Could Feijao Suffer the Same Fate As Mousasi Against King Mo In Houston?

Let me just state for the record that I NEVER like go against anyone associated with the Black House camp.

Is it because my favorite fighter in the sport trains under Black House? Of course it is, but also because those guys are extremely talented in their own ways.

Rafael Cavalcante, a Muay Thai  wrecking machine that fights in Strikeforce's Light Heavyweight division, is no exception to this rule.

The only other time I have violated my own rule was at UFC 110 — I did back Cain Velasquez, but I didn't call the knock out win.

This Saturday, when Strikeforce comes to Houston for arguably one of their biggest events of the year, will mark the second time I've violated my own rule of always backing Black House.

It's nothing against Cavalcante himself — he's been pretty vicious in his past couple of fights.

Heck, he KOed Antwain Britt in St Louis — The St. Louis card was the first appearance of Feijao on a mainstream Strikeforce card since June of 2009 when he suffered a TKO loss to Mike Kyle.

For a guy whose nickname translates to "bean" from Portuguese, the guy is really no joke.

To the best of anyone's knowledge right now, though, the man is also only versed in Muay Thai.

Maybe he's also got some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under him that few know about, and maybe he's also got some skills in submissions that he can work in against Muhammed Lawal when they fight for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight crown on Saturday.

Sorry Rafael, but I'm just not seeing how that happens.

Granted, the only time he's ever gone the distance was when he went almost three rounds with Marcio Cruz and threw an illegal kick that cost him the fight in the third round, but besides that, he's been pulling out KOs, TKOs, and a submission in his career — and everything including the submissions involved either punches, a kick, or some other strike from Cavalcante.

The problem is, how can he do the same thing to King Mo in Houston?

Many thought Gegard Mousasi would be able to use his own stand up skills in his fight with King Mo, thus scoring an easy or hard-fought win over Mo in Nashville.

Funny... Mousasi never really got to work any of that in against Mo.

He just got taken down and controlled for all of five rounds of their bout in Nashville.

Now, if Cavalcante can somehow defend Mo's takedowns and keep him in the Muay Thai clinch for a good portion of the fight, then he stands a chance and then some, against Mo.

With the explosiveness that Mo puts behind his takedowns though, to get a Muay Thai clinch on Mo before the final seconds of the fifth round will be nothing too short of miraculous.

Can Cavalcante lay some strikes in on Lawal?

Of course he can. It's MMA, after all.

Who says Mo will go the entire fight doing nothing but takedowns? I don't.

I think Cavalcante can at least damage Mo to where it'll be difficult for him to explode with a fluid takedown as he's known for doing, and of course the ground will once again be where Mo might want the fight even though he has knocked out some tough people in his pre-Strikeforce career.

As far as Cavalcante knocking out King Mo... I'm not ruling it out, but it will be tough.

At the end of the fight, though, I honestly see every one of us watching in our chairs, relaxing, enjoying good MMA action...

... and experiencing some Deja-vu, all while King Mo takes down and dominates another strong-willed striker in impressive fashion.

Prediction: King Mo for the unanimous decision win at the end of the 25 minute title war in H-Town.