ways to try to build the sport, ways to put more fans in the seats and more money in our pockets. I want to see James Toney go in there and do good."

Contrary to perhaps most mixed martial arts fighters (and fans), number one lightweight contender BJ Penn says he isn’t bothered by the presence of loose-lipped professional boxing champion James Toney among the UFC roster. In fact, he hopes the pugilist does a good job in his Octagon debut versus Randy Couture at UFC 118, which is scheduled to take place next weekend (Aug. 28, 2010) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Penn is actually slated to headline the same event, rematching Frankie Edgar in the featured fight of the night. Do you share Penn's mindset -- Toney, for better or worse, is good for the sport? Or are you just looking forward to seeing "Lights Out" lose proving boxers cannot just dive right into MMA?

Jorge Santiago defended his Sengoku middleweight belt in a five round war versus Kazuo Misaki late...

Posted: 22 Aug 2010 05:44 PM PDT

Jorge Santiago defended his Sengoku middleweight belt in a five round war versus Kazuo Misaki late Saturday night (early Sunday morning).

With just 29 seconds remaining in the fifth and final round, Misaki's corner threw the towel, which marked the second time Santiago best the Japanese fighter.

Full Sengoku 14 results are below.

Middleweight Title
Jorge Santiago def. Kazuo Misaki via fifth-round TKO (corner stoppage)

Non-Tournament Bouts
Jadamba Narantungalag def. Akihiro Gono via unanimous decision
Hatsu Hioki def. Jeff Lawson via first-round submission (triangle choke)
Leo Santos def. Sotaro Yamada via first-round DQ (illegal knees below the belt)

Welterweight Grand Prix
Taisuke Okuno def. Nick Thompson via third-round KO
Yasubey Enomoto def. Kenta Takagi via second-round submission (choke)

Welterweight Grand Prix - For a Reserve
Takuya Sato def. Motoki Miyazawa via unanimous decision

Bantamweight Tournament
Shintaro Ishiwatari def. Kil Woo Lee via first-round submission (guillotine choke)
Shoko Sato def. Takuya Eizumi via second-round TKO (doctor)
Wataru Takahashi def. Tatsuya So via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Jae Hyun So def. Hirokazu Nishimura via unanimous decision

Rafael Feijao: Improved boxing and Muay Thai the reason he finished 'King' Mo Lawal

Posted: 22 Aug 2010 06:49 AM PDT

Check out more from "Feijao" after the jump:

Tim Kennedy 'frustrated' with decision loss to Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza at Strikeforce: 'Houston'

Posted: 22 Aug 2010 06:32 AM PDT

Props: Strikeforce.com

Quoteworthy:

"I was really frustrated with the end result. Jacare is an amazing contender and now a champion. I was humbled that I was able to go five rounds with him, but I think it goes without saying that I’d like another five rounds with that guy. It’s going to be different.... We’re talking about the most decorated grappler in the planet. I expected him to want to grapple. He countered with me the whole time and I was surprised. I should have put more pressure on him. The only time anyone got dropped in the fight was when I dropped him, but he’s got the belt."

American military hero Tim Kennedy vents his frustration with the judges decision to award Jacare Souza with a unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47 twice) after their five-round battle for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight championship at the promotion's "Houston" event last night (Aug. 21, 2010) at the Toyota Center in Texas. Kennedy thwarted the few takeowns that the decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu attempted during the fight and even scored on a few of his own. He also seemingly outstruck his opponent, based on the statistics, but it still wasn't enough to convince even one judge that he did enough to earn the victory. Was Kennedy robbed or did Jacare really earn that 185-pound world title? See what the statistics from FightMetric.com show after the jump.

Strikeforce: Nick Diaz next fight and Sarah Kaufman vs. Marloes Coenen announced for Oct. 9 in San Jose

Posted: 22 Aug 2010 05:53 AM PDT

SAN JOSE, CALIF. (Aug. 21, 2010) – The STRIKEFORCE men’s and women’s welterweight world champions Nick Diaz (170-pounds) and Sarah Kaufman (135-pounds) will return to the cage on Saturday, Oct. 9 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, LIVE on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).

Diaz will face an opponent to be named in the coming week while Kaufman will defend her title against Dutch superstar Marloes Coenen.

Also on the explosive card, emerging star from the Strikeforce Challengers series Luke Rockhold will risk his six-fight win streak against MMA superstar and former Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt "The Law" Lindland in a featured middleweight (185 pounds) contest.

The 27-year-old Diaz (22-7), a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and native of Stockton, Calif., has won seven consecutive fights since his last loss in 2007. He is coming off a first round submission victory (armbar) over fellow superstar Hayato "Mach" Sakurai on May 29 at DREAM 14 in Japan.

Prior to that, Diaz won the STRIKEFORCE title with a late, third-round TKO (punches) of Marius "The Whitemare" Žaromskis at STRIKEFORCE: Miami on Jan. 30.

The undefeated Kaufman (12-0), a former ballet dancer who hails from British Columbia, Canada, is fresh off the first defense of her title, an explosive body slam KO of Roxanne Modafferi at STRIKEFORCE Challengers in Everett, Wash., on July 23.

The 24-year-old Kaufman, who has won nine of her fights by KO, will face Coenen (17-4), a submission specialist and the No. 1 contender to the STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight belt.

The 29-year-old Coenen (17-4) will fight for the first time since a third-round TKO loss to Cris Cyborg for the STRIKEFORCE Women’s Middleweight (145 pounds) Championship at STRIKEFORCE: Miami. Coenen, a member of Holland’s Team Golden Glory and mixed martial artist since the age of 14, will be moving down in weight to challenge at 135 pounds.

Kaufman and Coenen have both defeated Modafferi, with Coenen avenging a 2007 loss via first round armbar in her STRIKEFORCE debut on Nov. 7, 2009. Rockhold (7-1), who could prove to be one of STRIKEFORCE’s next great middleweight superstars, has won six of his seven fights via submission.

The 25-year-old member of Team AKA is coming off a first-round TKO (knees to body) of Paul Bradley on Feb. 26 at a STRIKEFORCE Challengers event in San Jose. The impressive win was the first KO victory of the Santa Cruz, Calif., native’s professional career.

Prior to his latest conquest, Rockhold had won five straight fights by way of submission.

Lindland (22-7), who won the silver medal in Olympic Greco Roman Wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games, scored a third-round TKO victory over "King" Kevin Casey on May 21 at STRIKEFORCE Challengers in his hometown of Portland, Ore. A former UFC star who has been competing professionally in MMA since 1997.

Lindland, 40, is also a former All-American wrestler for University of Nebraska and the 1993 NCAA Big Eight conference champion. During his stellar career, Lindland has triumphed over a number of all-time greats including former UFC champions Pat Miletich and Carlos Newton.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, August 28 at 10:00 a.m. PT online at Ticketmaster.com, at the HP Pavilion ticket office, or by phone at (800) 745-3000.

KJ Noons drops Jorge Gurgel, over and over again, at Strikeforce: "Houston" (Gifs). Many more,...

Posted: 22 Aug 2010 05:37 AM PDT