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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Mauro Ranallo opens the broadcast running down the fights on the broadcast tonight. His broadcast partners, as always for these Challengers cards, are Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich. They throw to a soundbyte of Sarah Kaufman, who says "As a fighter I feel I'm different in that most of my fights have been finished. I have eight finishes to two decisions while she has eight decisions. I think that's a big difference between the two of us." They throw to a Hashi soundbyte right after where she says she's looking to submit Kaufman tonight. Miletich comes in to break down the Luke Rockhold-Paul Bradley middleweight bout.
FIGHT ONE: RAUL CASTILLO VS. YANCY MEDEIROS (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Medeiros takes the center and stalks right off the bat as Castillo circles around the cage. Medeiros lands a good jab for the first strike of the bout. He stalks some more and gets in with the jab again. Medeiros gets a good right hook in followed by a left. Castillo finally strikes with a leg kick. He goes back to the leg kick as Medeiros stays on him. Castillo shots in and Medeiros defends it well for a bit. Castillo picked him up and dropped him but Medeiros got right back to his feet. Castillo clinched him on the cage and then dropped for a single leg. Medeiros finally got some separation and pushed Castillo off. Castillo shot in again and Medeiros held it off and landed a couple of hard knees to the body to push Castillo off. Castillo swings wildly but hits air. Medeiros again gets close wtih an uppercut and Castillo shoots once again. Medeiros again holds him off against the cage. He gives up a single leg and moves to a double and Medeiros holds it off really nicely and gets separated. Medeiros stalks and tags Castillo nicely again. Medeiros lands another overhand right. He lands the overhand right once more and follows with a few more punches. He gets a big knee to the head and a nice combination of punches before Castillo shoots once more. Medeiros sprawls and the round comes to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Medeiros. He looked good and patient in his striking, and he's clearly a level or two ahead on the feet over Castillo here. His takedown defense was really good as well.
ROUND TWO: Medeiros stalks again and gets a good knee in to begin a combo. He tags Castillo with a few more. He is calmly walking Castillo down here looking for an opening. Big jab from Medeiros lands. He just misses on a couple of overhand rights against the cage. He tries a spinning back fist but it gets blocked. Another jab lands. Castillo pops in a jab and then circles around some more. Left hook from Medeiros lands. Another left hook. He gets in close and lands a kick to the body. Castillo is just trying to run away from the damage here. The crowd starts to boo some inaction here. Medeiros lands a few shots to the body. Medeiros lands a leg kick. Medeiros misses with a hook and Castillo grabs onto him. Medeiros again holds off the takedown and gets separation. Medeiros sprawls another takedown attempt after missing a punch. Castillo lands a leg kick as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Medeiros. There was about a minute and a half of action and three and a half standing and walking around in that round. Medeiros was a bit too comfortable in that round and Castillo doesn't know what to do with this stand up game from Medeiros right now.
ROUND THREE: Medeiros lands a kick that Castillo reacted as if it was low, but the ref said it wasn't and made him continue. Medeiros lands a good combo and Castillo covers up and shoots again. Medeiros again holds off the takedown on the cage. Castillo stays on him with the single leg but it's going nowhere and finally the ref separates them. Medeiros lands the right on the cage and Castillo circled away again. Medeiros with a hook. Left from Medeiros and then a big knee to the head as Castillo shot in again. Castillo then came forward and lands a big knee low. Medeiros is hurting and the referee is making him continue right away without giving him his alotted time to recover. He just told him he was alright and had him continue. Medeiros lands a big combo and knocks Castillo down. Castillo works back up to his feet and Medeiros stalks some more. Castillo lands a leg kick. Castillo throws a high kick but it gets blocked. He shoots in again and it gets stuffed and he rolls to his back and Medeiros stays over him before finally letting him back up. Castillo gets in a jab and then they trade punches for a fews seconds before Castillo tries one more shot as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Medeiros. Clean sweep for him here. Good performance, and in only his fourth professional fight he showed a lot of promising tools to continue to build on in future fights. His takedown defense was excellent all fight long.
WINNER: Medeiros via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (**-) The fight wasn't anything special, but Madeiros showed a lot of promise and a very solid skillset en route to a decision that was never contested. The officiating certainly didn't get off to a very good start tonight, though, as the ref didn't give either fighter time to recover from low blows when they should have been alotted time.
-Herschel Walker is interviewed cageside to talk about his victory last month at Strikeforce: Miami. He said MMA is the toughest sport in the world, and he said the true fighters are all the guys stepping in day in and day out. He said he was shocked at AKA that there was a guy with more cardio than him in Cain Velasquez and he realized he had a long way to go.
-Gilbert Melendez is then brought in cageside. He said a rubber match with Josh Thomson is going to need to happen at some point for the fans. He said he was much more patient and motivated in the rematch. He called out Shinya Aoki and said he'd like to bring the DREAM Title back to California. Ranallo then hyped a "major announcement" coming Monday from the organization.
FIGHT TWO: TAREC SAFFIEDINE VS. JAMES TERRY (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Terry throws an early inside leg kick and then a high kick that gets blocked. Saffiedine lands a combo to push him back. He is pushing the pace here early and landing some short combos. Saffiedine caught a kick and landed a straight right. Saffiedine lands a right. He is keeping the center of the cage. He lands a combo and barely misses a rushing knee as Terry drops down for a takedown. He holds the takedown off. Saffiedine gets in with a two punch combo. Terry lands an inside leg kick. Nice uppercut lands from Saffiedine. Saffiedine fakes the right and throws a high kick but it gets blocked. Saffiedine with a hard leg kick. He lands a beautiful high kick but Terry absorbs it. Saffiedine lands a left. Terry shoots in with a minute left and gets the takdown. Saffiedine scrambles and gets right back up to his feet. Terry lands a right. He tries to push forward with a combo but doesn't land. Saffiedine lands a right. Terry holds him off against the cage with a push kick. Terry is cut under the left eye as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Saffiedine. Solid start to the fight, and Saffiedine is landing some good strikes in this one thus far.
ROUND TWO: Terry comes out and lands a punch. He gets in a body kick and eats one from Saffiedine. Terry lands an inside leg kick. Saffiedine lands a kick that goes low. Saffiedine with another combo. Inside leg kick from Saffiedine lands. Saffiedine tried to land a knee against the cage but Terry aboided it and circled away. Saffiedine lands a hard combo. Another combo with a leg kick by Saffiedine. Terry gets in a right. Saffiedine lands a hard kick to the body. Terry lands a leg kick and gets countered with a right. Another right from Saffiedine. Saffiedine with another combo. Terry lands a leg kick. Saffiedine stalks him down and lands a couple of hard punches and then holds off a shot. Saffiedine lands a good leg kick. Terry shoots in after Saffiedine missed a punch but he was shrugged off. Terry tags Saffiedine with a short combo. Terry again with the jab. Saffiedine lands a hard leg kick. Terry tries to shoot again late and Saffiedine sprawls and they square off as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Saffiedine. He's getting in much quicker with his combos and his punches and kicks are landing a lot harder right now.
ROUND THREE: Saffiedine lands a good straight right early. He gets in with another one as he's walking Terry down. He lands a couple more and lands a good knee. Terry's face is getting battered here. Saffiedine with anotehr two punch combo. Terry gets a takedown quick but Saffiedine gets right back up. Terry tried to pull him down with a single leg but he got out. Terry lands a couple of punches. Terry gets in close and clinches. They jockey for position briefly before separating. Saffiedine continues to walk Terry down. Saffiedine grabs a Thai plum and lands a knee. He continues to push the pace and land punches, kicks and knees. He tries a jumping knee that misses. Straight right lands by Saffiedine. He gets in close again and they clinch briefly. Saffiedine lands another right. Jab from Saffiedine. Terry throws a high kick but it gets blocked. Saffiedine lands a leg kick. Terry responds with one of his own. He pushed in close again but Saffiedine separated with an elbow. Saffiedine lands a big combo and they trade punches. Saffiedine lands a high kick and then a spinning back kick to the body. Terry shoots in and tries to get a takedown but Saffiedine winds up mounted on him and drops down some punches until the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Saffiedine. He was just the better fighter tonight, and he did some damage to Terry's face. Terry can take some punishment, though, and was never completely out of this fight.
WINNER: Saffiedine via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
STAR RATING: (**-) Another fight that wasn't bad, but nothing special. Saffiedine outstruck Terry nicely throughout but there wasn't much else to the fight.
-Ranallo brings in Lavar Johnson, who will make a return to fighting after being a victim of a gunshot along with four others last July. He lost his cousin in the tragic attack. Johnson is announced as the official headliner of next month's "Challengers" event.
FIGHT THREE: LUKE ROCKHOLD VS. PAUL BRADLEY (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Rockhold throws a high kick that grazes the top of Bradley's head. He pushes Bradley to the cage but Bradley breaks away with a short combo. Rockhold looks gigantic compared to Bradley here. Bradley lands a good punch to the gut. Rockhold again goes for the high kick and it gets blocked. Rockhold drops Bradley with a right as he was coming in and landed another punch before Bradley got to half butterfly guard and recovered. He scrambled and got back up to his feet. Nice recovery. Bradley lands a left but gets dropped by a right again. Bradley gets back up and Rockhold is right on him. He lands a few really hard knees to the body that hurt Bradley and the ref comes and stops the fight as Bradley goes down. Impressive win again from Rockhold.
WINNER: Rockhold via TKO at 2:24 of the first round
STAR RATING: (**) Very nice performance from Rockhold, and he dominated start to finish in this one. He hits really hard, that's for sure, and Bradley just had no answer for him in this one.
FIGHT FOUR: TREVOR PRANGLEY VS. KARL AMOUSSOU (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Both fighters circle around each other in the center. Prangley rushes forward first but Amoussou tags him with some hard, quick punches in succession to back him off. Amoussou hops around with his hands at his sides with the ref repeating "c'mon let's fight" to them. Amoussou engages and they clinch but he gets out of it. Prangley then clinches and gets a takedown into half guard. Amoussou does a good job here of neutralizing Prangley and holding him until the ref stands them up. Amoussou gets in quick with a right. He lands a leg kick that lands and then a high kick that misses. Prangley came in close and tried to clinch again and Amoussou tags him with a big right. He gets a big combo in but Prangley's just absorbing it. Prangley gets in a right. Amoussou goes in for a jab and he gets poked in the eye. That was Prangley's pointer finger right in the eye. Amoussou can't open his eye and they have to stop the fight. He's protesting after they stop it, but he literally can't even open his eye and with the way the rules are set he's not given time to recover and the fight has to be stopped. Highly unfortunate end to this one.
RESULT: Technical draw (accidental foul)
POST FIGHT: It is explained that it is the doctor's call on an accidental foul causing an injury to end a fight, and with Amoussou stating he could not see the doctor stopped the bout and the ref can't override that.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: SARAH KAUFMAN VS. TAKAYO HASHI (WOMEN'S 135 LB. CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT)
ROUND ONE: Hashi throws a kick early but it doesn't land. She tries it again and eats a jab. Kaufman drops her with a right but Hashi grapples and clinches against the fence as Kaufman comes in close. Hashi lands a knee to the body. Kaufman lands a few knees of her own to the body and thighs. She works some body punches in the clinch. The ref separates them. Kaufman lands a jab. She gets in with the jab and a leg kick. Kaufman counters a body kick with a good two punch combo. Kaufman lands another punch. Kaufman tags her with a straight left. She gets another one. Hashi throws a high kick and Kaufman blocks it. Hashi throws another inisde leg kick. Right hand from Kaufman lands. Kaufman continues to stalk and look fro an opening. Kaufman with a left. Kaufman catches a kick and drops Hashi with a right. Hashi tries to roll over and Kaufman sprawls and stays on her. Hashi stands up and Kaufman hits her on the way up. Kaufman lands a left and the round comes to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Kaufman. She scored a couple of hard knockdown punches even though it was a pretty tentative round, but Hashi hasn't done anything yet in this fight.
ROUND TWO: Tentative start to this round. Kaufman finally lands a short punch. Hashi gets in a kick. Kaufman catches another kick and drops Hashi with a right but lets her back up. Kaufman lands a leg kick. Kaufman pushed in and connected with a right. Hashi gets in a jab as Kaufman lands a combo. Kaufman got a good left hook but Hashi connected with a punch of her own. Very tentative stuff here as they're just lightly sparring around the cage. Kaufman got in a good right. Kaufman throws a leg kick. Hashi lands a kick to the body as the crowd is getting restless. Kaufman got in close and landed a right but then backed away. Kaufman got in with a jab and a short combo as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Kaufman. Boring round. Almost nothing happened there as Kaufman is just dragging this out right now.
ROUND THREE: Kaufman starts it off a bit quicker here with a combo. Kaufman catches the kick and drops Hashi with the right again and lets her up. Hashi engaged but ate a two punch combo. Kaufman pushes forward and landed a leg kick. Kaufman got threw with a right. Hashi again comes in and eats a few punches for her trouble. Hashi lands a kick. Kaufman chases her down and lands a leg kick of her own. She lands a quick combo. Kaufman got in a good right but Hashi took it and kept moving. Kaufman drops Hashi with a right but Kaufman lets her get up again. She connects on a two punch combo. Kaufman lands a leg kick. Kaufman again lands a combo. Kaufman got the right in after Hashi tried to clinch. Kaufman works the jab nicely and Hashi shoots in with ten seconds left and Kaufman holds it off.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Kaufman. This just isn't a good fight right now. Kaufman is clearly winning but she's not even attempting to go for the kill, and Hashi hasn't been able to do anything to her yet.
ROUND FOUR: Kaufman got in a short combo early. This is more of the same here. Hashi shoots in Kaufman holds off the takedown nicely against the cage. Hashi turned her around but Kaufman turned her right back around. The ref separated them. Kaufman lands a few straight jabs. Hashi shoots again and it gets held off with Kaufman pushing her to the cage. They trade knees in the clinch and then Kaufman separates with a right to the jaw. Hashi shoots in again and tried to pull guard but Kaufman controlled her posture and backed away. Kaufman with a short combo. Kaufman with a jab. Kaufman again with the jab and she ends the round with a punch.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Kaufman. Not much to say, it's the same thing over and over and it hasn't been fun to watch.
ROUND FIVE: Kaufman lands a hard leg kick and a right. Kaufman with a combo. Kaufman lands a left hook. Flurry from Kaufman lands. Hashi drops down for a shot and Kaufman sprawls again. She gets back up and makes Hashi stand. They trade leg kicks.Kaufman catches a kick again to land the right. Hashi shoots in again and tried to pull guard. She tried to grab a leg for a leg lock but Kaufman backed out. Hashi lands a straight kick to the face. Kaufman lands a combo. Hashi pressed forward and got poked in the eye with less than a minute left. The ref doesn't bring the doctor in and Hashi says she can continue. Hashi shoots in and Kaufman sprawls and lands a couple of punches. Kaufman pushes her off with a jab and holds off another shot as the round ends to mercifully put an end to what was anything but a good fight.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Kaufman.
WINNER: Kaufman via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
STAR RATING: (*) That wasn't much of a fight. It was a five round sparring match where Kaufman was clearly better on the feet but seemingly refused to press further than she did. Basically, if you skipped the fight you missed nothing here tonight, and that's disappointing because it could have been much better.
-Well that's another Challengers event in the books. Next up is the WEC on Versus next weekend, so make sure to check back with us throughout the week as we head into coverage of that event.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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