Strikeforce ceo Coker explains why Larkin, not 'Jacare,' for Rockhold title fight

Scott Coker usually is rather reserved when it comes to announcing future plans following events that just happened.

But for a change, in San Diego this past month, he wasn't. Both before "Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman" and immediately after the card, the Strikeforce CEO thought it was a pretty safe bet that middleweight champ Luke Rockhold would next face Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza.

And wouldn't ya know it? The once-in-a-blue-moon time Coker spoke publicly about a future fight's near-certainty, it didn't happen.

Strikeforce earlier this week announced Rockhold (10-1 MMA, 9-0 SF) next will defend his title against Lorenz Larkin (13-0 MMA, 4-0 SF), not Souza (16-3 MMA, 6-1 SF), who made quick work of Derek Brunson (9-2 MMA, 3-1 SF) in San Diego with a 41-second TKO.

Prior to Strikeforce's most recent show, Coker told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the Souza-Brunson winner was likely to get a title shot – especially if that winner was Souza, who lost his belt to Rockhold one year ago this weekend.

After the fight, his opinion was the same – though he hedged it by saying he would need to confer with Strikeforce matchmaker Sean Shelby, a common refrain.

"To me, I'd like to see that fight happen," Coker said in San Diego. "I know 'Jacare' would like that fight to happen. Luke's looking for that fight, so I think it'd be an easy fight (to book). … We'll start talking to 'Jacare's' camp right away. Sean and I, we really haven't had a chance to talk, though. ... Give us a day or so."

Of course, the Souza-Rockhold fight won't happen now, and instead the champ meets Larkin on Nov. 3 in the co-main event of "Strikeforce: Cormier vs. Mir" in Oklahoma City. Larkin fights for the second time at middleweight after dropping from light heavyweight – where he was unbeaten, save for a loss to Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal that was overturned to a no-contest thanks to Lawal's positive steroids test and subsequent suspension. In his middleweight debut this past July, Larkin made easy work of Robbie Lawler in a unanimous decision.

On Thursday, Coker gave a little insight behind the Larkin booking to MMAjunkie.com.

"If you look at Lorenz Larkin's record when he was fighting at 205, he had the one loss with 'King Mo,' who tested positive for that fight and it was ruled a no-contest, so he had an undefeated record," Coker said. "And he had such an impressive performance with Robbie. When we talked about it (after the fight), I hadn't had a chance to talk to Sean yet and see what his thoughts were.

"But I feel really good about this fight because Lorenz, to me honestly, is probably the most dangerous striker in MMA right now. He reminds me of a K-1 fighter back in the day with just tremendous kicking ability, good movement, great boxing skills. The guy took it to Robbie pretty good, and that's really what got him the shot with Luke. That's how it turned out."

Coker said Souza remains in that proverbial mix of middleweight contenders. But he said it's doubtful that "Jacare" would simply sit back and wait for the winner of Rockhold-Larkin.

"I know Sean's talking to his camp," Coker said. "The issue really is, we have a couple things happening. Sean's signing more athletes every day. Sean's out there looking for the best fighters to come in and compete with the guys we have. Although Jacare, in my mind, after Lorenz now, he'll be the No. 2 contender.

"But a lot of things could change between now and the beginning of the first quarter (of 2013)."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/30554/strikeforce-ceo-coker-explains-larkin-title-shot-vs-rockhold-instead-of-souza.mma


coker is so full shit....

Larkin wasn't that impressive against Lawler. Jacare's finishing rate is much better than Larkin's in both of their last 2 fights, and he finished Lawler, not to mention that Larkin lost to Mo before the steroid problems.

But then this is the same parent company that puts Frankie Edgar in another title fight coming off of 2 straight losses, and Brock Lesnar in a title fight when he was 1-1 in the UFC. Once Coker's served his part, zoofa will get rid of him.

As long as Jacare's next opponent is Khalidov, I could live with this.

It's pretty obvious why It's Larkin. Jacare vs Rockhold is a headliner fight. They already have for sure ratings with DC vs Mir, so they're keeping Rockold vs Jacare II for another show that they will need a headliner for.

moronoRepublic wrote:As long as Jacare's next opponent is Khalidov, I could live with this.

^