By Ben Fowlkes
- Senior Writer
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HOUSTON – If Thursday's
Strikeforce: Houston pre-fight press conference had a theme, that theme was 'respect.' It made for a calm, congenial, and somewhat boring atmosphere, but perhaps that's just what happens when all eight fighters on the televised portion of the card like one another too much.
Even defending Strikeforce light heavyweight champion "King"
Mo Lawal, who usually likes some trash talk to go along with his pre-fight press obligations, explained that he just couldn't work up the same animosity toward new challenger
Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante that he had for
Gegard Mousasi in his last fight.
"I respect Feijao," said Lawal. "We've trained with some of the same people. He's never questioned my character like Mousasi did. Mousasi was quick to go on record saying that I'm full of myself and I'm this and I'm that. Me and Feijao, we don't need to do that. We'll do that Saturday. We'll fight Saturday and have fun."
"Feijao" echoed that sentiment, calling Lawal a complete fighter, and suggesting that he expects to have to deal with more than just the champ's takedowns and wrestling ability on Saturday night.
"I don't think he's going to do just that," Cavalcante said. "I think he'll have a lot of surprises for this fight. I think he's training everything. He has a new thing to show, and I think he'll try to show it in this fight."
In the night's other title fight for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight belt, Green Beret
Tim Kennedy said he'd spent much of his training camp preparing specifically for the submissions threat posed by Brazilian
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.
"I brought in some of the best guys I could get my hands on in Brazilian jiu-jitsu to train with. I traveled a lot, and I think my fight camp for the past three months has been really focused on just fighting Jacare, which I am. We're talking about the greatest grappler that's ever been in MMA, and my only answer to that is to train, train, train and prepare, prepare, prepare.
For his part, Souza said he's been trying to expand his game, but admitted that you'll still find a jiu-jitsu gi in his luggage no matter where he goes. Through an interpreter, Souza praised Kennedy as a "great wrestler, [with] great ground-and-pound."
Perhaps the afternoon's most entertaining moment came when lightweight
K.J. Noons asked heavyweight former pro wrestler
Bobby Lashley for his thoughts on a possible fight with ex-WWE wrestler
Dave Batista.
"Thank you for your questions," Lashley muttered before pretending to resume his seat.
When he got around to actually answering that question, however, he was still less than enthusiastic about the idea.
"That's a question I didn't want to answer. At this stage in my career, I'm trying to move one way – I'm trying to move forward. Not taking anything away from Batista, he's a great guy and I think he's been training really hard with the camp that he's been training at, but right now I'm 5-0. I'd like to be 6-0 and keep moving forward. Not taking anything away from my opponent, I want to have great fights and better myself each time, move up the ranks, and possibly get that title shot."
Lashley admitted that he didn't know much about his opponent,
Chad Griggs, explaining that he'd been unable to find much footage of the Arizona-based fighter. Regardless, Lashley said, his plan is to come right at Griggs early on.
"This opponent, I think I'm going to try and pressure him. I'm going to pressure him hard. I'm going to throw everything I have at him and see what he has."
This got a smile out of Griggs, who later shrugged and said that at least now he didn't have to wonder what to expect out of Lashley.
"He just told me," said Griggs. "A lot of pressure."
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker missed Thursday's press conference due to an illness, according to ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., who read a prepared statement from Coker at the start of the event. The statement promised that Coker wouldn't miss Saturday night's fights, and it also described ticket sales as "going really well."
Read More: dave batista, mo lawal, rafael feijao cavalcante, ronaldo jacare souza, strikeforce houston, Bobby Lashley (MMA), Chad Griggs (MMA), Gegard Mousasi (MMA), K.J. Noons (MMA), Tim Kennedy (MMA)
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