Last week, Strikeforce CEO and founder Scott Coker told FanHouse that he wanted to book a middleweight match-up between Robbie Lawler and Ronaldo Souza for the organization's upcoming fall show, headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers. At the time, Coker mentioned that he had yet to talk to Lawler's agent, Monte Cox, about the fight.Cox told FanHouse then that it was the first he heard about it, and that it didn't excite him all that much. On Monday, he flat out said he had no interest in making it happen.
"I'm not interested in that fight," Cox said. "I would rather fight [Matt] Lindland, someone who would stand up and show us what we can do."
The veteran Lindland is one of the newest members of Strikeforce's middleweight division. Coker also said that he would like to have "The Law" fight on the same fall card.
"I think Lindland is a great styles match-up for us," Cox said. "He's done a ton of stuff, he's always been ranked in the top-10. He's just a rugged, tough guy. But I think Robbie is better than him standing."
Both Lawler (16-5) and Lindland (21-6) are looking to rebound from disappointing losses. Lindland was knocked out by Vitor Belfort in just 37 seconds at Affliction: Day of Reckoning in January, while Lawler was submitted in the first round by Jake Shields in June.
One would think that Strikeforce will be announcing the date and location of this card, plus several of the other top fights, sooner rather than later. FanHouse recently learned that New Jersey is another state in consideration to host the event. The last major MMA event to take place in the Garden State was EliteXC's CBS debut in May 2008.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-02-2009 @ 2:14PM
RJ said...
When Cox came out and stated he wanted Lawler to fight a fellow striker I was all for it.
Thinking about guys like Benji Radach or Melvin Manhoef.
Now he's lost me with bringing up Matt Lindland. Who would most likely spend the entire fight in the clinch trying to put Robbie on his back and hold him there.
I imagine Cox reasoning is Lawler hits with power and Lindland has a questionable chin and to be honest since he's comeback from his long layoff from fighting Fedor in Bodog he's looked bad.
A boring decision win over Fabio Negao and getting stretched by Vitor Belfort.
As far as Strikeforce considering a New Jersey event sounds great considering I'm in New York, and apparently Minnesota isn't exactly a hot bed for MMA.
Even the UFC didn't sell out their card in Minnesota and that card had GSP and Lesnar on it.
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9-02-2009 @ 2:27PM
Eric said...
As a fan of Robbie, I'd rather see him fight Lindland or Radach.
Robbie is one of the hardest hitters in MMA P4P. He is a violent, exciting striker that I find very entertaining.
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