Thursday, November 27, 2008

Strikeforce "Destruction" 11/21/08 Re-Cap

Strikeforce "Destruction" Re-Cap

This show is from San Jose. The main fights will be a Strikeforce Light Heavyweight fight where Bobby Southworth defends against Renato "Babalu" Sobral and then Scott Smith fights Terry Martin in the Main Event. Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the announcers as usual. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.

Middleweight Fight- Nik Theotikos (5-1) vs. Luke Rockhold (2-1)

5 of Nik's first 6 fights have ended in the first round. He is 2-0 in Strikeforce fights. Luke comes out to a Metallica song. He's from San Jose. Luke has never been past the first round in a fight. Looks like this one will be a quick one.

R1- Nik quickly grabs Luke in a guillotine and seems to have it in really tight. Luke gets out and is in Nik's guard. Rockholt gets in a lot of strikes while in Nik's guard. Rockholt takes Nik's guard and wins via Rear Naked Choke. Good win by Luke as he had to escape an early submission and then dominated after that point.

Winner: Luke Rockhold by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1

Gina Carano is interviewed after the fight.

Welterweight Fight- Joe Riggs (28-10) vs. Luke Stewart (6-1)

Riggs is 10-10 since losing to Matt Hughes. Riggs is a 3-1 favorite in this fight. Big John McCarthy is the ref for this fight (he had previously retired but has now returned).

R1- Stewart gets a quick take down but they quickly stood back up. Stewart is controlling the pace of the fight and got Riggs back on the mat at the three minute mark of the round. Not a lot of damage done in the first round but it goes to Stewart as he controlled the fight. Stewart landed 10 strikes in round one to Riggs one strike and Stewart got 2 take downs to zero of Riggs. Stewart has a bunch of hotties in the crowd cheering for him.

R2- Riggs takes Stewart's guard early in the round and is laying in some punches. Riggs is landing some good shots now and Stewart dives at Riggs legs to try and hold on but McCarthy stops the fight.

Winner: Joe Riggs by TKO (strikes) R2 2:05

Woman's Fight- Kim Couture (0-1) vs. Lina Kvokov (0-1)

This is Couture's second professional fight. Both of these women are 0-1 so basically the only reason this fight is on the show tonight is due to Kim's last name. Randy and Gina Carano are both in Kim's corner for the fight.

R1- They come out throwing punches. Kvokov with horrible defense. Kim is pulling her hair and punching her and Kvokov is basically just in this fight to be a punching bag. They have a split screen on Randy for the first minute of the fight. The ref stops the fight a couple of minutes into it. Kvokov just didn't look like she belonged in the ring or wanted to be there.

"The first thing you should do is keep your eye on your opponent. That way you can see the punches coming."- Bas Rutten

Winner: Kim Couture by TKO (strikes) R1 1:44

Josh Thomson was originally going to fight but he injured his toe. So Duane Ludwig is stepping in to take his place.

Lightweight Fight- Duane Ludwig (17-8) vs. Yves Edwards (34-14-1)

Edwards was last seen getting demolished at the hands of KJ Noons. Ludwig defeated Sammy Morgan in his last fight. Josh Thomson joins Bas and Kenny to help announce the fight. Mike Brown (WEC Featherweight Champ) is in the corner of Edwards for the fight.

R1- Yves gets a quick take down. Yves looks like he's bleeding even though he hasn't been hit with a punch yet. Not a lot of action but Yves basically stays on top of Ludwig for the entire first round. Yves 10-9 in round one.

R2- Edwards got a take down but Ludwig got right up. Yves got another take down about one and a half minutes into the round. Ludwig gets back to his feet and slams Edwards to the mat but Edwards gets back up and takes Ludwig down again.

R3- Ludwig fought off Yves and got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. I've got it 20-18 Yves so Ludwig needs to finish. Not a very exciting fight, kind of disappointing. I've got Yves 29-28 for the decision win.

The judges score cards say: 29-28 in favor of Duane Ludwig for all judges. surprising. Duane did out strike Yves. I'm just very surprised that it was "unanimous".

Winner: Duane Ludwig by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Bobby Southworth (c) (9-5) vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral (30-7)

Southworth's strategy in every fight I've ever seen him in is to simply grab his opponent and lean on them for 5 rounds. Babalu has won 13 of his last 15 fights.

R1- Southworth gets a quick take down and lays on Babalu. Babalu gets up and they clinch against the cage. Three and a half minutes gone in the fight and little to no action so far. Babalu hits an elbow and Southworth's nose is busted open. McCarthy pauses the fight to take a look at the cut. The announcers are surprised that the fight is continuing. Southworth pushes Babalu to the ground and jumps on top as the bell rings to end the fight.I think you have to give this round to Babalu due to damage inflicted on Southworth.

During the intermission they stop the fight due to the cut (it was actually over his eye) and give Babalu the TKO victory.

Winner and new champion: Babalu Sobral TKO (cut) R1 5:00

Middleweight Fight- Terry Martin (18-5) vs. Scott Smith (13-5)

Cung Le joins Bas and Kenny to call the fight.

R1- Scott Smith hit a big shot early in the round and Terry Martin got KO'd. Quick work by Scott Smith. That was a big time KO. Smith hit him on the temple as he leaned in and Martin just fell where he was standing.

Winner: Scott Smith by KO R1 0:24

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