Strikeforce hosted a press conference on Tuesday to announce the World Championship doubleheader between defending Strikeforce Champion Muhammed "King Mo'' Lawal and challenger, Rafael "Feijao'' Cavalcante, as well as the middleweight title bout between contenders, Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo "Jacare'' Souza for the vacant spot Aug. 21, at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
"I'm going to look to finish (Feijao) as fast as I can," said Lawal. "I don't ever want to fight a war. I always want to dominate and fight as one-sided a fight as possible."
Cacalcante was not present to respond to Lawal's above statement, but he is well known for his preference for stand up battles. He also has the benefit of training with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, former UFC champions, Lyoto Machida and Antonio Nogueira. Since Silva is his striking coach and Nogueira his grappling coach there is no doubt that Cacalcante not only has very well-rounded skills but also a very effective fight strategy going into the bout against Lawal.
In the other main and event and championship bout of the evening full-time U.S. Army ranger, Kennedy is determined to claim the vacant Strikeforce middleweight belt for himself.
"As your career progresses, every next fight is the most important one," said Kennedy. "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."
Also confirmed for this card are the yet undefeated Bobby Lashley, KJ Noons and Jorge Gurgel.
"I think I've progressed well," said Lashley. "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."
After missing some opportunities to fight due a recent knee injury and delayed approval from the Tennessee Athletic Commission for his scheduled bout at Strikeforce Nashville last April he is now hot and ready to get back in the cage. Hopefully Coker will be able to find him an opponent in time for the weigh in.
Noons shared his game plan against Gurgel with the press while promising the fans a war.
"I think I'm going to keep the fight standing and keep it exciting," said Noons. "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."
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Gurgel has no intention of just taking a beating from Noons, however.
The fights will air live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET//PT (delayed on the west coast). Tickets will go on sale to the general public July 16 at 10 a.m. CT at www.ToyotaCenterTix.com.
Confirmed fight card:
- "King Mo" Lawal vs. Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante
- Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Tim Kennedy
- KJ Noons vs. Jorge Gurgel
- Bobby Lashley vs. TBA
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