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By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist
STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS 19: LARKINS VS. ROSSBOROUGH
SEPTEMBER 23RD 2011
LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS, NV
-Strikeforce returns tonight with the 19 incarnation of their Challengers series from the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas. Unlike some Challengers events, this one actually has some prospects worth keeping an eye on in Ryan Couture (because his dad is Randy Couture) and headliner Lorenz Larkin (for his fantastic striking). Neither scream "future contender", but hey, can't win 'em all. Stay tuned to MMATorch.com for full round by round coverage of Strikeforce Challengers 19.
Cue up the cliched "...where the young fighter proves himself ready for the big show" opening. Mauro Ranallo welcomes us to the Pearl and runs through the card before introducing us to his broadcast partners..."The Fight Professor" Stephen Quadros, who says Lorenz Larkins faces his toughest ground opponent yet in Nick Rossborough (fighting on short notice) and doesn't intend to have his momentum stopped. Pat Miletich is the third man in the booth and he breaks down the heavyweight scrap between Lavar Johnson and Shawn Jordan. Jordan is a high level athlete still making the transition into a mixed martial artist, but these are heavyweights and a fight can turn on one punch.
FIGHT ONE: BRIAN MELANCON VS. FELIPE PORTELA (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Melancon the aggressor early, walking Portela down and landing occasional combinations. Portela starts to find his comfort zone landing outside leg kicks. With two minutes left in the round Melancon shoots in for a single leg, gets stuffed, presses Portela against the cage, then picks him up and slams him down with a high crotch. Portela gets right back to his feet, but has his back taken standing. He works out of it and they're back trading with a minute left. Another big leg kick by Portela. Crazy throw by Melancon finds him in side control as the round ends.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Melancon. Portela started to find his range standing as the round wore on, but Melancon still landed more and absolutely rag-dolled Portela on the second takedown.
ROUND TWO: Both guys coming out throwing with bad intentions to start the second round, but the action is halted thirty seconds in when a Portela kick finds Melancon's gonads. No matter, they go right back to trying to knock each other's heads off. Melancon has enough of the even stephen striking and shoots for another single. Its stuffed and they separate with two minutes left. Melancon follows up a nice body shot with a solid left hook seconds later. Portela flips the script and shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Melancon takes a knee to the head and the action is stopped for a second. Melancon drops Portela with a combo right before the end of the round! Portela survives to the bell.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Melancon. It was much closer and Portela might've even had it after that takedown, but Melancon erased doubt with the late knockdown.
ROUND THREE: The action is slower, but Melancon is pulling away as he lands big punch after big punch. Portela slows his momentum with a few solid punches and a head kick that stagger Melancon. Melancon puts an end to that foolishness with a takedown. Portela gets back to his feet and goes back to landing solid strikes. Another takedown for Melancon with thirty seconds left will probably seal it for him. They get back to the feet with ten seconds left and the fight ends with Portella on his back after a failed takedown attempt. Smart.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Melancon. Portella had his moments again, but Melancon was dominating the first couple of minutes of the round and had the two takedowns.
WINNER: Melancon by unanimous decision (29-28 (x2), 30-27)
STAR RATING: (***-) Decent little fight. It was never seriously close to ending but both guys fought well and hard. It gets a minus for continuing the trend of every freakin Challengers fight I cover going to a decision.
FIGHT TWO: JASON HIGH VS. TODD MOORE (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: High is the first one to strike, unloading with a combination, then changing levels and picking Moore up just to dump him back down. He immediately looks for an arm triangle from half guard, but he eventually lets go because he can't get his leg free to finish. Moore gets back to full guard. High dives for an arm-in guillotine, but Moore defends. High ends up back on top and goes back to the arm triangle. He lets it go and starts landing some nice elbows as the first round ends.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-8 High. No, it wasn't your usual "beaten within an inch of his life" 10-8, but it was complete and total control for high on the mat and I'm leading the charge for more 10-8 rounds.
ROUND TWO: Moore lands his first significant strike of the fight: a kick to Jason High's nuts. After the restart, High wastes no time getting a takedown with a single leg and going back to work from half guard. A scramble finds Moore on top for the first time, but a short time later High scrambles himself back on top. High works for a guillotine from half guard for a minute before abondoning in favor of some elbows. That's how the round ends.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 High. Moore's time on top keeps this from being a Matt Pelkey 10-8, but still clearly High's round. Clearly High's fight too.
ROUND THREE: Despite's Moore's resistence, High takes him down immediately to open the final round. It looks like Moore is bleeding from the back of his head, likely from an elbow, but who knows. High looks for another guillotine as he tries to decide what his signature move his: the failed guillotine or the failed arm triangle from half guard. I vote guillotine. The fans start to boo midway through the round as Jason high continues his assault on our collective consciousness. If something changes I'll let you know. .... Nope.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 High. Same as the first two rounds, only slower and with less sense of urgency.
WINNER: High by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards) after the ring announcer started to announce Todd Moore as the winner. Hey, sometimes these things happen in MMA. *sigh*
STAR RATING: (*-) The positional control was interesting in the first round but got monotonous and tedious quickly. Jason High keeps winning and with every win he gets further from a return to the UFC. When you are where Jason High is in his career, how you fight matters more than whether you win. Just ask Chris Lytle. Oh, and the minus train continues until somebody finishes a freakin fight.
FIGHT THREE: RYAN COUTURE VS. MAKA WATSON (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Couture slips under a punch and takes Watson's back from a body lock standing. Watson has him pressed against the cage, but Couture is hanging on and landing punches. Watson can't get him off so he tries dropping down backwards to loosen Couture's grip. It doesn't work. Couture still has his back. Couture works around to the front and locks in a tight arm triangle. Watson defends well and Couture eventually transitions back to the the back. Watson continues to defend well, but Couture is completely controlling this fight on the mat. Couture looks for an armbar and then a triangle, but Watson is able to fight out and ends up on top landing strikes. He finishes the round very strong landing big punches and opens a big cut on Couture's forehead with an elbow.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Couture. He was on his way to earning a 10-8 from me, but he got overzealous with his submission attempts and nearly gave the round away in the last minute.
ROUND TWO: Couture once again ducks under a punch and gets a takedown off a body lock. He quickly takes Watson's back again as well. Now he's trying to soften Watson up with some punches. With a minute and a half left Watson finds himself on top again and goes back to his berserker routine knowing he's down in the round again. Its deja vu. Round ends with Watson on top doing damage.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Couture. Its really tempting to give it to Watson for the damage he did, and I probably would've if Couture was just laying in guard the whole round, but he had his back and was looking for submission for three and a half minutes. Round to Couture.
ROUND THREE: Watson shoots in immediately and takes Couture down and goes to work. Couture hits a beautiful sweep right into mount. As he's done several times previously in the fight, Watson quickly gives up his back instead. Couture, knowing how tough Watson is to finish, concentrates more on landing punches and elbows before looking for chokes. Couture gets back to mount and Watson is wearing down. Couture is turning it on with punches as Watson gives up his back AGAIN. Couture has plenty of time to finish. Couture is looking for anything he can, including a triangle from mount, but Watson hangs on til the final bell.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-8 Couture. Watson had the early takedown and landed some shots, but it was all Couture from there. Dominant round.
WINNER: Ryan Couture by majority decision (29-28 x2, 28-28)
STAR RATING: (***-) Really good fight. Both guys fought their asses off and we got to see some really nice grappling from Couture and submission defense and heart by Watson. I was really tempted to end the minus run, but I just can't do it. And what the hell was with that 28-28 scorecard? How is that even possible without a point deduction?
FIGHT FOUR: LAVAR JOHNSON VS. SHAWN JORDAN (HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: After an early poke to Johnson's eye, the fighters clinch and Jordan ends up on top after wrestling Johnson to the mat. Jordan has him tied up in kind of a reverse crucifix/neck crank position as Johnson's eye starts to swell shut. He lets that go and settles into side control. Kim Winslow calls time to look at Johnson's eye. Looks like what happends with a broken orbital to me. She stands them up as they restart. Advantage Johnson as he's not underneath a big dude anymore. Johnson starts landing some nice knees from the clinch and they separate. Jordan gets another takedown and goes right to mount with ten seconds left. Round ends.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Jordan. Close round, and Johnson took advantage of the restart, but it was a clean punch that hurt Johnson's eye and Jordan scored the two takedowns.
ROUND TWO: Johnson comes out swinging big and lands a few big shots, but nothing that seems to faze Jordan. Jordan gets tired of getting hit and scoops out Johnson's legs and takes him down. Jordan works an Americana from half guard. He doesn't have it at first, but he fixes his hands and gets the tap! A finish! Hooray!
WINNER: Jordan by submission (americana) at 3:08 of round 2
STAR RATING: (*****) ok, but seriously (**+) The first round wasn't scintillating, but they turned it up in the second and we got to see a white belt, jiu-jitsu 101 Americana finish. I'll take it.
FIGHT FIVE: LORENZ LARKIN VS. NICK ROSSBOROUGH (LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Rossborough comes out pressuring Larkin big time, but Larkin responds with some devastating leg kick, punches and a jumping head kick. Rossborough finally gets a hold of him and presses him against the cage. Larkin reverses position and has Rossborough against the cage. Larkin tries to literally cut Rossborough's head in half with an elbow on the break, but misses. They clinch again, and its Rossborough with positional control against the fence. Rossborough looks for a trip takedown, but Larkin defends well. The round ends with more clinch work.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Rossborough. Despite the flashiness of Larkin's offense, Rossborough won the positional battle against the cage and landed plenty of good strikes of his own.
ROUND TWO: A minute in and Larkin is doing a much better job of staying in the center and avoiding being clinched. It doesn't last though as Rossborough corrals him and clinches. He shows off some nice close quarters punches and elbows. Larkin gets out and really starts to unload with punch/kick combinations. Aaand back to the cage clinch. With ten seconds left Larkin takes Rossborough's back standing and lands some knees to the thighs.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Larkin. The cage positioning was fairly even, and Larkin really started to unload with some combinations in the middle of the round.
ROUND THREE: Rossborough quickly corners Larkin and lands a bunch of punches and kicks as Larkin can't seem to get away. Larkin eventually drops Rossborough with a knee to the body from the clinch and follows to the mat to try to finish. Rossborough is game though and survives. He's stuck on his back though and Larkin opens him up with some elbows. Rossborough looks for an armbar, but Larkin slips out and lands more elbows. Rossborough is bleeding everywhere. The fight ends with Larkin on top.
Pelkey's Scorecard: 10-9 Larkin. Clear round for Larkin. He dropped him with the knee and busted him up on the ground. It'll probably come down to how the second round was scored.
WINNER: Larkin by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)
STAR RATING: (**) Ok fight. I can't help shake this feeling that if Larkin is really the striking phenom he's hyped to be, he should be lamping guys like Gian Villante and Nick Rossborough.
Well that's another Strikeforce Challengers event in the books. Stay tuned to MMATorch.com all weekend for full pre, during, and post fight coverage of UFC 135 on Saturday!
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