Strikeforce Saturday Night Fights
Bridgestone Arena
Saturday, April 17
Nashville, Tennessee
CBS
Strikeforce has an all-star card for the hardcore MMA fans with Dan Henderson/Jake Shields, Gegard Mousasi/King Mo Lawal, and Gilbert Melendez/Shinya Aoki. In my predictions I put out earlier this week I picked Henderson, Mousasi and Melendez. I honestly think all 3 fights could go either way so it will be interesting to see how they fall. Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock are the announcers and Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer.
Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship: Gegard Mousasi (c) (28-2-1) vs. Mo Lawal (6-0)
Mousasi introduced himself to Strikeforce fans by decimating their champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral in just one minute. Fans of the DREAM promotion in Japan were not surprised at all as they had already seen Mousasi beat Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef and Jacare Souza. Mousasi is on a 15 fight win streak and has not lost since 2006 (submitted by Akihiro Gono via arm bar in Pride). Mousasi’s strength is his standup and lightning quick hands but he also is decent on the ground and has a good bottom game (just ask Jacare about that!). King Mo Lawal is one of the most charismatic fighters in MMA and he’s a guy that I think could really help put Strikeforce on the map as he’s much more marketable than Mousasi and guys like Dan Henderson and Jake Shields. Mo has a decorated past in wrestling. Just check Wikipedia, he was a stud. Mo is still very young in the MMA game. He’s beat guys like Travis Wiuff, Mike Whitehead and Mark Kerr. So he’s faced some veterans but he’s been relatively untested and has certainly not faced anyone with the type of skill that Mousasi has. Mo has finished 5 of his 6 wins by TKO.
R1- Mo went for a take down and ate a bunch of punches but completed the take down. Mousasi has a very active guard and he's keeping this round even despite fighting from the bottom. Mo is landing some strikes from the top but isn't landing anything cleanly. Mousasi got to his feet with one minute left in the round. Mousasi stuffed a take down and landed some knees. Mo got a take down with under a minute left. King Mo looks a bit tired and Mousasi easily got to his feet. Really close round that could have gone either way probably went to Mo due to dominating the position of the fight for the majority of the round. Shamrock gave the round to Mo 10-9.
R2- Mo got a quick take down in the first twenty seconds of the round. Mousasi landing strikes from his back. Mo is really exposing his head trying to get better position on the ground and is taking shots. Mousasi looked really good fighting off of his back and it looked like Mo just let him up so he wouldn't take anymore of Mousasi's strikes. Mousasi hit a good left up against the cage and then Mo immediately took him down. Mousasi landed some more shots from the bottom and then got to his feet with a minute left in the round. Mo got another take down but he's just eating strikes. Mousasi went for a submission but couldn't get it. Mousasi had Mo on his knees for a minute and landed some shots and then took his back but didn't have enough time to hook in a submission. That round goes to Mousasi making it 19-19.
R3- Mo keeping his hands down in this round and Mousasi landing some strikes. King Mo swinging for the fences but not hitting and then getting a take down. Mo is controlling this round and is starting to land some strikes from the top position. Mo took this round and he's up 29-28 going into the Championship Rounds.
R4- Mo got a take down about thirty seconds into the round. John McCarthy stands them up at the mid-point way of the round as Mo wasn't doing much from the top. Mo went for a take down and ate some strikes but completed the take down. Not a lot of action in this round but I've got Mo taking it and taking a 39-37 advantage in the final round. I think Mousasi has to finish if he wants to keep his championship.
R5- Mo shot in and got a take down thirty seconds into the round. The fight is stopped for an illegal up kick by Mousasi with two minutes left in the round. Mo's left eye is swelling shut. John McCarthy took a point away from Mousasi for kicking to the head of a grounded fighter. Mousasi landed some good shots when they were put back in play. Mousasi got back to his feet with under two minutes left. Mousasi threw some strikes but Mo took Mousasi back down with one minute left in the round. They are stood back up with twenty-five seconds left. Mo landed a take down with seven seconds left in the round and this one is over. Mo didn't do much in this round besides the take downs. I've got the fight scored 48-46 for Mo with Mousasi losing one point due to an illegal blow.
Not a sexy performance by King Mo but he showed his dominant wrestling tonight and while his stamina wasn't top-notch it was enough to win the fight over a very good fighter in Gegard Mousasi.
Judges score cards: 49-45 on all judges score cards
Winner and new champion: King Mo Lawal by Decision (Unanimous)
Strikeforce Lightweight Championship: Gilbert Melendez (c) (17-2) vs. Shinya Aoki (23-4)
Shinya Aoki is the challenger in this fight and in my book he has to be considered the favorite. Aoki has developed over the last few years into someone I thought of as a boring fighter to someone who starting snapping opponents arms and not thinking twice about it. Aoki has always been a gifted jiu jitsu practitioner but now that he has the attitude to go with it he is going to be trouble for anybody he’s fighting. Aoki has won his last 3 fights since he tried moving up in weight and got destroyed by Hayato Sakari at DREAM 8. Over the last two years Aoki has beaten a who’s who of MMA lightweights in Eddie Alvarez, Gesias Calvalcante, Joachim Hansen, Vitor Ribeiro, Caol Uno and Mizuto Hirota. Aoki has finished 5 of his last 6 wins and 4 of those have been by submission. Aoki has a 60% submission rate in his wins. Gilbert Melendez started his career by winning 13 straight fights including wins over Clay Guida and Tasuya Kawajiri. Melendez then dropped 2 of his next 3 fights as he fell to Mitsuhiro Ishida and Josh Thomson. Melendez’s last two victories have been over the only two men who have defeated him. Now that’s impressive, not many MMA fighters can boast that they have came back and re-claimed victories against the only men who defeated them. Without inside knowledge of Melendez it looked like he just got unfocused for a while and after watching his last 3 fights it seems like he is re-focused and back on track.
R1- Long feeling out process and the crowd is growing restless. Aoki continues his heeldom from the New Years Eve show and gives Melendez and eye poke. Aoki grabbed an arm and latched onto it and brought the fight to the ground but Melendez was able to escape without any damage. Melendez stuff an Aoki take down and then jumped in Aoki's guard to try to deliver some damage. Melendez landed some good shots but Aoki got back to his feet. Aoki landed a knee but Melendez absorbed it and landed a couple of strikes. Melendez 10-9.
R2- Aoki shot in and Melendez stopped him and Aoki ended up on his back but that's a position that he's comfortable with. Melendez has busted up Aoki's lip. Aoki landed a good left hand to Melendez chin. Melendez got Aoki up against the cage and threw a barrage of strikes but didn't land anything substantial. Aoki went for a take down and was stuffed and then tried to pull guard. Aoki shot in again and Melendez stopped it with a fist and ended the round on top of Aoki. Melendez 20-18. Strikeforce is in danger of going way over tonight, especially since Dan Henderson loves to go to decisions.
R3- Aoki went for a take down early and really fought for it but Melendez spun out and then jumped into Aoki's guard. Aoki keeps going to his back in this round and is drawing the ire of the Nashville crowd. Melendez landing some good shots on the ground. Aoki landed a knee but Melendez answered with some strikes. Melendez 30-27. So far I've enjoyed both fights but if I was a fan casually interested in MMA I don't know if I would. I think Strikeforce should book more guys that like to stand and bang in addition to it's great arsenal of wrestlers. I think they need more variety on the show.
R4- Aoki went in again and Melendez fought off the take down and took top position but gave it up. Melendez landed a good right hand that stopped Aoki from coming in for a take down. Melendez landed a good knee to Aoki's chest when Aoki tried another take down. The ref was trying to stop the fight to stand up the fighters and Melendez landed 3 good shots to Aoki and thought the ref was stopping the fight in his favor. Aoki tried for a take down and Melendez took his guard and landed some good strikes. Melendez 40-36.
R5- Ranallo says Melendez has landed 102 strikes to Aoki's 15 at this point in the contest. Aoki goes in for a take down and complains of an eye poke. Aoki pulled guard and went for a rubber guard or triangle and Melendez mashed him up against the cage. Melendez landed some good Ground and Pound half way through the round. Aoki pulled guard again with a minute left in the round but Melendez got free and stood up. Melendez lands some good strikes and lands a flurry to end the round. Melendez soundly wins this decision 50-45. Melendez has looked very impressive since he lost the decision to Josh Thomson. I'm thinking Josh Thomson or possibly KJ Noons would be the next fighter for Melendez unless they bring in somebody else from Japan like a Kawajiri or JZ.
Judges score cards: 50-45 on all three score cards
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)
Former NFL Player Eddie George, Bobby Lashley, Cung Le, Nick Diaz, Scott Smith, Herschel Walker, and Brett Rogers are shown in attendance.
Highlights are shown of Jason "Mayhem" Miller versus Tim Stout, which happened early this evening, were shown. Mayhem was shown completing a take down and then landed some Ground and Pound and the ref stopped the fight as Stout turtled up. Ranallo says Jason Miller will fight Robbie Lawler on June 16th in Los Angeles.
Strikeforce Middleweight Championship: Jake Shields (c) (24-4-1) vs. Dan Henderson (25-7)
Former Pride champion Dan Henderson is the man that CBS and Strikeforce are marketing this night of fights around as he’s the most experienced and well known fighter fighting on this card. That being said, I really don’t see Dan as being very marketable. I like Dan Henderson as much as the next guy but his highest profile win in the last 2 years was against Michael Bisping (yes he beat Rich Franklin but that was a split decision and nobody remembers it). If Dan Henderson was that marketable the UFC would have kept him. That being said, Dan Henderson is still a very good fighter with his biggest strength being his wrestling as well as his punching power (at least that’s what Michael Bisping tells me). Jake Shields is a skilled jiu jitsu fighter who has an uncanny ability to control his opponents. He frustrated Mayhem Miller on his way to a decision victory at the last CBS show. Shields is on a 13 fight winning streak that includes Mayhem, Robbie Lawler, Paul Daley, Yushin Okami, Toby Imada and Carlos Condit but Dan Henderson is clearly the top fighter that Shields has faced.
They show some of the "simulated" fight between Henderson and Shields using the upcoming MMA game from EA. Definitely looks like a step down from the UFC Undisputed series.
R1- Henderson landed a big right hand 19 seconds into the fight and Shields went down hard. Henderson jumped on top and Sheilds grabbed Dan to survive and then grabbed on a leg lock but Hendo was able to slip out at the one minute mark of the fight. Hendo hit a right hand to the body that drove Shields back. Hendo definitely looks a lot bigger than Shields. Henderson landed some good strikes and Shields looked like he purposely fell to his back to invite Hendo to the ground and give himself an opportunity to recover. Hendo landed a good right hand and Shields is just trying to survive and we are only half way through the round. Shields shot in for a take down and looked like he got it but Hendo fought back and got the clinch back to their feet against the cage. Henderson looked really good and brought the striking that the first two fights did not. Hendo 10-8 in the first round and so far Shields is looking like he would be a better fit back at Welterweight.
R2- Shields shot in early and tried for a single leg and almost got caught in a Rear Naked but Shields ended up in Hendo's guard. Shields quickly passed Hendo's guard and took full mount. Shields lands some strikes from full mount. Shields landed some strikes and then tried an arm triangle but couldn't get it. Shields is landing some really good Ground and Pound. Shields landed some more Ground and Pound and then expertly grabbed onto the cage to hold position as Hendo bucked and the ref didn't even notice it. Borderline 10-8 round but I don't think Shields came close to finishing so I gave it 10-9 which makes it Hendo 19-18 so far. Great come back round by Shields in that round.
R3- Shields dove in for a single leg but Hendo sprawled and kept the fight standing. Sheilds went for another take down and got it with three minutes left in the round. Shields passed Hendo's guard and took side control with half the round remaining. Shields got full mount with a minute left in the round and briefly tried a guillotine but couldn't get it clamped in fully and released it. Shields landed some light Ground and Pound and then tried for an arm bar but couldn't get it before the bell rang. Shields took this round 10-9 and I've got the fight 28-28 right now.
Props to Gilbert Melendez who just finished his fight and is now cornering Jake Shields in this fight (along with Nick Diaz).
R4- Shields immediately went for a take down but Hendo scrambled out of it. Shields grabbed onto another single leg take down and Hendo locked Shields down temporarily before Shields completed the take down. Shields got full mount with one minute left in the round. Shields grinding out this fight even though the fans aren't too happy about it. Shields is up 38-37 on my score card.
R5- Shields got a take down with four minutes left in the round. Shields got full mount with three and a half minutes left in the fight. Shields landing some decent strikes from full mount. Shields went for an arm triangle but couldn't get in the right position to execute the submission. Shields tried for an arm bar in the last thirty seconds of the fight and then grabbed a knee bar but couldn't finish and the bell rung to finish the fight. Shields wins this 48-46 on my score card.
Judges score cards: 49-46, 49-45, 48-45
Winner: Jake Shields by Decision (Unanimous)
Decent night of fights but Strikeforce definitely didn't create any new stars or gain any new fans tonight with three five round decisions. They really needed some electricity tonight and Hendo provided that in the first round but couldn't out last Shields. Hopefully Strikeforce learns from this and we don't get 3 championship fights on one card featuring wrestlers on the same show.
Post-Fight Mayhem Miller shows that he's a jackass and interrupts Jake Shields interview and a brawl ensues. That was straight out of Elite XC. I was asking for some more excitement but that's a little ridiculous. I love me some Pro Wrestling (well I use to until Vince McMahon took over) but you have to have respect for your opponents and Mayhem Miller showed his ass again here.
Showing posts with label Gilbert Melendez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gilbert Melendez. Show all posts
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Strikeforce: Evolution 12/20/09 Re-Cap
Strikeforce: Evolution
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California
12/20/09
The feature attraction tonight is the return of undefeated former Middleweight Champion Cung Le to take on slugger Scott Smith. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he’s joined on the show by Frank Shamrock and Stephan Quadros. Jimmy Lennon, Jr is the ring announcer. We will also Matt Lindland, Ronaldo Jacare Souza and Mo Lawal on tonight’s show. Also tonight is the Lightweight title re-match between champion Josh Thomson and the man he beat for the title Gilbert Melendez.
Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Cris Cyborg, KJ Noons, Herschel Walker, Bobby Lashley, and Dan Henderson are all in attendance ringside for the show tonight.
Heavyweight Fight- Mo Lawal (5-0) vs. Mike Whitehead (24-7)
Lawal is a Light Heavyweight so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the weight differential in this fight. Whitehead weighs in at 261 pounds versus only 218 for Lawal. Lawal has a 4” reach advantage. Whitehead has won 15 of his last 16 fights including a real snoozer against Kevin Randleman by in June.
R1- King Mo landed some decent shots early as Whitehead looked to clinch. Mo continues to land some good jabs and Whitehead is bleeding from near his eye. Mo hit a big time 1-2 combo flooring Whitehead and then jumping on top and finishing him off. Very impressive showing by King Mo.
Winner: Mo Lawal by KO R1 3:08
Middleweight Fight- Matt Lindland (21-6) vs. Jacare Souza (10-2)
Souza is a jiu jitsu fighter and Lindland is a wrestler. 9 of Jacare’s 10 wins have come from submission. Lindland is an Olympic Silver Medalist wrestler and Jacare is a two-time BJJ World Champion.
R1- Jacare lands some strikes early and avoids a take down. Jacare landed a good shot to the body but then got taken down by Lindland. Jacare got in position for an arm bar. Lindland was able to escape but Jacare took an advantageous position. Jacare was able to take side control and clamp in an arm triangle and he tapped Lindland.
Winner: Jacare Souza By Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 4:18
Two great debuts by King Mo and Jacare in the first two fights for Strikeforce.
Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight- Josh Thomson © (16-2) vs. Gilbert Melendez (16-2)
This is a re-match from the 6/27/08 Strikeforce show where Thomson beat Melendez for the title via decision (50-45 on all score cards). Since that time Thomson has been battling injuries and Melendez defeated Rodrigo Damm for the Interim title. This is Thomson’s first title defense since winning the title. Thomson has won 8 straight fights.
R1- They exchanged some shots in the first minute. Thomson grabbed a Melendez kick and took him off his feet but they quickly got back to their feet and exchanged some leather with Thomson getting the better of the shots. Melendez went for a take down but could not get it but he did land a couple of strikes. Melendez landed some good shots in an exchange late in the round. Really good first round that was virtually even. I’ve got Thomson up 10-9 by just a hair.
R2- Melendez landed a good right hand to start off the round that floored Thomson. Thomson quickly got back to his feet and they exchanged leather before Melendez hit Thomson with a low blow. Melendez caught a Thomson kick but couldn’t take him off his feet. Very even round with the exception of the opening knock down. Thomson landed a couple of shots that looked like they stunned Melendez a bit. Both guys stood toe to toe and threw wild punches and Thomson went down but he grabbed onto Melendez to give himself time to recover and the round ends with Melendez on top. This round went to Melendez so we’ve got a 19-19 fight after two rounds.
R3- Melendez is the aggressor in the first half of the round. Thomson went for a take down but could not get Melendez off his feet. Melendez took this round and I’ve got him up 29-28 on my score card.
R4- Thomson got an early take down but could not keep Melendez on the ground. Melendez caught a Thomson kick and briefly got him on the ground but he couldn’t hold him down. Both guys landed some decent shots in the last minute of the round. Melendez landed an eye poke with 12 seconds left in the round. This was the closest round of any and could have gone either way.
R5- Thomson landed some good shots and then both guys went toe to toe. Thomson is really coming out swinging for the fences thinking that he probably needs to finish this fight to keep his championship. Thomson looked like he punched himself out and then Melendez landed a good punch that floored him and Melendez jumped into Thomson’s guard. Thomson got back to his feet with two minutes left in the fight. Melendez rushed in and Thomson took him down to the mat with one minute left in the fight but Melendez fought back to his feet. Both guys stood toe to toe and slugged it out to end the fight. Really strong fight, possible Fight of the Year Candidate. I’ve got Melendez taking this fight via decision.
Judges score cards show: 49-47, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of Melendez
Winner and new champion: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)
Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley are interviewed cage side. Henderson says that he’s going to be fighting at Middleweight to start.
Friday January 22nd will be the next Strikeforce Challengers event
Saturday January 30th will be the next Strikeforce event featuring Nick Diaz, Cris Cyborg, Robbie Lawler, Bobby Lashley and Herschel Walker.
In April 2010 Strikeforce/M-1 Global Saturday Night Fights will return featuring Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson
Middleweight Fight- Cung Le (6-0) vs. Scott Smith (16-6)
R1- Cung Le hit a wicked spinning back kick one minute into the fight that dropped Scott Smith. Cung then jumped on top and landed some shots until Smith got back to his feet at the half way point of the round. Le landed another spinning back kick as Smith was leaning back and it knocked him down but didn’t have near the impact of the last one and Smith quickly got back to his feet. Let hit a good round house kick to the face. Le hit another back kick that knocked Smith to the cage but not off his feet. Borderline 10-8 round in favor of Le. Let out struck Smith 45 to 4 in the first round so I’d say that 10-8 is a good score for round one.
R2- Le knocked Smith down with another spinning back kick. Le jumped on top but Smith wrapped him up until the ref stood them back up half way through the round. Lots of clinching in the second half of the round. Le is up 20-17 after two rounds but Le looks like his cardio is fading.
R3- Le landed good back to back spinning back kicks but Smith did not leave his feet. Le landed some good punches and then a spinning back fist. Le slammed Smith to the ground but could not hold him down. Smith landed some shots and clipped Le with a left hand that knocked Le to the mat. Le got back up and Smith landed a big right that folded Le’s legs. Smith jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight. Le dominated this fight until mid-way through the last round and Smith landed about 10 punches and won this fight. Amazing.
Winner: Scott Smith by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:25
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California
12/20/09
The feature attraction tonight is the return of undefeated former Middleweight Champion Cung Le to take on slugger Scott Smith. Mauro Ranallo is the lead announcer and he’s joined on the show by Frank Shamrock and Stephan Quadros. Jimmy Lennon, Jr is the ring announcer. We will also Matt Lindland, Ronaldo Jacare Souza and Mo Lawal on tonight’s show. Also tonight is the Lightweight title re-match between champion Josh Thomson and the man he beat for the title Gilbert Melendez.
Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, Cris Cyborg, KJ Noons, Herschel Walker, Bobby Lashley, and Dan Henderson are all in attendance ringside for the show tonight.
Heavyweight Fight- Mo Lawal (5-0) vs. Mike Whitehead (24-7)
Lawal is a Light Heavyweight so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the weight differential in this fight. Whitehead weighs in at 261 pounds versus only 218 for Lawal. Lawal has a 4” reach advantage. Whitehead has won 15 of his last 16 fights including a real snoozer against Kevin Randleman by in June.
R1- King Mo landed some decent shots early as Whitehead looked to clinch. Mo continues to land some good jabs and Whitehead is bleeding from near his eye. Mo hit a big time 1-2 combo flooring Whitehead and then jumping on top and finishing him off. Very impressive showing by King Mo.
Winner: Mo Lawal by KO R1 3:08
Middleweight Fight- Matt Lindland (21-6) vs. Jacare Souza (10-2)
Souza is a jiu jitsu fighter and Lindland is a wrestler. 9 of Jacare’s 10 wins have come from submission. Lindland is an Olympic Silver Medalist wrestler and Jacare is a two-time BJJ World Champion.
R1- Jacare lands some strikes early and avoids a take down. Jacare landed a good shot to the body but then got taken down by Lindland. Jacare got in position for an arm bar. Lindland was able to escape but Jacare took an advantageous position. Jacare was able to take side control and clamp in an arm triangle and he tapped Lindland.
Winner: Jacare Souza By Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 4:18
Two great debuts by King Mo and Jacare in the first two fights for Strikeforce.
Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight- Josh Thomson © (16-2) vs. Gilbert Melendez (16-2)
This is a re-match from the 6/27/08 Strikeforce show where Thomson beat Melendez for the title via decision (50-45 on all score cards). Since that time Thomson has been battling injuries and Melendez defeated Rodrigo Damm for the Interim title. This is Thomson’s first title defense since winning the title. Thomson has won 8 straight fights.
R1- They exchanged some shots in the first minute. Thomson grabbed a Melendez kick and took him off his feet but they quickly got back to their feet and exchanged some leather with Thomson getting the better of the shots. Melendez went for a take down but could not get it but he did land a couple of strikes. Melendez landed some good shots in an exchange late in the round. Really good first round that was virtually even. I’ve got Thomson up 10-9 by just a hair.
R2- Melendez landed a good right hand to start off the round that floored Thomson. Thomson quickly got back to his feet and they exchanged leather before Melendez hit Thomson with a low blow. Melendez caught a Thomson kick but couldn’t take him off his feet. Very even round with the exception of the opening knock down. Thomson landed a couple of shots that looked like they stunned Melendez a bit. Both guys stood toe to toe and threw wild punches and Thomson went down but he grabbed onto Melendez to give himself time to recover and the round ends with Melendez on top. This round went to Melendez so we’ve got a 19-19 fight after two rounds.
R3- Melendez is the aggressor in the first half of the round. Thomson went for a take down but could not get Melendez off his feet. Melendez took this round and I’ve got him up 29-28 on my score card.
R4- Thomson got an early take down but could not keep Melendez on the ground. Melendez caught a Thomson kick and briefly got him on the ground but he couldn’t hold him down. Both guys landed some decent shots in the last minute of the round. Melendez landed an eye poke with 12 seconds left in the round. This was the closest round of any and could have gone either way.
R5- Thomson landed some good shots and then both guys went toe to toe. Thomson is really coming out swinging for the fences thinking that he probably needs to finish this fight to keep his championship. Thomson looked like he punched himself out and then Melendez landed a good punch that floored him and Melendez jumped into Thomson’s guard. Thomson got back to his feet with two minutes left in the fight. Melendez rushed in and Thomson took him down to the mat with one minute left in the fight but Melendez fought back to his feet. Both guys stood toe to toe and slugged it out to end the fight. Really strong fight, possible Fight of the Year Candidate. I’ve got Melendez taking this fight via decision.
Judges score cards show: 49-47, 49-46, 49-46 in favor of Melendez
Winner and new champion: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)
Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley are interviewed cage side. Henderson says that he’s going to be fighting at Middleweight to start.
Friday January 22nd will be the next Strikeforce Challengers event
Saturday January 30th will be the next Strikeforce event featuring Nick Diaz, Cris Cyborg, Robbie Lawler, Bobby Lashley and Herschel Walker.
In April 2010 Strikeforce/M-1 Global Saturday Night Fights will return featuring Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson
Middleweight Fight- Cung Le (6-0) vs. Scott Smith (16-6)
R1- Cung Le hit a wicked spinning back kick one minute into the fight that dropped Scott Smith. Cung then jumped on top and landed some shots until Smith got back to his feet at the half way point of the round. Le landed another spinning back kick as Smith was leaning back and it knocked him down but didn’t have near the impact of the last one and Smith quickly got back to his feet. Let hit a good round house kick to the face. Le hit another back kick that knocked Smith to the cage but not off his feet. Borderline 10-8 round in favor of Le. Let out struck Smith 45 to 4 in the first round so I’d say that 10-8 is a good score for round one.
R2- Le knocked Smith down with another spinning back kick. Le jumped on top but Smith wrapped him up until the ref stood them back up half way through the round. Lots of clinching in the second half of the round. Le is up 20-17 after two rounds but Le looks like his cardio is fading.
R3- Le landed good back to back spinning back kicks but Smith did not leave his feet. Le landed some good punches and then a spinning back fist. Le slammed Smith to the ground but could not hold him down. Smith landed some shots and clipped Le with a left hand that knocked Le to the mat. Le got back up and Smith landed a big right that folded Le’s legs. Smith jumped on top and the ref stopped the fight. Le dominated this fight until mid-way through the last round and Smith landed about 10 punches and won this fight. Amazing.
Winner: Scott Smith by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:25
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.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Strikeforce 6/27 "Melendez vs. Thomson" Show Re-Cap/Thoughts
Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
From HP Pavillion in San Jose, California
Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the announcers for the show. Ron Kruck is also at the show and is their backstage reporter. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer (he does the Elite XC shows also).
Featherweight Fight- Bryan Caraway (8-2) vs. Alvin Cacdac (7-3)
Carraway has won six in a row and has won all his fights by submission. Cacdac is from San Jose so he's a hometown guy for this fight.
R1- Caraway immediately gets a take down, passes the guard and then takes Alvin's back. Alvin taps about a minute and a half in. Total dominance by Caraway in the opener.
Winner: Bryan Caraway by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:39
Lightweight Fight- Bobby Stack (4-1) vs. Jose Palacios (3-0)
Both of these guys are from California. Palacios trains with Strikeforce Middleweight Champ Cung Le. This is considered an "undercard" fight so it's only 3 minute rounds. I think they are just showing this because the first fight ended so quickly as they went right to this fight after the first fight ended.
R1- Stack is the agressor early with Palacios counter punching and kicking. Palacios seems to be getting in some shots but Stack gets a take down. Close round with Palacios probably taking it with the take down and controlling the cage. Stack landed 17 strikes in Round 1 and Palacios 16. Palacios landed 53% to Stack's 44%.
R2- Palacios starts off with a couple of strikes and then gets taken down again. Stack controls for the majority of the round and just misses an arm bar at the end of the round and then Palacios got on top for the last 20 seconds. I'm thinking it's Stack 20-18 right now.
R3- Stack gets a slam about 30 seconds into the round and has Palacios's back but gives it up and takes full mount. Stack getting in some shots in full mount. Palacios reverses but gets taken down again and Stack is in Palacios's guard. This one ends with Stack on top. I've got Stack 30-27 in this fight as he dominated cage control, got more strikes in and dominated the take downs.
For the fight Stack landed 36 strikes at a percentage of 53% and Palacios landed 27 at a percentage of 39%. Stack had 4 take downs to 0 and both guys had 1 submission attempt. Would have liked to have seen this one go 5 minute rounds instead of 3 minute rounds. Ken Shamrock is in Bobby Stack's corner.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Stack.
Winner: Bobby Stack by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Riggs was denied his fight license by the California State Athletic Commission. They interview him and he said that he had 2 medications that he had a prescription for that were "banned" substances.
Bantamweight Fight- Anthony Figueroa (4-2) vs. Chris Cariaso (6-1)
Figueroa has been on the Strikeforce NBC show and he won impressively in one round in that fight. Cariaso holds a victory over Figueroa by Unanimous Decision on 6/22/07. Figueroa is from San Jose. Cariaso is from San Fransisco. This one is 5 minute rounds. Figueroa trains with Cung Le.
R1- Cariaso gets a take down about 45 seconds into the fight and hits some good Ground and Pound and is actively trying to improve his position. Cariaso gets full mount. Figueroa gets out of it and gets to his feet but gets taken down in short order. Figueroa gets to his feet and lands a knee. Cariaso wins this round 10-9. Cariaso landed 12 strikes at 63% and Figueroa landed only 2 at 14%.
R2- Cariaso gets another take down early in this round. Cariaso just dominating this round and getting some Ground and Pound and then taking Figueroa's back. Cariaso gets the win with a Rear Naked Choke. Cariaso looked really good in this fight as he just dominated.
Winner: Chris Cariaso by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:34
Middleweight Fight- Jeremiah Metcalf (8-4) vs. Raymond Daniels (0-0)
This is announced as a "special attraction." Daniels was 16-0 in kickboxing and 18-0 in the World Combat League and this is his pro MMA debut. Metclaf has won 4 of his last 5 and has won his last 3 fights. This is scheduled for 3 3-minute rounds.
R1- Metcalf shoots in quickly and clinches. Metcalf eventually takes him down but briefly got caught in a guillotine. Metcalf dominates the first round and hits some good Ground and Pound at the end of the round. First round goes to Metcalf.
R2- Metcalf sticks Daniels with a punch right at the beginning of the round and muscles him down again. Metcalf looked like he was going for a triangle choke and spun over and took Daniels back and choked him out. Metcalf just dominate here. Not the debut Daniels was looking for as he didn't even throw a kick.
Winner: Jeremiah Metcalf by Submission (Rear Nake Choke) R2 0:59
Women's Fight (147 lbs)- Elena Maxwell (2-2) vs. Miesha Tate (1-1)
Maxwell was featured in a fight against Gina Carano that was shown on the NBC Strikeforce show and took Gina to the limit but lost by decision in a fight that was scored 29-28 by all three judges (this fight was in 2006). Tate has a loss to Kaitlin Young, who also lost to Gina Carano on the debut Elite XC CBS show. Based on those two fights I'm going to go with Maxwell to win this one. This fight has 3 minute rounds.
R1- Tate gets an early take down. Tate gets full mount. Maxwell flips her over but Tate tries an arm bar (but can't extend it) and Maxwell grabs a head scissors at the same time. Tate finally gets the arm bar but Maxwell survives due to being saved by the bell. Tate wins this round. It looked to me like Maxwell tapped but the ref didn't see it. Oh well.
R2- Tate gets a quick take down to start Round 2. Tate gets full mount again. Tate getting in some Ground and Pound. Maxwell grabs Tate with her legs and puts her in another head scissors. Tate gets out and has side control. Tate takes this round as well and is up 20-18 on my score card. Tate has landed 18 strikes to Maxwell's 3 so far.
R3- Maxwell gets Tate's back with about a minute left. Maxwell takes this round but I give the fight to Tate 29-28. And all of the judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Tate.
Winner: Miesha Tate by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Title Fight: Bobby Southworth © (8-5) vs. Anthony Ruiz (20-10)
Bobby Southworth is the guy from TUF Season 1 that made the unlikeable Chris Leben into a sympathetic character. This is a re-match from a fight that Southworth lost due to a cut. Ruiz has won his last 6 fights. Cung Le joins the announcers to call this fight.
R1- Southworth gets the first take down. Bobby takes his back about one and a half minutes into the fight. Bobby never really seemed to do much damage and then Ruiz flipped him over and is in Bobby's guard. Bobby stands up the fight and then gets a take down with a little over a minute left in the round. Bobby grabbed an arm bar but didn't extend it and Ruiz got out but Bobby grabbed another submission. Bobby looked pretty good in Round One and i've got him up 10-9 on my scorecard after the first.
R2- Ruiz gets an early take down in Round two but Bobby stands up and then gets a take down of his own. Ruiz rolls him over and gets into Bobby's guard. They are basically trading take downs in this round with either guy seeming to do much damage. This was a close round, could have gone either way. I would give it to Ruiz. So i've got 19-19.
So far through 2 Rounds we've got Southworth with 20 strikes landed and hitting at 50% and we've got Ruiz with 17 strikes landed at 52%. Southworth has 3 take downs and 2 submission attempts and Ruiz is only credited with 1 take down.
R3- Ruiz gets the take down early in Round 3. Bobby answers with another take down. This is a very flat fight. Pretty much just guys taking each other down and not really doing much else. Southworth gets full mount and Ruiz gives up his back and then reverses Bobby. Ruiz grabs a guillotine and pulls guard on Southworth but Southworth gets out and is in Ruiz's guard. Not much action in this round. It probably goes to Southworth. I've got Southworth 29-28. This is any body's fight right now.
R4- They actually do some stand up in this round after some mat work. Southworth grabs a kimura on Ruiz but can't finish him. This round goes to Southworth also. This is a very tedious fight. I've got Southworth 39-37 after 4 rounds.
R5- They start this round doing stand up and Southworth goes in and takes him down and rides him to victory. I've got Southworth 49-46 in this fight. Not a fun fight to watch.
Final Stats were Southworth landing 49 strikes for 44% with 10 take downs and submission attempts. Ruiz finished with 38 strikes landed at 49% and 3 take downs.
The judges scores were 48-47, 49-46 and 50-45 in favor of Southworth. Southworth got a small round of boos at the announcement.
Winner: Bobby Southworth by Decision (Unanimous) and still champion.
Lightweight Special Attraction Fight- Nam Phan (14-4) vs. Billy Evangelista (6-0)
Nam Phan was on one of the Strikeforce NBC's featured in a decision loss to Josh Thomson.
R1- The do some brief stand up and then clinch against the cage. Billy takes him down and has him against the cage and is getting some good Ground and Pound in on Phan. Evangelista is getting in some real good punches on Phan toward the end of this round. He is just dominating this round. This might have even been an 10-8 round if you believe in such a thing. Just a dominate performance from Billy. Evangelista landed 55 strikes in Round 1 to Phan's 7.
R2- They start out Round 2 with some stand up and Phan lands a couple of shots that send Billy falling back into the cage. Billy shoots but Phan stops him and they clinch against the cage. They do some more stand up and Phan knocks out Billy's mouth piece. Billy shoots with 2 minutes left and gets a take down. Phan gets up without sustaining any damage but Billy takes him down again. Billy looks like he's cut on the side of the head. Phan took this round. Billy tried to steal it at the end but didn't do enough damage. This round goes Phan 10-9. Right now it's either 19-19 or 19-18 in favor of Evangelista depending on how the first round was scored. This fight is still any body's to win. In Round 2 Phan landed 31 strikes to Bily's 22.
R3- Phan hits some nice shots to start the round and again backs Billy into the cage. Billy comes off the cage and goes for a take down but Phan defends and they clinch. Phan knocks Billy's mouth piece out again in this round. Billy finally muscles a take down with 2 minutes left. Phan was winning this round until now. The ref stands the fighters up due to inactivity. Phan winning the stand up game again at the end of the round. Phan takes this round 10-9. I've got Billy with round one 10-8 and Phan with round two and three 10-9. I've got it 28-28- a draw. The announcers are saying they think Billy took Round One and Round Three. It looked to me like Phan dominated Round Three. Billy got a take down but didn't do anything with it. Round 3 showed Nam getting 32 strikes to Billy's 23. Overall, Billy landed 100 strikes (over half of these in the first round) and Nam landed 70 strikes (landed 63 in the last two round). Billy controlled the ground with 4 take downs but really didn't do any damage on the ground except for Round One. 78 of Billy's strikes were done on the ground, only 11 of Phan's were.
And the judges scorecard shows a split decision. Phan 29-28, Billy 29-28 and the third judge scores the fight 29-28 in favor of Billy Evangelista. Billy is the hometown guy (he's from Fresno) and the crowd booed when he was announced as the winner. Both announcers felt that Billy won and the decision was just.
Winner: Billy Evangelista by Decision (Split)
Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight: Gilbert Melendez © (14-1) vs. Josh Thomson (14-2)
These guys trained together for two years. Gilbert refers to himself in the third person during the pre-fight promos. Thomson hasn't lost in 2 years and has won his last 6 fights. His 2 losses are to Yves Edwards and Clay Guida. Melendez's best wins are over Kawajiri and Guida. Five of his last Six fights have been decision and his only lost came on New Years Eve of last year.
R1- Melendez is the aggressor early as he backs Thomson off with jabs. Thomson hits a couple of knees and then gets a take down. Thomson doesn't do much with his take down and Melendez spins out of it and take Thomson's guard. They get to their feet and square off but no one really gets the better. This was a close round, I think Thomson took it as he controlled the majority of the round but didn't dominate. Thomson 10-9. Melendez landed only 8 strikes in the first round (at a clip of 27%) and Thomson landed 15 (at a clip of 83%).
R2- Melendez again starts the round by being the aggressor and jabbing. Both guys landing shots. Lots of action early on in Round Two. Thomson hit a nice front kick and then some knees and kicks. Thomson is winning this round and Gilbert seems to be tiring. Thomson hit a big knee. Thomson with a nice spinning back kick with about a minute left. Thomson really looking good. Thomson gets a take down right at the buzzer. Thomson is definitely winning this fight. He's up 20-18 in my book and is solidly in control. Melendez is going to have to take him down and wear him out in Round 3 to get back in this one. Thomson landed 11 kicks in the round and after two rounds Thomson has hit on 45 strikes (at a clip of 67%) and Melendez has hit on 23 strikes (hitting only 26%). Thomson has 2 take downs to Melendez's 0.
R3- Melendez starts the round by pushing forward again and backing off Thomson with jabs but Thomson does a great job hitting kicks to back off Melendez and then unleashes on him with a combo and Melendez looks to be in trouble. Thomson just all over Melendez as he hit about 6 or 7 strikes in about 10 to 15 seconds on Melendez. Melendez comes back quickly and gets in a punch of two and then attempts a take down but gets stopped. Melendez seems to bet getting stronger as this round goes on but Thomson continues to hit strikes. Melendez hits a couple of combos and the mix it up with about a minute left in the round and Thomson answers with some good strikes. Thomson goes for a take down and finally gets it but doesn't have great position. Thomson almost got his back but Melendez escaped. Really good round. This was the closest round and I think Thomson took it again so I've got him up 30-27 but this round was the closest and Thomson looked visibly winded at the end of the round. In the Third Round Thomson hit 32 strikes to Gilbert's 15. Thomson has landed 35 kicks in the first 3 rounds.
R4- Melendez opens up with a good combo in the corner to start the round. Thomson answers with a big side kick. Thomson doing a good job keeping Melendez at bay with kicks. Thomson hits a big knee with 1:30 left in the round. Thomson shots in for a take down and gets it with one minute left in the round and has side control. Thomson takes Melendez's back but Thomson gets out and they sprawl and again Thomson takes his back. Thomson gets a choke with about 25 seconds left and Melendez breaks it with about 10 seconds left and holds on. Thomson took this round and he is up 40-36. Thomson and Melendez exchange respect at the end of the round. At this point Thomson has landed 107 strikes to 52 for Melendez and has 5 take downs and 1 submission attempt to 0 for Melendez. Melendez needs a knock out or submission in Round 5 to keep his title.
R5- Towards the end of the round both guys open it up and are going at each other with some really good exchanges. The first half of the round was kind of blah but they had a big explosion for about a minut and it ends with a close round. I think Thomson won every round in this fight and takes the fight 50-45. Great showing by Thomson, he did everything but finish Melendez. I thought this was a good fight. Way better than anything else on this show but not at the level of Faber/Pulver from earlier in June.
Thomson landed 131 strikes and around 70 kicks. Melendez only landed 66 strikes and hit at a percentage of 24% (while Thomson hit on 68% of his strikes). Thomson had 6 take downs and 1 submission attempt to 0 for Melendez.
Judges score the fight 50-45 in favor of Thomson.
Winner and new champion: Josh Thomson by Decision (Unanimous)
Overall, this was a pretty decent show with a really good Main Event. The show ended on an good note with the final two fights. A lot of the fights were strictly fought on the ground and that gets tedious after seeing it match after match. I'm more of a fan of a little stand up and a little ground so I enjoyed the last two fights a lot more as all the fights before the final two were almost exclusively fought on the ground. I definitely recommend checking out the Thomson/Melendez fight. The rest of the show is skippable but watch the Main Event.
From HP Pavillion in San Jose, California
Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are the announcers for the show. Ron Kruck is also at the show and is their backstage reporter. Jimmy Lennon Jr is the ring announcer (he does the Elite XC shows also).
Featherweight Fight- Bryan Caraway (8-2) vs. Alvin Cacdac (7-3)
Carraway has won six in a row and has won all his fights by submission. Cacdac is from San Jose so he's a hometown guy for this fight.
R1- Caraway immediately gets a take down, passes the guard and then takes Alvin's back. Alvin taps about a minute and a half in. Total dominance by Caraway in the opener.
Winner: Bryan Caraway by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:39
Lightweight Fight- Bobby Stack (4-1) vs. Jose Palacios (3-0)
Both of these guys are from California. Palacios trains with Strikeforce Middleweight Champ Cung Le. This is considered an "undercard" fight so it's only 3 minute rounds. I think they are just showing this because the first fight ended so quickly as they went right to this fight after the first fight ended.
R1- Stack is the agressor early with Palacios counter punching and kicking. Palacios seems to be getting in some shots but Stack gets a take down. Close round with Palacios probably taking it with the take down and controlling the cage. Stack landed 17 strikes in Round 1 and Palacios 16. Palacios landed 53% to Stack's 44%.
R2- Palacios starts off with a couple of strikes and then gets taken down again. Stack controls for the majority of the round and just misses an arm bar at the end of the round and then Palacios got on top for the last 20 seconds. I'm thinking it's Stack 20-18 right now.
R3- Stack gets a slam about 30 seconds into the round and has Palacios's back but gives it up and takes full mount. Stack getting in some shots in full mount. Palacios reverses but gets taken down again and Stack is in Palacios's guard. This one ends with Stack on top. I've got Stack 30-27 in this fight as he dominated cage control, got more strikes in and dominated the take downs.
For the fight Stack landed 36 strikes at a percentage of 53% and Palacios landed 27 at a percentage of 39%. Stack had 4 take downs to 0 and both guys had 1 submission attempt. Would have liked to have seen this one go 5 minute rounds instead of 3 minute rounds. Ken Shamrock is in Bobby Stack's corner.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Stack.
Winner: Bobby Stack by Decision (Unanimous)
Joe Riggs was denied his fight license by the California State Athletic Commission. They interview him and he said that he had 2 medications that he had a prescription for that were "banned" substances.
Bantamweight Fight- Anthony Figueroa (4-2) vs. Chris Cariaso (6-1)
Figueroa has been on the Strikeforce NBC show and he won impressively in one round in that fight. Cariaso holds a victory over Figueroa by Unanimous Decision on 6/22/07. Figueroa is from San Jose. Cariaso is from San Fransisco. This one is 5 minute rounds. Figueroa trains with Cung Le.
R1- Cariaso gets a take down about 45 seconds into the fight and hits some good Ground and Pound and is actively trying to improve his position. Cariaso gets full mount. Figueroa gets out of it and gets to his feet but gets taken down in short order. Figueroa gets to his feet and lands a knee. Cariaso wins this round 10-9. Cariaso landed 12 strikes at 63% and Figueroa landed only 2 at 14%.
R2- Cariaso gets another take down early in this round. Cariaso just dominating this round and getting some Ground and Pound and then taking Figueroa's back. Cariaso gets the win with a Rear Naked Choke. Cariaso looked really good in this fight as he just dominated.
Winner: Chris Cariaso by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:34
Middleweight Fight- Jeremiah Metcalf (8-4) vs. Raymond Daniels (0-0)
This is announced as a "special attraction." Daniels was 16-0 in kickboxing and 18-0 in the World Combat League and this is his pro MMA debut. Metclaf has won 4 of his last 5 and has won his last 3 fights. This is scheduled for 3 3-minute rounds.
R1- Metcalf shoots in quickly and clinches. Metcalf eventually takes him down but briefly got caught in a guillotine. Metcalf dominates the first round and hits some good Ground and Pound at the end of the round. First round goes to Metcalf.
R2- Metcalf sticks Daniels with a punch right at the beginning of the round and muscles him down again. Metcalf looked like he was going for a triangle choke and spun over and took Daniels back and choked him out. Metcalf just dominate here. Not the debut Daniels was looking for as he didn't even throw a kick.
Winner: Jeremiah Metcalf by Submission (Rear Nake Choke) R2 0:59
Women's Fight (147 lbs)- Elena Maxwell (2-2) vs. Miesha Tate (1-1)
Maxwell was featured in a fight against Gina Carano that was shown on the NBC Strikeforce show and took Gina to the limit but lost by decision in a fight that was scored 29-28 by all three judges (this fight was in 2006). Tate has a loss to Kaitlin Young, who also lost to Gina Carano on the debut Elite XC CBS show. Based on those two fights I'm going to go with Maxwell to win this one. This fight has 3 minute rounds.
R1- Tate gets an early take down. Tate gets full mount. Maxwell flips her over but Tate tries an arm bar (but can't extend it) and Maxwell grabs a head scissors at the same time. Tate finally gets the arm bar but Maxwell survives due to being saved by the bell. Tate wins this round. It looked to me like Maxwell tapped but the ref didn't see it. Oh well.
R2- Tate gets a quick take down to start Round 2. Tate gets full mount again. Tate getting in some Ground and Pound. Maxwell grabs Tate with her legs and puts her in another head scissors. Tate gets out and has side control. Tate takes this round as well and is up 20-18 on my score card. Tate has landed 18 strikes to Maxwell's 3 so far.
R3- Maxwell gets Tate's back with about a minute left. Maxwell takes this round but I give the fight to Tate 29-28. And all of the judges score the fight 29-28 in favor of Tate.
Winner: Miesha Tate by Decision (Unanimous)
Light Heavyweight Title Fight: Bobby Southworth © (8-5) vs. Anthony Ruiz (20-10)
Bobby Southworth is the guy from TUF Season 1 that made the unlikeable Chris Leben into a sympathetic character. This is a re-match from a fight that Southworth lost due to a cut. Ruiz has won his last 6 fights. Cung Le joins the announcers to call this fight.
R1- Southworth gets the first take down. Bobby takes his back about one and a half minutes into the fight. Bobby never really seemed to do much damage and then Ruiz flipped him over and is in Bobby's guard. Bobby stands up the fight and then gets a take down with a little over a minute left in the round. Bobby grabbed an arm bar but didn't extend it and Ruiz got out but Bobby grabbed another submission. Bobby looked pretty good in Round One and i've got him up 10-9 on my scorecard after the first.
R2- Ruiz gets an early take down in Round two but Bobby stands up and then gets a take down of his own. Ruiz rolls him over and gets into Bobby's guard. They are basically trading take downs in this round with either guy seeming to do much damage. This was a close round, could have gone either way. I would give it to Ruiz. So i've got 19-19.
So far through 2 Rounds we've got Southworth with 20 strikes landed and hitting at 50% and we've got Ruiz with 17 strikes landed at 52%. Southworth has 3 take downs and 2 submission attempts and Ruiz is only credited with 1 take down.
R3- Ruiz gets the take down early in Round 3. Bobby answers with another take down. This is a very flat fight. Pretty much just guys taking each other down and not really doing much else. Southworth gets full mount and Ruiz gives up his back and then reverses Bobby. Ruiz grabs a guillotine and pulls guard on Southworth but Southworth gets out and is in Ruiz's guard. Not much action in this round. It probably goes to Southworth. I've got Southworth 29-28. This is any body's fight right now.
R4- They actually do some stand up in this round after some mat work. Southworth grabs a kimura on Ruiz but can't finish him. This round goes to Southworth also. This is a very tedious fight. I've got Southworth 39-37 after 4 rounds.
R5- They start this round doing stand up and Southworth goes in and takes him down and rides him to victory. I've got Southworth 49-46 in this fight. Not a fun fight to watch.
Final Stats were Southworth landing 49 strikes for 44% with 10 take downs and submission attempts. Ruiz finished with 38 strikes landed at 49% and 3 take downs.
The judges scores were 48-47, 49-46 and 50-45 in favor of Southworth. Southworth got a small round of boos at the announcement.
Winner: Bobby Southworth by Decision (Unanimous) and still champion.
Lightweight Special Attraction Fight- Nam Phan (14-4) vs. Billy Evangelista (6-0)
Nam Phan was on one of the Strikeforce NBC's featured in a decision loss to Josh Thomson.
R1- The do some brief stand up and then clinch against the cage. Billy takes him down and has him against the cage and is getting some good Ground and Pound in on Phan. Evangelista is getting in some real good punches on Phan toward the end of this round. He is just dominating this round. This might have even been an 10-8 round if you believe in such a thing. Just a dominate performance from Billy. Evangelista landed 55 strikes in Round 1 to Phan's 7.
R2- They start out Round 2 with some stand up and Phan lands a couple of shots that send Billy falling back into the cage. Billy shoots but Phan stops him and they clinch against the cage. They do some more stand up and Phan knocks out Billy's mouth piece. Billy shoots with 2 minutes left and gets a take down. Phan gets up without sustaining any damage but Billy takes him down again. Billy looks like he's cut on the side of the head. Phan took this round. Billy tried to steal it at the end but didn't do enough damage. This round goes Phan 10-9. Right now it's either 19-19 or 19-18 in favor of Evangelista depending on how the first round was scored. This fight is still any body's to win. In Round 2 Phan landed 31 strikes to Bily's 22.
R3- Phan hits some nice shots to start the round and again backs Billy into the cage. Billy comes off the cage and goes for a take down but Phan defends and they clinch. Phan knocks Billy's mouth piece out again in this round. Billy finally muscles a take down with 2 minutes left. Phan was winning this round until now. The ref stands the fighters up due to inactivity. Phan winning the stand up game again at the end of the round. Phan takes this round 10-9. I've got Billy with round one 10-8 and Phan with round two and three 10-9. I've got it 28-28- a draw. The announcers are saying they think Billy took Round One and Round Three. It looked to me like Phan dominated Round Three. Billy got a take down but didn't do anything with it. Round 3 showed Nam getting 32 strikes to Billy's 23. Overall, Billy landed 100 strikes (over half of these in the first round) and Nam landed 70 strikes (landed 63 in the last two round). Billy controlled the ground with 4 take downs but really didn't do any damage on the ground except for Round One. 78 of Billy's strikes were done on the ground, only 11 of Phan's were.
And the judges scorecard shows a split decision. Phan 29-28, Billy 29-28 and the third judge scores the fight 29-28 in favor of Billy Evangelista. Billy is the hometown guy (he's from Fresno) and the crowd booed when he was announced as the winner. Both announcers felt that Billy won and the decision was just.
Winner: Billy Evangelista by Decision (Split)
Strikeforce Lightweight Title Fight: Gilbert Melendez © (14-1) vs. Josh Thomson (14-2)
These guys trained together for two years. Gilbert refers to himself in the third person during the pre-fight promos. Thomson hasn't lost in 2 years and has won his last 6 fights. His 2 losses are to Yves Edwards and Clay Guida. Melendez's best wins are over Kawajiri and Guida. Five of his last Six fights have been decision and his only lost came on New Years Eve of last year.
R1- Melendez is the aggressor early as he backs Thomson off with jabs. Thomson hits a couple of knees and then gets a take down. Thomson doesn't do much with his take down and Melendez spins out of it and take Thomson's guard. They get to their feet and square off but no one really gets the better. This was a close round, I think Thomson took it as he controlled the majority of the round but didn't dominate. Thomson 10-9. Melendez landed only 8 strikes in the first round (at a clip of 27%) and Thomson landed 15 (at a clip of 83%).
R2- Melendez again starts the round by being the aggressor and jabbing. Both guys landing shots. Lots of action early on in Round Two. Thomson hit a nice front kick and then some knees and kicks. Thomson is winning this round and Gilbert seems to be tiring. Thomson hit a big knee. Thomson with a nice spinning back kick with about a minute left. Thomson really looking good. Thomson gets a take down right at the buzzer. Thomson is definitely winning this fight. He's up 20-18 in my book and is solidly in control. Melendez is going to have to take him down and wear him out in Round 3 to get back in this one. Thomson landed 11 kicks in the round and after two rounds Thomson has hit on 45 strikes (at a clip of 67%) and Melendez has hit on 23 strikes (hitting only 26%). Thomson has 2 take downs to Melendez's 0.
R3- Melendez starts the round by pushing forward again and backing off Thomson with jabs but Thomson does a great job hitting kicks to back off Melendez and then unleashes on him with a combo and Melendez looks to be in trouble. Thomson just all over Melendez as he hit about 6 or 7 strikes in about 10 to 15 seconds on Melendez. Melendez comes back quickly and gets in a punch of two and then attempts a take down but gets stopped. Melendez seems to bet getting stronger as this round goes on but Thomson continues to hit strikes. Melendez hits a couple of combos and the mix it up with about a minute left in the round and Thomson answers with some good strikes. Thomson goes for a take down and finally gets it but doesn't have great position. Thomson almost got his back but Melendez escaped. Really good round. This was the closest round and I think Thomson took it again so I've got him up 30-27 but this round was the closest and Thomson looked visibly winded at the end of the round. In the Third Round Thomson hit 32 strikes to Gilbert's 15. Thomson has landed 35 kicks in the first 3 rounds.
R4- Melendez opens up with a good combo in the corner to start the round. Thomson answers with a big side kick. Thomson doing a good job keeping Melendez at bay with kicks. Thomson hits a big knee with 1:30 left in the round. Thomson shots in for a take down and gets it with one minute left in the round and has side control. Thomson takes Melendez's back but Thomson gets out and they sprawl and again Thomson takes his back. Thomson gets a choke with about 25 seconds left and Melendez breaks it with about 10 seconds left and holds on. Thomson took this round and he is up 40-36. Thomson and Melendez exchange respect at the end of the round. At this point Thomson has landed 107 strikes to 52 for Melendez and has 5 take downs and 1 submission attempt to 0 for Melendez. Melendez needs a knock out or submission in Round 5 to keep his title.
R5- Towards the end of the round both guys open it up and are going at each other with some really good exchanges. The first half of the round was kind of blah but they had a big explosion for about a minut and it ends with a close round. I think Thomson won every round in this fight and takes the fight 50-45. Great showing by Thomson, he did everything but finish Melendez. I thought this was a good fight. Way better than anything else on this show but not at the level of Faber/Pulver from earlier in June.
Thomson landed 131 strikes and around 70 kicks. Melendez only landed 66 strikes and hit at a percentage of 24% (while Thomson hit on 68% of his strikes). Thomson had 6 take downs and 1 submission attempt to 0 for Melendez.
Judges score the fight 50-45 in favor of Thomson.
Winner and new champion: Josh Thomson by Decision (Unanimous)
Overall, this was a pretty decent show with a really good Main Event. The show ended on an good note with the final two fights. A lot of the fights were strictly fought on the ground and that gets tedious after seeing it match after match. I'm more of a fan of a little stand up and a little ground so I enjoyed the last two fights a lot more as all the fights before the final two were almost exclusively fought on the ground. I definitely recommend checking out the Thomson/Melendez fight. The rest of the show is skippable but watch the Main Event.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Strikeforce on NBC 6/1 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on NBC 6/1 Re-Cap
Bobby Southworth (8-4) vs. Anthony Ruiz (17-10)- 11/16/07
Bobby Southworth is the guy from The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 that made Chris Leben a likeable guy. The telecast spends the majority of time hyping up Ruiz.
R1- Bobby catches a kick and takes down Ruiz quickly. Bobby gets full mount and then gets Ruiz’s back. Bobby had a great position but loses it and Ruiz reverses and then they get back to their feet in a clinch. Ken Shamrock is really killing Bobby Southworth on commentary, questioning his work ethic and asking why he’s not doing certain things in the ring. Southworth gets another take down. They mention that Southworth is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion but that this is a non-title match. Round 1 was pretty even and uneventful- Ruiz probably took it due to some knees he was landing but I could see Southworth getting it also. Neither guy really did anything to deserve Round One.
R2- They start to mix early in Round 1 and Southworth is send running backwards and Ruiz follows up with a take down. Bobby is cut. They show a replay and Ruiz just nailed Southworth with four straight shots. Ref stops the fight due to a cut.
Winner: Anthony Ruiz by TKO (Ref Stoppage due to cut)
Gilbert Melendez (8-0) vs. Harris Sarmiento (18-12)- 3/10/06
R1- Melendez gets a take down fairly early after a clinch. Melendez getting in some shots as he has Sarmiento up against the cage. Melendez dominating so far. Melendez hitting some elbows. Melendez with more elbows. He’s just eating Sarmiento up. Sarmiento gets to his feet and eats a couple of punches on the way up but gets to his feet. Melendez pick him up and slams him back down and is hitting him with some shots. This was a 10-8 round in favor of Melendez. Just not even close.
R2- Melendez got caught with a couple of shots but still got the take down at the beginning of the round. Gilbert is pounding on Sarmiento and Herb Dean stops the fight. Melendez just dominated.
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by TKO (punches) R2 0:44
Bobby Southworth (8-4) vs. Anthony Ruiz (17-10)- 11/16/07
Bobby Southworth is the guy from The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 that made Chris Leben a likeable guy. The telecast spends the majority of time hyping up Ruiz.
R1- Bobby catches a kick and takes down Ruiz quickly. Bobby gets full mount and then gets Ruiz’s back. Bobby had a great position but loses it and Ruiz reverses and then they get back to their feet in a clinch. Ken Shamrock is really killing Bobby Southworth on commentary, questioning his work ethic and asking why he’s not doing certain things in the ring. Southworth gets another take down. They mention that Southworth is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion but that this is a non-title match. Round 1 was pretty even and uneventful- Ruiz probably took it due to some knees he was landing but I could see Southworth getting it also. Neither guy really did anything to deserve Round One.
R2- They start to mix early in Round 1 and Southworth is send running backwards and Ruiz follows up with a take down. Bobby is cut. They show a replay and Ruiz just nailed Southworth with four straight shots. Ref stops the fight due to a cut.
Winner: Anthony Ruiz by TKO (Ref Stoppage due to cut)
Gilbert Melendez (8-0) vs. Harris Sarmiento (18-12)- 3/10/06
R1- Melendez gets a take down fairly early after a clinch. Melendez getting in some shots as he has Sarmiento up against the cage. Melendez dominating so far. Melendez hitting some elbows. Melendez with more elbows. He’s just eating Sarmiento up. Sarmiento gets to his feet and eats a couple of punches on the way up but gets to his feet. Melendez pick him up and slams him back down and is hitting him with some shots. This was a 10-8 round in favor of Melendez. Just not even close.
R2- Melendez got caught with a couple of shots but still got the take down at the beginning of the round. Gilbert is pounding on Sarmiento and Herb Dean stops the fight. Melendez just dominated.
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by TKO (punches) R2 0:44
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Strikeforce on NBC 5/11 Re-Cap
Strikeforce on NBC 5/11 Re-Cap
Last week we saw Josh “The Punk” Thomson featured for the second consecutive week.” This week it’s Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion! It will be Gilbert Melendez versus Tetsuji Kato.
Gilbert Melendez (12-0) vs. Tetsuji Kato (18-7)- 9/29/07
R1- Melendez goes for a take down early but is denied. Melendez lands a right hand and then another as Kato goes down and Melendez goes in for the kill but Kato takes the guard position to protect himself. Melendez is landing some good shots and hammer fists from the top. They get back to their feet but no real action besides some jabs. Melendez controlled this round as Kato got in very little offense.
R2- They stand up at the beginning of the round with both guys looking for an opening. They exchange some nice shots about 2 minutes in. Gilbert landing a couple of jabs. Kato swinging a lot but not hitting much. Kato goes for a take down but is denied. Kato is cut and loses his mouthpiece so there is a brief stoppage. This round was not as clear cut for Melendez as he didn’t seem to do as much damage but he was clearly the winner of this round.
R3- My feed is interrupted by a weather alert (booo!), so I miss round three and when they come back they are in the middle of the ring for the judges decision. Melendez wins 30-27 for all three judges. Melendez looked good here just seemed to be lacking that killer instinct and knockout power.
Post-Match Frank Shamrock interviews Melendez and they talk about his hand that he seemed to be favoring throughout the fight.
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)
Last week we saw Josh “The Punk” Thomson featured for the second consecutive week.” This week it’s Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion! It will be Gilbert Melendez versus Tetsuji Kato.
Gilbert Melendez (12-0) vs. Tetsuji Kato (18-7)- 9/29/07
R1- Melendez goes for a take down early but is denied. Melendez lands a right hand and then another as Kato goes down and Melendez goes in for the kill but Kato takes the guard position to protect himself. Melendez is landing some good shots and hammer fists from the top. They get back to their feet but no real action besides some jabs. Melendez controlled this round as Kato got in very little offense.
R2- They stand up at the beginning of the round with both guys looking for an opening. They exchange some nice shots about 2 minutes in. Gilbert landing a couple of jabs. Kato swinging a lot but not hitting much. Kato goes for a take down but is denied. Kato is cut and loses his mouthpiece so there is a brief stoppage. This round was not as clear cut for Melendez as he didn’t seem to do as much damage but he was clearly the winner of this round.
R3- My feed is interrupted by a weather alert (booo!), so I miss round three and when they come back they are in the middle of the ring for the judges decision. Melendez wins 30-27 for all three judges. Melendez looked good here just seemed to be lacking that killer instinct and knockout power.
Post-Match Frank Shamrock interviews Melendez and they talk about his hand that he seemed to be favoring throughout the fight.
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by Decision (Unanimous)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Strikeforce on NBC 4/20 TV Re-Cap
Strikeforce on NBC 4/20/08
Lon McEachern hypes up a title fight as Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Clay Guida fights undefeated Gilbert Melendez. They show a Gilbert Melendez hype video.
Lightweight Title Match: Clay Guida © vs. Gilbert Melendez
First two Rounds are shown in highlights. Ken Shamrock is on color commentary again. Melendez shown to have controlled the first two rounds in the highlights.
R3- Guida grabs a clinch but can’t hold it and Melendez throws some nice punches and takes Guida down and is in his guard. Guida is against the cage. Guida tries to grab a submission but is denied. The ref stands them up. Melendez is jabbing and keeping Guida away. Melendez dominating Guida in the corner but Guida lunges at Melendez and grabs a leg. Guida’s got his back standing up and trying to take him down. They separate but they get back to the same position. Guida jumps on Melendez’s back but is pushed off and Gilbert gets some shots in. Melendez lands a right hand and Guida goes down and Melendez hits a couple more shots as the round comes to a close. Round 3 definitely goes to Melendez. Guida showed some life but couldn’t really sustain anything or inflict any damage.
R4- They are throwing pretty good to start the round. Melendez dives in but the takedown is stopped. Guida tries a spinning back fist but instead eats a right hand. Shamrock says that he’s got Melendez so far winning this fight and Guida needs to really start pressing the issue. Melendez is controlling the fight on their feet right now. Guida dives in but is denied. Guida dives in again and gets a takedown but Gilbert quickly gets to his feet. Guida again gets stuffed. Melendez just really controlling the fight and Guida dives and gets a single leg and Guida has him up against the cage and is trying to get his back but they separate again. R4 definitely goes to Melendez again as he controlled this round.
R5- Guida gets a takedown early in R5 and takes Gilbert’s back but Gilbert gets back to his feet and moves Guida off him and now they are standing toe to toe again with Melendez in the dominant stance. Guida dives in and grabs a leg. But again they separate with little damage done. Melendez throwing some haymakers but not hitting. He is however hitting with jabs. Guida dives in again but Melendez sprawls to avoid takedown. Guida’s got him up against the cage trying to get an advantage. Guida’s got him on the mat now but Melendez picks him up and slams him now and he’s in Guida’s guard now. They are back on their feet now with a minute and a half left. Guida dives in again and slams him against the cage but Melendez flips him over and now they are on their feet again. Melendez hitting some punches. Guida tries for a knee. Guida going after an arm. They are fighting on the ground with 10 seconds left and it’s over.
Overall, Melendez just controlled this match. He did everything but put Guida away. Melendez showed a great ring aptitude in that he controlled the fight and cage control and denied Guida’s takedowns and when Guida did get a takedown Melendez was quickly able to turn the tables on him.
Only one fight this week but it was a good one to introduce one of Strikeforce’s main guys and arguably one of the top p4p fighters in the world right now Gilbert Melendez as he was shown here beating a popular (although not a top) UFC fighter in Clay Guida.
Lon McEachern hypes up a title fight as Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Clay Guida fights undefeated Gilbert Melendez. They show a Gilbert Melendez hype video.
Lightweight Title Match: Clay Guida © vs. Gilbert Melendez
First two Rounds are shown in highlights. Ken Shamrock is on color commentary again. Melendez shown to have controlled the first two rounds in the highlights.
R3- Guida grabs a clinch but can’t hold it and Melendez throws some nice punches and takes Guida down and is in his guard. Guida is against the cage. Guida tries to grab a submission but is denied. The ref stands them up. Melendez is jabbing and keeping Guida away. Melendez dominating Guida in the corner but Guida lunges at Melendez and grabs a leg. Guida’s got his back standing up and trying to take him down. They separate but they get back to the same position. Guida jumps on Melendez’s back but is pushed off and Gilbert gets some shots in. Melendez lands a right hand and Guida goes down and Melendez hits a couple more shots as the round comes to a close. Round 3 definitely goes to Melendez. Guida showed some life but couldn’t really sustain anything or inflict any damage.
R4- They are throwing pretty good to start the round. Melendez dives in but the takedown is stopped. Guida tries a spinning back fist but instead eats a right hand. Shamrock says that he’s got Melendez so far winning this fight and Guida needs to really start pressing the issue. Melendez is controlling the fight on their feet right now. Guida dives in but is denied. Guida dives in again and gets a takedown but Gilbert quickly gets to his feet. Guida again gets stuffed. Melendez just really controlling the fight and Guida dives and gets a single leg and Guida has him up against the cage and is trying to get his back but they separate again. R4 definitely goes to Melendez again as he controlled this round.
R5- Guida gets a takedown early in R5 and takes Gilbert’s back but Gilbert gets back to his feet and moves Guida off him and now they are standing toe to toe again with Melendez in the dominant stance. Guida dives in and grabs a leg. But again they separate with little damage done. Melendez throwing some haymakers but not hitting. He is however hitting with jabs. Guida dives in again but Melendez sprawls to avoid takedown. Guida’s got him up against the cage trying to get an advantage. Guida’s got him on the mat now but Melendez picks him up and slams him now and he’s in Guida’s guard now. They are back on their feet now with a minute and a half left. Guida dives in again and slams him against the cage but Melendez flips him over and now they are on their feet again. Melendez hitting some punches. Guida tries for a knee. Guida going after an arm. They are fighting on the ground with 10 seconds left and it’s over.
Overall, Melendez just controlled this match. He did everything but put Guida away. Melendez showed a great ring aptitude in that he controlled the fight and cage control and denied Guida’s takedowns and when Guida did get a takedown Melendez was quickly able to turn the tables on him.
Only one fight this week but it was a good one to introduce one of Strikeforce’s main guys and arguably one of the top p4p fighters in the world right now Gilbert Melendez as he was shown here beating a popular (although not a top) UFC fighter in Clay Guida.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Strikeforce/EliteXC "Shamrock vs. Cung Le" Thoughts
Strikeforce/EliteXC "Shamrock vs. Cung Le"
Saturday, March 29, 2008
HP Pavillion at San Jose, CA
Showing on: Showtime on 9pm ET/PT
185 lbs: Joey Villasenor (185) vs. Ryan Jensen (186)
Villasenor controlled this match. It started out slow and then opened up when Villasenor landed some punches. Jenson looked like he got woke up and briefly became the aggressor but then Villasenor baited him with two jabs and then just blasted him for a knockout.
265 lbs: Mike Kyle (225) vs. Wayne Cole (209)
Both these guys looked to be in really good shape. When they stood up at the beginning of the fight Cole looked a little uncomfortable in his stance but quickly took down Kyle and almost immediately tapped him out in what had to be 30 seconds into the fight. Cole looked really good in his quick victory.
155 lbs: Gilbert Melendez (154.5) vs. Gabe Lemley (153)
This was for Melendez’s Strikeforce lightweight title and Melendez just dominated and controlled this fight until the ref finally called for the bell in the middle of the second round as Lemley just wasn’t defending himself anymore. Melendez looked impressive.
172 lbs: Drew Fickett (171) vs. Jae Suk Lim (170)
This was real quick. Fickett took Suk Lim down, Lim used some good takedown defense but Fickett rolled over on top. Suk Lim then got out of the guard and stood up but Fickett quickly grabbed a tight guillotine on him and then Suk Lim went down and tapped out. Fickett is another guy who looked really good in victory tonight. Everybody who has one tonight has been impressive in one way or another.
185 lbs: Frank Shamrock (185) vs. Cung Le (183)
These are the first two guys that get the superstar treatment from the crowd. Shamrock seemed to get as many boos as he did cheers but this quickly turned to cheers when he came out in a San Jose Sharks hoodie. This is for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Crowd seems to have woken up for this match. Crowd turns on Le during intros and then turns to mostly cheers. Crowd seems to be split tonight as Shamrock gets pretty much the same treatment. Either way the guys are getting a reaction and that’s a good thing.
Round 1: Good early feeling out process as Le goes for a back kick but Shamrock grabs him around the waist. Le gets out and Shamrock plays to the crowd as they are really into this. Both guys going for kicks and then throwing hard punches. Le gets a right hook in. They are feeling each other out mid way into the round. Lee has some good quick kicks. Le goes for a spinning back kick and misses and Shamrock gets an opening and is all over him as Le’s momentum takes him down and Shamrock gets in a couple of good shots but they are back to their feet. Shamrock bullys him into the cage with a shot or two but Le is quickly out. Shamrock is visably smiling. Shamrock gets in a couple of shots on the cage at the end of the round. Really good close opening fight. Le really seemed to have the advantage for the first half of the round but Shamrock really controlled the cage, had a takedown and got some good offense in at the end of the round. I would barely give this round to Shamrock 30-29 but could see it going either way.
Round 2: Le connected with a kick to the side of Shamrock’s face. Shamrock is welted and his mouthpiece flew out but he didn’t seem to look any worse for the wear as Le gave him the opportunity to put his mouthpiece back in. Le takes down Shamrock but lets him back up as Frank was calling for Le to come to the ground. Things are slowing down here in the second round as there is not as much action as the first. Le seems to be controlling the offense again in the first half of this round (like in the first). Quadros notes that this round has taken almost like a sparring match. Le then unloads with a solid right hand that staggers Shamrock but he quickly shrugs it off. Le definitely takes this round.
Round 3: Le gets a good roundhouse kick tha glances off of Shamrock’s head early but Shamrock shrugs it off no-selling it. Le hits a nice punch combo. Le still looks pretty sharp and hits another close call on a nice kick that is partially blocked by Shamrock. Le hits a spinning back fist that pops the crowd. Le grabs Shamrock’s leg on a leg and knocks his leg out from under him. Le is definitely seizing control of this fight as the crowd chants for Le. Shamrock seems to be moving in closer and trying to get better shots in on Le and finally pops him with one. Shamrock hits a couple of shots and is really throwing punches at Le and hitting some of them. Shamrock has Le on the fence and is measuring. Shamrock barely misses with a hard knee. Le comes back with a spinning back fist. Shamrock is really looking for the knockout. Let gets in a lot of shots right at the end of the round and the crowd is really into this as the round ends. Le dominated the early part of this round, Shamrock hit a really great flurry but then Le ended on top. I’m saying 2-1 right now for Le but could realisitically see it be 3-0 in favor of Le.
The fight is called after the third round and Le is awarded the victory. Shamrock is unable to answer the bell for Round 4. Great fight, really weird finish. They are saying that Shamrock has an arm injury and that’s why he can’t finish the fight. Probably from Le’s continued kicks. Great fight, Le is the new champ. Would love to see a re-match and/or see Le fight his next opponent. Le wins by TKO.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
HP Pavillion at San Jose, CA
Showing on: Showtime on 9pm ET/PT
185 lbs: Joey Villasenor (185) vs. Ryan Jensen (186)
Villasenor controlled this match. It started out slow and then opened up when Villasenor landed some punches. Jenson looked like he got woke up and briefly became the aggressor but then Villasenor baited him with two jabs and then just blasted him for a knockout.
265 lbs: Mike Kyle (225) vs. Wayne Cole (209)
Both these guys looked to be in really good shape. When they stood up at the beginning of the fight Cole looked a little uncomfortable in his stance but quickly took down Kyle and almost immediately tapped him out in what had to be 30 seconds into the fight. Cole looked really good in his quick victory.
155 lbs: Gilbert Melendez (154.5) vs. Gabe Lemley (153)
This was for Melendez’s Strikeforce lightweight title and Melendez just dominated and controlled this fight until the ref finally called for the bell in the middle of the second round as Lemley just wasn’t defending himself anymore. Melendez looked impressive.
172 lbs: Drew Fickett (171) vs. Jae Suk Lim (170)
This was real quick. Fickett took Suk Lim down, Lim used some good takedown defense but Fickett rolled over on top. Suk Lim then got out of the guard and stood up but Fickett quickly grabbed a tight guillotine on him and then Suk Lim went down and tapped out. Fickett is another guy who looked really good in victory tonight. Everybody who has one tonight has been impressive in one way or another.
185 lbs: Frank Shamrock (185) vs. Cung Le (183)
These are the first two guys that get the superstar treatment from the crowd. Shamrock seemed to get as many boos as he did cheers but this quickly turned to cheers when he came out in a San Jose Sharks hoodie. This is for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Crowd seems to have woken up for this match. Crowd turns on Le during intros and then turns to mostly cheers. Crowd seems to be split tonight as Shamrock gets pretty much the same treatment. Either way the guys are getting a reaction and that’s a good thing.
Round 1: Good early feeling out process as Le goes for a back kick but Shamrock grabs him around the waist. Le gets out and Shamrock plays to the crowd as they are really into this. Both guys going for kicks and then throwing hard punches. Le gets a right hook in. They are feeling each other out mid way into the round. Lee has some good quick kicks. Le goes for a spinning back kick and misses and Shamrock gets an opening and is all over him as Le’s momentum takes him down and Shamrock gets in a couple of good shots but they are back to their feet. Shamrock bullys him into the cage with a shot or two but Le is quickly out. Shamrock is visably smiling. Shamrock gets in a couple of shots on the cage at the end of the round. Really good close opening fight. Le really seemed to have the advantage for the first half of the round but Shamrock really controlled the cage, had a takedown and got some good offense in at the end of the round. I would barely give this round to Shamrock 30-29 but could see it going either way.
Round 2: Le connected with a kick to the side of Shamrock’s face. Shamrock is welted and his mouthpiece flew out but he didn’t seem to look any worse for the wear as Le gave him the opportunity to put his mouthpiece back in. Le takes down Shamrock but lets him back up as Frank was calling for Le to come to the ground. Things are slowing down here in the second round as there is not as much action as the first. Le seems to be controlling the offense again in the first half of this round (like in the first). Quadros notes that this round has taken almost like a sparring match. Le then unloads with a solid right hand that staggers Shamrock but he quickly shrugs it off. Le definitely takes this round.
Round 3: Le gets a good roundhouse kick tha glances off of Shamrock’s head early but Shamrock shrugs it off no-selling it. Le hits a nice punch combo. Le still looks pretty sharp and hits another close call on a nice kick that is partially blocked by Shamrock. Le hits a spinning back fist that pops the crowd. Le grabs Shamrock’s leg on a leg and knocks his leg out from under him. Le is definitely seizing control of this fight as the crowd chants for Le. Shamrock seems to be moving in closer and trying to get better shots in on Le and finally pops him with one. Shamrock hits a couple of shots and is really throwing punches at Le and hitting some of them. Shamrock has Le on the fence and is measuring. Shamrock barely misses with a hard knee. Le comes back with a spinning back fist. Shamrock is really looking for the knockout. Let gets in a lot of shots right at the end of the round and the crowd is really into this as the round ends. Le dominated the early part of this round, Shamrock hit a really great flurry but then Le ended on top. I’m saying 2-1 right now for Le but could realisitically see it be 3-0 in favor of Le.
The fight is called after the third round and Le is awarded the victory. Shamrock is unable to answer the bell for Round 4. Great fight, really weird finish. They are saying that Shamrock has an arm injury and that’s why he can’t finish the fight. Probably from Le’s continued kicks. Great fight, Le is the new champ. Would love to see a re-match and/or see Le fight his next opponent. Le wins by TKO.
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