THE GNP: NEWSLINE

Ok MMA Nation, here is my take on some of the latest happenings in MMA so far this week. Enjoy!

MOUSASI/ STRIKEFORCE DEAL

Strikeforce Light heavy weight Champion Gegard Mousasi is getting ready for his upcoming fight on April 17th with up and coming fighter Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal. This fight has some pretty big implications on whether Mousasi decides to re-sign with the organization.
For those of you who don’t know, Strikeforce is currently the only other MMA organization around which has a legitimate shot at taking a piece of the UFC’s marketshare.. In my opinion, Strikeforce needs to hold on tight to a star like Mousasi, who has indicated that after his title defense next month, he will most likely re-sign. He’s a strong, fast, and an exciting fighter to watch. This is the type of fighter which you can build your organization on. To top it off he’s a smart fighter. He’s proven how smart he is by dumping the career killing M-1 team as his managers and beginning to negotiate his own contracts. I see big things on the horizon for this guy wherever he ends up.

For more info on Strikeforce and Mousasi, check out the links below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikeforce
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gegard_Mousasi


EVANS v. JACKSON … FINALLY

Well , better late than never. The coaches from the UFC’s Reality Show, “The Ultimate Fighter” are finally gonna go at it. This fight was supposed to happen in January but, Quentin “Rampage” Jackson had his obligations to filming the A-Team movie ( which will suck outside of the fact that Jessica Biel is in it).
I gotta say that I am only mildly excited about the fight at this point. Traditionally, what happens soon after each season of The Ultimate Fighter is a match between the 2 opposing coaches. This is the formula that the UFC has been following for quite a while now and it’s what has been pushing it to new levels of popularity over the last 5 years.
When the man they call “Suga” Rashad last fought in January against Thiago Silva he looked pretty soft, nearly losing the bout in the final seconds of the 3rd round. I personally believe that he has not fully recovered mentally from losing his title to Lyoto Machida last May.

Nevertheless, I will still check it out just in case….

For more info check these links out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ultimate_Fighter:_Heavyweights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashad_Evans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinton_Jackson