(Let me get this straight…Catchweight bouts have title implications, now?)

Strikeforce held a media conference call today ahead of its mid-week June 16 show next Wednesday. On the call were Renato "Babalu" Sobral, his manager, Richard Welner, his opponent on the card, Robbie Lawler and Strikeforce president, Scott Coker. 


Some head-scratching announcements came out of the Q&A such as:

• The winner of the Sobral-Lawler 195-pound catchweight bout will likely get
   a title shot in their next Strikeforce appearance. Coker said that Lawler would
   likely face Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for the strap that Jake Shields will likely 
   may vacate, should he choose to sign with another organization. Souza is 2-0
   in Strikeforce and Lawler is 1-1 in his past two fights in the promotion. I’m
   not sure how beating a light heavyweight in a 195-pound catchweight bout
   would move Lawler up in the rankings, but what do I know about MMAth?

• Babalu may be matched up with training partner and Strikeforce light    
   heavyweight champ Muhammed "King Mo’" Lawal, which seems odd
   considering that the Brazilian fighter stated earlier this week that he was  
   moving down to middleweight to avoid a probable fight with Lawal. The
   reason the fight with Lawler is at 195 is that Sobral said he needs a bit more  
   time to transform his body to middleweight proportion. Maybe his manager
   and Coker didn’t get the memo.

• Lawler switched from Matt Hughes‘ H.I.T. Squad gym in Illinois to an
   undisclosed Arizona gym where he says he is training with several division I
   wrestlers. (My guess is he’s holed up at The Lion’s Den in Scottsdale
   working with Ryan Bader, C.B. Dollaway and Aaron Simpson.)

• The winner of Fedor-Werdum on June 26 will likely get the next shot at
   Overeem this year. (unless it’s Fedor, in which case they will have to
   negotiate with M-1 until so much time passes that Overeem will have to take
   a fight with another opponent to remain active or risk having fans attack him 
   for shirking his SF responsibilities.)

• An announcement could be made in the next ten days regarding a
  possible Strikeforce middleweight tournament. Doesn’t an announcement that
  there will likely be an announcement make the second one a bit anticlimactic?

• Gus Johnson will be Cover Girl’s latest spokesmodel.