The Weekly Wrap: June 20-June 26
Villasenor Edges Cyborg
Villasenor Edges ‘Cyborg’
A surprisingly temperate scrap was the result of the first appearances under the Strikeforce banner for Joey Villasenor and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, as the two middleweights tested each other for 15 minutes in a bout that went to a split decision on June 19 in Kent, Wash. Villasenor earned the win by taking 29-28 scores on two of three judges’ scorecards.
A slugfest was expected, considering Cyborg’s propensity for blitzing opponents early and Villasenor’s track record of finishing fights. Santos was aggressive in pre-fight histrionics -- he shoved Villasenor at the weigh-in -- but used well-placed leg kicks to throw off Villasenor’s base in the fight. However, the Greg Jackson pupil came on strong in the closing minutes with stout punches as Santos began to tire. Villasenor, who once challenged for the EliteXC middleweight title, said he needs three months to recover and then wants to fight elusive Strikeforce 185-pound champion Cung Le.
The bout headlined the second ShoMMA “Strikeforce Challengers” event on Showtime; it took place before roughly 3,500 fans at the ShoWare Center. The featured bout had more impact than the headliner for the first ShoMMA card in May, which featured a controversial, premature finish in a scrap between Billy Evangelista and Mike Aina. Strikeforce has now produced four shows on Showtime since the company purchased the assets of the shuttered EliteXC earlier this year.
Ratings have not been reported for the ShoMMA shows. The second major Strikeforce event, which featured Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields and Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith on June 6, drew a 1.06 rating for an average of 275,000 viewers on Showtime; those figures were down 29 percent from the April 11 debut show featuring Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock.
In the night’s best fight, Jorge Gurgel brought the crowd to its feet doing exactly what he was criticized for doing on his way out of the UFC -- jettisoning his Brazilian jiu-jitsu game in favor of a blistering, sustained kickboxing attack. He scored the win over Conor Heun via unanimous decision. On the opposite end of the spectrum were Nick Thompson and Tim Kennedy, who exchanged feverish jiu-jitsu on the ground until Thompson abruptly tapped out in the second round while working from underneath. Thompson complained about being struck in the back of the head prior to the submission.
In the first female fight on Showtime to be contested under five-minute rounds, Sarah Kaufman defeated Shayna Baszler by unanimous decision. Baszler scored with a takedown early and turned Kaufman’s face bright red with a north-south choke. However, Kaufman mostly picked apart Baszler in the second and third rounds with stinging punch combinations and leg kicks to seal the deal. Kaufman, who was cornered by the astute Greg Jackson, remains undefeated in her professional campaign and is believed to be next in line to face the winner of the Gina Carano vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos title fight in August. In the television opener, American Kickboxing Academy upstart Luke Rockhold took out Cory Devela with a crisp right hook and rear-naked choke early in the first round.
On the non-televised undercard, the esoteric Lyle Beerbohm submitted MMA veteran Duane Ludwig with a rear-naked choke in the first round and remained undefeated. Also, Washington-based UFC veteran Dennis Hallman used the same choke to defeat late replacement opponent Justin Davis 20 seconds into their fight.
A surprisingly temperate scrap was the result of the first appearances under the Strikeforce banner for Joey Villasenor and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, as the two middleweights tested each other for 15 minutes in a bout that went to a split decision on June 19 in Kent, Wash. Villasenor earned the win by taking 29-28 scores on two of three judges’ scorecards.
A slugfest was expected, considering Cyborg’s propensity for blitzing opponents early and Villasenor’s track record of finishing fights. Santos was aggressive in pre-fight histrionics -- he shoved Villasenor at the weigh-in -- but used well-placed leg kicks to throw off Villasenor’s base in the fight. However, the Greg Jackson pupil came on strong in the closing minutes with stout punches as Santos began to tire. Villasenor, who once challenged for the EliteXC middleweight title, said he needs three months to recover and then wants to fight elusive Strikeforce 185-pound champion Cung Le.
The bout headlined the second ShoMMA “Strikeforce Challengers” event on Showtime; it took place before roughly 3,500 fans at the ShoWare Center. The featured bout had more impact than the headliner for the first ShoMMA card in May, which featured a controversial, premature finish in a scrap between Billy Evangelista and Mike Aina. Strikeforce has now produced four shows on Showtime since the company purchased the assets of the shuttered EliteXC earlier this year.
Ratings have not been reported for the ShoMMA shows. The second major Strikeforce event, which featured Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields and Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith on June 6, drew a 1.06 rating for an average of 275,000 viewers on Showtime; those figures were down 29 percent from the April 11 debut show featuring Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock.
In the night’s best fight, Jorge Gurgel brought the crowd to its feet doing exactly what he was criticized for doing on his way out of the UFC -- jettisoning his Brazilian jiu-jitsu game in favor of a blistering, sustained kickboxing attack. He scored the win over Conor Heun via unanimous decision. On the opposite end of the spectrum were Nick Thompson and Tim Kennedy, who exchanged feverish jiu-jitsu on the ground until Thompson abruptly tapped out in the second round while working from underneath. Thompson complained about being struck in the back of the head prior to the submission.
In the first female fight on Showtime to be contested under five-minute rounds, Sarah Kaufman defeated Shayna Baszler by unanimous decision. Baszler scored with a takedown early and turned Kaufman’s face bright red with a north-south choke. However, Kaufman mostly picked apart Baszler in the second and third rounds with stinging punch combinations and leg kicks to seal the deal. Kaufman, who was cornered by the astute Greg Jackson, remains undefeated in her professional campaign and is believed to be next in line to face the winner of the Gina Carano vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos title fight in August. In the television opener, American Kickboxing Academy upstart Luke Rockhold took out Cory Devela with a crisp right hook and rear-naked choke early in the first round.
On the non-televised undercard, the esoteric Lyle Beerbohm submitted MMA veteran Duane Ludwig with a rear-naked choke in the first round and remained undefeated. Also, Washington-based UFC veteran Dennis Hallman used the same choke to defeat late replacement opponent Justin Davis 20 seconds into their fight.
