Strikeforce: Evolution 12/20/09 Re-Cap

Strikeforce: Evolution
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California
12/20/09

The feature attraction tonight is the return of undefeated former Middleweight Champion Cung Le to take on slugger Scott Smith. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he’s joined on the show by Frank Shamrock and Stephan Quadros. Jimmy Lennon, Jr is the ring announcer. We will also Matt Lindland, Ronaldo Jacare Souza and Mo Lawal on tonight’s show. Also tonight is the Lightweight title re-match between champion Josh Thomson and the man he beat for the title Gilbert Melendez.

Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Cris Cyborg, KJ Noons, Herschel Walker, Bobby Lashley, and Dan Henderson are all in attendance ringside for the show tonight.

Heavyweight Fight- Mo Lawal (5-0) vs. Mike Whitehead (24-7)

Lawal is a Light Heavyweight so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the weight differential in this fight. Whitehead weighs in at 261 pounds versus only 218 for Lawal. Lawal has a 4” reach advantage. Whitehead has won 15 of his last 16 fights including a real snoozer against Kevin Randleman by in June.

R1- King Mo landed some decent shots early as Whitehead looked to clinch. Mo continues to land some good jabs and Whitehead is bleeding from near his eye. Mo hit a big time 1-2 combo flooring Whitehead and then jumping on top and finishing him off. Very impressive showing by King Mo.

Winner: Mo Lawal by KO R1 3:08

Middleweight Fight- Matt Lindland (21-6) vs. Jacare Souza (10-2)

Souza is a jiu jitsu fighter and Lindland is a wrestler. 9 of Jacare’s 10 wins have come from submission. Lindland is an Olympic Silver Medalist wrestler and Jacare is a two-time BJJ World Champion.

R1- Jacare lands some strikes early and avoids a take down. Jacare landed a good shot to the body but then got taken down by Lindland. Jacare got in position for an arm bar. Lindland was able to escape but Jacare took an advantageous position. Jacare was able to take side control and clamp in an arm triangle and he tapped Lindland.

Winner: Jacare Souza By Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 4:18

Two great debuts by King Mo and Jacare in the first two fights for Strikeforce.

Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight- Josh Thomson © (16-2) vs. Gilbert Melendez (16-2)

This is a re-match from the 6/27/08 Strikeforce show where Thomson beat Melendez for the title via decision (50-45 on all score cards). Since that time Thomson has been battling injuries and Melendez defeated Rodrigo Damm for the Interim title. This is Thomson’s first title defense since winning the title. Thomson has won 8 straight fights.

R1- They exchanged some shots in the first minute. Thomson grabbed a Melendez kick and took him off his feet but they quickly got back to their feet and exchanged some leather with Thomson getting the better of the shots. Melendez went for a take down but could not get it but he did land a couple of strikes. Melendez landed some good shots in an exchange late in the round. Really good first round that was virtually even. I’ve got Thomson up 10-9 by just a hair.

R2- Melendez landed a good right hand to start off the round that floored Thomson. Thomson quickly got back to his feet and they exchanged leather before Melendez hit Thomson with a low blow. Melendez caught a Thomson kick but couldn’t take him off his feet. Very even round with the exception of the opening knock down. Thomson landed a couple of shots that looked like they stunned Melendez a bit. Both guys stood toe to toe and threw wild punches and Thomson went down but he grabbed onto Melendez to give himself time to recover and the round ends with Melendez on top. This round went to Melendez so we’ve got a 19-19 fight after two rounds.

R3- Melendez is the aggressor in the first half of the round. Thomson went for a take down but could not get Melendez off his feet. Melendez took this round and I’ve got him up 29-28 on my score card.

R4- Thomson got an early take down but could not keep Melendez on the ground. Melendez caught a Thomson kick and briefly got him on the ground but he couldn’t hold him down. Both guys landed some decent shots in the last minute of the round. Melendez landed an eye poke with 12 seconds left in the round. This was the closest round of any and could have gone either way.

R5- Thomson landed some good shots and then both guys went toe to toe. Thomson is really coming out swinging for the fences thinking that he probably needs to finish this fight to keep his championship. Thomson looked like he punched himself out and then Melendez landed a good punch that floored him and Melendez jumped into Thomson’s guard. Thomson got back to his feet with two minutes left in the fight. Melendez rushed in and Thomson took him down to the mat with one minute left in the fight but Melendez fought back to his feet. Both guys stood toe to toe and slugged it out to end the fight. Really strong fight, possible Fight of the Year Candidate. I’ve got Melendez taking this fight via decision.

Judges score cards show: 49-47, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of Melendez

Winner and new champion: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)

Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley are interviewed cage side. Henderson says that he’s going to be fighting at Middleweight to start.

Friday January 22nd will be the next Strikeforce Challengers event
Saturday January 30th will be the next Strikeforce event featuring Nick Diaz, Cris Cyborg, Robbie Lawler, Bobby Lashley and Herschel Walker.
In April 2010 Strikeforce/M-1 Global Saturday Night Fights will return featuring Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson

Middleweight Fight- Cung Le (6-0) vs. Scott Smith (16-6)

R1- Cung Le hit a wicked spinning back kick one minute into the fight that dropped Scott Smith. Cung then jumped on top and landed some shots until Smith got back to his feet at the half way point of the round. Le landed another spinning back kick as Smith was leaning back and it knocked him down but didn’t have near the impact of the last one and Smith quickly got back to his feet. Let hit a good round house kick to the face. Le hit another back kick that knocked Smith to the cage but not off his feet. Borderline 10-8 round in favor of Le. Let out struck Smith 45 to 4 in the first round so I’d say that 10-8 is a good score for round one.

R2- Le knocked Smith down with another spinning back kick. Le jumped on top but Smith wrapped him up until the ref stood them back up half way through the round. Lots of clinching in the second half of the round. Le is up 20-17 after two rounds but Le looks like his cardio is fading.

R3- Le landed good back to back spinning back kicks but Smith did not leave his feet. Le landed some good punches and then a spinning back fist. Le slammed Smith to the ground but could not hold him down. Smith landed some shots and clipped Le with a left hand that knocked Le to the mat. Le got back up and Smith landed a big right that folded Le’s legs. Smith jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight. Le dominated this fight until mid-way through the last round and Smith landed about 10 punches and won this fight. Amazing.

Winner: Scott Smith by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:25