Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, Missouri
May 15,2010
Showtime
Tonight Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem defends his title against Brett Rogers. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andre Arlovski will also be in action as he faces former Elite XC Heavyweight Champion Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. Middleweight contenders Jacare Souza and Joey Villasenor will also fight on this show. Gus Johnson, Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo are the announcers for the show. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.
Light Heavyweight Fight- Antwain Britt (12-3) vs. Rafael Feijao (8-2)
Anderson Silva is in Feijao's corner. Britt has a 3" reach advantage. This is a big fight for both guys as they are both thought of as guys on the brink of being contenders. Feijao has finished all of his 8 wins and has 7 knockouts on his record. Britt is a wrestler but has 10 knockouts out of his 13 wins. Both guys have combined for 12 victories in the first round. Feijao lost in his last fight to current King of the Cage Light Heavyweight Champion Mike Kyle.
R1- Britt landed some strikes early and Feijao went for a jumping knee but did not connect. Britt landed some good strikes while being clinched by Feijao. Britt is finding a home for the jab. Feijao landed a good overhand right that wobbled Britt. Feijao quickly followed up and chased him down and landed a left and then rocked him with a right hand that sent him to the mat and the ref stops this fight. Britt was winning the fight until that one punch and then it all turned. Explosive finish by Feijao.
Winner: Rafael Feijao by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:45
Light Heavyweight Fight- Roger Gracie (2-0) vs. Kevin Randleman (17-14)
This is Gracie's debut in Strikeforce and it's only his 3rd professional fight. Gracie has a 6.5" height and 9" reach advantage. Randleman should be the stronger fighter. Gracie has finished both of his fights by submission.
R1- Randleman looks tiny compared to Gracie. Mostly stand up in this round with the crowd growing restless as not many shots were landing. Gracie clinched Randleman and tried to get him to the ground but Randleman slipped out. Not a lot of action in this round. I've got Gracie 10-9. Both Shamrock and Ranallo also give the round to Gracie.
R2- Randleman landed a good body shot early. Gracie connected with some strikes that had Randleman backpedaling. Gracie landed a good knee in the clinch and Randleman went to the ground and Gracie quickly jumped on top. Gracie mounted and tried a side choke but Randleman got out so Gracie took his back and went for a Rear Naked Choke. Randleman fought hard but Gracie finally got the move and won the fight. Good win for Gracie. He wasn't spectacular but once he got the fight to the ground he definitely took over. Gracie probably needs to be on the Challengers show at this point in his career but if he works hard he has the opportunity to be pretty good.
Winner: Roger Gracie by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:10
Middleweight Fight- Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (11-2) vs. Joe Villasenor (27-6)
Jacare last fought in December for Strikeforce and submitted veteran Matt Lindland in the first round. The last time I saw Villasenor was in June of 2009 when he beat Evangelista Cyborg by decision. Villasenor is on a 4 fight win streak. They say Jacare is the Kobe Bryant of jiu jitsu.We also learn that Jacare means Alligator in Portuguese. Jacare has finished 10 of his 11 wins by submission. This should be interesting because while Jacare has a huge advantage on the ground, Villasenor should have the advantage standing.
R1- Jacare shot early and Villasenor initially avoided it but Jacare clinched him against the cage, threw some strikes and then completed the take down. Jacare lands some good strikes while on top. Jacare mounted and continues to land strikes. Jacare was landing good strikes but Villasenor was able to buck him off. Jacare clinches him and lands some good knees. Jacare went for another take down and got it and then landed some really good strikes. Jacare let him up and landed some strikes as Villasenor got to his feet. Jacare picked him up and landed a double-leg take down/slam. Jacare went for a kimura but Villasenor got out of the hold. Jacare looked great in the first round. Jacare 10-9. Almost a 10-8 round. Villasenor only landed 2 strikes in the first round.
"I really like Joey but there is something he said in our meetings. He said "if I get up from the ground." And I just did not like that he said "if"- Frank Shamrock
"He answered the "if"- Frank Shamrock
R2- Villasenor came out aggressive in this round and threw a quick strike. Jacare got a driving take down within the first minute of the round. Villasenor was able to escape but Jacare quickly grabbed him and took him down again. Villasenor was able to get to his feet again with half of the round remaining. Villasenor starts to land some strikes. Jacare threw two strikes and then shot in and got another take down. Jacare is staying in the guard and landing some strikes but nothing as good as he hit in the first round. Villasenor keeps grabbing onto the cage and adjusting his position and got back to his feet with half a minute left in the round. Jacare 20-18 but he's starting to get tired.
R3- Villasenor came in and landing a good strike to start the round. Jacare landed some strikes but then could not get a take down. Both guys land strikes and Jacare got a take down with three minutes left in the fight. Jacare was landing some strikes and the ref stands the fight up with 50 seconds left. Villasenor landed a knee but Jacare took him down again. Jacare finishes the fight on top. Jacare wins on my score card 30-27. Good, tough fight for Jacare.
Judges score cards: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28
Winner: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva (13-2)
The last time I saw Arlovski was in June of last year where he got defeated by Brett Rogers in less than half a minute. Silva is coming off of a loss to Fabricio Werdum by decision. Silva has a 23.5 lb and 5" reach advantage. Arlovski is the quicker fighter. Arlovski got a strong reaction from the crowd at introduction.
"I think that's the loudest cheer I've ever heard for someone coming off two back to back losses"- Mauro Rannallo
R1- Both guys are throwing strikes early. Silva landed a good right at the two minute mark but Andrei absorbed it. Silva landed another right but Andrei again took the punch. Silva got Andrei up against the cage and got a take down but couldn't do anything with it. Silva 10-9.
R2- Silva threw a barrage of strikes one minute into the round and Arlovski had to clinch to minimize damage. A lot of clinching in this round with Silva getting the better of the striking. Silva 20-18.
"So far it's been a better night for Andrei Arlovski than the last time he was here in St. Louis. That fight lasted just 22 seconds"- Mauro Ranallo
R3- Both guys are slowing down but still throwing some strikes. Lots of clinching in this round. Silva got a take down with a minute and a half left in the fight. Silva is going to win this fight 30-27 on my score card.
Judges score cards: 29-28 on all three score cards
Winner: Antonio Silva by Decision (Unanimous)
Strikeforce Heavyweight Title Fight- Alistair Overeem (c) (32-11) vs. Brett Rogers (10-1)
Rogers last fought in November and lost to Fedor by TKO in the 2nd round. It's strange that Rogers is getting this title fight after losing and I think it speaks to the general weakness of the Strikeforce Heavyweight division. That being said, Rogers has a chance in this fight with his power. The last MMA fight I saw Overeem in was on New Year's against Kazuyuki Fujita and Overeem won that fight via first round TKO stoppage after a big knee. Rogers has an 11 lb weight advantage and also a 2.5" reach. Rogers has won 9 of his 10 fights by knockout. Overeem has finished 19 fights by submission and 12 by knockout. Despite winning the title several years ago this is his first title defense.
R1- Overeem works leg kicks early. Overeem tosses Rogers to the mat and then gets on top and lands some Ground and Pound. Overeem is landing some elbows to the body. Overeem starts to unload on Rogers. Rogers is covering up but the ref might step in and stop this. Overeem just going to town on him and McCarthy stops the fight. Dominant win by Overeem. Rogers just fought a very defensive fight and never looked like himself. He was just outclassed by Overeem tonight. Let's do Fedor vs Overeem. Can you get that done Strikeforce?
Post-Fight Alistair calls out Fedor and his management. Says that Fedor's management has declined to fight him and that it's time for it to happen.
Winner: Alistair Overeem by TKO (Strikes) R1 3:40
Showing posts with label Brett Rogers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brett Rogers. Show all posts
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Friday, November 13, 2009
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers 11/7/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers
CBS Saturday Night Fights
Sears Centre
Chicago, Illinois
11/7/09
They start the show with a hard hype push for Fedor and put Brett Rogers over as the “most exciting heavyweight on the planet.” Gus Johnson is the lead announcer tonight and he is joined by Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer. Also on this card is a fight for the vacant Middleweight title (vacated by Cung Le) between Jake Shields and Jason Miller, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will take on Sokoudjou and Antonio Silva will take on Fabricio Werdum.
Heavyweight Fight- Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) vs. Antonio Silva (13-1)
Gus Johnson puts over Werdum as one of the top Heavyweight Jiu Jitsu fighters. Silva has a 4” reach and 21 lb weight advantage. Silva is on a 6 fight win streak and is the former Elite XC Heavyweight Champion. Werdum won his Strikeforce debut by submitting Mike Kyle back in August.
R1- Werdum came in for some offense but ate some punches from Silva and then went to the mat. Silva landed a wild right hand and Werdum is trying to just hold onto Silva’s leg and withstand the barrage and he does. Werdum went for a takedown but Silva threw him down instead. Werdum hit a big right hand but Silva clinched and came back with a couple of elbows. Werdum came back and landed some strikes. Silva got Werdum to the mat and landed some strikes at the end of the round. Good first round with Silva taking it 10-9.
R2- Werdum came in early in the round but Silva counter punched and knocked Werdum to the mat. Werdum baited Silva to the ground and eventually flipped him over and got on top of him but Silva got back up with little damage taken. Werdum got another take down with about a minute left in the round. This was a really close round that Werdum might have stolen.
R3- Werdum got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Silva was able to get to the cage and get back to his feet. Silva landed a punch but Werdum responded with a knee. Werdum landed another knee in the clinch. Werdum grabbed Sliva and got another take down. Werdum finishes the round with some strikes. I’ve got Werdum taking this round. I could see a split decision by the judges. I’ve got Werdum 29-28.
Judges scores: 29-28 in favor of Werdum on all score cards
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Sokoudjou (7-4)
Mousasi is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion as he destroyed Babalu Sobral in his last fight to win the title. Mousasi has a 3” height advantage. Sokoudjou has Dan Henderson in his corner. Mousasi is on a 13 fight win streak.
R1- Mousasi throws a couple of high leg kicks early that deflect off Sokoudjou. Mousasi has really taken the center of the cage and is stalking Sokoudjou but neither fighter has found the range yet. Sokoudjou went for a couple take downs but was fought off. Mousasi landed some shots but Sokoudjou got a judo throw and took Mousasi down. Mousasi rolled him over with about a minute left in the fight but Sokoudjou fought back and flipped him back over with a judo move against the cage. Sokoudjou went for a guillotine and Mousasi got out of it but ate a knee. Sokoudjou landed another judo throw. Mousasi ended the round by getting a take down that might have won the round for him. Very close round that could have gone either way. Sokoudjou has traditionally faded after the first round so it will be interesting to see if he’s improved his conditioning.
R2- Mousasi came in quickly in this round and they clinched and Mousasi landed some minor strikes. Mousasi threw a bunch of punches against the cage but Sokoudjou fought through the barrage. Sokoudjou tried a judo throw but Mousasi reversed it and Sokoudjou actually got the take down. Sokoudjou then pretty much just laid on Mousasi resting. Mousasi grabbed an arm and was able to take Sokoudjou’s guard. Mousasi is landing some good strikes on the ground. The ref stops the fight. Sokoudjou again faded in the second round and Mousasi outlasted him. Mousasi was never in trouble in this fight and while he didn’t look as dominant as his last fight he still fought a good fight.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:43
The show the “stars” in the crowd. The following people are shown: Andrei Arlovski, Robbie Lawler, Scott Smith, Matt Lindland, Shinya Aoki, Cung Le. Le will fight Scott Smith Dec 19th. They also say Lawler and Lindland will be on that show. Aoki will be coming to Strikforce soon and Arlovski is currently training with Greg Jackson
Middleweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (23-4-1) vs. Jason Miller (22-6-1)
Shields is the former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and is coming off of a quick victory of Robbie Lawler. Miller comes out with red hair with a black skunk stripe and comes out with some dancers. Miller has a big 5” reach advantage in this fight. Shields has won 12 consecutive fights.
R1- Shields got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the fight. Shields took Miller’s back and then moved to full mount. Miller did a good job of getting back to his feet without taking much damage. Shields quickly got another take down. Miller got back to his feet and slammed Shields to the ground with about a minute and a half left in the round. Shields got back to his feet but Miller suplexed him to the ground. Really close round as Shields dominated the first part and Miller the second part. Shields controlled more of the round and landed more strikes but Miller ended with a couple of slams. Shields 10-9 after one round.
R2- Shields got cut at the beginning of the round but didn’t take any damage. Miller got a take down but then Shields quickly got the advantage on the mat. Shields is able to get a full mount but Miller flipped out using the cage and Shields took Miller’s back again. Shields really controlled Miller for the first 4 minutes of this round and is now up 20-18 on my score card. On the re-play it looked like Shields got the cut from a headbutt.
R3- Miller got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the round but Shields quickly got back to his feet and then took Miller down. Shields has full mount and is landing some strikes. About half way through the round Miller was able to get back to his feet. Big John McCarthy stops the fight briefly so Miller’s corner can fix his gloves. Shields got a take down as soon as they were re-started. Miller was able to take Shields back at the end of the round and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke with about 8 seconds left but Shields held on and did not tap. Shields dominated the entire round but almost got choked out with 8 seconds left so it will be interesting to see how this round is scored.
R4- Shields quickly got a take down to start the round and rode Miller for the first half of the round. McCarthy stood them up and Shields again quickly got a take down. Shields easily took this round. I’ve got Shields up on score cards. Miller needs to get a 10-8 round or finish the fight if he wants to win.
R5- Shields got a take down about a minute into the fight. Shields really controlled this round from start to finish. I think Shields won this fight 50-45. Although I could see rounds 1 or 3 going to Miller.
Judges score cards: 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 all in favor of Shields
Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0)
Rogers has a lot of physical advantages in this fight as he has a 4.5” height, 7” reach and 32 lb weight advantage. Fedor is a Sambo/Judo fighter and Rogers is a Boxer/Muy Thai fighter. Fedor is introduced as the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion (the belt he won in Affliction) and gets a good reaction from the crowd.
R1- Fedor threw a couple of big bombs at the beginning but missed. It didn’t look like Rogers hit Fedor with anything but his glove may have clipped his nose as Fedor’s nose had blood on the tip. Rogers looks a lot more apprehensive then I’ve ever seen him. Fedor got Rogers down but Rogers quickly got up and they clinched against the cage. Thre is a lot of blood coming out of Fedor’s nose. The announcers say he got caught by a jab. Fedor hit a big left hand and then was able to get Rogers down on the mat. Fedor landed some good punches on the ground. Rogers pushed out of the bottom but as he did so Fedor grabbed a kimura but had to release it and Rogers ended up in Fedor’s guard. Rogers hit some good Ground and Pound. Fedor went for an arm bar and couldn’t get it but was able to get out of the guard. Fedor caught Rogers with a punch as Rogers was really slow to get up and Fedor took the half guard position on Rogers and went for an arm triangle. Still a lot of blood coming out of Fedor. Great first round. Fedor takes this round 10-9 but has been cut badly in a couple of places.
R2- Fedor chants start this round and then some USA chants are started. Fedor got Rogers up against the cage and threw some punches but Rogers was able to block them. The announcers say the doctor believes Fedor’s nose is broken. Fedor landed a highlight reel right hand and Rogers dropped like a ton of bricks. Fedor jumped on top and landed some punches and the ref stopped the fight but I don’t think he needed those extra punches as the big right knocked out Rogers. Really fun fight and a fantastic Main Event for Strikeforce on their CBS debut.
Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
CBS Saturday Night Fights
Sears Centre
Chicago, Illinois
11/7/09
They start the show with a hard hype push for Fedor and put Brett Rogers over as the “most exciting heavyweight on the planet.” Gus Johnson is the lead announcer tonight and he is joined by Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer. Also on this card is a fight for the vacant Middleweight title (vacated by Cung Le) between Jake Shields and Jason Miller, Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will take on Sokoudjou and Antonio Silva will take on Fabricio Werdum.
Heavyweight Fight- Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) vs. Antonio Silva (13-1)
Gus Johnson puts over Werdum as one of the top Heavyweight Jiu Jitsu fighters. Silva has a 4” reach and 21 lb weight advantage. Silva is on a 6 fight win streak and is the former Elite XC Heavyweight Champion. Werdum won his Strikeforce debut by submitting Mike Kyle back in August.
R1- Werdum came in for some offense but ate some punches from Silva and then went to the mat. Silva landed a wild right hand and Werdum is trying to just hold onto Silva’s leg and withstand the barrage and he does. Werdum went for a takedown but Silva threw him down instead. Werdum hit a big right hand but Silva clinched and came back with a couple of elbows. Werdum came back and landed some strikes. Silva got Werdum to the mat and landed some strikes at the end of the round. Good first round with Silva taking it 10-9.
R2- Werdum came in early in the round but Silva counter punched and knocked Werdum to the mat. Werdum baited Silva to the ground and eventually flipped him over and got on top of him but Silva got back up with little damage taken. Werdum got another take down with about a minute left in the round. This was a really close round that Werdum might have stolen.
R3- Werdum got a take down about a minute and a half into the round. Silva was able to get to the cage and get back to his feet. Silva landed a punch but Werdum responded with a knee. Werdum landed another knee in the clinch. Werdum grabbed Sliva and got another take down. Werdum finishes the round with some strikes. I’ve got Werdum taking this round. I could see a split decision by the judges. I’ve got Werdum 29-28.
Judges scores: 29-28 in favor of Werdum on all score cards
Winner: Fabricio Werdum by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Fight- Gegard Mousasi (26-2-1) vs. Sokoudjou (7-4)
Mousasi is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion as he destroyed Babalu Sobral in his last fight to win the title. Mousasi has a 3” height advantage. Sokoudjou has Dan Henderson in his corner. Mousasi is on a 13 fight win streak.
R1- Mousasi throws a couple of high leg kicks early that deflect off Sokoudjou. Mousasi has really taken the center of the cage and is stalking Sokoudjou but neither fighter has found the range yet. Sokoudjou went for a couple take downs but was fought off. Mousasi landed some shots but Sokoudjou got a judo throw and took Mousasi down. Mousasi rolled him over with about a minute left in the fight but Sokoudjou fought back and flipped him back over with a judo move against the cage. Sokoudjou went for a guillotine and Mousasi got out of it but ate a knee. Sokoudjou landed another judo throw. Mousasi ended the round by getting a take down that might have won the round for him. Very close round that could have gone either way. Sokoudjou has traditionally faded after the first round so it will be interesting to see if he’s improved his conditioning.
R2- Mousasi came in quickly in this round and they clinched and Mousasi landed some minor strikes. Mousasi threw a bunch of punches against the cage but Sokoudjou fought through the barrage. Sokoudjou tried a judo throw but Mousasi reversed it and Sokoudjou actually got the take down. Sokoudjou then pretty much just laid on Mousasi resting. Mousasi grabbed an arm and was able to take Sokoudjou’s guard. Mousasi is landing some good strikes on the ground. The ref stops the fight. Sokoudjou again faded in the second round and Mousasi outlasted him. Mousasi was never in trouble in this fight and while he didn’t look as dominant as his last fight he still fought a good fight.
Winner: Gegard Mousasi by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:43
The show the “stars” in the crowd. The following people are shown: Andrei Arlovski, Robbie Lawler, Scott Smith, Matt Lindland, Shinya Aoki, Cung Le. Le will fight Scott Smith Dec 19th. They also say Lawler and Lindland will be on that show. Aoki will be coming to Strikforce soon and Arlovski is currently training with Greg Jackson
Middleweight Title Fight- Jake Shields (23-4-1) vs. Jason Miller (22-6-1)
Shields is the former Elite XC Welterweight Champion and is coming off of a quick victory of Robbie Lawler. Miller comes out with red hair with a black skunk stripe and comes out with some dancers. Miller has a big 5” reach advantage in this fight. Shields has won 12 consecutive fights.
R1- Shields got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the fight. Shields took Miller’s back and then moved to full mount. Miller did a good job of getting back to his feet without taking much damage. Shields quickly got another take down. Miller got back to his feet and slammed Shields to the ground with about a minute and a half left in the round. Shields got back to his feet but Miller suplexed him to the ground. Really close round as Shields dominated the first part and Miller the second part. Shields controlled more of the round and landed more strikes but Miller ended with a couple of slams. Shields 10-9 after one round.
R2- Shields got cut at the beginning of the round but didn’t take any damage. Miller got a take down but then Shields quickly got the advantage on the mat. Shields is able to get a full mount but Miller flipped out using the cage and Shields took Miller’s back again. Shields really controlled Miller for the first 4 minutes of this round and is now up 20-18 on my score card. On the re-play it looked like Shields got the cut from a headbutt.
R3- Miller got a quick take down in the first 10 seconds of the round but Shields quickly got back to his feet and then took Miller down. Shields has full mount and is landing some strikes. About half way through the round Miller was able to get back to his feet. Big John McCarthy stops the fight briefly so Miller’s corner can fix his gloves. Shields got a take down as soon as they were re-started. Miller was able to take Shields back at the end of the round and clamped in a Rear Naked Choke with about 8 seconds left but Shields held on and did not tap. Shields dominated the entire round but almost got choked out with 8 seconds left so it will be interesting to see how this round is scored.
R4- Shields quickly got a take down to start the round and rode Miller for the first half of the round. McCarthy stood them up and Shields again quickly got a take down. Shields easily took this round. I’ve got Shields up on score cards. Miller needs to get a 10-8 round or finish the fight if he wants to win.
R5- Shields got a take down about a minute into the fight. Shields really controlled this round from start to finish. I think Shields won this fight 50-45. Although I could see rounds 1 or 3 going to Miller.
Judges score cards: 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 all in favor of Shields
Winner and new champion: Jake Shields by Decision (Unanimous)
Heavyweight Fight- Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Brett Rogers (10-0)
Rogers has a lot of physical advantages in this fight as he has a 4.5” height, 7” reach and 32 lb weight advantage. Fedor is a Sambo/Judo fighter and Rogers is a Boxer/Muy Thai fighter. Fedor is introduced as the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion (the belt he won in Affliction) and gets a good reaction from the crowd.
R1- Fedor threw a couple of big bombs at the beginning but missed. It didn’t look like Rogers hit Fedor with anything but his glove may have clipped his nose as Fedor’s nose had blood on the tip. Rogers looks a lot more apprehensive then I’ve ever seen him. Fedor got Rogers down but Rogers quickly got up and they clinched against the cage. Thre is a lot of blood coming out of Fedor’s nose. The announcers say he got caught by a jab. Fedor hit a big left hand and then was able to get Rogers down on the mat. Fedor landed some good punches on the ground. Rogers pushed out of the bottom but as he did so Fedor grabbed a kimura but had to release it and Rogers ended up in Fedor’s guard. Rogers hit some good Ground and Pound. Fedor went for an arm bar and couldn’t get it but was able to get out of the guard. Fedor caught Rogers with a punch as Rogers was really slow to get up and Fedor took the half guard position on Rogers and went for an arm triangle. Still a lot of blood coming out of Fedor. Great first round. Fedor takes this round 10-9 but has been cut badly in a couple of places.
R2- Fedor chants start this round and then some USA chants are started. Fedor got Rogers up against the cage and threw some punches but Rogers was able to block them. The announcers say the doctor believes Fedor’s nose is broken. Fedor landed a highlight reel right hand and Rogers dropped like a ton of bricks. Fedor jumped on top and landed some punches and the ref stopped the fight but I don’t think he needed those extra punches as the big right knocked out Rogers. Really fun fight and a fantastic Main Event for Strikeforce on their CBS debut.
Winner: Fedor Emelianenko by TKO (Strikes) R2 1:48
Sunday, June 07, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, June 02, 2008
CBS/Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 5/31/08
Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 5/31/08
Gus Johnson is the lead announcer. Good move in my opinion as he will put a “legitimate” face to MMA for the casual fans. They pair him with Mauro Ranallo, the usual voice of Elite XC. Mauro isn’t the most popular guy but I like him. The third member of the announce crew is Frank Shamrock. They name drop Bruce Lee as one of the fore fathers of MMA. They move to street fighter turned MMA fighter Kimbo Slice and briefly touch on his fight tonight versus James Thompson.
Card for tonight is:
Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson
Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
Phil Baroni vs. Joe Villasenor
Jon Murphy vs. Brett Rogers
Frank Shamrock does a segment where he goes over some basic MMA styles and talks about striking and grappling. And goes over some terms like “Ground and Pound”, “Guard”, “Half Guard”, “Clinch”, “Arm Bar”, “Rear Naked Choke”, and “Take Down”. Frank goes over some of the do’s and don’ts of MMA. He talks about the 3 ways a fight can end: KO/TKO, Submission/Tap Out, and Judges Decision.
Heavyweight Fight- Jon Murphy (4-2) vs. Brett Rogers (6-0)
Of these guys I’ve only seen Brett Rogers fight and from what I remember he was fairly impressive. Brett Rogers is lead to the ring by a rapping Busta Rhymes. Stuff like this and the dancers that opened the show are what I can do without.
R1- Murphy catches Rogers early and Rogers clinches with him and backs him into the cage and gets in a couple of shots. Rogers hits Murphy with a couple of shots and this one was over. Not the prettiest fight but Rogers showed good power and got the KO very early in the fight. He moves to 7-0 and moves up the Elite XC Heavyweight ladder.
Winner: Brett Rogers KO R1 1:01
Middleweight Fight- Phil Baroni (10-9) vs. Joey Villasenor (25-6)
I’ve seen a couple of Villasenor’s Elite XC fights and he’s unspectacular but really solid and seems really hart to beat. I haven’t seen that much of Baroni but he’s got a big rep so this should be an interesting fight as both guys like to stand up and punch. Baroni guarantees a knockout in the pre-match interviews. Mark Coleman is in Baroni’s corner. Villasenor has won his last two fights, Baroni has lost 3 of his last 4.
R1- Baroni pushes the pace early and gets a take down as he catches Villasenor in a kick. Drilled Baroni with a left hook and now has a guillotine on Baroni. Vallasenor with some shots and Baroni is shaken. Villasenor all over Barnoi and Villasenor gets the win. Mild upset in terms of name status but not in terms of records. Great win for Villasenor.
Winner: Joey Villasenor by TKO (punches) R1 1:11
Two fights and both have been finished very quickly.
Gina Carano (5-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-1)
R1- Carano takes young down early but Young gets back to her feet. Carano hit a good right hand and then hit a good left jab. Young hit a good right hand. Young takes down Carano. Carano is just smothering Young and Young can’t do anything despite being on top. The first round was very competitive. Both got in one take down but I think Carano got in more clean shots. Carano 10-9 but very close.
R2- Carano got caught doing a kick and Young got in a couple of knees. Then they exchanged some punches. Lots of action early in round two. Carano is starting to go to town and Young got hit right in the nose but is holding on and fighting back. Carano with a big left. Carano is peppering Young with punches but Young is holding on. Carano kicks Young to the ground and is going for a Rear Naked Choke but is having trouble clamping it on. Young gets saved by the bell in round two. Really exciting fight so far. Young’s face is jacked up. Carano 20-18.
And the fight is stopped in between rounds.
R3- Gina Carano by TKO (ref stoppage) R2
Elite XC Middleweight Title Fight: Robbie Lawler © (15-4) vs. Scott Smith (15-4)
This is the fight that I’ve been looking forward to the most on this show. This is Lawler’s first title defense. Interesting note that these guys have the same exact record of 15 wins and 4 losses.
R1- Smith throwing some big kicks early but coming up empty. Lawler really taking his time and not rushing in. Smith charged at Lawler and got popped. Lawler the aggressor now as he’s hitting some shots. Smith tags Lawler with a kick and then bedlam breaks loose as both guys are just swinging back and forth. Lots of misses and Lawler hits a combo. Both guys really opening up. Lawler hitting with some jabs and Smith countering. Lawler with a big body shot that hurts Smith. Lawler with a body kick. Lawler with some right hooks. Lawler with a great body kick and then ends the round with a right knee and a ton of punches. Smith is saved by the bell. Lawler just looked awesome at the end of this round. This round took a while to get going but once it did it was really fun. Lawler takes this round 10-9.
R2- Lawler is the aggressor at the start of round two. Big side kick by Lawler. Smith fighting back but coming up short on kicks. Smith clinches him and lands some nice knees to the head of Lawler. Smith know peppering Lawler with some punches. Lawler comes back with punches. Lots of dirty boxing. Lawler continuing to hit shots on Smith. Smith continues to throw shots. Really back and forth round. These guys are really throwing at each other. Both guys are bloody. Great round. Really even. Lawler is cut on the top of his head. I think Smith probably takes this round, 19-19 after two.
R3- Lawler jabbing early looking for an opening. Lawler starting to hit some elbows but his head cut has opened back up. Lawler went for a take down but got stuffed and now they stand up again. Smith got a finger in the eye and they stop the fight to allow him to recover. The doctor comes in and stops the fight. What a shame as Scott Smith is begging them to let him continue to fight. The crowd is chanting “bulls**t, bulls**t”. Well, I really enjoyed this fight and will look forward to the re-match.
Decision: No Contest, Lawler retains belt
Heavyweight Fight: Kimbo Slice (2-0) vs. James Thompson (16-8)
R1- Kimbo takes down Thompson but then Thompson gets Kimbo to the ground. Kimbo gets up but gets taken back down. James Thompson gets to side control but Kimbo gets to his feet. Kimbo is caught in a guillotine. Kimbo trying to get out with some knees. Kimbo finally frees himself. Kimbo takes Thompson down. Kimbo tried a slam but slipped and Thompson now has Kimbo in side control. Kimbo flips him over. Kimbo hitting a couple of elbows. First round comes to an end. I think Thompson won the first round 10-9.
R2- Kimbo with some punches and Thompson is in trouble. Thompson locks him up. Kimbo briefly got Thompson in a guillotine but Thompson has side control on Kimbo. The ref stands them up as there was not much movement. Kimbo hitting some shots. Thompson looks to be finished and Kimbo hits some shots but Thompson holds on and drops Kimbo with a double leg take down. Thompson hitting some elbows on Kimbo. Thompson just dominated the second half of this round. Kimbo won the first half but then just got dominated. Both rounds could go either way but I’ve got Thompson up 20-18 so far. Kimbo had a chance to put Thompson away in the middle of this round but couldn’t do it.
R3- Kimbo hits two nice shots and Thompson’s ear popped open and is bleeding like crazy and the ref stops the fight. Thompson is not happy. Thompson ear is just disgusting. Kimbo escaped this fight and this fight really exposed him.
Winner: Kimbo Slice by TKO R3 0:38
This was a good show, would have been better if Lawler/Smith would have had a finish as that was the fight of the night. The woman’s fight was very good. And the show started with two real quick knockouts which I think was a good thing to get the show kicked off. The Main Event was nowhere near as good as Lawler/Smith but it was interesting. Kimbo was definitely exposed and it will be interesting to see where they go with him now. Obviously, he’s still undefeated but he’s gonna have a tough time with any heavyweight who can get him off his feet.
Gus Johnson is the lead announcer. Good move in my opinion as he will put a “legitimate” face to MMA for the casual fans. They pair him with Mauro Ranallo, the usual voice of Elite XC. Mauro isn’t the most popular guy but I like him. The third member of the announce crew is Frank Shamrock. They name drop Bruce Lee as one of the fore fathers of MMA. They move to street fighter turned MMA fighter Kimbo Slice and briefly touch on his fight tonight versus James Thompson.
Card for tonight is:
Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson
Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
Phil Baroni vs. Joe Villasenor
Jon Murphy vs. Brett Rogers
Frank Shamrock does a segment where he goes over some basic MMA styles and talks about striking and grappling. And goes over some terms like “Ground and Pound”, “Guard”, “Half Guard”, “Clinch”, “Arm Bar”, “Rear Naked Choke”, and “Take Down”. Frank goes over some of the do’s and don’ts of MMA. He talks about the 3 ways a fight can end: KO/TKO, Submission/Tap Out, and Judges Decision.
Heavyweight Fight- Jon Murphy (4-2) vs. Brett Rogers (6-0)
Of these guys I’ve only seen Brett Rogers fight and from what I remember he was fairly impressive. Brett Rogers is lead to the ring by a rapping Busta Rhymes. Stuff like this and the dancers that opened the show are what I can do without.
R1- Murphy catches Rogers early and Rogers clinches with him and backs him into the cage and gets in a couple of shots. Rogers hits Murphy with a couple of shots and this one was over. Not the prettiest fight but Rogers showed good power and got the KO very early in the fight. He moves to 7-0 and moves up the Elite XC Heavyweight ladder.
Winner: Brett Rogers KO R1 1:01
Middleweight Fight- Phil Baroni (10-9) vs. Joey Villasenor (25-6)
I’ve seen a couple of Villasenor’s Elite XC fights and he’s unspectacular but really solid and seems really hart to beat. I haven’t seen that much of Baroni but he’s got a big rep so this should be an interesting fight as both guys like to stand up and punch. Baroni guarantees a knockout in the pre-match interviews. Mark Coleman is in Baroni’s corner. Villasenor has won his last two fights, Baroni has lost 3 of his last 4.
R1- Baroni pushes the pace early and gets a take down as he catches Villasenor in a kick. Drilled Baroni with a left hook and now has a guillotine on Baroni. Vallasenor with some shots and Baroni is shaken. Villasenor all over Barnoi and Villasenor gets the win. Mild upset in terms of name status but not in terms of records. Great win for Villasenor.
Winner: Joey Villasenor by TKO (punches) R1 1:11
Two fights and both have been finished very quickly.
Gina Carano (5-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-1)
R1- Carano takes young down early but Young gets back to her feet. Carano hit a good right hand and then hit a good left jab. Young hit a good right hand. Young takes down Carano. Carano is just smothering Young and Young can’t do anything despite being on top. The first round was very competitive. Both got in one take down but I think Carano got in more clean shots. Carano 10-9 but very close.
R2- Carano got caught doing a kick and Young got in a couple of knees. Then they exchanged some punches. Lots of action early in round two. Carano is starting to go to town and Young got hit right in the nose but is holding on and fighting back. Carano with a big left. Carano is peppering Young with punches but Young is holding on. Carano kicks Young to the ground and is going for a Rear Naked Choke but is having trouble clamping it on. Young gets saved by the bell in round two. Really exciting fight so far. Young’s face is jacked up. Carano 20-18.
And the fight is stopped in between rounds.
R3- Gina Carano by TKO (ref stoppage) R2
Elite XC Middleweight Title Fight: Robbie Lawler © (15-4) vs. Scott Smith (15-4)
This is the fight that I’ve been looking forward to the most on this show. This is Lawler’s first title defense. Interesting note that these guys have the same exact record of 15 wins and 4 losses.
R1- Smith throwing some big kicks early but coming up empty. Lawler really taking his time and not rushing in. Smith charged at Lawler and got popped. Lawler the aggressor now as he’s hitting some shots. Smith tags Lawler with a kick and then bedlam breaks loose as both guys are just swinging back and forth. Lots of misses and Lawler hits a combo. Both guys really opening up. Lawler hitting with some jabs and Smith countering. Lawler with a big body shot that hurts Smith. Lawler with a body kick. Lawler with some right hooks. Lawler with a great body kick and then ends the round with a right knee and a ton of punches. Smith is saved by the bell. Lawler just looked awesome at the end of this round. This round took a while to get going but once it did it was really fun. Lawler takes this round 10-9.
R2- Lawler is the aggressor at the start of round two. Big side kick by Lawler. Smith fighting back but coming up short on kicks. Smith clinches him and lands some nice knees to the head of Lawler. Smith know peppering Lawler with some punches. Lawler comes back with punches. Lots of dirty boxing. Lawler continuing to hit shots on Smith. Smith continues to throw shots. Really back and forth round. These guys are really throwing at each other. Both guys are bloody. Great round. Really even. Lawler is cut on the top of his head. I think Smith probably takes this round, 19-19 after two.
R3- Lawler jabbing early looking for an opening. Lawler starting to hit some elbows but his head cut has opened back up. Lawler went for a take down but got stuffed and now they stand up again. Smith got a finger in the eye and they stop the fight to allow him to recover. The doctor comes in and stops the fight. What a shame as Scott Smith is begging them to let him continue to fight. The crowd is chanting “bulls**t, bulls**t”. Well, I really enjoyed this fight and will look forward to the re-match.
Decision: No Contest, Lawler retains belt
Heavyweight Fight: Kimbo Slice (2-0) vs. James Thompson (16-8)
R1- Kimbo takes down Thompson but then Thompson gets Kimbo to the ground. Kimbo gets up but gets taken back down. James Thompson gets to side control but Kimbo gets to his feet. Kimbo is caught in a guillotine. Kimbo trying to get out with some knees. Kimbo finally frees himself. Kimbo takes Thompson down. Kimbo tried a slam but slipped and Thompson now has Kimbo in side control. Kimbo flips him over. Kimbo hitting a couple of elbows. First round comes to an end. I think Thompson won the first round 10-9.
R2- Kimbo with some punches and Thompson is in trouble. Thompson locks him up. Kimbo briefly got Thompson in a guillotine but Thompson has side control on Kimbo. The ref stands them up as there was not much movement. Kimbo hitting some shots. Thompson looks to be finished and Kimbo hits some shots but Thompson holds on and drops Kimbo with a double leg take down. Thompson hitting some elbows on Kimbo. Thompson just dominated the second half of this round. Kimbo won the first half but then just got dominated. Both rounds could go either way but I’ve got Thompson up 20-18 so far. Kimbo had a chance to put Thompson away in the middle of this round but couldn’t do it.
R3- Kimbo hits two nice shots and Thompson’s ear popped open and is bleeding like crazy and the ref stops the fight. Thompson is not happy. Thompson ear is just disgusting. Kimbo escaped this fight and this fight really exposed him.
Winner: Kimbo Slice by TKO R3 0:38
This was a good show, would have been better if Lawler/Smith would have had a finish as that was the fight of the night. The woman’s fight was very good. And the show started with two real quick knockouts which I think was a good thing to get the show kicked off. The Main Event was nowhere near as good as Lawler/Smith but it was interesting. Kimbo was definitely exposed and it will be interesting to see where they go with him now. Obviously, he’s still undefeated but he’s gonna have a tough time with any heavyweight who can get him off his feet.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Elite XC "Street Certified"
Fight One: Brett Rogers vs. James Thompson
Thompson rushed Rogers at the beginning and then it was a bunch of uneventful holding. Thompson briefly took Rogers down but Rogers got right back up. Thompson held Rogers a lot but never got in a good shot or move on him. Rogers finally distanced himself with a knee and then landed a series of pretty good looking punches and Thompson went down. Nice showing for Rogers as he stays undefeated.
As a sidenote, I like the set-up of the Elite XC show and the announcers are solid (yes including Bill Goldberg- he actually showed more mic skills in his opening segment than he did in his entire pro wrestling career). I don't really like the ring announcer though. Good build-up for Kimbo- I'm really interested in seeing him fight after the hype he's been getting lately.
Fight Two: Edson Berto (158.25) vs. Yves Edwards (160)
They started off by exchanging some kicks and punches. Both guys are really quick and Berto is borderline lightning quick and showed a ton of promise with some of his kicks and one punch combo in particular. They went to the ground and Berto briefly got a guillotine submission but Edwards brillantly slipped out of it and got a Kimura but couldn't hold it. Edwards took control here as he was on top and controlled this portion of the fight and landed one particularly nasty elbow to the chops. The ref stood them back up towards the end of the fight and Berto came at Edwards again with a real quick combo and in my opinion looked to be the dominant fighter when both guys were standing (while Edwards was clearly the better wrestler). Berto went inside for a takedown and grabbed Edwards leg but Edwards countered with a vicious knee for the KO. I enjoyed this fight a lot as both guys showed a lot of good things and Berto looked really talented just overmatched on the experience side of things.
Fight Three: Kyle Noke (184.75) vs. Scott Smith (184)
First round of this one was real uneventful and the crowd mildly booed throughout. Noke won Round 1 from what I saw because he dominated the first half of the fight with jabs. Smith started to come on in the last 30 seconds as he finally got aggressive. I think Smith is going to open up and take this one as Noke really didn't seem like he wanted to do anything even though he had the early advantage except stand there and hit one jab and then back up.
Seven seconds into Round 2 Scott Smith got a quick knockout of Kyle Noke. This was the exact opposite of the first round and to me showed a great adjustment made by Smith and his corner. He came out and took Noke's jab and then laid into him and knocked him out cold.
Fight Four: Ricco Rodriguez (262.75) vs. Antonio Silva (259.75)
First round was kind of even with the edge going to Silva but neither guy really inflicting any damage onto their opponent. Silva controlled the early portion of the match as he landed most of the punches in Round 1. Ricco got a nice takedown but didn't do much with it once he got on top and in fact Silva landed several blows from the bottom.
Round two picked up a little bit with Silva controlling this one much more than Round One and being the clear winner of this round from my point of view. Silva controlled the stand up and take down game and landed some nice blows from a top but both guys seemed pretty gased and Silva didn't follow-up as well as he probably should have. The ref stood them up and then stopped the fight to check on a cut above Ricco's eye.
Third Round was probably the closest of the fight as Silva controlled early but couldn't put Ricco away and then Ricco came back and had a decent showing with a takedown and mount.
Silva won a split decision and I definitely think it was the right decision although Silva didn't look as good as I thought he would based on how the announcers were pimping him. Only having seen him once I'd say he really needs to work on his conditioning- as he didn't really look winded but when he was on top he couldn't put together sustained offense. I'd also say he needs to work on his gameplan as he looked much better standing up but continued to try to take down Ricco late in the fight. Overall, it was a tough fight for Silva due to Ricco's experience but I'd say it was a good win for him even if it wasn't in impressive fashion.
Fight Five: Tank Abbott (263) vs. Kimbo Slice (234)
This one was really fun although very short but I think that's pretty much what was expected. Kimbo looked great as he avoided a takedown and wailed on Tank. It will be very interesting to see how Kimbo matches up against other MMA guys as Tank's style fit his. Kimbo seemed to overwhelm Tank with his punches and rocked him with quite a few so it will be interesting to see who can stand up with him or can out gameplan him.
Verdict:
This was a good show. My Fight of the Night went to Edwards/Berto as I just really liked both them and the energy and fast paced match that they had. Second was Kimbo/Tank just for the atmosphere and crazy haymakers being thrown. Other than that Brett Rogers looked good, Scott Smith had a great knockout and Silva survived a tough fight. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some of these guys again.
Thompson rushed Rogers at the beginning and then it was a bunch of uneventful holding. Thompson briefly took Rogers down but Rogers got right back up. Thompson held Rogers a lot but never got in a good shot or move on him. Rogers finally distanced himself with a knee and then landed a series of pretty good looking punches and Thompson went down. Nice showing for Rogers as he stays undefeated.
As a sidenote, I like the set-up of the Elite XC show and the announcers are solid (yes including Bill Goldberg- he actually showed more mic skills in his opening segment than he did in his entire pro wrestling career). I don't really like the ring announcer though. Good build-up for Kimbo- I'm really interested in seeing him fight after the hype he's been getting lately.
Fight Two: Edson Berto (158.25) vs. Yves Edwards (160)
They started off by exchanging some kicks and punches. Both guys are really quick and Berto is borderline lightning quick and showed a ton of promise with some of his kicks and one punch combo in particular. They went to the ground and Berto briefly got a guillotine submission but Edwards brillantly slipped out of it and got a Kimura but couldn't hold it. Edwards took control here as he was on top and controlled this portion of the fight and landed one particularly nasty elbow to the chops. The ref stood them back up towards the end of the fight and Berto came at Edwards again with a real quick combo and in my opinion looked to be the dominant fighter when both guys were standing (while Edwards was clearly the better wrestler). Berto went inside for a takedown and grabbed Edwards leg but Edwards countered with a vicious knee for the KO. I enjoyed this fight a lot as both guys showed a lot of good things and Berto looked really talented just overmatched on the experience side of things.
Fight Three: Kyle Noke (184.75) vs. Scott Smith (184)
First round of this one was real uneventful and the crowd mildly booed throughout. Noke won Round 1 from what I saw because he dominated the first half of the fight with jabs. Smith started to come on in the last 30 seconds as he finally got aggressive. I think Smith is going to open up and take this one as Noke really didn't seem like he wanted to do anything even though he had the early advantage except stand there and hit one jab and then back up.
Seven seconds into Round 2 Scott Smith got a quick knockout of Kyle Noke. This was the exact opposite of the first round and to me showed a great adjustment made by Smith and his corner. He came out and took Noke's jab and then laid into him and knocked him out cold.
Fight Four: Ricco Rodriguez (262.75) vs. Antonio Silva (259.75)
First round was kind of even with the edge going to Silva but neither guy really inflicting any damage onto their opponent. Silva controlled the early portion of the match as he landed most of the punches in Round 1. Ricco got a nice takedown but didn't do much with it once he got on top and in fact Silva landed several blows from the bottom.
Round two picked up a little bit with Silva controlling this one much more than Round One and being the clear winner of this round from my point of view. Silva controlled the stand up and take down game and landed some nice blows from a top but both guys seemed pretty gased and Silva didn't follow-up as well as he probably should have. The ref stood them up and then stopped the fight to check on a cut above Ricco's eye.
Third Round was probably the closest of the fight as Silva controlled early but couldn't put Ricco away and then Ricco came back and had a decent showing with a takedown and mount.
Silva won a split decision and I definitely think it was the right decision although Silva didn't look as good as I thought he would based on how the announcers were pimping him. Only having seen him once I'd say he really needs to work on his conditioning- as he didn't really look winded but when he was on top he couldn't put together sustained offense. I'd also say he needs to work on his gameplan as he looked much better standing up but continued to try to take down Ricco late in the fight. Overall, it was a tough fight for Silva due to Ricco's experience but I'd say it was a good win for him even if it wasn't in impressive fashion.
Fight Five: Tank Abbott (263) vs. Kimbo Slice (234)
This one was really fun although very short but I think that's pretty much what was expected. Kimbo looked great as he avoided a takedown and wailed on Tank. It will be very interesting to see how Kimbo matches up against other MMA guys as Tank's style fit his. Kimbo seemed to overwhelm Tank with his punches and rocked him with quite a few so it will be interesting to see who can stand up with him or can out gameplan him.
Verdict:
This was a good show. My Fight of the Night went to Edwards/Berto as I just really liked both them and the energy and fast paced match that they had. Second was Kimbo/Tank just for the atmosphere and crazy haymakers being thrown. Other than that Brett Rogers looked good, Scott Smith had a great knockout and Silva survived a tough fight. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some of these guys again.
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