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From MMATorch.com Strikeforce Events By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
MARCH 26TH, 2010 LIVE FROM FRESNO, CALI. The event is introduced by Mauro Ranallo, who is joined as always on the Challengers events by Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich. They run down the fights on the night's card and then throw it to the ring announcer to get the first fight underway. FIGHT ONE: JUSTIN WILCOX VS. SHAMAR BAILEY (160 LB. CATCHWEIGHT) ROUND ONE: Wilcox pressed in early and landed a flurry. He cracks Bailey with a kick to the face and Bailey is rocked but he stays on his feet. Bailey is trying to back away from the attack and he runs into the ref and knocks him on his ass. Bailey's been cut open here and Wilcox hits him with some more. He opens up the cut some more with a couple more high kicks. Wilcox is very much outstriking him here. He gets in with another right. Bailey keeps wiping the blood out of his eye and Wilcox pauses and the ref finally halts the bout to have the cut checked out. The doctor's allow him to continue with the cut and the fight is restarted. Wilcox immediately attacks. He lands a flurry. Bailey gets in with the first significant strike of the round for him. Wilcox again gets in and tags Bailey. Wilcox lands a good body kick. He lands a good leg kick after. Wilcox shoots in for a takedown but Bailey stuffs it. Wilcox lands a couple of punches to Bailey as he gets himself upright. Bailey shoots in but Wilcox sprawls. He lands a couple of punches before the round ends. Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Wilcox. Well, the quality of officiating hasn't improved for this Challengers card. Wilcox was all over Bailey in the striking department and dominated the round. ROUND TWO: Wilcox takes the center and lands a couple of early flurries. Wilcox again went for the high kick and had Bailey in trouble. He chased him around the cage and landed a number of punches, but Bailey survives the onslaught. Wilcox lands an overhand right. Wilcox with a jab. Wilcox grabbed at his eye like he got poked but the ref didn't see it and they didn't show a replay. Wilcox is able to restart and lands another high kick. Wilcox again connects on a two fight combo. He pushes Bailey back with a few more. Again he pushes him back with a flurry. Wilcox lands a good straight kick to the body. He throws a kick toward the body and it catches Bailey low. Unintentional but it hit him low. He is able to continue. Wilcox lands another kick to the head, but Bailey takes it.Wilcox lands another combo. Wilcox lands a hard overhand right. The ref misses another eye poke, this time from Wilcox, and Wilcox follows him to the cage, lands some more punches and takes him down into side control. He throws a few shots as the round ends. Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Wilcox. Bailey's not doing much of anything. This ref is really bad as well, missing two eyepokes as they happened. ROUND THREE: Wilcox lands some more straight rights in the early moments of the round. Bailey tried to back away from strikes thrown by Wilcox but he gets tagged with some rights. Wilcox tags him with a number of good jabs. Bailey lands a punch but then eats another two from Wilcox. He eats another right and then tries to back off. Bailey gets in a combo but Wilcox again counters. Bailey lands a good uppercut. Wiclox punches Bailey in the leg and almost knocks him off balance. Bailey lands an uppercut but Wilcox counters again. Wilcox ducked under a punch and shot in for a takedown, getting right into side control. He moves to the mount. He throws some short punches as Bailey wraps him up and tries to hold onto him. Wilcox keeps on him with short punches and keeps himself busy. Wilcox is keeping position and landing punches, though Bailey is tying him up well. Wilcox with more punches. Wilcox goes for an armbar late, but Bailey was slippery with blood and got out of it. Wilcox got back on top and landed a couple more punches as the round ended. Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Wilcox. Bailey at least landed a few punches in that round, but it was again almost all Wilcox. WINNER: Wilcox via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) STAR RATING: (**) That was a good performance by Wilcox, though it was a completely one-sided fight. The referee was not any good in the fight either, continuing the trend of bad reffing these Challengers events have been providing. FIGHT TWO: MEISHA TATE VS. ZOILA FRAUSTO (WOMEN'S 135 LB. DIVISION) ROUND ONE: Tate lands a right but gets countered with a right from Frausto. Frausto lands a kick. Tate comes in and Frausto swings wildly but doesn't land. Tate pushes in and gets Frausto to the cage in the clinch. She backed off and landed a punch. Good knee to the body lands by Tate. She drops down for a single leg and completes the takedown right to the center of the cage. Tate gets side control. Tate lands a few punches from the side. Frausto scrambles and kicks Tate to her feet. Tate lands a good right. She moves back down and gets back to side control. She's trying to move to the mount but Frausto holds it off. Tate lands some good left hand shots to the face. Frausto turns and Tate tries to take her back. She gets up too high and Frausto is able to buck her off and stand back up. Tate pushes in and connects with a left to Frausto. Tate grabs a hold of her and tries to take her down with a body lock but Frausto holds it off. Tate lands a good knee to the face while holding onto the body lock. Tate again completes the takedown into side control. Tate tries to pass but it gets blocked. Tate ended the round in the side control. Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Tate. Good start to the fight for Tate. Frausto's defending well on the ground, but even on the feet Tate is landing the better punches right now. ROUND TWO: Frausto lands a couple of leg kicks early. Tate tags her with a good combo. Frausto lands a straight kick that pushes Tate back. Tate pushed in again and went for the takedown on the cage. She completed the takedown again into side control. Tate is pushing her shoulder into the side of Frausto's neck and Frausto's face is clearly showing the choke as she's trying to hold onto Tate's head. Frausto finally let go of Tate's head after about a minute. Tate tried to lock in an arm triangle but Frausto held it off. Tate ended up getting the moutn finally though, and she postured up and landed some shots. Tate goes for an armbar and gets it locked on, but Frausto tries to fight it off. She holds off from tapping and tries to get out of it, but Tate's got it tight and finally tweaks it the right way to force the tap. Big win for Tate. WINNER: Tate via submission (armbar) at 4:09 of the second round POST FIGHT: Tate said a lot of her pre-fight comments were getting herself hyped up for the fight. She gave Frausto credit for not giving up for awhile. She said she's ready for anybody. STAR RATING: (**+) Entertaining fight from Tate there. It was a much better women's fight than Sarah Kaufman's Title winning performance at the last challenger's event, and Tate looked very good on the feet and on the ground in this one. Good win for her on her way towards a rematch with Kaufman. -Ranallo brings King Mo in cageside for an interview. King Mo said he's going to go in and do his thing, knock Mousasi out and get the belt. He said he's been ready for this day since he was born. Jake Shields is then brought in. He said things are tougher at 185 lbs., but that's why he made the move, to challenge himself. He said he's ready to bring an all out war to Dan Henderson on April 17. FIGHT THREE: LUKE STEWART VS. ANDRE GALVAO (WELTERWEIGHT) ROUND ONE: Stewart pressed forward and landed a leg kick. He tried to drop a bomb but Galvao landed a right. Stewart pressed right back in and Galvao dropped and got the takedown early. Stewart held him in the closed guard. Galvao stood up in his guard and dropped down with a few right hands. Stewart tried to get an omoplata but Galvao stepped out. Stewart grabbed for a leg lock but Galvao rolled out. He then grabbed for a toe hold and then a knee bar of his own. Galvao held onto Stewart's leg and then Stewart rolled up and around to Galvao's back. Nice work. Galvao followed him up and clinched him up against the cage. Galvao landed a couple of knees to the body. Another knee lands. Galvao dropped down and grabbed a single leg. He got Stewart down briefly but Stewart got back to his feet. He pushed in and landed a couple of kicks to the body. He shot in and briefly took Galvao down and then stayed on him against the cage as Galvao got to his feet. Galvao landed a knee to the leg as Stewart hit him with a foot stomp. Galvao grabs the Thai clinch and lands a couple of knees as the round ends. Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Galvao. Nice first round with both fighters going for submissions and battling it out on the ground. Galvao held control for most of it, though. ROUND TWO: Galvao lands a couple of good jabs early. Stewart starts throwing kicks left and right and gets Galvao to the fence. Galvao lands a knee with his back against the cage. Galvao gets separation. Stewart lands a leg kick. He tries a kick to the head and gets countered by Galvao. Galvao lands another punch. Stewart stays in the center and closes the distance on Galvao. Stewart lands a punch. Galvao shoots in for a takedown but gets held off. Galvao then launches Stewart down as he slips and he tries to drop into his guard. Stewart pulls off a nice sweep and gets back to his feet. Stewart clinches Galvao against the cage. Galvao spins him around. Galvao lands a knee to the body and eats one in return. Stewart presses the action again. Stewart lands a good body kick. Galvao shoots and gets a good takedown into half guard. Galvao throws some elbows to the body. He postures up and lands an elbow which draws a warning. He lands a hammer fist and moves to side control, but Stewart sweeps and gets into side control. Galvao gets him right into his guard, though. Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Stewart. He pressed the action on the feet and had a beautiful sweep late. This fight is really close in both rounds right now. ROUND THREE: Stewart throws a number of kicks early to back Galvao to the cage. Galvao then spins him around and gets the trip takedown. Galvao tries to posture up but Stewart kept busy from the bottom. Galvao lands a right. He postures up and lands a few right hands. Stewart keeps busy on the bottom. Galvao moved to side control and again Stewart pulled off the sweep into side control himself. Galvao tried to get an arm crank submission going but Stewart held it off. Galvao then moved his way up to his feet and Stewart stayed on him, dropping for a single leg. Galvao landed a jumping knee and started unleashing some hammer fists. He lands a knee and some punches. Stewart drops to the ground and Galvao gets on top, but only briefly as Stewart again sweeps him. Galvao gets back up and they clinch on the cage. Galvao landed a good short forearm. Galvao catches a kick late and tries for a late takedown but Stewart holds it off. Galvao stays on him for a single leg as the round comes to an end. Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Stewart. Stewart stayed aggressive and was pulling off some really nice sweeps, though Galvao could have taken it with the takedowns and some brutal knees and some other damaging strikes in the round. WINNER: Galvao via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 29-28) POST FIGHT: Quadros asks the dumbest question in the history of his dumb questions, as after some wacky judges scorecards and a really close and tough fight to score, he asked Galvao in front of a booing crowd, "Do you feel you decisively won the fight?" Of course he doesn't feel he decisively won the fight, what a ludicrous question to ask after such a close back and forth fight. STAR RATING: (**+) That was quite an enjoyable fight, but man are those some wacky scorecards. I can see an argument for Galvao taking the first and the third, but the judge that gave him all three rounds is crazy. That's just what happens with the judges maybe not being adept with their jiu jitsu knowledge on what went down in that fight. It's not a complete robbery, it was just a very tough fight to call. FIGHT FOUR: GEORGE BUSH III VS. ABONGO HUMPHREY (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT) ROUND ONE: Humphrey lands an early punch and throws a high kick. Bush lands a couple of leg kicks early. Humphrey landed the high kick again and then Bush shot in and got the takedown. Humphrey kicked him off but ate an uppercut as he got back to his feet. Bush tagged Humphrey with leg kick after leg kick. Humphrey lands another punch and then Bush shoots in and drives Humphrey against the cage. Humphrey grabs a guillotine as Bush takes him down and he apparently has it tight enough as Bush is forced to tap quickly. WINNER: Humphrey via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:44 of the first round POST FIGHT: Humphrey said he feels he can move better at 205 lbs. He said he comes from Roberto Traven's gym and he's been working with him and that helped him with that submission. STAR RATING: (**) Nice submission from Humphrey, and he stopped Bush in his tracks when it was looking like Bush might be giving him some trouble with those takedowns. MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: LAVAR JOHNSON VS. LOLOHEA MAHE (HEAVYWEIGHT) ROUND ONE: Johnson gets in with a jab and a left hook early. Johnson with another jab. Mahe catches Johnson with a few rights. Johnson with a few more jabs. Johnson was poked in the eye and it took him holding his face for the ref to realize it. Man is he bad. Johnson lands a good leg kick and another jab. Mahe counters a kick with a right. Johnson works the jab some more. Mahe pushes in and tries to go for the takedown. Johnson holds him off and goes fo the guillotine as Mahe stays on him with the double leg. Johnson lands a knee to the body. Johnson holds onto the choke against the cage. Johnson lets an arm loose and he lost the choke. Mahe stayed on him against the cage. Mahe finally completed the takedown. Mahe postured up and landed a couple of punches. He lands some more rights to the body. Mahe's just gigantic compared to Johnson weight-wise here. Johnson tries to scramble but Mahe stays on him and lands a few punches. Johnson gets his back to the cage and gets back to his feet. Johnson tried to land a bomb and Mahe missed the counter as well. He got one more takedown to end the round. Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Mahe. He landed some good punches on the feet and had the two takedowns and held some good position in the round. ROUND TWO: Johnson lands a couple of punches early and Mahe counters. He goes for a head kick and misses and Mahe lands a punch. Johnson again lands a kick and then a knee and then Mahe pushed in. Mahe is exhausted as Johnson gets separation. Johnson lands an overhand right. Johnson lands another left and a big elbow. Another jab from Johnson. Johnson lands a body shot and another jab. Mahe lands a left. Johnson grabs the Thai clinch and lands a knee and Mahe lands an uppercu. Mahe drops down and Johnson grabs the guillotine again. He lets it go and separates. Johnson lands another couple of punches. This is just an ugly brawl now as both are really tired. Johnson lands a big three punch combo. He starts unleashing punches on Mahe against the cage and Mahe swung one more punch before Johnson finally forced him to a knee with a punch. He landed a couple more and the ref finally stepped in to stop it. Mauro Ranallo overreacts to the victory for Johnson on commentary. WINNER: Johnson via TKO at 3:29 of the second round POST FIGHT: Johnson said Mahe hit him hard, but he said he can't be put to sleep. STAR RATING: (**) That was ugly. It was great to see Johnson back in the cage after what he went through last summer, but it was an ugly brawl with Mahe completely gassing visually minutes into the second round. Johnson gassed his arms going for the guillotine in the first, but he just had more than Mahe left. It was a better main event than the last event, but Mahe was not a fighter that deserved top billing showing up in the shape he did for the fight. -That's another event in the books. Make sure to be here tomorrow night for our round by round report on UFC 111, live on Spike TV and pay-per-view. © Copyright by MMATorch.com |
