This should be good. This video from Yahoo shows the two Cesar Gracie fighters attempting to explain away the problems that they started last month at Strikeforce: Nashville.

Again, translations welcome. These two are so delusional that you would think that they were high. Wait a minute….

Leave it to Strikeforce to create a situation where one of their big stars get hurt, and we get a much better fight instead.

According to MMA Mania:

Strikeforce heavyweight attraction Bobby Lashley has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming fight against Ron Sparks at the June 16 “Los Angeles” card from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

The promotion today announced Lashley’s departure after “The Dominator” suffered a knee injury in training.

And then, from a Strikeforce press release:

NEW YORK (May 26, 2010) — American military hero and up-and-coming middleweight, Tim Kennedy, will be opposed by the dangerous Trevor Prangley in one of the featured STRIKEFORCE Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on Wednesday, June 16, on SHOWTIME®.

Both 185-pound fighters — Kennedy (11-2), of Austin, Tex., by way of San Luis Obispo, Calif., and Prangley (22-5-1), of Couer D’ Alene, Idaho, via Cape Town, South Africa — have been impressive in recent starts.

And suddenly, I am a whole bunch more excited for this card. Kennedy is a damn good prospect. He has won three straight, and both of his strikeforce fights. His last loss was to the man that he may end up fighting for the Strikeforce middleweight belt, Jason “Mayhem” Miller. He is well rounded with six wins via knockout and four via submission.

Prangley is a guy that Strikeforce seems intent to use to enhance their middleweight prospects. His last fight was against Karl Amoussou, who is a hot prospect from France. Prangley was supposed to lose that fight, but instead, he accidently poked Karl in the eye which forced the fight to be stopped and declared a technical draw. He is a long time MMA veteran with a 22-5-1 record and 2-2 UFC record. He has finished nine of his fights by submission, and also has four knockouts to his credit.

Despite Prangley being a more “live” opponent than Strikeforce probably thinks he is, I still expect Kennedy to take this one.

Most of my Post-UFC thoughts normally take a while to develop. This is because as the landscape of both the UFC and MMA changes in the wake of these cards, and as it did, I focused towards this weekend. A weekend in which a fight between Tim Sylvia, an out of shape former MMA champ, is about to take on Mariusz Pudzianowski, a former world’s strongest man. This fight is big enough that it is going to appear on Pay-per-view.

What value does this fight possess? Is it going to advance the career of anyone in it? Nope. Both are pretty much walking jokes in the MMA world. Is it going to provide any new candidate for MMA stardom? Nope. This ladies and gentlemen is a freak show. It’s tasteless, and an insult to the sport, but it is going to make money.

And it’s that very reason that the UFC cutting Kimbo Slice was a terrible, terrible idea.

Now, let’s look at Kimbo. Is he a great MMA fighter? Nope. He is a big, strong guy with a little boxing acumen and not much else. He claims to be learning at American Top Team, but hasn’t really shown much of it in the cage. His loss to Matt Mitrione also showed that his cardio has not improved like we all hoped it would. In short, he was nothing but a disappointment.

The problem is that it is a disappointment that everyone wants to see. There are still tons of people will stop what they are doing to watch this guy, no matter how matter how bad he sucks. While he would never compete for any kind of title, there was still an important role he could have served. He could have headlined every single fight night card from here to eternity. As long as he didn’t end up as 1-4 or 1-5, Dana could have put him on SPIKE TV all day, every day and continued to swim in a pool of money.

Instead, someone else will get to do that exact same thing. If it is Strikeforce, Dana and most of the MMA writers out there will scream about how they are hurting the sport by turning into a freak show. However, isn’t it just smart business for a company that is currently saddled with declining ratings? Shouldn’t Scott Coker swallow a little of whatever pride he has left to keep his company afloat and fight another day?

The chances are that Kimbo will end up fighting for a small promotion like Moosin, who is putting on this weekend’s train wreck. Yet another promoter will try to hitch his wagon to Kimbo. It will wind up failing, but in the process, Kimbo will go the bank again.

So, while I applaud the intent of Dana trying to keep the sport legit, the reality is that he may have cost himself some serious cash in the process. To anyone who says that Dana already has enough, put yourself in his shoes. Would you turn down a license to print money? I didn’t think so.

Stock Up

1. Alistair Overeem – I know that I was incredibly disappointed by the way that this one went down. While Overeem is a great fighter, his cowardice towards defending this belt made a lot of people want to see him lose this fight. He simply tossed Rogers to the ground, which is not an easy thing to do to a man that size. The rest was elementary. We all know what we want to see next, but are we going to get to see Fedor fight for the belt? That would be up to Fedor, or more importantly, his management.
2. Roger Gracie – Finally, a big time MMA win for a Gracie! While it’s not the UFC, Roger’s win is the first major victory for the famed family in some time. While Roger didn’t look great during the fight, even at one point failing to properly execute an arm triangle, he did get the win, and that is what matters.
3. Jacare Souza – Is there a hotter Strikeforce fighter than Jacare right now? In a division where the world is looking for talent, here is this BJJ ace with improving stand up that looks better each time he steps into the cage. While he wasn’t able to finish the fight, a win is a win. Give some credit to Joey Villasenor for being tough as nails as well.

Stock Down

1. Andrei Arlovski – There was a time when Andrei was one of the world’s most feared strikers. Now, he is being outstruck by Antonio Silva. What is there really left for Arlovski? Can he even beat anyone on Strikeforce’s heavyweight roster? To think that there was a time when this guy was unstoppable. That seems like so, so long ago.
2. Brett Rogers – When Rogers was able to push Fedor to the limit using devastating ground and pound, we all jumped the gun and said that Rogers had a ground game. Turns out, he has a TOP game, but is still completely lost when his back in on the mat. Now, that Overeem has solidified his grasp on the belt, don’t be surprised to see Rogers get put in there against Antonio Silva.
3. Strikeforce’s Announce Team – Listen, it’s a really hard job doing play-by-play. I’ve done it, and it is stressful. However, the worst thing that an announcer can do is pretend like he knows whats going on when he doesn’t. That is exactly what Gus Johnson does every time he calls one of these. For someone who trains with Renzo, he still seems to be lost. As for Mauro Renallo and Frank Shamrock, their performances seem scripted at times. Strikeforce and Showtime should let them fly, or replace them, because right now, it’s gross.

It’s not often that we spend a whole lot of time talking about a 2-0 fighter as being on the UFC’s radar. However, it’s not often that 265 pound NCAA national champion wrestlers come along either.

Cole Konrad has a chance that few before him have had. On Thursday night, he is going to step into a cage with an opponent that he should beat. That he should be able to use his raw, but impressive skill set to beat up, to finish. The unusual part of this whole thing is that he will have the chance to do in front of a national cable audience. It will be seen by hundreds of thousands of MMA fans who will have the chance to label him as the next big thing.

If they do, Dana White and his massive checkbook won’t be far behind. Konrad represents the kind of athlete that Dana has been looking for in his “new and improved” heavyweight division. Big, athletic freaks who make people go “whoa.” He currently has one in his heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who just happens to be the training partner of Konrad.

Here is the crazy part: One can make the case that Konrad is a better wrestler than Lesnar. While he frequently talk about how Lesnar’s size and not his wrestling ability is his biggest strength, you really can’t say that about Konrad. Despite being just a huge man, he also has two national championships that say that he just amazing as a wrestler. By the way, that just happens to be one more than Lesnar amassed at The University of Minnesota.

If there is a negative that could come of this it’s that he could be rushed into the octagon regardless of if he is ready. With Strikeforce still existing, surely they will be anxious to open up the checkbook for Konrad as well, or at they very least, they should be. If you think about it, Konrad v. Fedor might be the closest we get to Brock v. Fedor, and while I do NOT under any circumstances condone that fight happening anytime soon, it is a unique draw that the UFC does not have. Also, while Konrad won’t fight Lesnar, he could hold the Strikeforce belt, which current belongs to Alastair Overeem.

So, when Cole Konrad dispatches of Pat Bennett on Thursday night, we, the MMA Nation (to steal Luke Thomas moniker) will all rush to our keyboards and decide if showed enough to warrant Jon Jones type consideration, or if he still needs more seasoning. However, don’t expect our words to make much of a difference. Dana and the boys in Vegas will be anxious to sign Konrad up ASAP and let him get his education against Mustapha Al-Turk and Tim Hague rather than on the regional circuits.

Just what Strikeforce needs: More crazy fighters who no show events. As if having Nick Diaz and Fedor wasn’t enough. According to MMA Fighting, judo expert Karo Parisyan is ready to join the Strikeforce Fold.

Former UFC welterweight contender Karo Parisyan has been in talks to fight for Strikeforce, MMA Fighting has learned.

Parisyan has not signed a contract with the San Jose-based organization yet, but if he does, he could debut as early as June 16 on the Strikeforce: Los Angeles show, which would make sense since the Armenian-born fight currently resides in the North Hollywood, Calif., area.

When contacted by MMA Fighting, Strikeforce officials refused to confirm or deny any talks with Parisyan.

Parisyan’s final run in the UFC was a tumultuous one. He pulled out of a UFC 88 fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida hours before the weigh-ins, citing a back injury. Parisyan had talked openly about battling depression and anxiety, and many suspected he had been suffering from those same symptoms leading up to the fight.

Following a victory over Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94, Parisyan was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive for banned painkillers.

After serving his suspension, Parisyan was then scheduled to fight Dustin Hazelett at UFC 106, but he pulled out the fight a day before the weigh-ins. UFC president Dana White then tweeted that Parisyan would never fight in the UFC again. Parisyan has still never publicly discussed why he pulled out of the Hazelett fight.

I let Ariel type all that out because I didn’t feel like it. I’m not quite sure that I understand this one. While Parisyan remains a talented fighter, it’s not like he is Georges St. Pierre. He is unstable, unreliable and there are a million other guys out there who could do the same thing for Strikeforce. However, as we’ve seen in the past, it always seems like Strikeforce is willing to take a shot on a UFC reject.