Beerbohm’s new elbows have a plan for Shinya Aoki
Lyle Beerbohm couldn’t become more perfect with each successive win. Being undefeated meant Beerbohm always had a little more to…
Lyle Beerbohm couldn’t become more perfect with each successive win. Being undefeated meant Beerbohm always had a little more to lose than to gain. That is, until he lost a unanimous decision to Pat Healy in the main event of a Strikeforce Challengers show in February, and then suddenly it was like a weight had been lifted.
“I think my friends and family took it worse than I did,” said Beerbohm. “I know how it is in MMA. I know how easy it is to get caught and to get knocked out or submitted. I knew it was probably a matter of time. But my friends and family, they don’t know as much about MMA so they couldn’t believe I lost.”
“I don’t really care about the loss that much. I had four years where I’d never lost a fight, and all my amateurs before that, and that’s a lot of pressure that’s building and building on you. So to get out there and lose a fight, it’s not that big a deal because I know I’m going to come out as a much better fighter as a result.”
“They called me and asked if I wanted to fight Aoki, and I didn’t ask a whole lot of questions. I said sure. That’s a good fight for me.”
“I don’t think my sprawl-and-brawl is up to par. In MMA, if someone really wants a takedown and they commit to it, I think they usually get it. Unless, I guess, you have some super good sprawl-and-brawl, like Gilbert Melendez did. He really shut him down. But I’m not that type of fighter. I definitely have to be aware of his tricky submissions, but I have to kind of fight him a little bit different. I don’t want to be on my back with him, so I have to push the pace and either get on top of him or beat him up against the cage.”
“I like to go to the ground, and he’s one of the best grapplers in the world at lightweight. I think it should be an exciting fight, and I’m not afraid to go to the ground with him. I’m really not. He might think that no one wants to go there with him, but we’ll see what happens when we get there.”
“I think (the new Strikeforce rules allowing ebows) is better for me. I like to use elbows, and now I can. I go out there and I don’t care who I’m fighting, I’m there to win and finish. So I think {the Zuffa purchase} will be good for me. …Any time the UFC is behind something, it gets big. Having the UFC back Strikeforce can only lead to good things, in my opinion.”
