Strikeforce Challengers 5/21 Re-Cap

Strikeforce Challengers
Rose Garden Arena
Portland, Oregon
May 21, 2010

Strikeforce Challengers typically focuses on young, up and coming talent and tonights show will have Tarec Saffiedine and Tyron Woodley in action. In the Main Event is mma veteran Matt Lindland taking on Kevin Casey. Mauro Ranallo, Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich are the announcers for the show.

Lightweight Fight- Pat Healy (22-15) vs. Bryan Travers (13-1)

Travers has 3 wins by KO and 4 by submission. Healy has 13 wins by submission. Healy gets a good reaction from the crowd as he's the hometown guy in this fight. Both guys have a background in wrestling. Healy has a 3" reach advantage.

R1- Travers looked pretty good early in the round landing a coule of strikes and stuffing a take down. Healy landed a couple strikes and then got taken down by Travers. Healy looked better in the second half of the round. 10-10 round if you could give it. Flip a coin. Miletich gave the round to Healy.

R2- Healy landed some quick strikes early in this round. Healy got a take down at the one minute mark of the round but couldn't keep him down. Healy took Travers back and then hit a knee and then a good strike in the clinch. Healy got another take down with one minute left in the round but Travers scrambled back to his feet quickly. Healy took this round.

R3- Healy hit a good right early in the round. Healy got a slam in the first minute of action but couldn't hold him down. Healy clinched him against the cage and controlled the fight. Travers got a take down at the mid-way point of the round. Healy got up and Travers took him back down. Travers got a third take down but Healy reversed position and then hit a belly-to-back suplex on Travers. Close round, Healy did more damage in the round. I've got Healy winning this fight. Possibly could see a split decision coming up.

Judges score cards: 29-28, 29-28, 30-27

Winner: Pat Healy by Decision (Unanimous)

Post fight Healy says he wants to fight Lyle Beerbohm in order to get a shot at Josh Thomson or Gilbert Melendez.

Welterweight Fight- Tarec Saffiedine (8-2) vs. Nate Moore (6-1)

Tarec fought on the February Challengers show and looked very good in beating James Terry by decision. Tarec is fighting out of Team Quest and has finished 5 of his 8 wins by submission. Moore was a D-1 wrestler at Purdue. Moore has finished all 6 of his fights (2 by knockout and 4 by submission). Moore fights out of AKA.

R1- They throw leather early. Moore went for a take down but Tarec sprawled out. Moore is throwing leather but Tarec hit a good strike that wobbled Moore. Tarec quickly capitalized and took Moore's back but he had to give it up as he was too high on Moore's back. Tarec just missed a front kick. Good first round. Tarec 10-9.

R2- Moore is throwing a lot of punches but isn't landing anything. Tarec nailed Moore with a punch as Moore was going for a take down. Big time right hand by Tarec. Good finish by Tarec. Would like to see him Main Eventing Challengers (I said this after his last win) or on the main Showtime cards.

Winner: Tarec Saffiedine by KO R2 1:21

Mauro interviews Josh Thomson. Thomson says he'll take a third Melendez fight as soon as it's offered. He's fighting again on the next card but he doesn't know who he is fighting yet.

Middleweight- Roger Bowling (7-0) vs. Bobby Voelker (21-7)

I saw Voelker fight on the November Challengers show and he showed a lot of resilience in beating Erik Apple by 2nd round TKO after losing the first round on my score card. Voelker has 13 knockouts and 3 submission finishes to his record. Bowling is undefeated and has finished all of his fights. He has 5 knockouts and 2 submissions. Ranallo says Bowling has won most of his fights in the first round. Voelker has a 4" reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Bowling connected with a good strike early and got an immediate take down. Voelker got back to his feet and ate another strike. Bowling just connecting with good strikes and Voelker clinches. Voelker's left eye is bloody. Bowling lands a good kick. Bowling hit a big left. Voelker is eating a lot of strikes and then got slammed. Blood is all in Voelker's eye. Bowling 10-9.

R2- Bowling hit a good strike early and Voelker went down. Bowling jumped on top and took his guard. Bowling went for a kimura and then let Voelker up and landed some nice strikes. Bowling got another take down. The ref stand the fight up with about 80 seconds left. Voelker got a take down with about a minute left but Bowling quickly got back to his feet. Bowling got a take down right at the end of the round. Bowling 20-18. This will be the first time in his career that Bowling has gone to the 3rd round.

R3- These guys are just throwing bombs and Voelker ends up on top in Bowling's guard. Bowling spun out and got back to his feet. Bowling's eye got scrapped by the edge of one of the gloves when they had a ref break from a clinch. They stopped the fight to check it out. They stop the fight due to the incidental foul and go to the score cards since it's in the final round.

Judges score cards: 29-28 on all cards for Roger Bowling

Winner: Roger Bowling by Decision

Middleweight Fight- Tyron Woodley (6-0) vs. Nathan Coy (8-2)

Woodley fought on the November Challengers show and beat Rudy Bears by Arm Bar submission in the first round. At the September Challengers show he took out Zach Light by 2nd round Arm Bar submission. Woodley has won all of his fights by submission. Coy is a wrestler from Oregon State. He's the home town guy so he gets a good reaction. Militech says they trained together a couple of years ago.

R1- Coy came in early and Woodley got an immediate take down. Woodley hit a good body punch that floored Coy as he came in wildly. Woodley jumped on Coy's back and landed some strikes. Coy clinched and tried to get a take down but Woodley denied him. Coy clinches Woodley again and is landing some good leg strikes with his knee. Coy looked good in the second half of the round but I've got Woodley taking it 10-9. Good first round.

R2- Coy is working over Woodley's knee. Coy landing some good strikes in the clinch but then ate a knee. Woodley hit a good right after a break. Coy landed a good strike but Woodley absorbed it. They are exchanging some nice shots. Woodley blocked a head kick and Coy ended up on the ground. Woodley took Coy's back. Woodley couldn't get the choke so he landed some strikes. Coy did a good job defending in this position. Woodley grabbed an arm bar at the end of the round but the buzzer sounded to end the round. Woodley took this round with his work in the last minute as he took dominant positions and has a submission attempt that almost ended the fight. Woodley 20-18 but it's a close fight.

R3- Coy is the aggressor at the beginning of the round. Woodley lands some counter punches and then gets a take down. Coy was able to reverse and get the take down. Coy lands some body strikes on the ground. Coy took this round. I've got Woodley 29-28.

Judges score cards: 29-28 Woodley, 30-27 Coy, 29-28 Woodley

Winner: Tyron Woodley by Decision (Split)

Middleweight Fight- Kevin Casey (3-1) vs. Matt Lindland (21-7)

Casey is a Gracie jiu jitsu fighter. Casey fought on the November Challengers show and won in impressive fashion over Chad Vance by Rear Naked Choke in the first round. Lindland got dominated by Jacare Souza in his last fight. Casey has a 3" reach advantage despite being 1" shorter than Lindland. Casey has 2 submissions in his 3 wins. Lindland has finished 7 fights by knockout and 7 by submission. Lindland has a huge advantage in the experience department. Casey spent time at Cesar Gracie's camp training for this fight. Casey's lone loss was in his pro debut to Ikuhisa Minowa.

R1- Casey clinched early but it was Lindland that got the take down. Casey got to his feet and they clinched against the cage. Lindland tried to grab a guillotine but instead got take down. Lindland tried to scramble but got his back taken by Casey. Lindland was able to reverse positions with half a minute left in the round. Casey got to his feet. Lindland threw some knee strikes but didn't hit anything substantial. Casey 10-9. Quadros said Lindland squeaked by in the round and Militech called it even.

R2- Lindland clinched early and took Casey down with knee and foot stomps. Casey got back to his feet but Lindland powered him back down. Lindland is landing strikes but nothing that's going to finish the fight so far. Lindland got the crucifix in the last twenty seconds of the round. Casey was able to reverse out. Lindland dominated that round but didn't do enough damage to come close to a 10-8. So I've got it 19-19 after two. Quadros has the fight 20-18 Lindland.

R3- Lindland got a quick take down. Lindland is landing strikes from the tap. The ref steps in and calls the fight.

The announcers proclaim Lindland as being "back" after beating a guy with only 3 career victories.

Winner: Matt Lindland by TKO (Strikes) R3 3:41

Kind of a disappointing show. Saffiedine/Moore was really good. Bowling/Voelker was good until the strange stoppage. Matt Lindland winning the Main Event of a Strikeforce Challengers Series event is underwhelming. Not a way to elevate new talent. I'd rather see a guy like Tarec Saffiedine Main Eventing against another up and coming fighter than a veteran on the brink of concluding his career on a show about elevating new talent.

Strikeforce Challengers Series 2/26/2010 Re-Cap

Strikeforce Challengers Series
The Civic
San Jose, California
2/26/2010

This is the first Strikeforce Challengers Series event of the year and tonight we will see the crowning of the first Woman's 135lb Champion. The announcers for the show tonight are Mauro Ranallo, Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich. Danny Miller is the ring announcer tonight (where is Jimmy Lennon Jr?).

Middleweight Fight- Raul Castillo (6-0) vs. Yancy Medeiros (3-0)

Medeiros is a Hawaiian fighter has a background in kick boxing and is a free style fighter. He is only 22 years of age and was also a wrestler in high school. Castillo is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter who is based in California. 4 of Castillo's 6 wins have come by way of knockout. Castillo has met Nick Diaz in 3 grappling matches and has won 2 of them.

R1- Yancy took this round as he stuffed several take down attempts and landed some good combinations. Yancy finished the round very well and landed several shots in the last minute of the round. Yancy 10-9.

R2- Yancy took this round and is up 20-18 going into the final round. Not as much action in this round. Yancy again avoided a take down and won the stand up although he didn't land that many strikes in the round.

R3- Yancy hit a good strike with about a minute and a half left that briefly floored Castillo. Yancy wins the fight on my score card 30-27. He looked good for only having 3 professional fights under his belt before tonight.

Judges score cards: 30-27 on all score cards

Winner: Yancy Medeiros by Decision (Unanimous)

Herschel Walker joins Mauro Ranallo ringside and they discuss his pro debut victory over Greg Nagy. Strikeforce Champion Gilbert Melenedez is also interviewed and they talk about a potential rubber match against former champion Josh Thomson and he also says he would like to test himself against DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki. Mauro also hypes a "major" announcement that is coming on Monday.

Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz and his trainer Cesar Gracie are both ringside for the fights tonight.

Welterweight Fight- James Terry (7-1) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (7-2)

Tarec has a background in kick boxing and is a free style fighter. He has won 5 of his 7 fights by submission. Tarec trains with Dan Henderson at Team Quest and previously fought in the DREAM promotion in Japan and was 1-1 during his stay in DREAM. Terry is a free style fighter from San Jose so he is the home town fighter in this fight.

R1- Tarec looks good early and has taken the center of the ring and is landing some strikes. Tarec hit a head kick but didn't land it full force and Terry kept his feet. Terry got a take down with one minute left in the round but within 20 seconds Tarec was back on his feet. Terry has a ct on his face. Tarec 10-9.

R2- Tarec is landing good systematic strikes and has bloodied Terry's mouth. Tarec is up 20-18 going into the final round.

R3- Terry got an early take down in this round but Tarec again quickly got back to his feet without sustaining any damage. Tarec has opened up a big cut under Terry's left eye and Tarec is continuing to land good systematic strikes. Tarec got a full mount with 10 seconds left in the round and got in some Ground and Pound before the bell rung. I've got Tarec winning this fight 30-27. Terry showed a lot of heart and a good chin. Tarec looked very good. He should be Main Eventing the next Strikeforce Challengers event and then possibly moving on the main Strikeforce cards after that.

Judges score cards: 30-27 on all cards

Winner: Tarec Saffiedine by Decision (Unanimous)

Mauro Ranallo interviews Lavar Johnson. Johnson was involved in a tragic shooting last July at a Family Reunion. He was in the hospital for a month and his cousin was killed in this incident. He has now been medically cleared to resume his MMA career. In his last fight he won in his Strikeforce debut in only 18 seconds. He will headline the next Strikeforce Challengers Series event.

Middleweight Fight- Luke Rockhold (6-1) vs. Paul Bradley (12-1)

Bradley fights out of the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy and is a freestyle fighter with a background in wrestling at the University of Iowa. Bradley is moving up in weight for this fight. Rockhold is a jiu jitsu fighter with a background in wrestling. Rockhold has won all of his fights by submission and has won his last 4 with the Rear Naked Choke. Rockhold is the home town fighter in this fight. Rockhold has a 7" height and 5" reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Rockhold caught Bradley coming in with a right hand directly behind the ear a minute and fifteen seconds into the round. Rockhold jumped on top to try and finish but Bradley was able to hang on and stay in the fight. Rockhold hit another good counter right hand that floored Bradley but Bradley got back to his feet. Bradley hit some knees to the body the ref stopped the fight as Bradley went down for the third time in the round. Rockhold looked good as he hurt Bradley twice before the finish.

Winner: Luke Rockhold by TKO (Strikes) R1 2:24

Middleweight Fight- Trevor Prangley (22-5) vs. Karl Amoussou (11-2-1)

Amoussou is a French Judo Fighter. Amoussou has finished 7 of his 11 fights by way of submission. Prangley is a wrestler/free style fighter. He is based out of San Jose by way of South Africa. Prangley has a 2" height and 3.5" reach advantage.

R1- Prangley is the aggressor early but twice he came in and ate some good shots from Amoussou. Prangley got a take down two minutes into the round but Amoussou tied him up and the ref stood the fight up. Amoussou landed some more good shots and then Prangley answered with a right hand. Prangley hit Amoussou with an accidental eye poke and Amoussou could not see out of his eye so the fight was stopped and ruled a no contest. Amoussou looked really good and this looked like it was going to be a good fight so this is a disappointing result.

Decision: No Contest/Technical Draw (Doctor Stoppage)

Woman's Welterweight (135lb) Title Fight- Sarah Kaufman (10-0) vs. Takayo Hashi (12-1)

They are naming this the Welterweight Title and saying the title Cyborg Santos currently holds is the Middleweight Title. Hashi is a freestyle fighter from Tokyo, Japan. Hashi has a background in grappling and says she feels she is a better well-rounded fighter than Kaufman. She has won 8 consecutive fights and has avenged the only loss on her record. Kaufman is a Muay Thai/BJJ fighter from British Columbia, Canada. She's a self-proclaimed "nerd" and brought her crossword puzzle book with her to help her relax before the fight. Kaufman has won 8 of her 10 fights by knockout and has a 3" reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Kaufman hit a good right thirty seconds into the fight that briefly knocked Hashi down. Kaufman hit a left half way through the round that briefly dropped Hashi to her knees. Kaufman blocked a kick and landed a good right. Kaufman 10-9.

R2- Not much action in this round. Kaufman 20-18.

R3- Kaufman landed a good right at the three minute mark of the round but Hashi absorbed it and kept her feet. Kaufman hit a big right that floored Hashi but she didn't follow up. Kaufman 30-27.

R4- Not a lot of action in this round. Hashi tried to grapple with Kaufman but couldn't ever get an advantage. Kaufman 40-36 going into the final round.

R5- Hashi hit a front kick to the face but it didn't have anything behind it. Kaufman continues to control the fight but didn't do anything to put Hashi away. Kaufman won on my score card 50-45.

Judges score cards: 50-45 on all score cards

Winner and new Strikeforce Woman's Welterweight Champion: Sarah Kaufman by Decision (Unanimous)