Apr

12

It’s the Return of the Gangsta, Diaz silences Shamrock

By Nicolas Bauer

With the collapse of Elite XC, Strikeforce has become a major promotion in Mixed Martial Arts. Partnering up with Showtime in order to televise free, aside from cable fees, fights featuring relatively big names in the sport. Sandwiched between WEC 40 last weekend and UFC 97 next weekend, two Zuffa engagements, Strikeforce needed to establish itself on Saturday. An action packed card filled with finishes was a good start.

The main event showcased two of the sport’s most noticeable personalities, Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz. As the fighters walked to the cage it was clear that although Shamrock was fighting in home town of San Jose, plenty of Diaz supporters had made the short trip from Stockton. As the first round got under way, Diaz began to paw away at Shamrock with his lead hand, as he has done so often in the past, and targeting volume punches.  Diaz clearly controlled the cage with his reach advantage and limited Shamrock to kick attempts from the outside and lunging punches. Diaz managed to take Shamrock down after catching a kick attempt and showed his prowess as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter managing to pass Shamrock’s guard and gain side control more than once. Shamrock managed to escape back to standing before falling down while attempting another kick. Diaz took control on top and then capitalized on another mistake in Shamrock’s mount defense, taking the position with less than a minute to go in the opening round. Diaz threw a good amount of punches from that position, but Shamrock was saved by the bell.

In the second round Diaz went right back to work pawing away and taunting Shamrock the whole way. Shamrock looked tired and puzzled by Diaz’s offense, and Frank’s face began to show the signs of the Diaz volume punching attack. A little after a minute into the round Diaz landed a series of powerful hooks to the body as Shamrock leaned away with his head to avoid the presumed counter-punch. Shamrock immediately created space and got on his bike for as long as he could before Diaz closed the distance. Diaz eventually put Shamrock against the fence and started to throw unanswered combinations, although not all the punches landed cleanly. Shamrock tried to circle out one last time but Diaz cut him off and trapped him against the cage and unloaded a devastating right hand to the body immediately dropping Shamrock to the canvas. From there Diaz unloaded punches to the head Shamrock who was helplessly pinned against the cage. Big John stepped in and called the fight at 3:57 of the second round. After the fight, the normally abrasive Diaz, exhibited a great deal of class and respect for his opponent, helping Shamrock back to his feet and raising his arm in reverence. Diaz has a lot of options now, depending on what weight class he is going to fight at, perhaps a rematch with K.J. Noons at a future Strikeforce event.

As impressive as the Diaz victory is, the fight of the night belonged to Scott Smith and Benji Radach. Benji Radach came out aggressive in round one and established his range with the jab. However it didn’t take long for Smith to get inside that range and land a shot that dropped Radach. Benji quickly recovered and tried to grab a leg in the. He managed to get back to his feet and landed a left hook while circling away that rocked Smith. Radach got control on top and ended the first frame impressively. The second round was even better for Radach as he continued to land numerous combinations on the feet throughout the round and even manage to get a standing guillotine choke that almost finished the fight. In the third round things were continuing to to go Radach’s way as he tagged Smith repeatedly and even escaped from a Smith guillotine attempt. After some inactivity Herb Dean stood the fighters back up and Smith leaned into a right hand that put Radach face down on the mat. Herb Dean jumped in to stop the fight giving Smith the knockout victory.

Gilbert Melendez made short work of Rodrigo Damm who took the fight on a week’s notice. Melendez was originally slated for a rematch with Josh Thompson, who took Melendez’s lightweight title, but Thompson had to pull out due to a broken ankle. Damm was on the defensive the entire fight as Melendez stalked him looking to set up take downs with strikes. He eventually got that takedown and rode out the first round landing punches from the top but never threatening to end the fight. The second looked like it would be more of the same as Melendez got another take down, Damm scrambled and managed to get up but ate a vicious combo that put him down for good. Melendez claimed the interim light-weight title with the victory but it was bitter sweet as he will look forward to fighting Thompson for the title.

Cristiane “Cyborg” dispatched of Hitomi Akano, but it wasn’t as quick as it should have been. Cyborg was landing repeatedly with power for the entirety of the fight. She repeatedly shrugged off takedown and clinch attempts from Akano and blasted away. Akano displayed a chin and will of iron as she managed to withstand the onslaught, at least until the third round. Cyborg is still looking forward to her showdown with Gina Carano in the future, and that will be very entertaining.

In the opening bout of the night Brett Rogers hammered away at Ron Humphrey, who withstood quite a lot of punishment. Rogers was landing almsot at will but Humphrey kept on coming. That is until a couple of knees and a few big rights put Humphrey away for good. Rogers stays perfect at 10-0 and continues to climb the heavyweight ladder.

All in all it was a good night for Strikeforce, if they can continue to produce shows with quality fights and quality fighters then the future loks promising.

Strikeforce: Shamrock Vs. Diaz: Recap

Apr

6

WEC 40 Review

April 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Torres Earns Decision, and Respect

By Nicolas Bauer

Miguel Torres was originally slated to fight Brian Bowles, but found himself in the toughest fight of his career against Takeyo Mizugaki. Mizugaki was making his WEC debut, but showed little signs of nervousness as he pushed the bantam-weight champ until the final bell. Torres did a great job of out striking Mizugaki early in the fight, but Mizugaki managed to withstand numerous onslaughts from the champion and managed to land a number of good quality body-shots, knees and power punches. Things seemed to be going well for Torres until a cut was opened on his forehead midway through the fight and gave Mizugaki the confidence he needed to continue. Torres showed the resolve and determination of a true champion as he persevered through the blood and continued to throw everything at the challenger to his throne. In the end Torres was awarded the unanimous decision victory, 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47. Mizugaki cried after the scores were announced but he has nothing to be ashamed of. He managed to take one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport to a very close 5-round decision and if you didn’t know about him before, you definitely will be watching him again in the future.

In the co-main event, and possible number one contender match in the bantam-weight division, Joseph Benavidez took the unanimous decision win over former feather-weight contender and WEC veteran Jeff Curran. Benavidez managed to out strike Curran along with mixing up some take downs and a good amount of top-position control. Curran appeared to have won the first round with his clean technical striking. As the fight wore on at a torrid pace, Benavidez applied continuous pressure and didn’t let Curran find his rhythm on the feet after the first round. It appeared that Curran was landing clean with relative frequency but was frustrated by the constant attack of Benavidez. Once Benavidez managed to land a power punch that stunned Curran, the fight seemed to change. Curran wanted to answer with a power shot of his own and seemed to stray from what was working for him. Two judges had it 30-27 for Benavidez while the remaining judge saw it 29-28. Not to say that Benavidez didn’t win the fight, but it was much closer than 30-27.

In light-weight action, Ben Henderson improved to 9-1 with a first-round TKO victory over Shane Roller. Roller had control early and landed a big counter-right that dropped Henderson against the cage. Roller quickly moved in for the kill and went for his guillotine choke that had ended two previous fights in the WEC, but Henderson miraculously recovered fast and locked up and inside single-leg to reverse position. Roller battled back to the feet and the two exchanged again. Henderson showed no ill effects of the knockdown and displayed poise and patience to land a well timed combo that dropped roller. Henderson jumped on top and swung for the fences. Roller attempted to gain control of Henderson’s body but couldn’t lock up his hands and the ref was forced to stop the bout due to unanswered punches.

Feather-weight Rafael Assuncao proved that he is worth the hype as he earned a unanimous decision victory over Jameel Massouh. Assuncao controlled the action throughout the fight and landed a nice right hand that dropped his opponent to the canvas. Massouh proved that he has a good chin as he recovered and even managed to almost secure a heel hook. Assuncao never let that position happen again and earned the nod from the judges.

In preliminary action light-weight Anthony Njokuani defeated IFL veteran Bart Palaszewski by TKO stoppage in the second round. Njokuani used his reach advantage via the jab to space Palaszewski who needed to get inside. A straight right hand from Njokuani dropped Palaszewski in the opening frame but the crafty veteran gutted it out and got back to his feet. The second round brought more of the same as Njokuani floored Palaszewski again. Palaszewski did his best to cover up but in the end did little in the way of intelligent defense forcing the ref to stop the bout.

Feather-weight Wagnney Fabiano showed that he is more than capable of fighting on his feet as he earned a unanimous decision over Fredson Paixao, 30-27 across the board. Rani Yahya did what he does best, make short work of those not equipped to deal with his submission skills. That is what Eddie Wineland found out the hard way at 1:07 of the first round. Yahya took Wineland’s back off a scramble and sunk in the rear naked choke. And Akitoshi Tamura won a hard-fought victory over Manny Tapia.

The WEC continues to deliver a quality product, for a price that can’t be beat, and showcase some of the most talented fighters in the world.

WEC 40 Review

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