Strikeforce 4/11/09 Re-Cap

Strikeforce on Showtime 4/11/09
San Jose, California

This is the debut show for Strikeforce on Showtime as they are taking Elite XC’s spot. The Main Event is Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz. Gus Johnson is the lead announcer (Yes!). Gus is joined by Mauro Ranallo (former Pride and Elite XC announcer). Mauro gives us a history lesson and tells us that Strikeforce began in 2006 (Scott Coker the owner has been in MMA for 15 years). The Main Event of the first Strikeforce show (which was held in the same building as tonight’s show) was Frank Shamrock destroying Cesar Gracie in just 21 seconds. Gracie is Nick Diaz’s mentor. Nice touch of history given to the Main Event. Gina Carano, Tito Ortiz, Andrei Arlovski, Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Babalu Sobral, former Elite XC Welterweight Champion Jake Shields, former Elite XC Middleweight Champ Robbie Lawler, Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le are all in attendance tonight. They mention that Shields will fight Lawler on June 6th, they also tease Overeem for a possible fight on June 6th. Gus Johnson introduces the third member of the broadcast team, Pat Miletich. Really strong opening from Strikeforce.

Heavyweight Title Fight- Brett Rogers (9-0) vs. Abongo Humphrey (5-0)

I’ve been impressed with Rogers the first two times that I’ve seen him. Rogers has a large 5’ height, 8.5’ reach and 23 pound advantage in this fight. Humphrey is a Jiu Jitsu and Kickboxing fighter while Rogers is a freestyle fighter. Humphrey has won all 5 of his fights by KO. He is BET’s Iron Ring Heavyweight Champion. Rogers has 8 wins by KO and 1 by submission. I don’t think we will be seeing a decision in this fight.

R1- Good first round as both fighters were very active. Rogers started to take over at the half way point of the round and landed some good strikes towards the end of the round. Herb Dean took a point away from Rogers for grabbing Humphrey’s hair after he had given him two warnings. With the point deduction I’ve got the first round at 9-9 (Rogers getting the 10 but losing a point on referee deduction).

Mickey Rourke is at the show and Kevin Randleman is also shown in the same picture.

R2- Rogers got Humphrey on the cage and just nailed him with a bunch of shots. Humphrey finally hit the canvas after he’d been bloodied and this one was over. Rogers really started to take over at the end of the first round and just destroyed him with some big shots early in round two. Great showing for Rogers, I’m eager to see him step up in competition soon and see how he does.

Winner: Brett Rogers by KO R2 1:38

Woman’s 150lb Fight- Cris Cyborg (6-1) vs. Hitomi Akano (14-5)

This should be an interesting fight as Cyborg came in around 7 pounds overweight for the fight and it was much publicized on the web. Cyborg has a 3.5” height, 6.5” weight and 6” reach advantage. Cyborg is a Muay Thai and BJJ fighter and Akano is a grappler and judo fighter. Akano has won 11 of her 15 fights by submission.

R1- Very active first round with Cyborg really taking the fight to Akano and knocking her down several times in the round. 10-9 round for Cyborg.

R2- Another big round for Cyborg. Akano went for a flying arm bar and Cyborg drove her to the ground and laid in some good punches on her. Cyborg is up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Cyborg really lays into Akano at the beginning of the round and the ref steps in to call the fight. Cyborg’s size advantage was really just too much for Akano.

They heavily pimp Cyborg vs. Gina Carano throughout this fight.

Winner: Cris Cyborg by TKO (Strikes) R3 0:35

They preview the next Strikeforce show on June 6th on Showtime. Robbie Lawler will take on Jake Shields. Babalu Sobral will defend the Light Heavyweight Belt against Rafael Feijao.

Middleweight Fight- Scott Smith (16-5) vs. Benji Radach (19-4)

Scott Smith is coming off a fight against Terry Martin in November for Strikeforce in which he finished Martin in less than 30 seconds. Radach was last seen defeating Ninja Rua in a October in a good fight. This should be a stand-up war.

R1- Both guys landed shots for the first part of the round. Smith landed some good shots and chased Benji around the cage but Benji fought back and hit a punch that hurt Smith. Benji then jumped to the offensive and landed some good offense. Benji went for a take down at the end of the round and got it and landed a couple of shots. I’ve got Radach up 10-9 after a good first round.

R2- Radach landed some good shots in the middle of the round and then grabbed a guillotine but Smith slipped out. Smith is busted open. Radach is up 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Smith’s got a bloody face but he battles and gets some shots in on Benji. Benji shoots and Smith grabs a guillotine but Benji dumps him to the mat. Smith continues to push forward and lands a nice jab and bloodies Benji. Two minutes left in the fight and Smith needed a knockout and Smith landed a big right hand and got the Knockout punch and then jumped on top with a punch and the ref stopped the fight. Great comeback win for Smith. Good fight.

Winner: Scott Smith by KO R3 3:24

Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Fight- Gilbert Melendez (14-2) vs. Rodrigo Damm (8-2)

Damm is taking this fight on short notice due to Josh Thomson sustaining an injury and having to drop out. Since Thomson is unavailable to defend his Lightweight title this fight is for the interim title. This is a 5-round fight due to it being for the interim title. Melendez is a former Strikeforce Lightweight champion having lost the title to Josh Thomson last year.

R1- Melendez caught a Damm kick early and took him down and really controlled Damm all round long. Melendez 10-9.

R2- Melendez hit a big right hand about two minutes into the round and this one is over. Melendez just dominated an inferior opponent who took the fight on short notice in this fight. Good fight from Melendez as he really needed a win after losing to Thomson and Ishida.

Winner and new Interim Lightweight Champion: Gilbert Melendez by KO R2 2:02

Cung Le is interviewed ringside about his new movie “Fighting.”

180 lb Catchweight Fight- Frank Shamrock (23-9-2) vs. Nick Diaz (18-7)

This should be a good fight based on all the trash talking and the history surrounding the fight. I think both guys will want to stand up and trade. Diaz is generally a pretty good jab guy but he also tends to be a slow starter and Shamrock has a lot more power than most of the guys Diaz faces since Diaz is moving up in weight for this fight. Diaz is coming off of wins against Thomas Denny, Mushin Corbbrey and Katsuya Inoue but Shamrock is definitely a step up in caliber than those guys. Shamrock is coming off a loss in his last fight against Cung Le in which Shamrock sustained a broken arm. Diaz has a 3’ height and 2’ reach advantage.

R1- Diaz caught a kick and got a take down in the first minute. Diaz easily passed guard but Shamrock slipped out before Diaz did any damage. Shamrock slipped and Diaz jumped on top and mounted Shamrock and got in a lot of punches but Shamrock was able to block a lot of them. First round goes to Diaz. It was pretty even with Diaz getting two take downs. Diaz did not take advantage of the first take down but did get some damage in on the second one. Diaz up 10-9 after one round.

R2- Diaz is talking trash all through out this fight and is doing a good job using his reach advantage to keep Shamrock at bay. Diaz is landing some good jabs in this round and he’s just picking Shamrock apart and Shamrock is down in the corner and Diaz lays in some good Ground and Pound until John McCarthy stops the fight. Diaz showed some good sportsmanship in helping up Shamrock after the fight.

Really good showing by Diaz. Diaz looked really motivated in this fight and looked better than he has in his last 3 fights. I think this fight shows what Diaz can do when he’s motivated. Diaz landed 129 punches in this fight (78 standing arm strikes, 44 ground strikes and 7 standing leg strikes).

Winner: Nick Diaz by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:57

Strong show from Strikeforce on the debut on Showtime. All 5 fights were entertaining tonight. I look forward to seeing more live Strikeforce shows in the future.