Recommendation:  The presentation left something to be desired, but the fights delivered for the most part.  I’d say it’s worth the $35, and a better value than last week’s card.

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Well, after a brief delay in the start of my DirecTV feed for the show, we are live with Strikeforce/EliteXC:  Baroni vs. Shamrock!  Mauro Renallo, Jay Glazer, and Bill Goldberg run down the card, and we’re going to start with Edson Berto vs. Victor “Joe Boxer” Valenzuela.

FIRST FIGHT:  EDSON BERTO vs. VICTOR “JOE BOXER” VALENZUELA (Lightweight)

We get vignettes on each fighter before he makes his way to the ring, and each fighter comes down the ramp by himself, which is different and kind of nice.  And meeting Valenzuela at the cage, who should we see but our good friend Steve Mazzagatti, sans mustache!  Good choice, Steve.  We were all waiting for the day that thing was going to come to live and crawl off your face.  But I kid Steve.  On to the fight, which is presented by EliteXC.

ROUND ONE:  Berto leads with a low kick and a head kick, then shoots in for a  takedown, which is successful.  Berto attempts a pass, almost sits in half guard, then very quickly grabs a leg and cinches an Achilles lock/heel hook.  Valenzuela attempts to grab one of Berto’s legs, but soon succumbs to the pain and taps out.

RESULT: Berto by submission at 0:47 of round 1

STAR RATING:  (*+)  Impressive win by Berto, who faked going back into Joe Boxer’s guard before grabbing that leg.

We get a quick shot of a dancer, which is a silly trend that needs to stop immediately at MMA events, and Bill Goldberg interviews the winner, who has an awesome accent.

SECOND FIGHT:  PAUL “THE HEADHUNTER” BUENTELLO vs. CARTER “THE BEAST” WILLIAMS (Heavyweight)

We get some pyro for both fighters, and then Williams gets his own personal rapper to lead him to the Hexagon.  This is a trend that needs to not start, because this guy is awful.  Our referee is the newly smooth-lipped Steve Mazzagatti. 

ROUND ONE:  They trade big shots to start out, then Williams gets the takedown.  Buentello is able to stand quickly, but he takes some punishment on the way up.  They clinch on the fence, where Williams lands a knee.  They continue to clinch for a bit, then they’re separated.  Buentello lands an uppercut and Williams shoots again.  Buentello grabs a guillotine, but it’s not tight and Williams attempts a kimura as he escapes.  Buentello escapes easily and they clinch on the fence.  They separate, and Buentello lands some shots, but none is flush.  They continue to clinch and separate, with neither man really doing any damage.  Buentello continues to attempt knee strikes, and Williams defends them well.  They throw some heavy punches toward the end of the round, which Buentello probably took.

ROUND TWO:  Goldberg says that Williams’ cardio is about to be tested, as he has never been out of the first round.  He doesn’t get much chance to show it off, however, as Buentello lands some hard shots to the head of Williams.  Williams covers his eye as though it’s been poked, then goes down.  Buentello follows with a hammer fist, but the fight is stopped. 

RESULT:  Buentello by TKO at 0:10 of round 2.

STAR RATING:  (**-)  Not much to it, with the first round taking place mostly on the fence, and the second round ended pretty quickly.

THIRD FIGHT:  “SMOKIN” JOE VILLASENOR vs. MURILO “NINJA” RUA (EliteXC Middleweight Title)

ROUND ONE:  They trade kicks to start out.  Villasenor lands a big left hook that staggers Rua.  Villasenor closes and looks for a trip, but ends up on his back.  He grabs a guillotine, but it’s not tight.  Rua gets back to his feet, but Villasenor reverses into side control.  He moves in front of Rua and lands some punches, and Rua has half guard.  Rua grabs a leg, but Villasenor escapes, and they’re back on the feet.  They trade strikes, and Rua probably gets the best of it, though he doesn’t land anything big.  They clinch and go down, and Rua transitions into half guard, then side control.  We learn that elbows and forearms are allowed on the ground only for title fights, which is goofy.  Rua, in accordance with the rules, lands a couple of back elbows.  Villasenor spins out and they make their way back to the feet.  Rua lands s couple of shots and grabs a leg, bringing Villasenor to the ground.  Villasenor has half guard, and Rua looks to land some shots, then looks for a kimura.  For some unknown reason, the crowd starts booing.  Huh?  Rua has mount briefly, but they make their way back to the feet.  Rua lands a shot to end the round.  Villasenor had the edge early, but Rua takes the round.

ROUND TWO:  Rua comes out quickly, trying to channel Robbie Lawler with a flying knee, but it misses.  Rua lands a big right hand, a knee, and another big right hand.  Villasenor keeps coming, but is not keeping his left hand up, so he keeps getting tagged with the right.  Rua throws another big right hand that floors Villasenor, who turtles up briefly, but the fight is stopped, and Rua is the first EXC middleweight champion.

RESULT:  Rua by TKO at 1:05 of round 2.

STAR RATING:  (**)  Pretty good back-and-forth action in the first round, capped by Rua landing some nasty shots to get the TKO.

Just as a note, you can really tell that Gary Shaw is a boxing guy, because this event has a distinctive boxing-like feel to it.  Parts of it are fine, but others I’m not a fan of.  The presentation of the belt was too wordy, and there were way too many suits in the cage after the fight.  It just doesn’t seem sincere.  I’m not sure what I mean by that, but the feel just isn’t what we’ve come to expect from an MMA event.

FOURTH FIGHT (prelim):  JOSH “THE PUNK” THOMSON vs. NICK “THE GHOST” GONZALEZ (Lightweight)

Here’s the other thing about this show:  Renallo is mentioning the UFC way too much.  He mentions that Thomson beat Hermes Franca, who is challenging Sean Sherk next month for the title.  The thing is, though, that anyone ordering this show probably knows who the UFC is, and likely knows that Thomson beat Franca.  It’s obviously a veiled criticism of the UFC, which has the potential to turn off fans who got into MMA via the UFC, and it really does nothing to boost the relevance of Strikeforce/EXC, because everyone knows who the UFC is, and there’s no argument about which organization is bigger or more popular.  Just focus on your own promotion and leave everyone else out of it.  It’s fine to mention history, but there comes a point where it gets grating.

ROUND ONE:  Thomson jabs and kicks to start.  He grabs Gonzalez and takes him down quickly as Renallo falsely points out that Thomson is the Strikeforce lightweight champion (Gilbert Melendez beat Thomson).  Thomson looks for a rear naked choke, and Gonzalez escapes, but Thomson is persistent and eventually locks it in tight, causing Gonzalez to tap. 

RESULT:  Thomson by submission at 1:42 of round 1.

STAR RATING:  (*+)  Nice submission by Thomson, but Gonzalez wasn’t quite on his level.

FIFTH FIGHT: CUNG LE vs. TONY “THE FREAK” FRYKLUND (Middleweight)

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Cung Le is quite popular in San Jose.  Fryklund is met with a chorus of boos, while Le gets a huge ovation from the crowd.

ROUND ONE:  Le looks for a high kick and a back kick, and misses.  Fryklund lands a leg kick.  Le looks for a axe kick and falls, but stands back up quickly and lands a couple of kicks to the body.  Fryklund throws some kicks that don’t land, and Le continues to pepper Fryklund with punches and kicks.  Frylklund lands a leg kick and attempts a Superman punch.  Le lands a few more unorthodox looking kicks, as Fryklund lands a spinning backfist.  Le lands a spinning back kick, and Fryklund lands a punching combo.  Fryklund lands a right hand, and Le lands a big right that staggers Fryklund, followed by a quick right that puts him down briefly.  Le does not pounce, however, and Fryklund scrambles back to his feet, where he is met with more strikes.  Head kick lands, followed by a spinning heel kick to the head.  Le lands a couple of punches and another heel kick.  Fryklund is on queer street and doesn’t seem to be in the fight, as Le continues to land shots.  Body kick and head kick land for Le.  Fryklund lands a Superman punch and misses a backfist, eating a punch as he does so.  The round ends, and Le dominated that one.

ROUND TWO:  Seriously, the idea of dancing girls between rounds is just dumb.  Come on.  Le comes out with a kick, which Fryklund checks.  More kicks by Le, some of which land.  Fryklund looks to clinch, but Le pushes him away and lands more punches and kicks.  Spinning back kick lands for Le.  Le would be well-advised to pounce and finish Fryklund one of these times when he’s hurt, or he’s going to get himself in trouble.  Nasty leg kick by Le, followed by a high kick.  Fryklund charges in and misses a punch.  Le lands a big left to the body, then avoids a flurry by Fryklund.  Le is just too elusive for Fryklund to stand in the pocket and throw, and that’s what Fryklund seems to be doing.  He misses another spinning backfist.  Le continues to land body kicks, and Fryklund is not a fan of them.  Spinning backfist lands for Le.  Le lands some punches in a flurry, but Le is unfaed and lands some big nasty leg kicks.  Fryklund continues to land some right hands, but he can’t seem to hurt Cung Le.  Another round of pretty much just standup goes to Le.

ROUND THREE:  We go to a shot of Phil Baroni primping his hair in the mirror.  Hilarious.  Big back kick lands for Le, followed by a body kick that hurts Fryklund badly.  Le pounces and finishes him with strikes.

RESULT:  Le by TKO at 0:25 of round 3.  Le is a lot of fun to watch.

STAR RATING:  (***)  Le put on a striking clinic in his fourth pro fight against a guy who’s been around for a long time.  Fryklund had no answer for what Le brought to the table, and the fight wasn’t close, but it was fun to watch for a few rounds.

SIXTH FIGHT:  FRANK SHAMROCK vs. PHIL “THE NEW YORK BADASS” BARONI (Strikeforce Middleweight Title)

There’s so much to say before this fight, we get two vignettes from each fighter.  And if you’re reading this, you’ve probably heard everything I’m hearing right now.  Baroni uses all the different phraseology to say, “I’m going to knock out Frank Shamrock.”  He then dances his way down to the cage.  As Shamrock makes his way to the ring, Glazer says that Shamrock told him earlier how he had torn his ACL and MCL.  So basically, the fight hasn’t started, and Shamrock is covering himself in case he loses.  That is one massive ego, I’ve got to tell you.

ROUND ONE:  They smile at each other as they face off in the middle, and when the bell rings, Baroni comes out striking.  Shamrock grabs a Thai clinch and looks for knees, and Baroni peppers Shamrock’s body.  Baroni grabs a takedown, but they stand back up quickly.  Baroni lands a right hand, and Shamrock lands a body kick, then lands a big left hand.  Shamrock then taunts Baroni, insinuating that he’s about to go to sleep.  Leg kick by Shamrock, followed by a crushing left hand that floors Baroni.  Shamrock grabs a guillotine, but decides to let it go in favor of pounding Baroni.  The fight could have been stopped right there, but it’s not.  Baroni looks to get up, and Shamrock lands a couple of punches to the back of Baroni’s head.  Mazagatti stops the fight to take a point from Shamrock for the illegal strikes.  As the action starts again, Shamrock lands a knee as Baroni gets a takedown.  Baroni is in dreamland, and Shamrock works from the guard.  Baroni lands a shot, Shamrock smiles at him, and they stand back up.  Big right hand followed by a kick by Shamrock.  Baroni grabs a leg but can’t drag Shamrock down as Shamrock peppers the body.  Baroni escapes back to the feet, and Shamrock lands a jab, followed by a knee and a right cross.  Baroni lands a left hand, but Shamrock mocks him.  Baroni has very little left in the tank.  Body shots and leg kicks by Shamrock.  Shamrock clinches, and Baroni lands some uppercuts.  Shamrock lands a flurry of punches to the still-dazed Baroni, and Baroni gets a takedown.  Shamrock works from the guard as he taunts Baroni until the round ends.  You could possibly score that round 10-8 for Shamrock, but I’m going 9-9 with the point deduction.  During the round, Glazer mispronounces “guillotine”, so at least we didn’t go the whole show without that happening.

ROUND TWO:  Baroni lands an overhand right, and Shamrock lands a knee in the clinch.  Baroni seems to have recovered somewhat from the first round, and he’s got some more zip on his punches, because Shamrock is no longer smiling when he gets hit.  Shamrock lands a leg kick, and Baroni hits another overhand right.  Shamrock lands a punching combo and a kick.  He goes for the clinch, but every time he does that, Baroni peppers him with body punches.  Really nice strategy by Baroni.  He catches Shamrock with  knee to the head.  Leg kick by Shamrock, and Baroni whiffs a right.  They trade jabs, and Baroni lands a hook.  Shamrock lands some more leg kicks, and Baroni hurts Shamrock with a couple of big right hands.  Shamrock answers with some stiff jabs.  Baroni can’t seem to keep his hands up, and Shamrock threads the needle with a couple of big jabs.  Baroni grabs a leg for the takedown, and Shamrock looks to free up an arm for a kimura.  He spins and takes Baroni’s back, looking for the rear naked choke.  It’s not quite under the chin, but he’s cranking it.  Baroni looks to punch Shamrock in order to escape, but it’s to no avail as Shamrock grins and chokes Baroni out.  Renallo says that this crowd is louder than the crowd in Columbus when Couture beat Sylvia, which is another useless UFC reference, and which is also a ridiculous assertion if my TV volume is any indicator.

RESULT:  Shamrock by technical submission at 4:00 of round 2.

STAR RATING:  (***+)  This was another one that was basically dominated by the winner, but it was a lot of fun to watch.  For what it’s worth, Shamrock did seem hurt after the fight.

Something that bothers me is the amount of praise that Baroni got from the commentators for not tapping out.  It furthers the notion that there’s some sort of shame in submitting.  If you’re in a place where you can’t escape, it’s foolish not to tap.  It’s understandable and fitting in this particular instance, with Baroni not wanting to submit to Shamrock, but in general, it’s just not something that needs to be commended when a guy doesn’t submit.

SEVENTH FIGHT (Swing Bout):  PAUL “SEMTEX” DALEY vs. DUANE “BANG” LUDWIG (Welterweight)

ROUND ONE:  Daley comes out with a big high kick that’s blocked by Ludwig.  Leg kick by Daley.  They circle for awhile.  Daley fakes a punch, then shoots, but Ludwig thwarts him.  Daley lands another leg kick.  Daley shoots again, but Ludwig stops him and they clinch.  Daley lands a punch as they separate, and Daley throws a body kick.  Big head kick by Ludwig is blocked.  Daley misses with a right hook, and Ludwig throws some counter strikes.  They feint a few jabs, and Daley shoots again, with the two ending up in the clinch.  Daley gets a trip and they hit the ground, albeit briefly.  They separate and get back to the feet, where more circling ensues.  Body kick lands for Ludwig.  Daley lands a kick and they clinch.  They separate again and Daley lands another leg kick.  They’re showing good speed, but neither guy is landing much.  More of the same as the round ends.  It’ll probably go to Daley.

ROUND TWO:  Daley comes out quick with a flurry, and Ludwig weathers, landing a big left hook of his own.  Daley lands a right hand that drops Ludwig quickly, then he pounces and finishes the fight.  Ludwig never seemed to get into the fight, as Daley set the pace and fought his fight.

RESULT:  Daley by TKO at 0:42 of round 2.

STAR RATING: (**)  Entertaining enough in parts, and a good, decisive ending.  Daley is definitely one to watch.