Strikeforce is back on Showtime tonight with their fifth "Challengers" series event, and there are some good fights to be had on tonight's card. The main event features a fighter that has come on as a highly impressive young competitor on the Challengers events thus far in Tyron Woodley, and the co-main event of the evening features Kerry Vera against Kim Couture in a women's bout playing off of last weekend's UFC 105 main event. The event begins at 11pm ET, so stick with us here tonight for our round by round report on all the action on Showtime!
-Mauro Ranallo opens up the show from the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, and we've got five fights set for the broadcast tonight. Stephen Quadros comes in as the second man in the booth, and Pat Miletich once again is the night's third broadcast man. They run down the main event and co-main event before getting to the action.
FIGHT ONE: KEVIN CASEY VS. CHAD VANCE (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Casey comes forward and Vance clinches him early. Vance lands a good knee and Casey wraps him up, trying for the takedown. Vance almost holds off the takedown but Casey finishes it and immediately takes his back and flattens him out. He throws a few calculated punches trying to get the choke sunk in, very much like Demian Maia's eventual submission of Jason MacDonald though not at that level. He sinks in the choke finally and forces Vance to tap. Impressive showing from Casey.
WINNER: Casey via submission at 1:41 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Casey thanked Vance for taking the fight and had to explain brushing off his shoulder to Stephen Quadros. He said he's here for everybody. He tells everyone to take notes as Rickson Gracie jiu jitsu is going to change the game.
STAR RATING: (**) Not the most exciting action in a quick fight but Casey was very impressive with his jiu jitsu game here.
FIGHT TWO: RAFAEL FEIJAO VS. AARON ROSA (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Rosa engages first and lands a few punches in a flurry before Feijao clinches him and pushes him up against the cage. Feijao lands a good knee to the body and keeps Rosa's back on the cage as Rosa tries to move across and separate. Feijao nicely trips Rosa up and lands four solid punches to Rosa's face as Rosa made his way back to his feet. Feijao continued to throw knees as Rosa threw short body punches with his back on the cage. Feijao backed out and landed a real hard knee to the body and got back to the clinch. Rosa tried to push him off and landed a knee to the body of his own as the crowd began to turn on the slowed action> Feijao with another knee to the body and one to the thigh. The ref finally separated them with a minute and a half remaining in the round. Feijao landed a good overhand right but then went back to the clinch on the cage. Feijao landed a couple of very hard foot stomps. Rosa landed a knee to the body again and a foot stomp of his own. Feijao dropped down for a double leg but gave it up quickly. Rosa turned Feijao around and held him against the cage as the round came to a close.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Feijao. Not a good round of action there, and this is just a boring clinch-on-the-cage fight right now. Only Randy Couture can make this type of fight slightly exciting.
ROUND TWO: Rosa tried to push forward with some punches but he didn't come close to landing. He landed an inside leg kick. He came forward again and landed a left hook, but Feijao pushed back and clinched him against the cage once again to the boos of the crowd. Feijao holds control and lands a knee to the body. Rosa finally gets loose and pushes Feijao away. Rosa pushed forward and ate a counter left hook from Feijao. Feijao misses a two punch combo. He came in again and didn't miss the right this time, and then followed up with a flying knee to the gut before getting a takedown. Feijao landed a couple of shots from the guard. Feijao tried to push Rosa to the fence, and Feijao lost his position after landing an elbow on the ground, an illegal move under Strikeforce's rules. As they restart Rosa comes forward and eats a right to the ear that dropped him. Feijao then pounced and finished him off.
WINNER: Feijao via TKO at 3:25 of the second round.
POST FIGHT: Feijao said that the slow start to the fight was part of the gameplan so that he had more gas in the tank later. Man Quadros is just unbearable in interviews.
STAR RATING: (**) Not a good fight until the final minute when Feijao moved it to the next level. It's strange seeing a fighter lose his ground position after landing an elbow when it's something we see all the time in the UFC.
FIGHT THREE: ERIK APPLE VS. BOBBY VOELKER (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Both fighters come out swinging and Apple knocks Voelker down with strikes. He pounces and nearly finishes him but Voelker gets back to his feet. Apple tosses him down again but Voelker works his way back to his feet where Apple holds him against the cage. Apple landed an elbow and some good knees to the body before backing out and landing a shot. Voelker lands a couple of his own before Apple responds and then clinches him on the cage again. Apple drops down to attempt a double leg takedown but Voelker holds him off. He backs off again and lands a big right. They trade shots on the feet and Apple shoots in and gets a takedown, getting into half guard halfway into the first round. Voelker lands a few shots from the bottom and worked his way to the cage to get back to his feet. They start throwing bombs again on the feet and Apple shoots in. Voelker stuffs that takedown and they once again clinch against the cage. Apple tries a throw but Voelker keeps his balance. Voelker then trips up APple and takes him down. Voelker lands some short punches and postures up, landing a number of shots from the half guard. He continues to land punches for the remaining 30 seconds before the round comes to a close.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Apple. Despite the last minute where Voelker nearly stole the fight and the round, Apple had the most devastating strikes early and had control for a good 2/3rds of the round.
ROUND TWO: Voelker comes out swinging and rocks Apple early. Apple starts to swing wildly but Voelker's got him a bit loopy. Apple clinches and Voelker trips him again for the takedown. Voelker lands a number of shots but Apple makes his way back to his feet. Apple separates and they go back to trading shots. Voelker drops Apple with a punch, and the fight should have been stopped immediately but the ref allows Voelker to drop down with more shots. Apple tries to recover and roll out but eats a bunch more punches and the fight is stopped. Excellent comeback by Voelker in this one.
WINNER: Voelker via TKO at 1:23 of the second round.
POST FIGHT: Voelker said this crowd was his people, he loved them as they love him. He said he never got hurt, he just got wobbled but that happens.
STAR RATING: (***+) That was real sloppy at times but a hell of a lot of fun. Voelker coming back from a near knockout blow in the opening minute to nearly stealing the first round before finishing off the comeback in the second was just a great storyline to watch. In front of a hometown crowd this one was even sweeter for Voelker.
FIGHT FOUR: KERRY VERA VS. KIM COUTURE (WOMEN'S 135 LB. BOUT)
ROUND ONE: Couture comes forward and lands the first strike, but Vera lands a number of very solid punches to back her off. Couture again came in and landed a punch but Vera holds her off in a clinch and lands a good knee to the face. Couture lands a good jab. Vera pushes forward with a good kick. Couture gets another punch in as she pushes Vera to the cage and she drops for a single leg. Vera holds it off nively against the cage and lands a few shots. She lands a number of punches as she separates. Vera lands a few kicks. Couture lands a right but eats another combination from Vera. They briefly clinch in the center of the cage and Couture lands a shot as they separate. Vera lands a big left and she's doing the much more visible damage in this one. Couture continues to stalk, however. She lands a punch but they clinch and Vera lands a big knee. Couture again pushes Vera to the cage with a single leg and Vera holds her off with short punches. Vera separates and starts teeing off on Couture. She lands a ton of shots and finally knocks Couture down and she is down and out. Hell of a finish by Vera.
WINNER: Vera via TKO at 3:35 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Vera said the first punch she got hit with woke her up. Vera laughed and said that Couture did take a lot of shots as Quadros tried to give Couture some credit for going out on her shield.
STAR RATING: (***) Excellent performance from Kerry Vera, and a very gutsy one by Couture. She was simply outmatched in the striking department, and Vera's got brutal hands for this 135 lb. women's division. There are a number of match ups for her in Strikeforce that would be highly entertaining to see, the most intriguing of which is one they immediately talked about, and that would be Vera against Sarah Kaufman. That one would be a hell of a battle.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: TYRON WOODLEY VS. RUDY BEARS (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Both fighters take the center and take their time looking for an opening. Woodley strikes first but Bears backs off. Bears then steps in and eats a shot from Woodley as he gets clinched. Woodley lands a few short punches and then rushes him across the cage and gets a big takedown. Woodley is in Bear's half guard, and Bears is doing a nice job of holding off Woodley's attempts to pass for awhile. Woodley gets to the mount but Bears nicely gets out of it and makes it to his feet. Very impressive. Woodley gets a Thai Clinch back on their feet and lands a few knees, followed by a big right hand. Bears throws a high kick that gets blocked. Woodley then shoots in for another big takedown. He sets up the arm triangle, stays patient and passes to side control to lock it in and he forces Bears to tap quickly. Woodley is an absolute beast, but Bears put up a great fight.
WINNER: Woodley via submission (arm triangle) at 2:52 of the first round.
POST FIGHT: Woodley says Bears is an amazing guy and they were going to fight eventually. He said now that they've fought they have a chance to train together. Woodley said he'd love to keep chopping down the ladder on his way up as he keeps trying to get better. Woodley said he thinks he matches up well with a lot of the guys in the division, Jake Shields included.
STAR RATING: (***) Very good half round fight between these two. Bears showed off a very impressive escape from the mount, but Woodley is becoming a great fighter in front of our eyes. He's still got plenty of things to improve upon, but he's going to be a legitimate welterweight for a long time to come, and the scary part is he's only going to get better.
-That's another event in the books for Strikeforce on Showtime, and the co-main event and main event bouts absolutely did not disappoint, with both showcasing some great action and highlighting fighters that can be major players in Strikeforce for some time to come. Tyron Woodley solidified his status as one of the top up and coming welterweights in the sport, and he should get a spot on one of Strikeforce's major Showtime or CBS cards in 2010.
-Make sure to check back here tomorrow as we finish off a hectic month of MMA events with live coverage of UFC 106 on Spike and pay-per-view, right here on MMATorch.com!
