HOUSTON, Texas — On Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010, Strikeforce will bring its show to the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas with two big championship bouts and a stacked under card which will air live on Showtime.
Fighting in the “Strikeforce: Houston” main event, light heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (7-0) will defend his crown against dangerous striker Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (9-2).
The co-main event will feature former Army Ranger Tim Kennedy (12-2) taking on grappling specialist Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (12-2-1) for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title.
Also fighting on the televised card will be a lightweight fight between the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who loves to bang Jorge Gurgel (13-6), and part-time professional boxer and former Elite XC lightweight champion KJ Noons (11-2).
Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley will also fight on the card against an as yet to be determined opponent.
On Tuesday, July 13, Lawal, Kennedy, Noons, and Lashley kicked off the “Strikeforce: Houston” promotion with a press conference at the Toyota Center in Houston. The following quotes and pictures are taken from the press conference.
KING MO
“Feijao likes to bang so this is going to be an exciting fight. I’m going to show you all some new things I’ve been working on.”
On coming into his first fight as champion: “The approach doesn’t change. Going into every fight, I feel like both a champion and a challenger because I challenge myself in training, but I’m always champion in my mind. So nothing is going to change for this fight.
“I watch about 10-15 fights a day. I’m always studying guys and learning their weaknesses.”
After KJ stated that he’s going to fight a war: “I’ll let KJ fight a war. I don’t want to fight a war. I’m going to look to finish (Feijao) as fast as I can. I don’t ever want to fight a war. I always want to dominate and fight as one-sided a fight as possible.”
TIM KENNEDY
On how his military experience prepared him mentally and physically for MMA competition: “This is just fighting. (In the cage), there’s a guy in a black shirt wearing latex gloves who’s going to protect me. It’s much different than battling a guy who’s hiding behind a rock with a cell phone, waiting to blow me up. So, this is fun. I love fighting. It’s a huge sport and I’m a huge fan of it. It’s totally different.
“I’m proud to say that I’m a Texan now. I live in Austin. I hope that all of Texas will come out to support me as I fight to win the belt.
“As your career progresses, every next fight is the most important one. After I beat Jacare and have the title, they’re going to say ‘Is this the most important fight of your career?’ I take every single fight with extreme seriousness and I take Jacare very seriously. I have great respect for him as an athlete and as a fighter. He’s very talented. It’s a tough fight. I don’t know if he’s my toughest opponent, but it’s nice to be able to train full time, so this is going to be a tough fight for him.”
KJ NOONS
“I’m very excited to come back to Texas. I finished high school here. My mom and my dad are here. The fans are awesome here. I did open-hand Pancrase down the street from here eight years ago before MMA was even big, so I know how it was back then so I’m super excited to be back here.
“I think I’m going to keep the fight standing and keep it exciting. Whether you want to call it a war or whatever, it’s going to be like all my other fights. I’m going to pick him apart and take him out.
“(MMA) is a lifestyle. You have to work hard and you can be the best, just like anything else. But, if you don’t work hard and you don’t respect the sport, then you won’t make it.”
BOBBY LASHLEY
“I think I’ve progressed well. The Bobby Lashley who fought my first fight is completely different from Bobby Lashley now. I’m anxious to get back out there. I had a little setback and when I finally got cleared. I called (STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott) Coker and begged him to be on this card.”
“As far as comparing myself to the other heavyweights, we’ll see real soon. I’ll have opportunities to fight those guys in the next year.”
