On Friday July 23rd, the Strikeforce Challengers series returns as two anticipated matches co-headline this event. In the main event, the heavyweights battle as fast-rising mma fighter Shane Del Rosario, at 240 pounds, faces off against a very dangerous and massive opponent in Lolohea Mahe, who is expected to weigh in at the maximum 265 pounds. Rosario (9-0; 7 KOs) is still considered the #1 US Muay Thai heavyweight fighter (6-1; 6 KOs).

SHANE DEL ROSARIO HEIGHT: 6’4″ WEIGHT: 240 lbs RECORD: 9-0

LOLOHEA MAHE HEIGHT: 6’1″ WEIGHT: 265 lbs RECORD: 4-1-1

Besides power, the 6-foot-4, 27-year-old Del Rosario possesses excellent movement and quickness. A graduate of UC Irvine with a degree in Psychology, Filipino-American Del Rosario also played basketball in high school. Rosario’s last win came more than eight months ago, an omoplata victory over Brandon Cash.

Rosario’s only loss came as a kickboxer, to the late Dutch phenom Ginty Vrede. Vrede was considered to be one of the next dominant kickboxing stars to come out of The Netherlands. He passed away at the age of just 22 from an apparent heart-related ailment. Vrede’s record as a kickboxer was 21 wins 1 loss, 20 KOs.

Lolohea Mahe, an American Samoan, resides in Hawaii. He will be trying to regain his winning ways after suffering the first defeat of his career in his last fight with Lavar Johnson during Strikeforce Challengers 7 last March.

#3 Female Fighter in the World

In the co-main event, the ladies take the cage as flame-throwing powerhouse and current Strikeforce Bantamweight champion, Canadian Sarah Kaufman (11-0; 8 KOs), defends her belt for the first time against Roxanne Modafferi (15-5), who upset the former #1 contender, Tara LaRosa, by split decision in her last fight. Modafferi isn’t known for her knockout power, but she has shown recent strides in her stand-up game. Many were surprised at the crispness of her strikes against LaRosa. She was very impressive all around in that fight.

Since 2007, Roxanne is 8-1, with her only loss being against one of the pioneers for female mma fighting, Marloes Coenen. Roxanne did, however, defeat Coenen in their first encounter.

Roxanne Modafferi - #1 Contender at 135lbs

Modafferi, a native of Delaware, also works as an English teacher in Japan for one of the elite schools of that region. Looking at the innocent smile of Modafferi, you would never guess that she was a professional fighter. She is trained in Taekwondo, Kempo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and fights out of Japan.

Kaufman is considered the #3 ranked female fighter in the world, behind Cristiane Santos (Brazil) and Megumi Fujii (Japan). Kaufman discovered martial arts at the age of 17 when a gym opened up in the same building where she took dance classes in ballet, jazz and hip hop. She knocked out her first eight opponents before earning a tough decision over Miesha Tate during the first ever Strikeforce Challengers event on May 15, 2009.

ShoMMA: Strikeforce Challengers is a mixed martial arts series produced by the mixed martial arts organization Strikeforce and the Showtime cable network. Similar to Showtime’s earlier ShoXC, the purpose of the series is to highlight up and coming MMA fighters.

"Abongo" Humphrey

Abongo Humphrey looks to continue to get back on track, as he fights for the 2nd straight time at 205 pounds. He has dropped forty pounds since April 2009 to fight at light-heavyweight. Fighting a big man like Brett Rogers will help you in that decision! Abongo is now an ultra lean 205 pounder.

Following a career in football at Tuskegee University, Humphrey began taking interest in the martial arts, from general grappling to Brazilian jiu jitsu and Muay Thai. He made his MMA debut in South Africa in 2002 before fighting in the United States. Humphrey was featured on the BET mixed martial arts show Iron Ring, eventually winning the Heavyweight tournament.

Humphrey will be fighting Mike Kyle (16-7-1; 11 KOs), who is coming off a four fight winning streak. His last loss was almost a year ago, when he was submitted by Fabricio Werdum. He’s the current KOTC (King of the Cage) heavyweight champion.

Caros Fodor (5-2) makes his Strikeforce debut when he faces Frenchman Ousmane Thomas Diagne (1-1). Known as “The Future,” Fodor is a 26-year-old military veteran who began training with Washington’s AMC Kickboxing and Pankration after tours of duty in Iraq and Kuwait. He debuted professionally in 2005.

Diagne will fight for the third time under the Strikeforce banner. Like his idol Cung Le, Diagne is also a longtime practitioner of San Shou, a form of professional kickboxing. This will indeed be a very entertaining and exciting fight.

Also on the main televised card, Cory Devela (9-4), who has fought just twice in two years, will face rugged veteran Bobby Voelker (21-8).

It will be interesting to see if both undefeated fighters in Del Rosario and Kaufman hold on to this distinction after the fights are decided.

Strikeforce: Challengers 9
in Everett, Washington

Date: Friday July 23, 2010

Time: 10pm(Eastern time)
Location: Everett, Washington
Venue: Comcast Arena of Everett
Broadcast: Showtime (in USA), Super Channel (in Canada)

Bars To Watch Locally, LIVE

MAIN CARD

• Heavyweight bout: Shane Del Rosario vs. Lolohea Mahe
• Women’s Bantamweight Championship bout: Sarah Kaufman(C) vs. Roxanne Modafferi
• Light Heavyweight bout: Abongo Humphrey vs. Mike Kyle
• Welterweight bout: Cory Devela vs. Bobby Voelker
• Lightweight bout: Caros Fodor vs. Ousmane Thomas Diagne

PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)

• Ryan Hayes vs. Brent Knopp
• C.J. Marsh vs. Taurean Washington
• Joe Hernandez vs. Chris Inman
• Doug Kay vs. Scott McDonald
• Drew Brokenshire vs. Mike Minniger
• Levi Alford vs. Jamen Olney
• John Elam vs. Frankie Orr

Related posts:

1. Strikeforce’s Lacklustre Presentation For Challengers
2. Official For Chicago, Nov. 7th: Fedor’s Next Opponent Is Undefeated Big Bad Brett Rogers
3. Louis Taylor hopes to bring his “Handgunz” to his Strikeforce encounter