Top Prospect Jordan Mein Hopes to “Have a Great Time” in Strikeforce Debut
By Kelsey Mowatt
While Strikeforce’s upcoming September 10th event will feature considerable star power with the likes of Josh Barnett, Sergei Kharitonov, and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza competing, amongst several others, another of the card’s interesting storylines is the promotional debut of Jordan Mein. While Mein has yet to compete on a major international card, or even U.S. soil for that matter, the Canadian welterweight already possesses a resume that rivals many established vets.
“It’s a big advantage for me having fought some big name guys before going to an even bigger show,” said Mein, who at the age of 21 has already scored victories over UFC vets Joe Riggs, Josh Burkman and DREAM welterweight champ Marius Zaromskis. “This is my first fight in the States here and I’m just really excited to fight for Strikeforce.”
“The Score Fighting Series helped me a lot,” Mein added. “Bringing in bigger name guys, having me fight those guys and they treated me so well there.”
Mein (22-7) will head to Cincinnati, Ohio to face veteran Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (18-14), and although the Lethbridge fighter has already fought men with similar credentials, he concedes that nerves will play a factor on September 10th.
“I am going to be nervous,” Mein told FCF. “I can’t wait to overcome those nerves and just have a great time. I’ve got six or seven of my buddies coming out, so I just want to put on a good show for everybody in the crowd and make sure there all having a good time. If everyone in the crowd is having a good time then I’m happy and having a good time.”
Santos will be looking to rebound from his memorable, submission loss to former Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz in January, after earning stoppage victories over Daniel Zarate and the aforementioned Zaromskis.
“I see him as a really tough guy and he throws for the knockout every time,” said Mein about Santos, who is also a BJJ black belt. “He has serious power, so I think he’s most dangerous in the opening round because of how powerful he is.”
“To be honest I don’t know,” Mein added, when asked what strategy he believes Santos may look to employ. “I don’t know what’s going to happen; I’m just going to fight him wherever it goes, for all fifteen minutes, and try to lay a whooping on him the whole time.”
Although Mein continues to train alongside his father and trainer Lee Mein at the Canadian Martial Arts Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta, the welterweight has sought out additional partners to help him prepare for his Strikeforce debut.
“Training’s been great, my conditioning is good, my strength is up and I’ve been getting a lot of sparring in,” said Mein. “About a week ago we had our jiu-jitsu instructor Roy Harris come down; that was awesome. He’s such a great coach.”
“I also went to Kelowna for a week to train with Team Toshido and David Lea,” Mein noted. “That was awesome as they always have a lot of good, tough guys there. Then we brought it back to Lethbridge, and I’ve been training with the guys from BDB Martial Arts, Nick Ring, Brad Cardinal, their trainer Brad Bird as well. The week Roy Harris came down Jason MacDonald came down as well to train with us, so I’ve been training with some great guys.”
While Mein is just beginning his Strikeforce tenure, the prospect admits that there are several notable competitors that he is interested in facing at some juncture, including Jason High, who is the only man to defeat him in his last ten fights.
“I’d love to get a rematch with him as well and try to get that win back,” said Mein. “He’s dangerous, he’s right up there too. There are lots of good match-ups to come.”