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Strikeforce Miami Predictions: Strikeforce in Miami January 30 Preview & Predictions

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Pro Fighting Fans is the home of Strikeforce MMA fans across the globe and we now bring you the best place to find the latest Strikeforce news as well as the latest preview & predictions. Strikeforce is set for another great event on January 30, 2010 and our Strikeforce Miami predictions & fight previews are posted below for MMA fans across the globe to enjoy. Check out the Strikeforce Miami results and buy Strikeforce tickets online here through Pro Fighting Fans and be sure to check out the latest Strikeforce predictions!

Strikeforce: Miami Preview

Saturday, January 30, 2010 on Showtime

Strikeforce returns to action with their first event of 2010 as they look to crown a Welterweight Champion on Showtime. In the fight for the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight belt, bad boy Nick Diaz faces newcomer Marius Zaromskis while Christiane "Cyborg" Santos, the Women's Lightweight (145 pound) Champion will defend her belt facing top contender Marloes Coenen. Our Strikeforce Miami predictions are below and fans can find the Strikeforce January 30 results after the fights are complete here at ProFighting-fans.com.

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Strikeforce: Miami Preliminary Fights

Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs

Both Xtreme Couture’s Jay Hieron (18-4) and Elite Performance’s Joe “Diesel” Riggs (32-11) aren’t used to fighting on preliminary cards, however at Strikeforce: Miami on January 30 th that is exactly where they will be. This will be Hieron’s second fight since signing with the San Jose-based fight organization. Riggs’ last Strikeforce fight took place over seven months ago when he outpointed Phil Baroni on the “Lawler vs. Shields” card.

Hieron, 33, began fighting in July 2003 and won eight of his first ten fights, losing only in UFC bouts against George St. Pierre and Jonathan Goulet. He then moved on to the IFL where he went 7-2 and became the organizations welterweight champion. Since leaving the IFL after his April 2008 bout, he won all three of his fights, coming in Night of Combat, Affliction and Strikeforce organizations. In August 2009, he was to fight Nick Diaz, however Diaz pulled out and Jesse Taylor stepped in. Hieron defeated Taylor easily with a unanimous decision on the “Carano vs. Cyborg” fight card.

“Diesel”, 27, began fighting professionally in 2001 for the Arizona-based Rage in the Cage promotion, although he also fought for Rumble on the Rock, WEC, Art of War and other promotions. From August 2004 through December 2006, Riggs recorded a 4-4 record in the UFC, including a unanimous decision victory over Nick Diaz at UFC 57. After leaving the UFC, Riggs has fought five times (3-2) for Strikeforce, however his last two bouts came in December 2009 for RITC. He is currently on a four-fight winning streak.

Prediction – Hieron over Riggs via decision

Strikeforce: Miami - Showtime Televised Fights

Bobby Lashley vs. Wes Sims

Bobby Lashley (4-0), a successful collegiate and professional wrestler, will continue his mixed martial arts career on January 30th against Wes Sims (22-12-1) of The Ultimate Fighter 10. Sims is replacing Yohan Banks, who with only two bouts under his belt, was not cleared to fight by the Florida State Boxing Commission. The Lashley vs. Sims heavyweight bout will take place as the fifth and final fight on the Strikeforce: Miami main card.

Lashley, 33, who completes most of his training at the successful American Top Team, debuted in December 2008 against Joshua Franklin at Mixed Fighting Alliance in Florida. He easily defeated Franklin, and his next three opponents to start his career undefeated. The knock on Lashley is that he hasn’t had a true test in MMA up to this point in his career. He was in action last in June, when he stopped Bob Sapp with punches to collect his fourth consecutive victory.

Sims, 30, is a nine year professional who won six of his first seven career bouts before signing on to fight in the UFC. He lost his UFC 43 debut and twice more inside the octagon before being shown the octagon door. His 0-3 run in the big show carried over with him afterwards as well, after losing three of his next four he finally got back on track with victories in eleven of his next thirteen fights. He fell into another funk from March 2007 through June of 2008 where he won only once in six fights, but he again settled down and won three in a row for the FCFS Indiana-based organization. He then competed on TUF 10 where he was more of a comedic presence than anything else. He lost his first fight by arm triangle against Justin Wren on the show.

Prediction – Lashley over Sims via TKO

Herschel Walker vs. Greg Nagy

Forty-seven year old Heisman Trophy winner and longtime professional football player, Herschel Walker (0-0), will fight Greg Nagy (1-1) in his Strikeforce and mixed martial arts debut January 30th. The heavyweight contest will be part of the five-fight main card at Strikeforce: Miami.

Walker, a karate-based fighter, was signed to a Strikeforce contract in September 2009 and began training at the world-renown American Kickboxing Academy one month later. The former Olympian plans on donating his entire fight purse to charity whether he wins or loses his rookie bout.

Not much is known about his opponent Greg Nagy. He has two official professional bouts under his belt, the first was an August 2009 TKO victory against Robert Principato, the second, three months later, was a unanimous decision loss to Francisco Navarro. Both fights took place in the Arizona-based Rage in the Cage fight promotion, the same state that he reportedly trains in.

Prediction – Walker over Nagy via decision

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Melvin Manhoef vs. Robbie Lawler

Dutch striker Melvin Manhoef (24-6-1) and “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (18-5) will try and bring fireworks to the Strikeforce: Miami main card when they square off in a highly anticipated middleweight brawl. Manhoef is fighting in America for only the second time in his fourteen year career. Lawler hasn’t been in action since a June loss to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut.

Manhoef began fighting mixed martial arts in 1995 for a variety of small time promotions in the Netherlands. He began to gain a little notoriety in 2005 when he won the Cage Rage Light-Heavyweight Title in the middle of a ten-fight winning streak. When the British organization was bought out, he moved onto fight for K-1 Hero’s and DREAM in Japan. There, he lost two of his last three fights until earning a 1 st round TKO over Kazuo Misaki at FEG’s Dynamite 2009 event this New Years Eve.

“Ruthless”, 27, a HIT Squad fighter, was 6-0 when signing on to fight for the UFC in 2002. He recorded a 4-2 record for the organization from May 2002 through October 2004, defeating opponents like Aaron Riley, Tiki Ghosn, and Chris Lytle. After losing three of his last four inside the octagon, he bounced around from Icon Sport to King of the Cage to PRIDE to the IFL and then to Elite XC before landing in Strikeforce. He won 8 of 10 including the Icon Sport and Elite XC middleweight titles during that span before his loss to Shields.

Prediction – Lawler over Manhoef via TKO

Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship Fight - Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Marloes Coenen

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (8-1) will make her first Strikeforce Women’s Lightweight Title defense against Dutch Jiu-Jitsu specialist Marloes Coenen (17-3) when the two square off in the co-main event at Strikeforce: Miami on January 30 th.

“Cyborg”, 24, won her Women’s Strikeforce Lightweight Championship when she headlined the “Carano vs. Cyborg” Strikeforce event in August 2009, easily defeating Gina Carano via 1 st round TKO. The victory over Carano was her fourth in as many chances since migrating to the States in July 2008. She has fought twice for the now-defunct Elite XC and twice for Strikeforce.

Coenen, 28, a Golden Glory product, began fighting over nine years ago and registered victories in nine consecutive fights to start her career. Overall, Coenen won 13 of her first 14 matches submitting nine opponents along her way. She won her last fight, getting redemption for one of her three career losses, by defeating Roxanne Modafferi via armbar in November on the undercard of the Strikeforce “Fedor vs. Rogers”.

Prediction – Santos over Coenen via submission

Strikeforce Welterweight Championship Fight - Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis

UFC, Elite XC, DREAM, and Strikeforce cage vet Nick Diaz (20-7, 1 no contest ), 26, gets first crack at capturing the company’s newly-developed Welterweight belt when he meets twenty-nine year old Lithuanian Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis (13-2), who trains in London at the London Shootfighters training center. The two will be pitted against each other at the January 30 th Strikeforce: Miami main event.

Diaz has been a significant mixed martial artist for several years now, due in large to his 6-4 run in the UFC from April 2004 through November 2006. He also earned recognition for his February 2007 PRIDE 33 tapping of Takanori Gomi, however the victory was later changed to a no contest because Diaz failed a post-fight drug test. Since his February no contest, he has posted six victories in seven trips inside the cage. The only loss during the aforementioned period was a November 2007 TKO loss to KJ Noons via a cut that Diaz suffered. His most recent action consisted of a June 2009 rear naked choke submission victory against Scott Smith.

Zaromskis is a longtime participant for the Cage Rage fight promotion where he lost only twice in seven career fights. His breakout moment happened in July of 2009 when he won the 2009 DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix and became the DREAM Welterweight Champion. Since becoming the Champ, Zaromskis has fought only once, an October 25th non-title bout at DREAM 12 against Ho Bae Myeon. “Whitemare” used a perfectly timed head kick to KO the Korean in 19 seconds.

Prediction – Diaz over Zaromskis via decision

By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer