Henderson vs. Babalu Winner Gets Strikeforce Title Shot Against Feijao
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Damon Martin
Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Dan Henderson
As Dan Henderson and Renato “Babalu” Sobral get ready for their rematch as the main event of the upcoming Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu II show in December, the promotion has thrown a little bonus on board. The winner will get a shot at Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante’s light heavyweight championship.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed the news when appearing on MMAWeekly Radio Monday night.
“Right now my feeling is Dan Henderson fights Babalu, the winner should be fighting Rafael Feijao,” said Coker. “To me I think the winner will probably be granted a title shot.”
Both Henderson and Babalu will be making their return to 205 pounds when they meet in December. Henderson is coming off of his middleweight title loss to Jake Shields in April, while Sobral will be going back to 205 pounds after a catchweight fight against Robbie Lawler from June.
There are of course other challengers that could enter the picture next year, but Coker believes the two legends battling it out on Dec. 4 deserve the next shot at the belt. Cavalcante won the belt in August with a TKO over former champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
Coker believes there will be a lot of fights early next year to help determine more contenders, but for now the winner of Henderson/Sobral makes the most sense.
“We’ve got Gegard (Mousasi) coming back at the beginning of the year, we’ve got King Mo back probably near the end of the first quarter, and Mike Kyle who knocked out Feijao is another fight that we definitely want to promote,” Coker stated.
“I think Rafael Feijao fighting the winner of (Henderson/Babalu) would make a lot of sense.”
Henderson and Sobral will be the main event of the Dec. 4 card, which will also feature middleweights Robbie Lawler and Matt Lindland in a featured attraction on the show as well.