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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS VIII
MAY 21, 2010
LIVE FROM PORTLAND, ORE.
-The show is live from the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Ore., and as always Mauro Ranallo opens up the broadcast. The opening video does not go along with what the main event is representing, as Matt Lindland is not the future of the sport. Still, we should have a number of good bouts on the card tonight, and you can't complain about a Tyron Woodley fight.
Make sure to check out Alvin Carter's live coverage of tonight's other major event, the Moosin: God of Martial Arts pay-per-view with Tim Sylvia facing off against Mariusz Pudzianowski. Read that report here.
-Ranallo, looking like he stepped into the arena after waking up outside of it in the alley, runs down what's at stake for Lindland with two straight losses on his record. They throw to an interview with Casey, talking about what a win would mean for him tonight. Lindland is up next and he says if Casey doesn't make a mistake in the fight he's going to pound him and keep coming at him for the entire fight. Stephen Quadros and Pat Miletich round off the three man booth, as always, with Miletich running down the Woodley vs. Coy bout.
FIGHT ONE: BRYAN TRAVERS VS. PAT HEALY (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Travers takes the center and they exchange short punches. Healy pops in with a soft combination. Travers connects on a hard combo. They're both gettin in and landing short punches. Travers clinches and puts Healy on the cage and then they jockey for position. Travers separated with a combination. Travers lands a hard left. He lands a leg kick and Healy shoots in. Travers stuffs it and puts Healy's back on the cage. Travers lands some short punches in the clinch. He releases with a big elbow. Travers pops in with a combo after avoiding a punch. Healy lands a jab and gets in wtih a right. Travers ducks under a punch and shoots in for a double leg. Healy walked up the cage but eats a left as he gets to his feet. Healy lands a nice body punch. They clinch and Healy lands a few shots before Travers puts him on the cage again in the clinch. Healy lands a knee to the gut. Travers tries to get loose and they exchange punches with a collar tie. Healy presses in and lands a punch before clinching. Healy lands a knee to the body but Travers puts him on the cage again. He lands some more punches to the body and they jockey for position. Healy lands some punches to the body and Healy lands a knee to the body. Travers gets on in of his own. They trade punches in the clinch as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Travers. He landed the harder punches and knees, and got the lone takedown of the round. Healy got in some decent offense of his own, but Travers edged it.
ROUND TWO: Healy pressed in early and they both swung and landed with punches. Healy clinched and they jockeyed for position on the cage. Healy dropped down for a single leg. He picks Travers up and Travers manages to avoid a slam, but Healy gets a body lock and picks him up again. He doesn't drop him hard and Travers stays on his feet. Travers got out of the body lock and spun Healy around on the cage. Healy landed a knee to the body and Travers got his back. He separates and Healy comes at Travers and lands a number of punches before dropping down for a double leg. He completes a takedown and Travers walks back up the cage. Healy picked him up and took his back. He tried to get the hooks in but Travers gets to his feet. Healy lands a big knee to the jaw and lands a few more punches and Travers tries to tie him up. Healy lands a ton of body punches and a knee to the gut. Healy landed another knee and some more punches. Healy got a body lock and another takedown but Travers scrambles and gets to his feet. Healy lands a knee to the gut. Travers responds with one of his own. Healy with another knee to the body. They're still clinched on the cage, and they exchange knees again> Healy lands a bunch more punches to the gut before Travers finally gets separation. They exchange punches as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Healy. He was all over Travers in that round. He couldn't keep him down, but he did a lot of damage in the clinch.
ROUND THREE: Healy landed a big punch early. They exchange punches and Healy gets the better of the exchange. Healy drops down for a double leg, picks Travers up and slams him down. Travers immediately scrambles to his knees and crawled to the cage. He worked right back up to his feet and grabbed a body lock. Healy went back to body punches as he kept Travers' back on the cage. Travers lands a knee and Healy lands a big one of his own to the body. Healy tried to land a knee to the head and barely missed. Travers shot in and got a takedown. Travers tried to pull him completely to the ground against the cage as Healy grabs a hold of his arm. Healy gives up his back but gets to his feet. Travers trips him and tried to get his hooks in but fails. Healy gets up and Travers picks him up with a body lock and slams him but Healy pops right back up. Travers picked him up and slammed him again, but Healy rolled through and got Travers' back. Healy pulls off a suplex and then they both continued to scramble, making their way to the feet. Healy unleashed a number of punches to the final bell. Fun fight.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Healy. Travers nearly stole that round, but Healy took it right back with the suplex and the final flurry. Very close fight, though.
WINNER: Healy via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
POST FIGHT: Strikeforce got smart and didn't put Quadros in there for the interview. Healy said it was great to fight in his hometown and great to fight in the Rose Garden. He said lightweight is the weight class for him, as he can be one of the bigger guys instead of one of the smaller welterweights. He said he's willing to fight anyone to show he's on the level of a Josh Thomson or Gilbert Melendez.
STAR RATING: (***-) Fun fight, with both fighters negating each other in the wrestling department but still getting some nice takedowns and slams throughout the fight. Travers just could not find much success as the fight wore on, and Healy stayed aggressive on him against the cage. Good start to the show.
FIGHT TWO: NATE MOORE VS. TAREC SAFFIEDINE (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Moore lands a couple of early kicks and pushes forward with punches. Saffiedine catches him with a nice right and slows him down a bit. Saffiedine tries to press forward. He fakes a kick and Moore immediately shot in and pushed him to the cage. He nearly got him down but Saffiedine got right back up and got loose from his grip. Saffiedine landed a punch and tried to grab Moore's head but Moore landed a nice combo to break away. Moore lands a couple of leg kicks as Saffiedine tries to walk him down. Saffiedine lands a punch but Moore lands a nice combination. Saffiedine lands a hard combination and then gets on Moore. He scrambles and Saffiedine takes Moore's back. He's up really high as Moore is still on his feet and he tries to shake Saffiedine off. Saffiedine finally hops off and they're back standing. Saffiedine landed a hard leg kick. Saffiedine landed a combo. Moore misses on an attempted counter. He's looking more active but he's missing a lot of punches. Moore lands a kick. Saffiedine walked him down and landed a hard right and covered up from the counter. He landed a push kick. Saffiedine is pressing forward and lands a big flying knee. Moore responds with a combo and they trade punches as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Saffiedine. Moore was looking like he would control the round early, but Saffiedine's bigger strikes landed harder and he took over the fight in the second half of the round.
ROUND TWO: Saffiedine walked Moore down to start the round and they eschange leg kicks. Saffiedine lands a nice combination ending in a kick. Saffiedine blocks a combo attempt from Moore. Saffiedine lands a nice right and Moore shoots. Saffiedine gets out and lands a big left uppercut that rocks Moore. Moore recovers by grabbing a leg and gets up to his feet. Saffiedine then knocks him down hard with a big right hand and lands a couple more for good measure, but Moore is out cold! Great finish and nice fight. That was right on the button.
WINNER: Saffiedine via KO at 1:21 of the second round
POST FIGHT: Saffiedine said he can't believe it but it was awesome. This was his first career knockout.
STAR RATING: (***) Both fighters were coming at the other the entire fight, and Saffiedine had a hell of a performance in this one. That was a great knockout, and a picture perfect right hand landing right on the button.
FIGHT THREE: ROGER BOWLING VS. BOBBY VOELKER (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: They exchange punches immediately and Bowling shoots in and gets Voelker to the ground into half guard. Bowling lands some good punches in half guard, and of course Mauro has to go to the "Bowling lands the first strike" line. Voelker is cut already. He works up to his feet and Bowling lands some big shots. Voelker is taking the punches and still going, but Bowling lands another hard combination before clinching. He separates and comes forward with a nice right. He lands a big body kick. He lands with a left hook nicely and then clinches on the cage. Voelker lands a knee to the body and Bowling separated. Voelker's having trouble seeing out of his left eye, and Bowling lands a hard kick to the head. He changes things up very nicely, landing punches and kicks in multiple levels. He walks Voelker to the cage and lands some hard punches. Voelker gets one in of his own, but then Bowling lands another hard punch and shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Voelker gets him into his guard. Bowling landed some short punches to the body before the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Bowling. He was landing some big shots in that round and got a couple of takedowns. Impressive first round from Bowling.
ROUND TWO: Bowling drops Voelker immediately as the round starts and drops down with some more punches into the guard. Bowling passes to half guard and Voelker tries to recover. Bowling goes for a kimura but lets it go as Voelker starts getting to his feet. Bowling lands a big uppercut and a vicious jab. He lands a couple of kicks to the body. He mixes it up again with kicks and punches and Voelker can take some punishment. Bowling lands a big left hook. He presses forward and shoots in, picking Voelker up and slamming him down. Bowling landed some short punches in the guard, but Voelker tied him up briefly. Bowling has slowed slightly, but he postures up and lands some big body shots. The ref stands them up as the action stalled a bit. Bowling lands a high kick and another body kick. Voelker swung wildly but missed and Bowling clinched. Voelker got a trip takedown but Bowling scrambled and moved back to his feet. Bowling got a trip takedown of his own as the round was coming to a close.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Bowling. Despite the late takedown by Voelker, that was really more domination by Bowling, starting with the knockdown punch at the outset of the round. Voelker can take a hell of a lot of punishment, though.
ROUND THREE: Voelker comes forward and rocks Bowling and they start trading punches. Bowling went for a takedown but wound up on his back with Voelker in half guard. Bowling spun out off the cage and got back to his feet and pinned Voelker against the cage. Voelker lands a knee to the body and Bowling keeps him on the cage. They get separated by the referee. He got a finger to the eye as they separated. It looked like the edge of the glove scraped his eye on the break. Bowling can't open his eye and they may stop the fight and go to the scorecards here with three minutes left in the final round. He's going to take the fight if that's the case. I'm surprised they're giving him this much time right now. The crowd is jeering him right now, but he can't keep his eye open right now. They should not be giving this much time, as it's not something that is given five minutes. They're speculating on a scratched cornea here. Fights have been stopped for this much quicker, and finally they stop the fight. Bowling throws up his hands and yells that he's sorry to the crowd and he's just upset. Unintentional foul and they should go to the scorecards, and this should be Bowling's fight.
WINNER: Bowling via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
POST FIGHT: The crowd, idiotically, is booing Bowling because the fight was stopped with the eye poke. Bowling tried to plead to the crowd who continues to boo him. Seriously, he spent two rounds being extremely exciting and then took a glove across the eye and the crowd is booing him. Terrible crowd, Bowling had nothing to be sorry for there.
STAR RATING: (***) It would have been much higher were it not for the unfortunate ending. Bowling was very exciting for much of the fight, throwing some extremely hard shots and scoring with takedowns, while Voelker was ridiculous in the amount of punishment he was taking. It was a great fight with an unfortunate finish and a terribly ungrateful crowd.
FIGHT FOUR: NATHAN COY VS. TYRON WOODLEY (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Coy came straight at Woodley, but Woodley got a hold of him and worked for a takedown and got him to the ground. Woodley passed to half guard. He tried to move to mount but can't get it and he got to his feet. Woodley lands a big shot that knocks Coy down and he grabs for a guillotine on the ground. He let it go and Coy got back up. Woodley landed a high kick and Coy tried to shoot in. Woodley stuffed it, got Coy's back and got the hooks in. He flattened him out and nearly got mount but Coy defended well and got back to his feet. Woodley landed a punch and Coy shot in. Woodley stuffed it and Coy pushed him to the cage. He landed a number of knees to the thigh of Woodley. He swings Woodley to the ground briefly with a body lock and goes back to the knees to the thigh. Woodley lands some hard knees to the body. Coy lands a knee to the body and more to the thigh and the ref separates them. Coy walked forward and landed a knee and a kick to the leg. He shot in and Woodley held him off on the cage, but Coy landed some more knees to the thigh. Woodley landed a knee to the body and separated with a nice knee. Coy popped in with a left. Coy is pressing the action now. He landed another knee and Woodley clinched. Coy landed some more knees to the thigh and they are taking their toll. Woodley is hurting a bit from those knees as the round ends. Tough round to score.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Woodley. Coy nearly stole it but Woodley did a lot in the beginning of the round.
ROUND TWO: They both exchanged shots early. Coy continues to press the action. Woodley lands a big punch to the body. Coy lands a push kick. He keeps walking Woodley down here. Coy lands a combo and Woodley counters. Coy goes for a flying knee but it gets blocked and they clinch. Coy goes back to knees and punches to the thighs.Woodley lands a knee to the body. Woodley lands a knee to the body. The ref finally separates them. Woodley's now been poked in the eye but he is able to restart. Woodley lands a big right on the restart that staggers Coy briefly. Coy lands a body kick. Coy lands a combo and Woodley counters. They exchanged punches again in close. Coy lands a leg kick. He slips as he throws a high kick and Woodley pounces on him. Coy steps to a knee, but Woodley scrambles and takes his back. He flattens him out and lands a couple of punches. Woodley's not doing much until he got his wrist loose and lands a couple of punches. Woodley goes for an armbar as the round ends and Coy is saved by the bell.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Woodley. He stole it back with the postional advantage late, some good punches landing and the armbar attempt.
ROUND THREE: Coy came forward and landed a couple of low leg kicks, almost trying to trip Woodley early. He walked Woodley down and landed another kick and a short combo. Woodley lands a nice counter combination as Coy comes in close. Coy lands a punch to the body. He lands another leg kick. Woodley lands another series of punches in combination. Woodley shoots in and gets a takedown. He takes Coy's back again but Coy scrambles. Woodley stays on him but Coy gets back up to his feet. Coy got Woodley's back to the cage, grabbed for a single leg and then took Woodley down with a nice slam. Woodley tries to go for a leg from the bottom but can't get it. Woodley is keeping Coy's punches at bay from the bottom, but he needs to get out of this quick. This fight is too close right now for him. Coy pulls him back down and lands some body punches with a minute left. Coy lands some big punches to the body and Woodley is just taking the punishment right now. Woodley tries to go for a kimura but Coy moves to north-south. Coy gets to side control and lands some punches as the round ends. This is going to be a very interesting decision, and the crowd is going to go crazy if it goes to Woodley, which I have 29-28.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Coy. Woodley could have had that round, but Coy pulled off a nice reversal, got the big takedown and kept Woodley on his back for much of the final round. Good fight, but I'm not looking forward to the crowd's reaction if Woodley takes this fight.
WINNER: Woodley via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
POST FIGHT: As expected, the crowd boos the decision. The crowd drowns out the post fight interview. Woodley talked about it being a good fight. Woodley said he'd be up for a rematch, but he wants to move forward in his career.
STAR RATING: (***) Another good, even and back and forth fight here. The 30-27 card for Coy shows how close the fight was, but I thought Woodley edged the first two rounds slightly. Coy clearly won the third, so it just came down to how the first two were scored, and surprisingly it wasn't a hometown decision here.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: MATT LINDLAND VS. KEVIN CASEY (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Casey tries to walk Lindland down early. He engaged and Lindland threw him to the side and down to the ground. Lindland smothered Casey against the cage. He postured up and landed a right. Casey tried to scramble and was successful in getting to his feet. He turned Lindland against the cage and they jockeyed for position. Lindland throws some wrap around punches to the ear of Casey. Lindland tried to grab for a guillotine but Casey got out of it and got a takedown of his own. Casey passed to half guard briefly but Lindland got butterfly guard and tried to scramble. Casey took his back however and got a body lock on. Lindland is in trouble here. Casey's head is against the cage and it's making it hard to get this locked in here, but he's got a lot of time. Lindland this far is defending well, throwing punches behind him to the face of Casey. Casey is patient here, and he nearly gets the choke locked in before Lindland explodes and rolls out. He stomped on the leg of Casey, gets to his feet and lands a series of knees to Casey. Casey turns him around and Lindland lands a couple of punches as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Casey. He spent much of the round looking for that submission after getting a nice takedown, but Lindland finished strong. Good start to the fight.
ROUND TWO: Casey tries to shoot but Lindland stuffs it easily and lands a knee. Lindland pushes Casey to the cage and lands a couple of knees. Lindland takes Casey down on the cage and nearly gets to mount. He lands a couple of hard punches as he postures up. He continues to land punches and Casey scrambles to his knees. Casey works back to his feet and pushes Lindland against the cage. Casey tried to throw Lindland but was unsuccessful. Lindland pushed Casey back to the ground and smothered him while landing some short punches. Casey tries to scramble but Lindland is relentless with pressure here. He continues to land punches as he keeps Casey against the cage. He postures up and rains down some more punishment. Casey finally gets him back to guard, but Lindland postures up. Casey threw up for an armbar, but Lindland rolls out of it. Lindland postures and traps a knee again to land some more punches. Lindland passes to side control and the crucifix position as the round is coming to an end. Casey is trying to survive and he reverses it as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Lindland. He took over that round and bullied Casey against the cage on the ground.
ROUND THREE: Casey lands a right early. Lindland clinches, pushes Casey to the ground and pulled Casey to the ground. Lindland smothered Casey some more and lands some decent punches against the cage. He's again just bullying Casey here, locking up limbs with his knees and shins and unloading punches. He's not giving Casey an inch to move here. He lands some hard punches to the body. He puts a knee on Casey's head and lands some body punches. He briefly gets to mount and keeps landing punches. He puts his knee over Casey's right arm and keeps landing punches. Casey is taking a ton of punishment here. Lindland lands some more punches to the legs, face and body. Lindland postures up and lands some more short punches. Lindland steps up and drops down with another big right and continues landing punches and the ref finally stops it.
WINNER: Lindland via TKO at 3:43 of the third round
POST FIGHT: Lindland thanked his hometown fans for coming out for the fights tonight. He said Casey's going to be a tough force. He was thankful he didn't break his hands after hitting him with some big shots. He said outside of Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva all the best middleweights are in Strikeforce. That's a false statement.
STAR RATING: (**+) That turned into a one-sided beating after the close first round, but it ended as it should have, because many would think Casey shouldn't have been able to hang with a fighter of Lindland's experience quite that long. Still, Lindland got a decisive win for the first time in a long time, and it was a victory he absolutely needed.
-That's another challengers event in the books. Next week brings Bellator 20 and UFC 114, but in the meantime we'll have plenty more coverage of tonight's fallout and more throughout the weekend and next week. Be sure to join us on Sunday from 2-4PM ET on BlogTalkRadio.com/MMATorch for our two hour Livecast Sunday Conversation, where we'll review the three events this week as well as delve into all the news of the week. Thanks for joining us tonight!
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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