Tyron Woodley vs. Rudy Bears Photo: MMAJunkie

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Please make plans to join us tonight for the Strikeforce: Woodley vs. Bears open thread and discussion. Also on the card in the co-main event slot will be Kerry Vera facing off against Kim Couture.  The fights air LIVE on Showtime beginning at 11pm EST.  Be here :).

Kerry Vera vs. Kim Couture

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From MMAMania:

Main event:
170 lbs.: Tyron Woodley (171) vs. Rudy Bears (170)

Main card:
135 lbs.: Kerry Vera (135) vs. Kim "Sugar Free" Couture (136)
170 lbs.: Erik Apple (170.5) vs. Bobby Voelker (170)
205 lbs.: Aaron Rosa (206) vs. Rafael "Feijao" (205)
185 lbs.: Kevin Casey (185) vs. Chad Vance (185)

Under card:
155 lbs.: Lee Gibson (155) vs. Joe Wilk (155.5)
145 lbs.: Brian Davidson (147) vs. Russel Patrick (144)
170 lbs.: Andrew Waters vs. Nick Nolte (171)
185 lbs.: Darryl Cobb (184) vs. Gary Tapasua (185)
167 lbs.: Mike Chandler (166) vs. Rich Bouphanouvong (164)
190 lbs.: Dominic Brown (190) vs. Lucas Lopes (191.4)

SBN coverage of Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Bears

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