Strikeforce today announced the addition of two new bouts featuring four Missouri fighters for the “Henderson vs. Babalu” preliminary card, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 4, at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Lee Brousseau (7-2) of River Wood, Mo., will take on Mike Glenn (6-4) of Springfield, Mo. in a light heavyweight bout, and Ben Brown (2-2) of St Louis, will face off with J.W. Wright (0-0) of St. Louis by way of Steelville, Mo., in a 130-pound catchweight bout.
Lee Brousseau (7-2) vs. Mike Glenn (6-4)
Brousseau is coming off a first round guillotine choke submission of Oscar Glover at Premier Combat League in August.
Brousseau trains out of the H.I.T. Squad in Granite City with coaches Matt Hughes and Marc Fiore. He spoke about his match-up against Glenn:
“My coaches tell me Glenn is a tough, scrappy guy who is decent all-around and not bad anywhere. He is definitely going to be a tough opponent. This should be a great fight. I’m looking forward to it.’’
Glenn, who in addition to fighting Brousseau, may also be fighting a bout of ring rust. He will be looking to get back on track after dropping a first round TKO in his last bout against Nick Hobbs at “Premier Cage Fighting 4” last November.
Glenn is a longtime member of the Springfield Fight Club. He commented on the upcoming fight with Brousseau:
“I don’t know a lot about Brousseau but from what I’ve seen on film he’s athletic, strong and likes to bang. In a lot of ways, he actually reminds me a lot of me, although I may have the advantage in the ground game.’’
J.W. Wright (0-0) vs. Ben Brown (2-2)
Wright is making his pro MMA debut. Although it has been a few years since he competed in amateur MMA, he has been practicing jiu-jitsu since age 14 and will at the very least pose a threat to Brown on the ground.
Wright is a black belt under Royler Gracie and an instructor at Grappling Concepts in St. Peters, Mo. The 2010 Pan-Am champion talked about facing Brown:
“I know Brown is a well-rounded MMA fighter and solid in all the disciplines. He’ll obviously be a tough opponent. But I’m definitely prepared. I’ve competed all my life.’’
Although they came three years apart, Brown won his last two fights; an armbar submission over Jeff Jones in 2004 and rear-naked choke submission of Brian Jordan in 2007.
Brown is an instructor at Jesse Finney’s MMA in St. Louis. He talked about facing Wright in his hometown:
“I know Wright is a tough Jiu-Jitsu guy with a Sambo background, but I’m really looking forward to fighting him in front of my family and friends. It’s an honor for me to fight on such a great show.’’
UFC and Pride veteran Dan Henderson will face Renato “Babalu” Sobral in the main event of “Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Sobral”, which will air live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on West Coast) on Saturday, Dec. 4.
Other televised fights include Antonio Silva vs. Valentijn Overeem, Paul Daley vs. Scott Smith, Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Lindland and Herschel Walker vs. Scott Carson.