Joe Ferraro

Showdown Joe recaps all the action from Wednesday's Strikeforce event in Los Angeles.

Wednesday night's Strikeforce event at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles provided us with a glimpse of what's in store for the company's matchmaking in the future, some of which may cause Scott Coker, and those assisting with the matchmaking, some fits and headaches.

Renato 'Babalu' Sobral's victory over Robbie Lawler should have lined him up a title shot vs King Mo; problem is, the light heavyweight duo train together and do not appear for a showdown anytime soon. On the contrary, Sobral respectfully called out Dan Henderson, a rematch he has been dreaming of since February, 2000, where Hendo gave Babalu his first professional loss. Sobral was 12-0 at the time, and lost via majority decision.

One would imagine that if a rematch is something he so keenly desires, perhaps Gegard Mousasi should be the one on his radar, but fighters do not get the credit they deserve. Like a predator hunting his prey, the apparent weak and slow make for the easiest catch (just ask Tito Ortiz and Brock Lesnar).

For Babalu, Henderson, who turns 40 in August, appears to be a far easier opponent to defeat, based on his recent loss to Jake Shields, as opposed to Mousasi. The 24-year-old will be looking to make somebody pay dearly, after losing the Strikeforce middleweight title to King Mo in April. Sobral has already been on the other end of a motivated Mousasi beatdown, and I'm sure he would rather not be in that position again.

In the co-main event, Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos needed just over two and a half minutes to dispose of Dream Welterweight Champion, Marius "The Whitemare" Zaromskis. Under the DREAM banner, Zaromskis (aka "Mini Cro Cop") is 4-0, with victories over names like Hayato Sakurai and Jason High. His last two bouts were with Strikeforce, where he was easily defeated by the likes of Nick Diaz and Cyborg.

For Zaromskis to resurrect his MMA career, he needs to continue working with the American Kickboxing Academy and work his "MMA" game. If he sticks with just the stand up realm, sayonara Marius. Another option would be to test the lightweight market - he simply appears too small at 170 lbs, and I'm betting he would truly be a "Whitemare" at 155 lbs.

Tim Kennedy's performance vs. Trevor Prangley truly caught me off guard. I predicted Prangley easily dominating and defeating Kennedy and that wasn't the case. Kennedy, after being tossed around, showed resolved and stuck onto Prangley like an anaconda, until he was able to secure the submission. I was very impressed, so the next time he steps into the cage, I will ask those watching with me to keep it quiet or leave the room. I'm not saying the Green Beret is the second coming of Anderson Silva at middleweight, but the military veteran is worth some serious respect when he fights again.

As for the opening bout of the evening, between KJ Noons and Connor Huen, it was an incredible display of courage and heart, especially by Huen, who took the fight on just a few weeks notice. It makes you wonder how he would have fared if he had a full training camp. I do not agree with the split decision, as I believed that Noons won two rounds to one, but KJ's performance left a bit to be desired.

I respect the fact he left MMA after Elite XC folded to pursue a boxing career and he's only had two bouts since his return, but after watching his Dream 13 bout vs. Andre Amade, and this bout vs. Huen, I can't help but feel like his explosiveness is gone. I was more impressed with his MMA game before he left when he defeated Nick Diaz for EliteXC title, and needed just 0:48 to defend the title vs. Yves Edwards.

He was once one of the guys I would tell people to pay attention to; his striking alone was almost in a class of his own, and he would destroy guys with it. Now, that explosive fight and finisher appears to be more of a cruiser, who is more than happy working at 80%. Here's hoping I'm wrong, but I cannot help but feel that if he does get a rematch with Diaz, or a shot at Lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez, he may just suffer the third loss of his MMA career.

Misc News and Notes

• DREAM has finally made one of my MMA dreams come true; my long anticipated lightweight grudge match between champion Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri will finally take place on July 10th at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. To say I am salivating may just be an understatement, in fact I'm counting down the days. Alistair Overeem and Gegard Mousasi are also being rumoured to be competing on the card, as well as announced match ups between Melvin Manhoef and Tatsuya Mizuno, and JZ Cavalcante vs Katsunori Kikuno.

• So here's a Brock Lesnar video where the champ is counting down the days to crushing Shane Carwin, and that his previous list of opponents is more credible than Shane's. I do tend to agree, but I can't help but believe that Carwin will be his toughest test to date. Lesnar's loss to Frank Mir aside, Carwin is a completely different beast and will likely not showcase a passive game plan vs Lesnar. We've seen what happens when a bully is pushed backwards - I'm predicting this is what will happen in a few weeks at UFC 116.

• Forty One Year Old David Batista, of WWE fame, was seen at the Strikeforce event, looking far smaller than his one time 300 lb frame, and apparently contemplating a move to MMA, as he is tired of the professional wrestling world. With all due respect to Mr. Batista, I hope this is not a story I will be talking about ever again. If he was 21, maybe 31, fine.. .but he's not.

• Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson was in attendance for the last few bouts at GM Place for UFC 115. His thoughts and comments about the event were how a true politician should talk about something he may or may not like - speak for the people, not for yourself, like we've seen in Ontario and New York. I have a new found respect for Mr. Robertson and look forward to visiting his city again (and hopefully sooner rather than later).

• Speaking of New York, the Senate passed the proposed MMA Bill with a vote of 32-26. It has a few more hurdles to clear before sanctioning can become a reality, but it's obviously the closest that it's ever been. If New York gets done, the Liberals in Ontario better be ready for an onslaught of MMA fans, Corporate big wigs, media and everyone and their brother, sister, family member and pet to show up once again on Queens Park asking "who, what, where, when, why and how" can we get this done in Ontario. I'm actually getting very excited at the prospect of watching all of this unfold.

• Finally - for all the ladies and R'n'B fans, you can now add Grammy Award Winner Usher to the list of celebrities who are training in MMA. He was spotted at The Black House in Los Angeles, and was training with various folks, including Mark Munoz as can be seen here, in this picture.