King Mo at Strikeforce press conference. Photo: Esther Lin

Strikeforce sets up shop in Houston this Saturday with two belts on the line. Beyond Ronaldo Jacaré facing Tim Kennedy for the vacant middleweight belt, current champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal defends his light heavyweight title against Rafael Feijão.

Rafael Feijão in photo by Esther Lin

Undefeated with seven wins, the reigning champion chose to pass the responsibility off to his opponent, at the press conference that took place this Wednesday in Houston.

“Feijão is a tough guy who’s been around awhile. He’s experienced and I’m new to this game. He’s a veteran and is hungry. That’s why I’m the underdog,” he commented.

“Champions always have something to prove. I believe anyone who sets foot in the cage has something to prove. I feel that in MMA everyone’s an underdog because they have to win. Feijão has a heavy hand, Brazilians come to fight. I respect him, I have no problem with him. We’re going to have fun this Saturday.

Feijão is coming off two wins in the division and knows getting the belt will be no easy talk.

“I trained really hard. I saw Mo’s last fight and I know he’s good at everything. I knew I had to train hard to face him. I believe there will be a lot of surprises in this fight. Mo has a lot of surprises, but I do too,” he warned.

With nine wins and two losses, Feijão has managed the knockout in eight outings and only gotten the submission once. However, he guarantees he may have some surprises in store for Lawal with his Jiu-Jitsu.

“I have a Jiu-Jitsu background. A lot of people think I’m a striker because I haven’t had the opportunity to show my ground game yet. I’m comfortable fighting standing or on the ground. I studied all my opponents a lot, but I just try and do what is good for me in there. I just try and win,” he said in finishing.

(Collaborator: Nalty Jr)

Draculino submission grappling against Gabriel Cardozo. Photo: Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG archives

The card for the August 21 Strikeforce show in Houston just received three reinforcements from Gracie Barra. The undefeated Chad “Robo” Robichaux (8w, 0l) returns to the cage, but the biggest surprise is the promotional debut of the master at GB Houston, Vinicius, “Draculino” Magalhães. Rounding out the GB delegation is Adam Schindler (7w, 1l), a student of Robo’s.

The Strikeforce event is to take place at Houston’s Toyota Center, and is headlined by two title bouts: Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal (7w, 0l) defending his light heavyweight title against Rafael “Feijão” Cavalcante (9w, 2l), and Ronaldo “Jacaré” (12w, 2l) versus Tim Kennedy (12w, 2l) for the vacant middleweight title.

Tickets go on sale this Friday on the www.ToyotaCenterTix.com website. Check out the provisory card that’s turning out to be more and more exciting as the matchups come in:

Strikeforce Houston
Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
August 21, 2010

King Mo Lawal vs Rafael Feijão
Ronaldo Jacaré vs Tim Kennedy
KJ Noons vs Jorge Gurgel
Bobby Lashley vs Opponent yet to be announced
Sergei Kharitonov vs Antonio Pezão (not confirmed)
Erin Toughill vs Opponent yet to be announced (not confirmed)
Vinícius Draculino vs Opponent yet to be announced (not confirmed)
Chad Robô vs Opponent yet to be announced (not confirmed)
Adam Schindler vs Opponent yet to be announced (not confirmed)

Jaca against Villasenor. Photo: Esther Lin

Two-time absolute world champion in Jiu-Jitsu Ronaldo Jacaré will have the greatest opportunity so far in his MMA career. The black belt will face Tim Kennedy for the Strikeforce middleweight title on August 21.

The fight was made possible when Jake Shields left the promotion for the UFC and vacated the title. The bout will be the evening’s co-main event, with the light heavyweight title bout between challenger Rafael Feijão and champion Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal as the final fight of the night.

“I just got word at the last minute that I’m going to fight in Strikeforce again, at the December-19 event in San Jose, California. I couldn’t turn it down!” wrote our GMA and Gracie Barra black belt, who fought for the organization for the first time in 2007.

Crispin (on the right) with teammate Sapo

He will face AJ Fonseca (4W, 1L), a fighter on Urijah Faber’s team and undefeated in over four years. The event on the 19^th, marking Cung Le’s return and Ronaldo Jacaré’s debut, will be broadcast on cable channel Showtime in the USA.

“I was already trying to make it back to that organization, and now I’ll be back in a new division, 145 pounds – and I used to fight in the 155-pound division. I’ll be representing the good old BarraBrothers and the gang from UFC Gm, where I’m heading the Jiu-Jitsu program while they give me serious backing in physical conditioning and muay thai. I would also like to thank my wife and trainers Allan Maravilha and physical conditioning coach Rob for their support, as well as my students at the new gym who always believed in me,” he says in closing.

Strikeforce: Evolution
HP Pavilion, San Jose, Califórnia
December 19, 2009

Cung Le vs Scott Smith
Josh Thomson vs Gilbert Melendez (cinturão dos leves)
Matt Lindland vs Ronald “Jacaré” Souza
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs Mike Whitehead
Robbie Lawler vs Trevor Prangley

Preliminary card
Antwain Britt vs Scott Lighty
Daisuke Nakamura vs Bryan Travers
Juan Nunez vs Luis Mendoza
Bobby Stack vs Alex Trevino
Alex Crispim vs AJ Fonseca