Mein elbowing Woodley (photo via Strikeforce / Showtime)

Welterweight Looking to Rebound Against Tyler Stinson Saturday

By Kelsey Mowatt

Although Jordan “Young Gun” Mein failed to record his second Strikeforce win in January and had his six fight winning streak end, the 22 year-old remains confident in his abilities to contend for the promotion’s welterweight belt. A key reason being, of course, that one of the three cageside judges on January 7th believed he had defeated the undefeated Tyron Woodley. Victory or not, Mein proved that the highly touted prospect title he’s been carrying is not an overstatement.

“Definitely,” said Mein, when asked if there were some positive things he took out of his split decision loss to Woodley, who will fight Nate Marquardt for the vacant Strikeforce belt Saturday. “It depends on how you look at the fight. I was more active off my back…but my back was on the mat and he got all the takedowns. How you score it is a big thing.”

“I do take some positives out of it because I do believe I’m right up there with all the contenders,” Mein added, who had scored wins over established vets like Marius Zaromskis, “Cyborg” Santos, Joe Riggs and Josh Burkman in the run up to his bout with Woodley. “After this fight I don’t see why I couldn’t have a title fight, or in the future after a few more fights, but I’m right at the top.”

Of course, some observers were surprised when it was announced that Woodley would take on Mein in just his second Strikeforce bout. For some time now, Woodley has been viewed as the promotion’s number one contender, and many believed that the 30 year-old-fighter’s title shot was already overdue. In other words, a loss to Mein would have sent considerable shockwaves through the sport

“It’s a good style to win,” Mein told Full Contact Fighter when asked about the defeat, which saw the renowned wrestler control much the fight from the top position. “He doesn’t take much damage, I mean the top of his head was probably hurting pretty bad, but I didn’t take much damage either. He landed a couple of strikes.”

“I obviously showed that I need to work on fighting off my back and my wrestling,” Mein furthered. “For excitement wise it wasn’t the most exciting fight, but getting wins is very important, so it’s a good game plan for him.”

Now, Mein (24-8) will resume his hunt for a top contender slot, when he fights Tyler Stinson (23-8), July 14th in Portland. Stinson is also coming off a split decision loss on January 7th, as the 26 year-old-fighter had his four fight winning streak snapped by Tarec Saffiedine.

“He always puts guys on the defense right away; he’s always coming forward,” Mein noted about the Kansas welterweight. “I’ve seen him lose to triangle-chokes a few times, so I’m sure he works on that all the time, but that’s one of his weaknesses. I know he’s willing to go everywhere; he’ll wrestle, it will be a grappling match or a stand-up match. Wherever the fight goes he’ll take it. It’s not like he’s just a striker or a grappler. That’s what he’s shown in the past.”

Prior to facing Saffiedine, Stinson had lost just twice since 2009, while he competed for C3 Fights, Bellator as well as Strikeforce.

“I told my Mom who I was fighting and she was actually really excited,” Mein relayed. “She was sitting next to Tyler’s family (on January 7th) and was chatting with them, so she’s really excited because she’s got to know his family a little bit and talked to him after as well. So I knew who he was right away.”

Saturday’s card will be hosted by Portland’s Rose Garden Arena and will be broadcast on Showtime.