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John Clarke (8-2-0) vs. Joe Ray (1-0-0)
John Clarke will be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but he is a veteran of the Mass Destruction and Ring Of Combat promotions. While in those promotions, John Clarke has defeated Robert McNeil, Mohammed Mohebbi, John Latham and Sean McCann, while suffering a defeat to Ricardo Romero. John Clarke is a fighter who is comfortable wherever the fight ends up, with seven victories coming by knockout and submission. Joe Ray will also be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but has fought in the Future Stars Of MMA promotion. In his lone MMA fight, Joe Ray defeated PJ Dombrowski by submission in the first round of the fight. Joe Ray will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with his lone MMA victory coming by way of submission.
My Prediction: John Clarke
Strikeforce Lightweight Division Fight
Ryan Keenan (3-0-0) vs. Hayder Hassan (1-1-0)
Ryan Keenan will be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but he is a veteran of the Real Fighting Championships promotion. While in the Ream Fighting Championships promotion, Ryan Keenan had defeated William Marsh and Robert Orta. Ryan Keenan will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with two victories coming by knockout. Hayder Hassan will also be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but he has fought in the Xtreme Fighting Championships promotion. Of his two professional fights, both have not gone past the first round, which speaks to Hayder Hassan’s finishing abilities. Hayder Hassan will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with his lone MMA victory coming by knockout.
My Prediction: Ryan Keenan
Strikeforce Lightweight Division Fight
Craig Oxley (0-2-0) vs. David Gomez (0-2-0)
Craig Oxley will be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but has already fought in the highly touted Pancrase promotion. In his lone fight in the Pancrase promotion, Craig Oxley lost to Genki Sudo by submission in the first round. Although Craig Oxley has yet to win the fight, he has shown that he likes to put the fight on the ground instead of standing up. David Gomez will also be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but he has competed in the Elite XC promotion. While in Elite XC, David Gomez suffered a defeat to Bryan Hamade by submission in the first round of the fight. Like his opponent Craig Oxley, David Gomez has yet to attain an MMA victory, but has shown some striking ability.
My Prediction: Craig Oxley
Strikeforce Welterweight Division Fight
Sabah Homasi (1-0-0) vs. John Kelly (3-1-0)
Sabah Homasi will be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but he has already fought in Xtreme Fight Night promotion. While in the Xtreme Fight Night promotion, Sabah Homasi defeated Lindon Mitchell by TKO in the first round. Sabah Homasi will be looking to use his striking skills to win the fight, with his lone MMA victory coming by knockout. John Kelly will also be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but has fought all of his career fights in the Ultimate Challenge UK promotion. While in the Ultimate Challenge UK promotion, John Kelly has defeated Max Henchy, Alex Harvey and Keith Singh, while suffering a lone defeat to Simon Gill. John Kelly will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with two victories coming by way of submission.
My Prediction: John Kelly
Strikeforce Lightweight Division Fight
David Zitnik (3-5-0) vs. Michael Byrnes (0-2-0)
David Zitnik will be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but he has fought in the World Martial Arts promotion. David Zitnik started off his MMA career in a dubious fashion, with a three fight losing streak that had lasted over a year. David Zitnik will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with two victories coming by way of submission. Michael Byrnes will also be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight and will be fighting on the one year anniversary of his professional MMA debut. It has been more than eight months since Michael Byrnes last fought, so ring rust can become a factor in the fight. Although Michael Byrnes has yet to achieve an MMA victory, but has shown a tendency to keep the fight standing.
My Prediction: David Zitnik
Strikeforce Featherweight Division Fight
Pablo “The Hurricane†Alfonso (5-2-0) vs. Marcos “Parrumpinha†Da Matta (7-0-0)
Pablo Alfonso will be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but he is a well traveled veteran of MMA competition. Pablo Alfonso started off his MMA career in impressive fashion, with a three fight undefeated streak that had lasted over seven years. Pablo Alfonso will be looking to put the fight on the ground, with four victories coming by way of submission. Marcos Da Matta will also be making his Strikeforce debut in this fight, but he does enter the fight on an undefeated streak. The current undefeated streak for Marcos Da Matta is seven fights long and has lasted nearly three full years. Marcos Da Matta is a fighter who is comfortable wherever the fight ends up, with five victories coming by knockout and submission.
My Prediction: Marcos Da Matta
(Note: I will be providing live coverage of Strikeforce: Miami on Saturday January 30th at 9pm EST. on PWInsiderXtra.)
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
