Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion II 9/20/08

Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion II 9/20/08

Lon McHeron (this is how they spelled it but I think they spell it differently on the TV show) and Ken Shamrock are the announcers. Ken marvels at the "sights" at the Mansion. They discuss the "distractions" that the fighters are facing tonight. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.

Middleweight Fight- Kenneth Seegrist (5-0) vs. Eric Lawson (6-2)

R1- Seegrist goes for a quick punch but gets caught and gets taken down immediately after the bell rings. See grist grabs a guillotine but Lawson slips out. Lawson takes his back and gets a slam but Seegrist grabs another guillotine but Lawson gets out. Seegrist grabs yet another guillotine but Lawson slips out again. Lawson lands some punches and mounts Seegrist and Lawson submits Seegrist with a Rear Naked Choke to give Seegrist his first loss. Seegrists forehead is busted open.

Winner: Eric Lawson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 3:07

Light Heavyweight Fight- Anthony Ruiz (21-11) vs. Trevor Prangley (17-5)

Hopefully this is better than the snore fest Ruiz had with Bobby Southworth earlier this year.

R1- Ruiz clinches early and Prangley gets in a couple of shots. Ruiz likes to lay and lean on people if the Southworth fight is any indication. Prangley landed a nice knee. Ruiz answered with a couple of punches and clinched. Prangley has Ruiz's back and is trying to work a choke on the ground. Ruiz gets out of trouble First round goes to Prangley.

R2- Prangley gets a big take down immediately and gets side control. Trevor has Ruiz's back but doesn't have the hooks in on him. Ruiz gets back to his feet but gets taken down again. Prangley is up 20-18 in a rather boring fight.

R3- Prangley gets another take down at the beginning of the round. Prangley is riding Ruiz's back again. Ruiz gets back to his feet and again gets taken down.

Prangley is going to win this 30-27 in a very boring fight. Ruiz basically did nothing in this fight, much like the last fight he had against Southworth. Judges score the fight 29-28, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of Prangley

Winner: Trevor Prangley by Decision (Unanimous)

Hef is at ringside surrounded by babes.

Lightweight Fight- Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-4-1) vs. Justin Wilcox (5-2)

Ishida comes out to "Give it Away" by the Chili Peppers. Wilcox comes out to a generic rap song. Both guys are listed as wrestlers. Apparently Wilcox was on TUF Season 5, at least that's what Jimmy Lennon Jr tells me during introductions. This is Ishida's mainland US debut (he has fought in Hawaii).

R1- After one minute they haven't landed any punches but it's already more exciting than the last fight as they feel each other out. Ishida shoots in and goes for a take down and Ishida grabs an amazingly fast arm bar and this one is over. Amazing move. Almost looked like a flying arm bar. Wow.

Winner: Mitsuhiro Ishida by Submission (Arm Bar) R1 1:21

Middleweight Fight- Terry Martin (17-5) vs. Cory Devela (9-2)


Devela's nickname is "The One" so I'm guessing he's a fan of Billy Gunn. The last I saw of Martin he was losing to Vitor Belfort in Affliction earlier this year. He looked decent until the finish.

R1- Martin gets a slam and takes down Devela in the first minute. They stand back up and exchange a little bit. Pretty even first round.

R2- Martin gets a take down and is in Devela's guard. Devala gets back to his feet. Devela seems to be winning the stand up fight.

R3- They stand up for the majority of the round and then Terry Martin hits a good punch and knocks Devela down and the ref stops the fight pretty quickly.

Winner: Terry Martin by TKO (strikes) R3 2:08

Lightweight Fight- Ashe Bowman (9-4) vs. Josh Thomson (16-2)


Bowman comes out to some Van Halen, circa Sammy Hager. Gilbert Melendez joins the announcers for this fight. Ashe apparently trains with Ken Shamrock. Thomson is the Strikeforce Lightweight champ but this is a non-title fight. Thomson is on a 7 fight win streak. Thomson has a skunk stripe in his hair.

R1- Josh goes for a high kick early but it's blocked. Thomson lands some punches and takes down Ashe and quickly finishes. Great showing by Thomson against an over matched fighter.

Winner: Josh Thomson by TKO (strikes) R1 1:14

Ken Shamrock with a thrilling post fight interview in which he doesn't even ask Josh who he wants to fight next. Based on tonight I wouldn't mind him fighting Ishida before the Melendez re-match. Especially since Ishida has a recent victory over Melendez.

Middleweight Fight- Joe Riggs (28-10) vs. Kazuo Misaki (20-8-2)

They announce Misaki as a "World Top 10 Fighter." I look around at some web sites and he is ranked number 9 at mmafighting.com for Middleweight Fighters, below Frank Trigg and above Yoshihiro Akiyama. MMA Weekly has him at #6, below Matt Lindland (who based on his Affliction fight doesn't deserve to be in the Top 25) and above Yushin Okami.

R1- They kind of dance around for the first couple of minutes feeling each other out but not throwing any punches. Misaki gets the first strike as he lands a kick. Riggs lands a decent jab. Lots of dancing around and we are at the end of round one. I don't see how you could possibly give this round to either fighter.

R2- Misaki lands a combo about two minutes in. Very little action in this round, similar to the first. Misaki lands a kick to the gut. Riggs hits a punch and Misaki goes down but he pops right back up. Misaki returns the favor and Riggs hits the floor and Misaki jumps on top and continues to pound on Riggs. The ref stops the fight and it's over. Riggs was still covering up so Riggs is complaining of a quick stoppage.

Winner: Kazuo Misaki by TKO (strikes) R2

Not a real good show but Ishida and Thomson put on good quick exhibitions. Check those out as they only put in a total of about 3 minutes. Martin/Devala and Seegrist/Lawson were decent fights.