Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker talks Bobalu Sobral and Keith Jardine
Strikeforce held a press conference yesterday in San Jose, California for Saturdays Strikeforce” Fedor vs. Werdum event. Following this press conference MMA Valor we able to talk with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker about the light heavyweight division.
At last week’s Strikeforce: LA event, the winner of the nights main event between Robbie Lawler and Renato Sobral was going to net themselves a title shot. Sobral win the night’s contest by Unanimous decision and immediately began downplaying a title shot, mainly because current champ Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal is a friend of his.
At the post fight press conference Coker again stated he’d like to see Sobral vs. Lawal but did open the door from a change. When asked today if he’d talked with both sides about a possible fight, Coker said “we haven’t had serious discussions”. He went on to say that “we might be heading in a different direction” regarding a possible opponent for Sobral.
What’s that direction, well “my matchmakers came and brought me a couple other matchups that are interesting and that’s Babalu vs. Dan Henderson, said Coker.” That should not be a shock though since Sobral has been calling out Henderson ever since Coker brought up the title shot idea.
A Sobral vs. Henderson fight would be a solid draw for Strikeforce and looks to be the direction they are heading.
News today dropped that Keith Jardine was let go by the UFC and speculation quickly turned that he’d be signed by Stikeforce. Not so fast though, when asked Coker replied, “I’m not sure… he’s had a very good run and he is a good fighter, but I think he’s lost four in a row, right?” Yes he has Scott, and he’s also lost five of his last six and six of his last eight.
Strikeforce has been contacted by Jardine’s camp though but they will not talk about what they want to do until after this weekend’s fights. Coker though sounded concerned about what Jardine has left in the tank, “After you lose four fights in a row no matter who you are sometimes it’s better to take a step backwards and maybe evaluate what it is you really want to do, stated Coker.”
Whether or not Strikeforce signs him is likely going to depend on what they believe he has left in the tank.
