· Strikeforce Preview: Feijao And Henderson Aiming To Be Best Of The Rest

Strikeforce will look to continue an incredible stream of momentum as it makes its first appearance in Ohio this weekend at Nationwide Arena in conjunction with the annual Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus. Zuffa-branded events had held the annual date for the last four years, but the rival organization jumped on the opportunity to promote fights in one of the country’s biggest hotbeds of MMA.

Headlining the card will be a familiar name to fans in the Buckeye State, as Dan Henderson (26-8, 1-1 SF) will receive top billing in Nationwide Arena for the second time. The first time was when he took on Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 82 in 2008, and he’ll hope to fair better this time when he takes on Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (10-2, 3-1 SF) with the Strikeforce light heavyweight title on the line; “Feijao” is a regular training partner with Silva, and he has already sought Silva’s notes on Henderson in preparation for the bout.

Henderson is looking for one last run at the top of the mountain, as he’s 40 now and likely won’t be fighting much longer. He already lost a title fight in Strikeforce, when he fell to Jake Shields in his organizational debut with the middleweight title on the line.

Feijao is looking for a signature win after ripping the title from the hands of former champion Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal in August, and a knockout win over Henderson would likely catapult him into the top five of a stacked 205-pound division.

Everything that is on the line is likely not lost on Feijao, as he knows that a win over Henderson would verify his spot as the top light heavyweight outside of the UFC.

Coenen Gets New Opponent, Tate Looks On With Interest

When Miesha Tate was forced to pull out of her women’s welterweight title fight with Champion Marloes Coenen (18-4, 2-1 SF) on little more than a week’s notice, she did so by promising that she’d be back in the gym training shortly after the bout between Coenen and her replacement Liz Carmouche (5-0, 2-0 SF) on Saturday night.

Coenen didn’t blink when Tate pulled out of the fight, even going as far to suggest that Carmouche will be a tougher test for her than Tate would have been. Although many scoffed at that statement, Coenen needs to believe that in order to not look past Carmouche with Tate on the horizon.

Carmouche may offer a stiffer test in the standup game than would Tate, but she’s admittedly a green fighter who was a tournament alternate little more than six months ago. Surely she jumped at the opportunity to fight for a major title in just her sixth outing, but the suddenness of it all could possibly overwhelm her if she doesn’t know how to handle it. Coenen has more than four times the number of fights that she has, and many of them are on an international level against top fighters from around the world.

Kennedy Finally Gets Opponent, Manhoef A Stiff Test

Tim Kennedy (12-3, 3-1 SF) went through two opponents while waiting for a chance to bounce back from his title loss to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in August, and he undoubtedly would have picked an easier fight for himself than having to face the immense power that Melvin Manhoef (24-8-1, 0-1 SF) brings to the table.

The Dutch striker might be riding a two-fight losing streak, but Kennedy would be a fool to look at that as the exception rather than the rule about Manhoef.

Kennedy’s best bet will likely be to employ a grappling strategy with Manhoef, as he boasts six submissions and Manhoef has shown himself to be especially prone to the ground game in his career.

Masvidal Sees Title Shot On Opposite Side Of Billy Evangelista

Jorge Masvidal (20-6, 2-0 SF) has made no bones about what his goals are as he returns to Strikeforce for the first time since 2007: he’s looking for a title shot. The fighter known as “GameBred” also knows that picking up a win over undefeated prospect Billy Evangelista (11-0, 7-0 SF) will allow him to place his name in the hat for contenders to Gilbert Melendez’ belt.

Both fighters have said that they are looking to stand, although Evangelista has just scraped by with a similar gameplan against strikers who are nowhere near Masvidal’s caliber. An interesting note to make in this fight is that Masvidal also possesses an underrated ground game; the submission loss to Toby Imada may be a blessing in disguise if opponents are now prone to underestimate his prowess on the ground. But he employed a wrestling strategy in his last fight against Paul Daley (which many believe he won), and he could bring out the same game plan if he believes it will get him past this fight with a win.