Strikeforce on Showtime "Lawler vs. Shields" 6/6/09 Re-Cap

Strikeforce on Showtime “Lawler vs. Shields” 6/6/09
St. Louis, Missouri

This is the second installment of Strikeforce on Showtime (third if you count the Challengers Series show) and this looks to be a great line-up. On top we have a battle of former Elite XC champions as Robbie Lawler takes on Jake Shields. We have former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andre Arlovski taking on up and comer Brett Rogers. Slugger Scott Smith will take on Nick Diaz, who is coming off of a win over Frank Shamrock at the last Showtime show. Gus Johnson is the lead announcer and he is joined by Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Kevin Randleman (17-12) vs. Mike Whitehead (23-7)

To me this is the least interesting fight on the televised card. Whitehead has a 4” reach and 3” height advantage and is 10 years younger than Randleman (27 vs. 37). Randleman is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion.

R1- Randleman looks like he is ready to go before the bell rings. Whitehead missed a head kick and got taken down early but Randleman couldn’t get an advantage and they stood back up. Whitehead was able to get a double leg and took Randleman to the mat but Randleman flipped him off. Whitehead got another take down but Randleman again quickly got him off. Whitehead gets yet another take down but Randleman rests and gets up again. Randleman is already really tired and it’s just the first round. Not a good first round at all. Whitehead basically took Randleman down at will and Randleman basically didn’t take much damage. Whitehead gets this 10-9 for the takedowns but if he was fighting a better fighter I think he would be getting taken to the woodshed. They should have started with Baroni/Riggs or put Feijao’s match on PPV instead of the prelims.

R2- Whitehead got a take down and is controlling Whitehead but not doing any damage as the fans boo. Whitehead is just basically laying on Randleman for the first 3 minutes of this round. Randleman finally got out but he’s just exhausted and has been since 3 minutes into the fight. Whitehead is throwing really soft strikes. This is just a bad fight. Whitehead looks like he is pawing at a kitten with some of these strikes. Whitehead is winning 20-18. I would be really surprised if either guy fights for Strikeforce again. I know if they worked for UFC this would be their last fight for that company. This is just a bad fight. Why didn’t they start with Riggs/Baroni?

At least the ring girl is cute. That’s the highlight of this fight so far.

R3- Randleman landed a big overhand right to start the round. Whitehead hit another big punch and got in for some Ground and Pound but Whitehead survived but he’s wobbly. Whitehead gets a take down and he’s going to try and ride this round out by laying on Randleman. Whitehead goes for a kimura. Randleman gets back to his feet and we have 30 seconds left in the fight. Randleman takes this round but Whitehead will win the fight 29-28. Not a good fight. Not a good opener. Keep Whitehead on the under card from now on please.

Judges score cards say: 29-28 on all three score cards.

Winner: Mike Whitehead by Decision (Unanimous)

The scroll the crowd and we see Pat Miletich, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson, Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, and Fedor Emelianenko (gets a big reaction from the crowd). Mauro acknowledges the Affliction show in August but doesn’t say it by name (they do have an in ring advertisement for the brand).

Welterweight Fight- Phil Baroni (13-10) vs. Joe Riggs (29-10)

While neither one of these guys excites me I think this should be a good exciting fight between two veterans who should be hungry for a win and going for the knockout. Baroni is on a 3 fight win streak since moving down in weight. Josh Thomson is in Baroni’s corner. I can’t believe Joe Riggs is only 26 years old. Riggs is a former WEC Middleweight Champion. No touch of gloves when John McCarthy brought them together. Riggs is training with Arizona Combat Sports.

R1- They clinched early and Riggs got a take down. Riggs quickly went for a Rear Naked and it looked like he was going to get it but couldn’t lock it in and Baroni moved him back to full guard. Baroni struggled to get up and ended up in Riggs guard but McCarthy stood them back up. Riggs quickly went in and got a single leg take down but Baroni stuffed it and took the advantageous position as the bell rung. This was a really close round with Riggs winning the first half and Baroni the second half. I think Riggs edges this round out 10-9. Not exactly what I was expecting but it was competitive and a decent first round.

R2- They exchange some leather early in the round and then Riggs goes in for a Superman man punch and ended up with a take down but Baroni quickly reversed it and got a double leg of his own. They stood up and Riggs landed some punches in the corner. Riggs hit a punch and then a knee and Riggs is starting to open up with some strikes. Baroni got a take down but Riggs went for a triangle but couldn’t fully get it in and ended up releasing the submission. I’ve got Riggs taking this round as he landed the best strikes of the round and nearly finished the fight with a submission. Riggs is up 20-18 on my score card but both rounds have been close. Baroni actually out struck Riggs in the first round.

R3- They touched gloves to start the third and final round. Riggs landed some good strikes to open up the round and Baroni is in trouble early in the round but Riggs gave him time to recover. Riggs really controls this round as Baroni is taking a lot of shots and looks to be running out of gas but is somehow hanging on. Baroni made a run late in the round but Riggs took him down to ride out the fight. This was a good, competitive fight. I’ve got Riggs 30-27 and I’m confident that the judges will see it as a Unanimous decision (the first round was debatable but I can’t see giving Baroni rounds 2 or 3).

Judges score cards say: 30-27 on all three score cards.

Winner: Joe Riggs by Decision (Unanimous)

Post-fight Joe Riggs says that he broke both of his hands and that he has a really bad flu. Riggs says he would like to fight Jake Shields.

Mauro announces the return of Gina Carano. She will take on Cris Cyborg on August 15th. We will also see Josh Thomson versus Gilbert Melendez for the Lightweight Title. Mauro had Josh and Gilbert with him at ringside. Gilbert says he will train harder and this time it will be a different story. Josh says he just got his walking boot off two weeks ago and has been training hard ever since. Josh says they will steal the show.

The next show will be the Strikeforce Challengers Show on Friday June 19th featuring Joe Villasenor. They also announce Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem for the August show.

Catchweight 180 lb Fight- Scott Smith (17-5) vs. Nick Diaz (19-7)

Smith is coming off of a comeback win against Benji Radach back at the April debut show on Showtime. On that same show Nick Diaz dominated Frank Shamrock. This should be a really fun fight. Diaz has a 4” reach advantage in this fight. They do not touch gloves when McCarthy brings them together before the start of the round.

R1- Diaz is using his reach early to his advantage as he’s keeping Smith at bay and making Smith come in and lunge when he throws punches. Diaz is landing lots of jabs. Diaz has Smith against the cage and is peppering him with jabs but Smith clinches him and ties him up until McCarthy breaks them up. Smith immediately sticks a good right hand but Diaz absorbs it. Smith got a take down but then released it and then hit a combo on his feet. Good fight so far, I’ve got Diaz up 20-19 but Smith started to really close the gap in the last part of the round and seemed to be finding his groove. Diaz threw 146 strikes in the first round!

R2- Diaz got in a good body shot that hurt Smith about a minute into the round and then Diaz started to pick him apart with jabs and strikes. Diaz looks like he’s bleeding from his eye. Diaz keeps hitting him right in the forehead with jabs. Diaz is just peppering Smith with a constant barrage of light punches. Smith missed a big head kick. Smith misses with a trio of big strikes and Diaz clinches him. Diaz completely controlled this round and had Smith down on the ground at the end of the round. Diaz threw 221 punches in that round and landed 125 of them. Borderline 10-8 round. I think the only thing keeping it from being 10-8 is Smith stayed on his feet for the whole round until the end and did actually get some offense in on Diaz. Diaz leading 20-18 going into the final round.

R3- They exchange some letter in the first 20 seconds of the round and then clinch. Smith misses another big kick and Diaz lands another good body shot that takes Smith to the ground. Diaz goes to take his back and Diaz locks in the Rear Naked and get the win.

Another great showing by Diaz. I don’t know what weight class Diaz is in but I’m thinking he needs a title shot here in Strikeforce. Either that or put him up against the winner of Lawler/Shields. Diaz landed 207 of 397 strikes in this fight to Smith’s 31 of 93.

Winner: Nick Diaz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 1:41

Post-Fight Diaz throws Scott Smith’s training partners under the bus and says Smith should come down the road and train with his team, “a real team.”

Heavyweight Fight- Andre Arlovski (15-6) vs. Brett Rogers (9-0)

Rogers beat Abongo Humphrey at the last Strikeforce show. Arlovski’s last fight was a loss to the #1 Heavyweight in the world Fedor Emelianenko. Arlovski had won 5 in a row going into that fight. They show Fedor and hype his PPV fight on August 1st against Josh Barnett and they show Barnett as well. The winner of this most likely gets Overeem in August. Rogers has a 18 lb advantage and a 4.5” reach advantage. Arlovski is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and this is his Strikeforce debut. For the third fight in a row neither fighter touches gloves as McCarthy pulls them together to go over the rules.

R1- “Rogers comes in and drops Arlovski quickly and this one is over almost immediately. Wow! Rogers just destroyed a Top 5 fighter in seconds. On the re-play Rogers threw some punches and missed but kept coming and landed 3 to 4 straight punches against the cage. He hit two really big punches consecutively. Big time win for Rogers. Bring on Overeem!

Post-fight Rogers said he wants a title shot. I think he might have a good point.

“I was hungry baby”- Brett Rogers

Winner: Brett Rogers by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:22

They hype the Affliction PPV as they show highlights of Fedor/Sylvia and Fedor/Arlovski and Fedor joins Mauro ringside and they do an interview through an interpreter. Next they highlight Josh Barnett and show highlights of the Barnett/Yvel fight. Barnett joins Mauro ringside.

Catchweight 182 lb Fight- Robbie Lawler (16-4) vs. Jake Shields (22-4-1)

Shield is a former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and Lawler is a former Elite XC Middleweight Champion. Both guys had the belts when Elite XC went out of business so they were never beaten for their belts.

R1- Shields went for a take down but Robbie fought it off and then they clinched around the ring. Shields grabbed a guillotine and tapped out Robbie Lawler. Great showing by Shields. Lawler looked like he just never really got started and Shields got an opening and took it.

Post-fight Shields says he wants Cung Le’s belt. Says for Cung to fight him or give it over to him.

Winner: Jake Shields by Submission (Guillotine) R1 2:02

The big winners tonight were Nick Diaz, Brett Rogers and Jake Shields. Showtime is doing a good job of matching up fighters and giving some of the lesser known guys a chance to get wins and potentially become stars in the future (Diaz against Shamrock, Shields against Lawler, Rogers against Arlovski). This show started slow as the worst fight of the night (Randleman/Whitehead) opened the show but the last three fights were all either very good fights or very good spectacles. Solid night of fights and Strikeforce now has some interesting fights coming up with Rogers/Overeem, Shields/Le, Carano/Cyborg, and Thomson/Melendez either signed or on the horizon and they have a guy in Nick Diaz that has just looked fantastic in his last two fights.