STRIKEFORCE Melendez v Masvisdal
On a night where promising talent was pitted against established fighters – in four bouts, the favored fighter had more than twice as many fights as his challenger – the old guard stood firm in its refusal to step aside. Two champions convincingly retained their belts, while former champion Gegard Mousasi halted Ovince St. Preux’ eight-fight winning streak. Below are the full results from Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal, which took place at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal
Gilbert Melendez took a page from stablemate Nick Diaz’ book, gleefully matching his opponent’s strengths. Standing toe-to-toe with the unpredictable Jorge Masvidal, Melendez used incredible boxing to wear down his opponent, leaving “Gamebred” unable to get any meaningful game plan going.
The first round was largely a range-finding mission between the two, as Melendez sought to figure out the taller fighter’s distance to the chants of “Nino” from the California crowd. He touched Masvidal’s chin multiple times, and Gamebred responded by putting his arms down and gesturing Melendez forward. Masvidal opened up more himself as the round wore down, enabling Melendez to catch a kick, and press Masvidal forward, the challenger’s neck in a one-armed guillotine. Bent forward, Melendez aimed knees, which Masvidal defended by putting one hand on the ground, rendering them illegal. Melendez used his free hand to swat that arm away and deliver more knees. With one minute left, the men broke, pouring it on in the final 30 seconds.
Melendez did find his range, and blasted off combinations that found their targets with increasing success. The next three rounds were nearly identical, the two standing in the center of the cage trading punches. Masvidal mixed it up with more kicks and knees, while Melendez put on a precision boxing clinic (with a stray takedown attempt thrown in), but by and large the bout was an exchange on the feet. Though Melendez’ face showed more damage, mainly from Masvidal’s jab, the champion got the better of his foe in terms of accuracy, diversity and sheer volume of punches.
Masvidal did more offensively in the fifth, mixing up body punches with more flying knees. But Melendez was relentless with his combinations, several of which were again met by Masvidal with a taunting nod and a gesture to keep it coming. The final minute was an absolute firefight, which played better to Melendez’ conditioning and boxing confidence. Masvidal retaliated by going for a takedown with 20 seconds left, and he was able to drag “El Nino” down in what was perhaps his most singular moment of the fight.
Judges scored the bout 50-45, 50-45, 49-46 for the champion, whose record now sits at 20-2; Masvidal drops to 22-7.
Cris “Cyborg” Santos vs. Hiroko Yamanaka
Earlier this week, when discussing the future of Strikeforce within the Zuffa organization, UFC president Dana White joked that they’d be keeping two divisions of women’s MMA – “135 and Cyborg.” Returning to the cage for the first time in 18 months, Cris “Cyborg” Santos showed fans why she’s a worthy namesake for the featherweight division, retaining her championship and knocking down her opponent twice in 16 seconds.
The taller Hiroko Yamanaka appeared unafraid to strike with the feared finisher, coming straight forward. This was met, unsurprisingly, with blows from Cyborg that immediately dropped the Japanese star. Cyborg followed up with punches and climbed Yamanaka’s back, but allowed her up. There, Cyborg followed her prey across the cage with a series of left-and-rights that backed “Cat’s Eye” against the fence before dropping her again, this time for good.
Post-fight stats showed that Yamanaka landed one of her three punches; Cyborg, on the other hand, landed 15 punches of the 21 she threw inside of the 16-second bout. “This gift is for Christmas for you guys,” she told her fans from inside the cage, referring to the knockout scored in her adopted hometown of San Diego.
Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux
In the night’s sole light heavyweight bout, up-and-comer Ovince St. Preux brought an eight-fight win streak to table, ready to raise the stakes by taking on former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi, an eight-year veteran of pro MMA. But Mousasi proved unwilling to hand over the reins to the new guard, earning a unanimous decision win (29-28 thrice) and improving his record to 32-3-2. OSP’s record drops to 11-5.
The two traded kicks for much of the first half of the opener, with Mousasi’s confidence allowing him to control the geography of the fight. St. Preux was left moving backward to pick his shots. Mouasis caught a kick and dumped St. Preux onto the mat, where he rained down elbows and strikes, postured up, then moved to side mount. St. Preux briefly muscled his way up off the mat, only to be dragged back by Mousasi, who rolled for an armlock before St. Preux reversed and wound up on top. But he was too low on his opponent, who was able to roll St. Preux up, backward and off, leaving St. Preux trapped on his side absorbing punishment in the final 15 seconds.
St. Preux kicked with more conviction to open the second, rushing for his own takedown. Mousasi clinched and easily tripped St. Preux, and the next several minutes were closely fought from the ground. Mousasi scored with elbows and strikes, as St. Preux struggled to get in some fists from the bottom. Halfway through the round, the ref restarted the action on the feet, only for the same takedown-block-trip dance to ensue, this one ending with St. Preux on top. But less versed in the position and wearied, OSP didn’t do much damage, and Mousasi managed to escape. A third takedown attempt from St. Preux ended with a sprawl by Mouasis to end the round.
Down on the cards and with his corner yelling for him to show “no respect,” St. Preux launched a flying knee to start the third, but was bulled against the fence and dragged to the ground by Mouasi, who clung to St. Preux’s back as the pair worked to their feet. St. Preux stayed on the wall and secured a calculated double-leg, and fought from side mount before leaping into mount and using elbows to repay Mousasi for the earlier rounds. Again Mousasi’s experience showed, as he was able to work his way back to the feet, where the two careened across the cage. Against the cage, it was war of will as Mousasi worked his way from behind St. Preux to half guard with OSP’s back against the fence. St. Preux worked his way out and tried to engage the prone Mousasi on the feet before diving in to deliver ground and pound, but exhausting prevented him from inflicting significant damage, and the Mousasi was stuck in a half-headlock of St. Preux as the final minute of the fight finally ended.
KJ Noons vs. Billy Evangelista
Scanning their bios, lightweight contenders KJ Noons and Billy Evangelista were an eerily evenly matched twosome – the standup lightweights separated by only two years and two inches (Noons being the taller and younger), with 12 and 13 pro fights to their names, respectively. Their Strikeforce careers had parallels as well, with both besting Jorge Gurgel and coming up short against the night’s headliner, Jorge Masvidal. Off paper, both have exciting, take-anything-and-keep-coming-forward styles that made this a natural choice to open the main card on Showtime.
After three fast-paced rounds, San Diego’s Noons halted his two-fight skid with a 29-28 unanimous decision, lifting him to 10-3. Evangelista exits 11-2 (1 NC).
The two traded kicks to begin the opening frame, and it was boxer Noons who charged forward for a takedown. Back on the feet, Evangelista launched knees from the clinch, as Noons worked body shots. In the center of the cage, both fighters were unpredictable, with Noons as technically precise as Evangelista was inhumanly tough. Evangelista answers with a takedown of his own, but neither man had much interest in grappling. Another stint on the cage ended with a knee from Evangelista that wobbled Noons, but he recovered and scored with a massive knee, only to have it answered with an elbow to the head and knee to the body against the cage. Each time the two were in close quarters, Noons would work the body as Evangelista offered knees, and the round wound down with Evangelista working for a takedown.
In the second Noons connected with several well-placed uppercuts, kicks, lightning-fast jabs, hooks and kicks – and he came close with a spinning back kick/back fist combo. But none of it could wobble the Evangelista, the Army veteran who smiled and shook his head as he stalked Noons around the cage. Evangelista also stuffed multiple takedown attempts as he fought back with his own flashy combos and knees.
The action absolutely did not wane in the third, and in an up-close exchange in the third, one of Noons’ uppercuts finally seemded to at least Stun Evangelista. But Noons failed to capitalize, and the standup battle continued. Even with a massive hook punishing the swelling eye of Evangelista, waved his hands in the air mockingly then shot for a takedown. Late in the game, Evangelista got Noons to the ground in a tight front headlock, but Noons rose to his feet again – along with the crowd. Feeling the momentum, the fighters’ roles reversed, with Evangelista on his bicycle and Noons taking over taunting duties in a fight that stayed competitive until the closing bell.
Prelim results:
Justin Wilcox vs. Caros Fodor
Though there were two lightweight wars on the main card, the 155-pound action truly got started with Justin “The Silverback” Wilcox vs. Caros “The Future” Fodor. The classic striker-vs-grappler pairing – and a not-so-common matchup of two criminal justice majors – was the second bout in a row to end in under a minute.
After a brief trade of strikes, the AKA-trained wrestler Wilcox shot early, as expected. Fodor stuffed the attempt, and caught Wilcox with a short right that dropped the stockier fighter. Fodor pounced with followup strikes, causing the ref to wave things off just 13 seconds into the fight.
The win – Fodor’s fifth Strikeforce victory in a row – brings him to 7-1; Wilcox falls to 11-4 with 1 NC.
Roger Bowling vs. Jerron Peoples
After a plodding heavyweight matchup, San Diego fans got a palate cleanser in the form of Jerron Peoples vs. Roger Bowling. Booked for welterweight, Jerron Peoples came in at 180.5 pounds, and was fined for also missing the 179-pound catchweight limit set by the commission. But all the extra muscle in the world wasn’t enough to stop Roger Bowling’s short flurry, sealed by an uppercut that ended the bout 42 seconds in.
The fight started with both stand-up fighters firing at the same time, trading kicks and whiffing hooks. After some reconfiguring, Peoples connected with a hook, which was answered by a brutal combo from Bowling that pushed Peoples against the fence and wobbled him as Bowling unfurled his finishing fists.
The KO victory moves Bowling to 10-2, with his only losses coming in his Challengers trilogy against Bobby Voelker; Peoples slips to 4-3.
Devin Cole vs. Gabriel Salinas-Jones
Heavyweight Gabriel Salinas-Jones put his undefeated record on the line to move up in competition, but was unable to outmuscle Devin Cole in a heavyweight battle fought mostly in close quarters.
Round one was spent mostly against the cage as college wrestler Cole worked tirelessly to take his freestyle foe to the mat. Cole repeatedly moved forward and bulled his opponent against the fence. Jones was able to break away a couple of times and even score two trips of his own, but as the minutes ticked down, Cole did manage a double-leg and got some ground and pound before being pushed off by his younger opponent.
Round two started with more standing action as Jones found his confidence – the two traded ineffectually before an accidental eye poker to Cole triggered a pause in the action (and the ire of the crowd). The restart brought a takedown attempt from Jones, who was spun right back into the cage by the more dominant Cole, who again scored a double leg and dumped his opponent on his back.
The third stanza became more dynamic, if one-sided, after a first half that closely resembled the others. This time, Cole made the most of his eventual takedown, throwing vicious elbows and body shots from the top. As Jones spun, Cole briefly worked for a rear-naked choke, then secured a body triangle, and transitioned back into mount, staying busy as the clock ran out.
Salinas-Jones, a San Diego native who debuted at July’s Strikeforce event in his current hometown of Chicago, is now 5-1. Cole’s record rises to 20-9-1 with the win, which came via 30-27 scores across the board.
Fernando Gonzalez vs. Eddie Mendez
A second pair of locals entered the hexagon looking to introduce themselves to the Strikeforce audience, and it was Sun Valley’s Eddie Mendez who walked away with the majority decision.
Middleweights Mendez and Fernando Gonzalez opened by trading cracking leg kicks for big punches. After a brief stint on the ground they stood, wary of one another’s power, spending most of the round circling in the center of the cage before Mendez – bleeding from the head – scored a huge takedown to end the round.
Though the more experienced fighter, with 26 bouts to Mendez’ 8, Gonzalez had little to offer offensively in the second save a guillotine attempt early in the round. Mendez pushed forward with punches, combinations, testing kicks and a couple of takedowns; and while none landed with enough force to put Gonzalez in danger, he convincingly racked up points.
Gonzalez had more offensive success in the third, but much of the fight was still spent in the center of the cage, with Mendez unloading powerful right hands and increasingly heavy kicks. Mendez seemed to have renewed energy, bouncing on his feet and firing off combinations. Gonzalez answered with strikes and took the fight to the mat, where he finished out the last few minutes on top of his opponent.
Scores for Mendes were 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29, as his record rises to 6-1-1 1 NC; Gonzalez drops to 17-10.
Herman Terrado vs. Chris Brown
The evening’s first bout featured a pair of California welterweights making their Strikeforce debuts, with Herman “The Hitman” scoring a come-from behind armbar finish at 4:05 in the third round.
Herman Terrado opened aggressively, zooming in, with his head down and wild looping fists. Stopped by Brown, the two spent time on the fence then broke, but not before the taller Brown landed several knees to Terrado’s body which did enough to slow Terrado’s takedown attempts. The first round was mostly a standup exchange, with Brown landing the better of leg kicks and a couple of short combos toward the end of the round. In the final seconds of the round, Terrado shot and landed in a guillotine, but Brown was unable to finish before the clock sounded.
In the second round, Terrado twice scored takedowns, but after the second, Brown was able to sneak out the back and wind up on top where he delivered vicious fists and elbows. Though Terrado escaped, he was returned to the mat by Brown, who stood and delivered more punishment as Terrado tried to find an answer. An illegal upkick while Brown was in guard drew a break in the action late in the round and a point deduction from ref Steven Davis for “The Hitman.”
Terrado was visibly exhausted in the third, and launched another one of his wild takedown attempts. The two locked against the cage, trading fists, before another Brown knee motivated Terrado to retreat. Standing in front of one another in the center of the cage, Terrado was visibly exhausted, eating kicks and jabs with his arms down. After another lunging takedown attempt, he used momentum to drop Brown, who easily tied him to try and neutralize the fight. Terrado eventually worked his way into mount high on Brown’s chest. As Brown rolled to try and exit out the back again, he was nearly successful – but left an arm behind, which Terrado cranked to draw the tap at 4:05.
The loss ended Brown’s perfect record, leaving him 5-1; Terrado now boasts a 7-2 record, with all of his wins coming via stoppage.
20 December 2011
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