Strikeforce Columbus Fight Card: 5 Reasons You Must Watch

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With legendary Dan “Hendo” Henderson challenging for the light heavyweight title held by Anderson “The Spider” Silva’s teammate and KO artist Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, and 11 hometown fighters seeing action, MMA fans from all over the Midwestern state have more than enough reason to flock to the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on March 5.

What about the rest of us? These are the reasons why this Saturday night, Nationwide should be watched worldwide.

5. Historical MMA Significance for Ohio

Jorge Gurgel, representing Cincinnati, Ohio.

MMA fans everywhere must show their support and gratitude to every locale that hosts and allows this great sport to flourish.

This could be one of the biggest MMA events in the history of Columbus, Ohio, and definitely the biggest in terms of participation in a major promotion from the state’s very own fighters. With the exception of Josh Thornburg, all the fighters in the following preliminary cards are Ohio-based:

Roger Bowling (8-1; Cincinnati, Ohio) vs. Josh Thornburg (5-1; Stockton, Calif.) – 155 lbs

Jorge Gurgel (13-7; Cincinnati, Ohio) vs. Billy Vaughan (9-6; Columbus, Ohio) – 155 lbs


Jason Riley (9-5; Columbus, Ohio) vs. Jason Freeman (6-5; Dover, Ohio) – 265 lbs


Brian Rogers (8-9; Dayton, Ohio) vs. Mojo Horne (8-2; Cincinnati, Ohio) – 135 lbs


Marc Cofer (3-3; New Albany, Ohio) vs. Mitch Whitesel (15-20; Elyria, Ohio) – 185 lbs


JP Felty (Debut; Columbus, Ohio) vs. John Kuhner (0-2; Pickerington, Ohio) – 170 lbs

4. Women Fighters

The eighth of March is the centennial of International Women’s Day, so hats off to champion Marloes “Rumina” Connen and her challenger, Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche, who will battle, like the women of Sparta, for the co-main event’s Women’s Welterweight title.

3. Solid Supporting Main Cards

Former Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion Melvin "No Mercy" Manhoef

Decorated U.S. military veteran and former title contender Tim Kennedy (12-3) looks to rebound from his loss to Ronaldo Souza in their fight for the erstwhile vacant middleweight title. He will face Dutch KO specialist Melvin “No Mercy” Manhoef (24-8-1).

Highly regarded international campaigner Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal (20-6) of American Top Team, who lost a close unanimous decision to Paul Daley in his last fight, will square off with fast rising, undefeated star Billy Evangelista (11-0).

2. For the Main Events of the Evening

Title challenger Liz "Girl-Rilla" Carmouche.

Light Heavyweight Champion and versatile striker Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante defends for the first time the title he snatched last year from Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal by TKO (punches and elbow strikes). He is also the teammate of UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva, who had beaten Lawal’s current challenger in his own title defense in early 2008.

Multi-titled Dan “Hendo” Henderson (26-8) of Team Quest looks to clinch another title in a fourth MMA promotion (after UFC, RINGS and PFC) with his fifth win in six fights against Cavalcante.

As mentioned earlier, Dutch Marloes Coenen (18-4), with 13 wins by submission, will defend her Women’s Welterweight title against the former U.S. marine and undefeated challenger Liz Carmouche (5-0).

1. For a Free and Fair MMA Trade

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Monopoly is never a good thing, for reasons that need no elaboration.

With the strong patronage of fight fans across the MMA industry, Strikeforce will sustain its competitiveness vis-à-vis the other promotion (and other promotions). Still, here’s wishing for future unification title bouts, so there will be proclamations of “the undisputed (fill in the weight class) Mixed Martial Arts Champion of the World…”

Strikeforce Columbus: Feijao vs. Henderson Results, News and More