If Strikeforce ever gets around to handing out the welterweight title recently vacated by Nick Diaz, Saturday's "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine" event seems to have a blueprint in place.
Featured welterweight bouts? Tyron Woodley vs. Jordan Mein and Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson.
Each winner would appear a perfect candidate for an upcoming title fight. Woodley, though, doesn't see it that way.
"Everyone knows I'm basically the uncrowned champion in this division regardless of what happened, who shifted around," Woodley told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I think it's time for me to go out there and show them I'm steps above this young kid and whoop this young buck's butt."
Woodley (9-0 MMA, 7-0 SF) is obviously confident he'll be victorious against Mein (23-7 MMA, 1-0 SF) at Saturday's event, which takes place at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas (with the main card on Showtime and prelims on Showtime Extreme). But even if Saffiedine knocks off the hard-hitting Stinson, Woodley doesn't believe they'd be on equal footing.
For one, Woodley already defeated Saffiedine a year ago (at Strikeforce Challengers 13). Additionally, he believes Saffiedine's quality of competition pales in comparison to his own.
"I'm cordial with Tarec," Woodley said. "We had a conversation face to face. I said, 'I respect the fact you want a rematch, but I fought Paul Daley on the same night you fought Scott Smith. Not the same thing. I'm fighting Jordan Mein on the same night you're righting Tyler Stinson. Not the same thing.' I said, 'You have to beat someone substantial to warrant a rematch. You just don't jump into a title fight because you beat Scott Smith. That's not fair.'
"Who has he beat? He hasn't beat anyone."
Woodley, of course, isn't one to bite his tongue. As a gym owner and fight manager, he often has to dish out the cold truth, no matter how unpopular his opinion. And when it comes to Strikeforce and the status of the organization's sometimes-confusing welterweight division, he has no shortage of quips.
But more than anything, he doesn't like that people see Saffiedine and him in the same pecking order.
"We're on different planets right now," he said. "Besides, Tarec needs to worry about Tyler Stinson before he worries about me. That kid is coming to give it to him."
As for his own opponent, Woodley is satisfied. With Diaz gone and now in the UFC, and with the sport's other top-10 welterweights committed to the sister promotion, Woodley's had to change his expectations in Strikeforce.
Mein has racked up an amazing 30 fights at just 22 years old, but he still hasn't garnered much of the big-show spotlight. Woodley, though, isn't worried so much about the notoriety as what the Canadian youngster brings to the cage.
"I know his name, and that's all that matters," Woodley said. "How many top-10 guys are left in the division, anyway? Paul Daley was the last one, and
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