Strikeforce Welterweight Tyron Woodley Photo: MMAJunkie

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The main event of the Strikeforce show on Friday night will feature one of the fastest rising welterweight fighters out there in Tyron Woodley.  He'll be facing Rudy Bears, an M-1 and Freestyle Cage Fighting veteran that comes into this fight with an overall record of (10-3).  Admittedly, I don't know much about him, but he seems to be pretty well rounded with 4 wins via TKO and 4 wins via submission.  However, he's been submitted in all 3 of his losses and that happens to be an area that Woodley favors.  Bears has been able to put together 6 wins in a row(3 in 2009 alone) and looks to derail the Woodley hype train.

Woodley comes into this event fresh off a dominating win over MMA veteran Zach Light back in September.  Woodley's overall record stands at (4-0) with all four wins coming via submission.  Woodley was a standout wrestler for the University of Missouri, but has become a pretty well rounded fighter in a short period of time.  Against Light he exhibited good standup skills, explosive take downs, and very good transitions on the ground.  You can see a pre-fight interview with Woodley, as he goes over his thoughts going into this fight. 

This is clearly a fight that he should win and another chance to get some valuable experience before moving on up against tougher opposition.  I expect him to continue his trend of submission wins here and if you haven't had a chance to see him fight?  Make sure you check it out tomorrow night on Showtime, and join us for the Strikeforce open thread and discussion at 11pm EST.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Bears