Photos by Ester Lin /Strikeforce
Former STRIKEFORCE Light Heavyweight Champ Renato “Babalu” Sobral, American military hero and up-and-coming middleweight Tim Kennedy, welterweight Evangelista Cyborg and Hollywood’s Conor “Hurricane” Heun participated in an open media workout on Monday at Krav Maga Worldwide Training Center in Los Angeles, just two days before the upcoming STRIKEFORCE Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 16, LIVE on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
Sobral (35-8), the former STRIKEFORCE Light Heavyweight (205 pounds) Champion who hails from Brazil and fights out of Orange County, will collide with exciting knockout artist Robbie Lawler (17-5) at a catch weight of 195 pounds in the main event. The fight will be Sobral’s first since losing his STRIKEFORCE belt to Gegard Mousasi on Dec. 19, 2009. Prior to the defeat, Sobral had reeled off five consecutive victories.
American military hero and San Luis Obispo native Kennedy (11-2) will face the former South African National Wrestling Champion Trevor Prangley (22-5-1) at middleweight (185 pounds) in one of the featured STRIKEFORCE fights at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE. Kennedy, a former United States Army Special Forces sniper with the 19th Special Forces outfit based in San Antonio, has toured the Middle East multiple times, and earned the Army’s Bronze Medal Star medal for valor under fire. Inside the cage, Kennedy has won three in a row and 11 of his last 12.
Evangelista Cyborg (17-13) will face DREAM belt-holder Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis (13-4) in a welterweight (170 pounds) contest. Conor Heun (8-3), who fights out of Hollywood, will face former world champion KJ Noons (8-2) of San Diego, Calif., in an excellent lightweight (155 pounds) match.
Tickets are on sale at STAPLES Center box office, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE’S official website (www.strikeforce.com). Tickets will also be sold at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE box office on days when events take place there.
What the fighters had to say during Monday’s workout:
Babalu Sobral:
“I don’t think the move in weight will be an issue for me. The issue will be for him, not for me. In my last fight I was around 200 or 201 (pounds), so I’m comfortable in that range. I’m so ready for this fight; I can’t wait to get in there. I’m healthy and 100 percent.
“I’m very excited to fight in Los Angeles. I’ve been living in Orange County for a while now and I have a lot of friends living in Orange County and a lot of friends in LA. I’m training in Hollywood, so I have a lot of friends and fans around here. They’re all going to be at the fight on Wednesday. They already bought their tickets.
“I’m from California so of course I’m going to go for the Lakers against the Celtics. But I’m definitely going for Brazil in the World Cup. Brazil against (North) Korea on Tuesday – it’s a big game.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to win. It’s an MMA fight, so I’ll do whatever it takes. Sometimes you see an opportunity to knock him out, sometimes you see the chance to submit him and finish the fight. I’ll do anything to win.”
Tim Kennedy:
“Training went perfect. It was a great training camp, about four or five months long – a little longer than we anticipated because dates kept moving around for fights. I’m 100 percent healthy, stronger than I’ve ever been. It’s been perfect.
“I think I’m going to win. He’s tough, Trevor is an amazing guy all around, but I’m going to bring it to him.
“I’d like fight a couple more times this year. Maybe in August or September, then maybe around New Years Eve. I’m feeling good, I’m healthy. I came out of my last two fights unscathed. So, hopefully, this fight will be similar and I’ll be able to get right back in the ring.
“I was at a brewery the other day that has 300 beers on tap, and if you drink a certain amount of them – I don’t really drink – you get put up on the wall on a flying saucer. This guy was giving his acceptance speech for getting put up on the wall and he said, ‘there are a lot of things going on over seas in Afghanistan and Iraq so draft beer, not people.’ I thought to myself ‘that’s retarded.’ So I had to go over and tell him 1) we haven’t had a draft in a really long time, and 2) our entire military is made volunteers, like me. So I told him, ‘you want to join – here’s my business card. Give me a call.’ He didn’t call.”
Evangelista Cyborg
“I feel good and ready at this weight, stronger at this weight. I can’t wait to get in the cage and fight again. I want to fight the best.
“It doesn’t matter to me that she’s (wife Cris Cyborg Santos) is the champion now. I feel the same pressure I would for any normal fight.
“I’m very happy for her. I train her and I work with her, so I couldn’t be happier.
“Is anything different since she became champion? Now I take the trash out on time – everyday.”
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