clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

VIDEO: Maximo Blanco Vs. Pat Healy Strikeforce Preview

Maximo Blanco vs. Pat Healy at Strikeforce's semifinals on Showtime tonight promises to answer important questions about both fighters status and potential.

via <a href="http://cdn2.cagepotato.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/MaximoBlanco.jpg">cdn2.cagepotato.com</a>
via cdn2.cagepotato.com

The opening bout of the Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event is a lightweight (155lbs) bout between rising prospect Maximo Blanco and respected but not quite elite veteran Pat Healy. Healy is coming in as a late replacement for the injured Josh ThomsonAccording to current Bodog odds, Blanco is a slight favorite (-135) over Healy (+105).


Strikeforce Fight Card Preview | Weigh-In Results | Strikeforce Results

As I explain in this video, I'm just not sure how much confidence to have in Blanco. He is the superior athlete with devastating finishing ability and legitimate amateur wrestling credentials. Yet, his only experience is against totally unimpressive and less than meaningful South Korean or Japanese prospects/also-rans.

Healy is also coming into this bout as a late replacement. He looked prepared and respectable as a submission grappler against Lyle Beerbohm, but Blanco's style and talents are the antipodes of Healy's. There are a number of important and impossible to answer questions surrounding both men.

My pick: Blanco, but just barely.