Strikeforce on NBC 6/1 Re-Cap

Strikeforce on NBC 6/1 Re-Cap

Bobby Southworth (8-4) vs. Anthony Ruiz (17-10)- 11/16/07

Bobby Southworth is the guy from The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 that made Chris Leben a likeable guy. The telecast spends the majority of time hyping up Ruiz.

R1- Bobby catches a kick and takes down Ruiz quickly. Bobby gets full mount and then gets Ruiz’s back. Bobby had a great position but loses it and Ruiz reverses and then they get back to their feet in a clinch. Ken Shamrock is really killing Bobby Southworth on commentary, questioning his work ethic and asking why he’s not doing certain things in the ring. Southworth gets another take down. They mention that Southworth is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion but that this is a non-title match. Round 1 was pretty even and uneventful- Ruiz probably took it due to some knees he was landing but I could see Southworth getting it also. Neither guy really did anything to deserve Round One.

R2- They start to mix early in Round 1 and Southworth is send running backwards and Ruiz follows up with a take down. Bobby is cut. They show a replay and Ruiz just nailed Southworth with four straight shots. Ref stops the fight due to a cut.

Winner: Anthony Ruiz by TKO (Ref Stoppage due to cut)

Gilbert Melendez (8-0) vs. Harris Sarmiento (18-12)- 3/10/06

R1- Melendez gets a take down fairly early after a clinch. Melendez getting in some shots as he has Sarmiento up against the cage. Melendez dominating so far. Melendez hitting some elbows. Melendez with more elbows. He’s just eating Sarmiento up. Sarmiento gets to his feet and eats a couple of punches on the way up but gets to his feet. Melendez pick him up and slams him back down and is hitting him with some shots. This was a 10-8 round in favor of Melendez. Just not even close.

R2- Melendez got caught with a couple of shots but still got the take down at the beginning of the round. Gilbert is pounding on Sarmiento and Herb Dean stops the fight. Melendez just dominated.

Winner: Gilbert Melendez by TKO (punches) R2 0:44