With a chest like that, Shawn Jordan deserves a special place in our hearts

Let’s pretend that you’re a novice MMA fan. You just started watching the sport after being at a bar that was showing “one of those UFC events”, and you want to follow this sport more closely. Specifically, you want to be able to watch the sport’s brightest prospects fighting on the same card while it’s still mostly for recognition. Then let me tell you everything you need to know: The UFC 135 Facebook prelims begin at 5:30 ET. You’re welcome.

For those of you who really want to be hardcore fans, and want to know about the brightest prospects of the minor leagues fighting to be somewhat more famous minor league prospects, we got your back, too. Strikeforce Challengers 19 went down last night in Las Vegas last night at the Palms Resort Casino. While most of the fighters were pretty rough around the edges, the crowd was still treated to some decent fights.

In the main event, light heavyweight prospect Lorenz Larkin remained undefeated by edging out Nick Rossborough for a unanimous decision victory. Despite accepting the fight on short notice, Nick Rossborough kept the fight close throughout the first round by utilizing the clinch against the shorter Larkin. However, Larkin managed to wear Rossborough down with leg kicks throughout the second round, and opened up a cut on Rossborough’s forehead with elbows in the third. Lorenz Larkin is now 12-0 in his MMA career, while Nick Rossborough falls to 20-15.

(One of the above people has no clue that Strikeforce Challengers even exists.) 

Depending on what kind of MMA fan you are, the Strikeforce Challengers series is either one of the many great ways to scout up and coming talent or one of the many open wounds that is bleeding Strikeforce to death. Regardless, Strikeforce Challengers 19 goes down tonight from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and features the likes of Ryan Couture, Jason “The Kansas City Bandit” High, and is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between undefeated Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin and Nick “Leatherface” Rossborough. So if you determine whether or not to buy pay-per-views based on the originality of fighter’s nicknames, then this is the card for you.

(Lee and Jordan Mein)

According to a Facebook post made by his father Lee, who is also his manager and trainer, Canadian welterweight standout Jordan “Young Gun” Mein has inked a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce and will likely compete on the promotion’s planned September card.

A native of Lethbridge, Alberta, Mein (22-7) has been fighting since he was 16 years old. He trains out of his father’s Canadian Martial Arts Centre – the gym responsible for also launching the careers of UFC veterans Jason Day and Jesse Bongfeldt.

Mein will be riding a five-fight win streak when he steps into the Strikeforce cage, including a decision nod over DREAM welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis in his last bout and wins over Joe Riggs and Josh Burkman. His last loss was a hard-fought decision to Jason High last August.

“Doc comes back and says, ‘Nate, you have the testosterone levels of a 35 year old man,’ and I just broke down. ‘Doc,’ I told him, ‘I’m only 32! Is there anything you can do to help me?’”

You have to hand it to the team at MMAFighting for nailing down the exclusive with Nate Marquardt yesterday. Everybody wanted to talk to him, but it was Ariel Helwani who welcomed Marquardt and manager Lex McMahon to the microphone for a heart to heart. Mike Chiappetta provided the Cliff’s Notes version of the interview to get the ball rolling on Twitter, and the discussion quickly took off.

The short interview was dissected and commented upon in real time on Twitter, and the reactions continued throughout the evening. What follows is only a *small* sampling of Twitter’s response to Nate’s release and the subject of Hormone Replacement in MMA. Keep in mind that Marquardt already has a Twitter dedicated to getting him back in the UFC, and a matching hashtag #BringNateBack that saw plenty of use yesterday as well.

It was also interesting to note that a lot of Zuffa fighters were unwilling to touch the subject. Usual Tweeting suspects were strangely silent on the hot topic; take from that what you will. On the other hand, there were a few fighters who had some choice words on the subject, and they did not beat around the bush.

Go ahead and wade through this collection of Tweets from yesterday, and then share your expert analysis and vital opinion in the comments. Is Nate a good guy that has made some bad choices? Is he a nefarious schemer looking to get any advantage he can? What about the larger issue of HRT/TRT/PEDs in MMA? Should Dana continue to clean house until fighters learn to stay away from anything questionable? Should athletic commissions just legalize everything from horse steroids to heroin?

After all, PRIDE was awesome, right?

[RX]

These guys know what I’m talking about.

With all of the MMA available this weekend, you had to expect to sit through at least a few decisions. Maybe even a few overreactions to a subpar performance. Last night, Strikeforce Challengers 16 delivered on your expectations. Fans at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington sat through six straight unanimous decisions, with every fight on the televised portion of the card ending this way. Yet despite the lack of stoppages, most of last night’s fights were still pretty entertaining.

Fodor vs. Terry was a very entertaining scrap, with both lightweights landing hard shots throughout the fight. However, whenever the fight went to the ground, Caros Fodor clearly controlled the action, earning him the decision. The AMC Pankration prospect improved to 11-3, with four consecutive victories under the Strikeforce banner. Excuse me for pointing out the extremely obvious, but Fodor really deserves a step up in competition.

(Barnett has his throat-slash. Roy Nelson has his belly-rub. Lorenz Larkin just stands there and poops in his diaper. Props: Strikeforce)

Tomorrow night, Strikeforce returns to the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington for one of the most compelling ‘Challengers’ events in recent memory. “Fodor vs. Terry” kicks off on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET, and features a pack of exciting prospects. Here’s a quick rundown of the five-fight main card, plus videos of some of their recent performances…

Caros Fodor (10-3) vs. James Terry (10-2)
Fodor is a Washington native who trains under Matt Hume at AMC Pankration. Eight of his ten victories have come by way of submission, but he was able to score his first stoppage-via-strikes in his last fight, battering a worn-out David Douglas until he earned a standing TKO in the third frame. He’s a perfect 3-0 in the Strikeforce organization, and will be looking to move another rung up the lightweight ladder against Cung Le protege James Terry, who has won his last three fights, two by first-round knockout.

(Caros Fodor’s TKO of David Douglas, 4/1/11)

(James Terry’s KO of Josh Thornburg, 4/1/11)

If you’re curious, this is how we look without a shirt. Just take our word for it. PicProps: FiveKnuckles

We had a bit of a “WTF?” moment as we perused the card for this weekend’s Strikeforce Challengers card, and not because we fell for “Fedor is on the card!!” again. No, we were a little confused to see that an intriguing welterweight matchup between world-tourist Jason High and KOTC-standout Quinn Mulhern was relegated to the preliminaries of a Challengers card, which is sort of like Cam Newton and A.J. Green playing catch in the parking lot outside a Kansas City Command game. (To our international readers: sorry, we hope you followed that.)

Well, someone obviously heard that we were confused. After middleweights Antwain Britt and Danillo Villefort both suffered injuries, their fight was scratched and High-Mulhern was promoted to the main card. We didn’t realize we had that much pull, but it’s good to know for future reference.

That’s right, JZ. Dress for the job you want to have.

Joe Silva isn’t the only matchmaker working overtime lately. Strikeforce matchmaker Rich Chou Sean Shelby has been as busy shoring up the organization’s upcoming June cards.

The second leg of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix (June 18^th-Dallas, TX) will also feature the return of Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante, who will be climbing into the cage for the first time since his October fight against Josh Thomson, a loss that everyone but the judges thought was close as hell. His opponent will be AKA’s Justin Wilcox, who bludgeoned Rodgrigo Damm in a first round stoppage at Strikeforce Challengers 15 last April.

Two more match ups after the jump.

(Fabricio Camoes loads up on Caol Uno at UFC 106. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

The UFC did some spring cleaning this week, shredding the contracts of four recent fight-losers. In order of least surprising to most surprising…

Fabricio Camoes: During his brief stint in the UFC, Camoes drew with Caol Uno (who was released last week along with Lucio Linhares) then got choked out by Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 111. If you’re a relatively unknown prospect, you can’t really hope for more than two chances to pick up your first win in the Octagon. Back to the bush leagues…

Rob Emerson: His unanimous decision loss to rising prospect Nik Lentz at UFC Fight Night 21 was his third defeat in his last four fights, and dropped his career record to a grim 9-9. It was a little odd to see Emerson get this fight in the first place, as it came less than two months after his decision win over Phillipe Nover at UFC 109, but it’s just been too long since Emerson truly impressed. You hate to see that happen to such a kindhearted person…

(Props: Genghis Con)

Tonight’s UFC Fight Night card will feature three fresh prospects trying to make their names and one MMA legend — all of whom will be competing in the UFC for the first time in their careers. Which ones will rise to the challenge, and which ones will succumb to Octagon jitters and dangerous opponents? Get to know them below and let us know what you think…

TAKANORI GOMI (LW)
Experience: 31-5-0 record w/1 no-contest, with multiple appearances in PRIDE, Shooto, and Sengoku. Notable victories over Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hayato Sakurai, Jens Pulver, and Mitsuhiro Ishida. Most recently won a unanimous decision over Tony Hervey at Vale Tudo Japan 2009 last October.
Will be fighting: Kenny Florian (12-4, 10-3 UFC)
Lowdown: Only the noobiest of TUF noobs would need an introduction to the Fireball Kid, who has already secured his place as one of the greatest lightweight fighters of all time. A legendary former champion in both PRIDE and Shooto, Gomi unfortunately hasn’t looked the same since his gogoplata loss/marijuana no-contest against Nick Diaz in February 2007, as he’s suffered a couple of surprising defeats and struggled to put away opponents that he would have smashed in his prime. Though he vows to "create a ruckus" in the UFC, this bit of info is somewhat troubling: "I don’t have a cage in my gym, but I understand that the cage can either be used for me or be used against me. I’ll try not to think about the cage too much as I fight in it.” He’ll also need to adjust to elbow strikes on the ground, something he hasn’t had to deal with in Japan — which could become a painful factor against Ken-Flo.

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

Originally scheduled for the undercard of Affliction’s Day of Reckoning show last Saturday, the welterweight bout between IFL/UFC vet Jay Hieron and 6-0 prospect Jason High had to be postponed to the very end of the lineup due to time constraints — as in, directly after Fedor vs. Andrei, when 80% of the audience was out the door, the pay-per-view broadcast had cut out, and nearly everybody with a videocamera had already moved over to the post-event press conference. Fortunately, Inside MMA was able to show the fight on their Friday episode. And it looks like Emelianenko’s mid-air knockout of Arlovski wasn’t the only KO from Day of Reckoning that you’ll eventually be seeing on "Best of 2009" lists. After about a minute of settling in, Hieron dashed in with a crushing right hook which floored High, then landed three or four uppercuts while High was already dead asleep. The Thoroughbred lets out a battle cry after being pulled off his opponent, which we’d imagine is partly joy over the highlight-reel victory, and partly relief that he finally gets to go home.