Strikeforce 6/27 "Melendez vs. Thomson" Show Re-Cap/Thoughts

Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson

From HP Pavillion in San Jose, California

Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the announcers for the show. Ron Kruck is also at the show and is their backstage reporter. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer (he does the Elite XC shows also).

Featherweight Fight- Bryan Caraway (8-2) vs. Alvin Cacdac (7-3)

Carraway has won six in a row and has won all his fights by submission. Cacdac is from San Jose so he's a hometown guy for this fight.

R1- Caraway immediately gets a take down, passes the guard and then takes Alvin's back. Alvin taps about a minute and a half in. Total dominance by Caraway in the opener.

Winner: Bryan Caraway by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:39

Lightweight Fight- Bobby Stack (4-1) vs. Jose Palacios (3-0)

Both of these guys are from California. Palacios trains with Strikeforce Middleweight Champ Cung Le. This is considered an "undercard" fight so it's only 3 minute rounds. I think they are just showing this because the first fight ended so quickly as they went right to this fight after the first fight ended.

R1- Stack is the agressor early with Palacios counter punching and kicking. Palacios seems to be getting in some shots but Stack gets a take down. Close round with Palacios probably taking it with the take down and controlling the cage. Stack landed 17 strikes in Round 1 and Palacios 16. Palacios landed 53% to Stack's 44%.

R2- Palacios starts off with a couple of strikes and then gets taken down again. Stack controls for the majority of the round and just misses an arm bar at the end of the round and then Palacios got on top for the last 20 seconds. I'm thinking it's Stack 20-18 right now.

R3- Stack gets a slam about 30 seconds into the round and has Palacios's back but gives it up and takes full mount. Stack getting in some shots in full mount. Palacios reverses but gets taken down again and Stack is in Palacios's guard. This one ends with Stack on top. I've got Stack 30-27 in this fight as he dominated cage control, got more strikes in and dominated the take downs.

For the fight Stack landed 36 strikes at a percentage of 53% and Palacios landed 27 at a percentage of 39%. Stack had 4 take downs to 0 and both guys had 1 submission attempt. Would have liked to have seen this one go 5 minute rounds instead of 3 minute rounds. Ken Shamrock is in Bobby Stack's corner.

All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Stack.

Winner: Bobby Stack by Decision (Unanimous)

Joe Riggs was denied his fight license by the California State Athletic Commission. They interview him and he said that he had 2 medications that he had a prescription for that were "banned" substances.

Bantamweight Fight- Anthony Figueroa (4-2) vs. Chris Cariaso (6-1)

Figueroa has been on the Strikeforce NBC show and he won impressively in one round in that fight. Cariaso holds a victory over Figueroa by Unanimous Decision on 6/22/07. Figueroa is from San Jose. Cariaso is from San Fransisco. This one is 5 minute rounds. Figueroa trains with Cung Le.

R1- Cariaso gets a take down about 45 seconds into the fight and hits some good Ground and Pound and is actively trying to improve his position. Cariaso gets full mount. Figueroa gets out of it and gets to his feet but gets taken down in short order. Figueroa gets to his feet and lands a knee. Cariaso wins this round 10-9. Cariaso landed 12 strikes at 63% and Figueroa landed only 2 at 14%.

R2- Cariaso gets another take down early in this round. Cariaso just dominating this round and getting some Ground and Pound and then taking Figueroa's back. Cariaso gets the win with a Rear Naked Choke. Cariaso looked really good in this fight as he just dominated.

Winner: Chris Cariaso by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:34

Middleweight Fight- Jeremiah Metcalf (8-4) vs. Raymond Daniels (0-0)

This is announced as a "special attraction." Daniels was 16-0 in kickboxing and 18-0 in the World Combat League and this is his pro MMA debut. Metclaf has won 4 of his last 5 and has won his last 3 fights. This is scheduled for 3 3-minute rounds.

R1- Metcalf shoots in quickly and clinches. Metcalf eventually takes him down but briefly got caught in a guillotine. Metcalf dominates the first round and hits some good Ground and Pound at the end of the round. First round goes to Metcalf.

R2- Metcalf sticks Daniels with a punch right at the beginning of the round and muscles him down again. Metcalf looked like he was going for a triangle choke and spun over and took Daniels back and choked him out. Metcalf just dominate here. Not the debut Daniels was looking for as he didn't even throw a kick.

Winner: Jeremiah Metcalf by Submission (Rear Nake Choke) R2 0:59

Women's Fight (147 lbs)- Elena Maxwell (2-2) vs. Miesha Tate (1-1)

Maxwell was featured in a fight against Gina Carano that was shown on the NBC Strikeforce show and took Gina to the limit but lost by decision in a fight that was scored 29-28 by all three judges (this fight was in 2006). Tate has a loss to Kaitlin Young, who also lost to Gina Carano on the debut Elite XC CBS show. Based on those two fights I'm going to go with Maxwell to win this one. This fight has 3 minute rounds.

R1- Tate gets an early take down. Tate gets full mount. Maxwell flips her over but Tate tries an arm bar (but can't extend it) and Maxwell grabs a head scissors at the same time. Tate finally gets the arm bar but Maxwell survives due to being saved by the bell. Tate wins this round. It looked to me like Maxwell tapped but the ref didn't see it. Oh well.

R2- Tate gets a quick take down to start Round 2. Tate gets full mount again. Tate getting in some Ground and Pound. Maxwell grabs Tate with her legs and puts her in another head scissors. Tate gets out and has side control. Tate takes this round as well and is up 20-18 on my score card. Tate has landed 18 strikes to Maxwell's 3 so far.

R3- Maxwell gets Tate's back with about a minute left. Maxwell takes this round but I give the fight to Tate 29-28. And all of the judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Tate.

Winner: Miesha Tate by Decision (Unanimous)

Light Heavyweight Title Fight: Bobby Southworth © (8-5) vs. Anthony Ruiz (20-10)

Bobby Southworth is the guy from TUF Season 1 that made the unlikeable Chris Leben into a sympathetic character. This is a re-match from a fight that Southworth lost due to a cut. Ruiz has won his last 6 fights. Cung Le joins the announcers to call this fight.

R1- Southworth gets the first take down. Bobby takes his back about one and a half minutes into the fight. Bobby never really seemed to do much damage and then Ruiz flipped him over and is in Bobby's guard. Bobby stands up the fight and then gets a take down with a little over a minute left in the round. Bobby grabbed an arm bar but didn't extend it and Ruiz got out but Bobby grabbed another submission. Bobby looked pretty good in Round One and i've got him up 10-9 on my scorecard after the first.

R2- Ruiz gets an early take down in Round two but Bobby stands up and then gets a take down of his own. Ruiz rolls him over and gets into Bobby's guard. They are basically trading take downs in this round with either guy seeming to do much damage. This was a close round, could have gone either way. I would give it to Ruiz. So i've got 19-19.

So far through 2 Rounds we've got Southworth with 20 strikes landed and hitting at 50% and we've got Ruiz with 17 strikes landed at 52%. Southworth has 3 take downs and 2 submission attempts and Ruiz is only credited with 1 take down.

R3- Ruiz gets the take down early in Round 3. Bobby answers with another take down. This is a very flat fight. Pretty much just guys taking each other down and not really doing much else. Southworth gets full mount and Ruiz gives up his back and then reverses Bobby. Ruiz grabs a guillotine and pulls guard on Southworth but Southworth gets out and is in Ruiz's guard. Not much action in this round. It probably goes to Southworth. I've got Southworth 29-28. This is any body's fight right now.

R4- They actually do some stand up in this round after some mat work. Southworth grabs a kimura on Ruiz but can't finish him. This round goes to Southworth also. This is a very tedious fight. I've got Southworth 39-37 after 4 rounds.

R5- They start this round doing stand up and Southworth goes in and takes him down and rides him to victory. I've got Southworth 49-46 in this fight. Not a fun fight to watch.

Final Stats were Southworth landing 49 strikes for 44% with 10 take downs and submission attempts. Ruiz finished with 38 strikes landed at 49% and 3 take downs.

The judges scores were 48-47, 49-46 and 50-45 in favor of Southworth. Southworth got a small round of boos at the announcement.

Winner: Bobby Southworth by Decision (Unanimous) and still champion.

Lightweight Special Attraction Fight- Nam Phan (14-4) vs. Billy Evangelista (6-0)

Nam Phan was on one of the Strikeforce NBC's featured in a decision loss to Josh Thomson.

R1- The do some brief stand up and then clinch against the cage. Billy takes him down and has him against the cage and is getting some good Ground and Pound in on Phan. Evangelista is getting in some real good punches on Phan toward the end of this round. He is just dominating this round. This might have even been an 10-8 round if you believe in such a thing. Just a dominate performance from Billy. Evangelista landed 55 strikes in Round 1 to Phan's 7.

R2- They start out Round 2 with some stand up and Phan lands a couple of shots that send Billy falling back into the cage. Billy shoots but Phan stops him and they clinch against the cage. They do some more stand up and Phan knocks out Billy's mouth piece. Billy shoots with 2 minutes left and gets a take down. Phan gets up without sustaining any damage but Billy takes him down again. Billy looks like he's cut on the side of the head. Phan took this round. Billy tried to steal it at the end but didn't do enough damage. This round goes Phan 10-9. Right now it's either 19-19 or 19-18 in favor of Evangelista depending on how the first round was scored. This fight is still any body's to win. In Round 2 Phan landed 31 strikes to Bily's 22.

R3- Phan hits some nice shots to start the round and again backs Billy into the cage. Billy comes off the cage and goes for a take down but Phan defends and they clinch. Phan knocks Billy's mouth piece out again in this round. Billy finally muscles a take down with 2 minutes left. Phan was winning this round until now. The ref stands the fighters up due to inactivity. Phan winning the stand up game again at the end of the round. Phan takes this round 10-9. I've got Billy with round one 10-8 and Phan with round two and three 10-9. I've got it 28-28- a draw. The announcers are saying they think Billy took Round One and Round Three. It looked to me like Phan dominated Round Three. Billy got a take down but didn't do anything with it. Round 3 showed Nam getting 32 strikes to Billy's 23. Overall, Billy landed 100 strikes (over half of these in the first round) and Nam landed 70 strikes (landed 63 in the last two round). Billy controlled the ground with 4 take downs but really didn't do any damage on the ground except for Round One. 78 of Billy's strikes were done on the ground, only 11 of Phan's were.

And the judges scorecard shows a split decision. Phan 29-28, Billy 29-28 and the third judge scores the fight 29-28 in favor of Billy Evangelista. Billy is the hometown guy (he's from Fresno) and the crowd booed when he was announced as the winner. Both announcers felt that Billy won and the decision was just.

Winner: Billy Evangelista by Decision (Split)


Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight: Gilbert Melendez © (14-1) vs. Josh Thomson (14-2)

These guys trained together for two years. Gilbert refers to himself in the third person during the pre-fight promos. Thomson hasn't lost in 2 years and has won his last 6 fights. His 2 losses are to Yves Edwards and Clay Guida. Melendez's best wins are over Kawajiri and Guida. Five of his last Six fights have been decision and his only lost came on New Years Eve of last year.

R1- Melendez is the aggressor early as he backs Thomson off with jabs. Thomson hits a couple of knees and then gets a take down. Thomson doesn't do much with his take down and Melendez spins out of it and take Thomson's guard. They get to their feet and square off but no one really gets the better. This was a close round, I think Thomson took it as he controlled the majority of the round but didn't dominate. Thomson 10-9. Melendez landed only 8 strikes in the first round (at a clip of 27%) and Thomson landed 15 (at a clip of 83%).

R2- Melendez again starts the round by being the aggressor and jabbing. Both guys landing shots. Lots of action early on in Round Two. Thomson hit a nice front kick and then some knees and kicks. Thomson is winning this round and Gilbert seems to be tiring. Thomson hit a big knee. Thomson with a nice spinning back kick with about a minute left. Thomson really looking good. Thomson gets a take down right at the buzzer. Thomson is definitely winning this fight. He's up 20-18 in my book and is solidly in control. Melendez is going to have to take him down and wear him out in Round 3 to get back in this one. Thomson landed 11 kicks in the round and after two rounds Thomson has hit on 45 strikes (at a clip of 67%) and Melendez has hit on 23 strikes (hitting only 26%). Thomson has 2 take downs to Melendez's 0.

R3- Melendez starts the round by pushing forward again and backing off Thomson with jabs but Thomson does a great job hitting kicks to back off Melendez and then unleashes on him with a combo and Melendez looks to be in trouble. Thomson just all over Melendez as he hit about 6 or 7 strikes in about 10 to 15 seconds on Melendez. Melendez comes back quickly and gets in a punch of two and then attempts a take down but gets stopped. Melendez seems to bet getting stronger as this round goes on but Thomson continues to hit strikes. Melendez hits a couple of combos and the mix it up with about a minute left in the round and Thomson answers with some good strikes. Thomson goes for a take down and finally gets it but doesn't have great position. Thomson almost got his back but Melendez escaped. Really good round. This was the closest round and I think Thomson took it again so I've got him up 30-27 but this round was the closest and Thomson looked visibly winded at the end of the round. In the Third Round Thomson hit 32 strikes to Gilbert's 15. Thomson has landed 35 kicks in the first 3 rounds.

R4- Melendez opens up with a good combo in the corner to start the round. Thomson answers with a big side kick. Thomson doing a good job keeping Melendez at bay with kicks. Thomson hits a big knee with 1:30 left in the round. Thomson shots in for a take down and gets it with one minute left in the round and has side control. Thomson takes Melendez's back but Thomson gets out and they sprawl and again Thomson takes his back. Thomson gets a choke with about 25 seconds left and Melendez breaks it with about 10 seconds left and holds on. Thomson took this round and he is up 40-36. Thomson and Melendez exchange respect at the end of the round. At this point Thomson has landed 107 strikes to 52 for Melendez and has 5 take downs and 1 submission attempt to 0 for Melendez. Melendez needs a knock out or submission in Round 5 to keep his title.

R5- Towards the end of the round both guys open it up and are going at each other with some really good exchanges. The first half of the round was kind of blah but they had a big explosion for about a minut and it ends with a close round. I think Thomson won every round in this fight and takes the fight 50-45. Great showing by Thomson, he did everything but finish Melendez. I thought this was a good fight. Way better than anything else on this show but not at the level of Faber/Pulver from earlier in June.

Thomson landed 131 strikes and around 70 kicks. Melendez only landed 66 strikes and hit at a percentage of 24% (while Thomson hit on 68% of his strikes). Thomson had 6 take downs and 1 submission attempt to 0 for Melendez.

Judges score the fight 50-45 in favor of Thomson.

Winner and new champion: Josh Thomson by Decision (Unanimous)

Overall, this was a pretty decent show with a really good Main Event. The show ended on an good note with the final two fights. A lot of the fights were strictly fought on the ground and that gets tedious after seeing it match after match. I'm more of a fan of a little stand up and a little ground so I enjoyed the last two fights a lot more as all the fights before the final two were almost exclusively fought on the ground. I definitely recommend checking out the Thomson/Melendez fight. The rest of the show is skippable but watch the Main Event.