Randleman vs. Gracie, Villasenor vs. "Jacare" official for May 15 Strikeforce event
A light-heavyweight bout between Kevin Randleman (17-14 MMA, 0-1 SF) and Roger Gracie (2-0 MMA, 0-0 SF), as well a middleweight bout between Joey Villasenor (27-6 MMA, 2-0 SF) and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (11-2 MMA, 1-0 SF), are both official for next month's "Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery" event.
Strikeforce officials announced the bouts overnight.
The event takes place May 15 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Both bouts are part of the night's Showtime-televised main card.
MMAjunkie.com first reported the Randleman vs. Gracie bout in March. Additionally, the Villasenor vs. "Jacare" bout has long been rumored for the card, which also features a heavyweight title between champion Alistair Overeem and Brett Rogers.
Randleman, a two-time NCAA Division I national wrestling champion who became an early UFC heavyweight champion, has been stuck in a funk in his later career. The 38-year-old has lost seven of his past nine fights since late 2004, and in a June 2009 Strikeforce debut, he gassed after the first round and dropped a unanimous decision to Mike Whitehead.
Now in a must-win situation, he faces a member of the famed Gracie clan. Roger Gracie, an accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor and 2005 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship winner (in the 88-98-kg class and the open-weight division), is 2-0 since his move to MMA. However, he hasn't fought professionally since a submission win over Yuki Kondo at Sengoku Second Battle in May 2008.
Villasenor, meanwhile, looks to extend his current four-fight win streak. After a 15-fight win streak from 2002 to 2006, Villasenor went 2-3 in now-defunct organizations such as PRIDE and EliteXC. The Greg Jackson-trained fighter, though, has since rebounded for wins over Riki Fukuda, Ryan Jensen, Phil Baroni and Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. However, ring rust could be a concern for the well-rounded fighter; his upcoming fight is his first since June 2009.
Souza, meanwhile, looks to build off a first-round submission victory over Matt Lindland in his Strikeforce debut this past December. It was his 10th submission victory in 11 career wins. The former DREAM fighter is one of the world's top-ranked middleweights and could solidify his case for a future title shot with a win over Villasenor.
The latest "Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery" card includes:
MAIN CARD
* Champ Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers (for heavyweight title)
* Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva
* Ronaldo "Souza" Jacare vs. Joey Villasenor
* Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman
* Lyle Beerbohm vs. Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro*
PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)
* Justin DeMoney vs. Jesse Finney
* Lee Brousseau vs. Fransisco "Kiko" France
* Mike Chandler vs. Sal Woods
* Pat Benson vs. Erik Steenberg
* Tom Aaron vs. Matt Ricehouse
* Darryl Cobb vs. Booker DeRousse
* - Not officially announced
Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/18853/randlem ... -event.mma