Lyle Beerbohm Vs Pat Healy: The Strikeforce Breakdown
By Ben Bieker
Main Event:
Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm (15-0-0) vs. Pat “Bam Bam” Healy (25-17-0)
This is one of those fights in which one fighter has a lot to lose and the other has a lot to gain. Lyle is undefeated and honestly one of the top prospects to the Strikeforce Lightweight title. Pat has had two fights in Strikeforce.
He took out a prospect in Bryan Travers, and then gave josh Thompson all he could take until he lost. Supposedly Gilbert Melendez is set to take on Tatsuya Kawajiri and with the list of contenders being short after that with a win here Lyle could legitimize himself as a true contender.
Lyle has never showed any real weaknesses in his fights. He has 13 stoppages in fifteen wins, which 6 come by knockout and 7 by submission. He is also a fast learner because he never fought or trained before getting out of jail. In just 23 months of training he fought and won ten times. Then he decided to go pro and has not lost since.
Pat Healy has traveled the world fighting in the UFC, MFC, IFL, WEC, and now Strikeforce. He has mixed results losing big fights while winning enough to keep him relevant, beating the likes of Ryan Ford, Bryan Travers, Carlos Condit, Tiki Goshen, Paul Daley, Dan Hardy, and Michael Guymon.
While he has lost when on a streak to Josh Thompson, Jake Ellenberger, Chris Wilson, Carlo Prater, Chris Lytle, Jay Hieron, Chris Leben, and Denis Kang. His list of fighters he has fought is impressive. He needs to win this fight to keep himself relevant in the Strikeforce Lightweight title picture.
For Lyle to win this fight he needs to do what he has done in all his fights, which is use his standup and when it gets dangerous take the fight to the ground. He needs to not get caught up playing Pat’s game, which is something that Josh did when he fought him. Pat is not immune to being knocked out or submitted, but only the best have done that to him. Pat’s biggest weapon is probably his ground game, which he has used to stop many good opponents. Lyle’s ground game is good, but not good enough to tangle with Pat who has years of training.
The Bottom Line: It will be a tough fight for Lyle, but he has not cracked when fighting tougher fighters in Vitor Ribeiro. He will have to settle for long fight and a decision win.
Bryan Travers (14-2-0) def. Carlo “Neo” Prater (25-10-1)
Bryan Travers was a hot prospect, but when he ran into veteran Pat Healy he lost some heat. He has rebounded since, but needs to prove himself over a good veteran to show he does not crack under pressure. He is not the most exciting fighter getting more decisions than finishes, but he needs to keep winning and over better opponents if he wants to remain relevant. While a wrestling based style does not always make the best fights it is possible, and hopefully Bryan has learned that if he wants to move up to a real Strikeforce card.
Carlo Prater has the same problem that Pat has. He has had some big wins, but every big win was met with a bad upset. At one point a 21-4 fighter he ran into the roadblock that was Carlos Condit. Since that loss he has went 4-6, with losses to top competition and wins over not so notable opponents. In this fight he will have a chance to redeem his losses over the last couple of years. His first fight in Strikeforce could pay big dividends for his career if he can pull off the win.
Carlo obviously will spend much time on the bottom if he cannot defend the shot and if history repeats itself he won’t be able to. He will need to use his BJJ to finish Bryan if he wants to win, which is where his strengths lie. It would be smart for Travers to keep the fight standing as they are more evenly matched there, and he won’t be threatened by submissions. I doubt that will happen, but this fight will be interesting to watch it play out.
The Bottom Line: I think experience plays a big part in this fight as Carlo is able to pull off the upset by submitting Bryan in the third round.
Ryan Couture (1-0-0) vs. Lee Higgins (2-0-0)
Being the son of Randy Couture has its ups and downs. He has a lot of light shone on his career at a young point in it, and is probably getting paid quite a bit of money for a 1-0 fighter. At the same time he has a lot of his stress on him as a fighter, and expectations on him as a fighter coming from the loins of a champion. He is understandably getting world class training, and most likely it is better than Lee’s training.
Hard to range what a 1-0 and a 2-0 fighter can do, but they both have shown a penchant for the ground game. Also, Ryan does not have the best chin, having been rocked a few times in his career. Nevertheless this could be a ground game for the fans, but will most likely end as is the case when two fighters this young in their career meet in the cage.
The Bottom Line: The caliber of training Couture is getting is better than any fighter he is going to fight at his level, and until he fights some better fighter I doubt he will be challenged. Couture by first round submission.
Erik Apple (10-2-0) def. Ryan Larson (5-2-0)
Erik Apple has went 1-2 in his last three fights after going undefeated in nine fights. He was overmatched when he fought Brock Larson in 2007 and then took over a year off until he came back in Strikeforce. Even then he only fought 2 times in two years. This will be the first time he enters the cage without having took more than a year off and I think that will help. Furthermore the people he lost to each had over 30 fights when he fought them. Experience is nothing to sniff at when you have ring rust.
Ryan now plays the less experienced fighter having only fought in local shows. This is the first big step into the big leagues, and he will need to be impressive if he wants to be invited back. Luckily his strengths are his submission game, but unfortunately for him Erik has a better submission game. Sometimes people can surprise opponents if they underestimate them, but that makes it Erik’s fight to lose.
The Bottom Line: Look for Erik to get back on the winning track here and hopefully get a few more wins this year. Erik by TKO in the second round.
RSR is Now Hiring Boxing Writers (2 Slots Open)