Sherdog.com reports from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., with live play-by-play of Strikeforce's four-man middleweight tournament. Also on the card in non-bracket action,
Cung Le (Pictures) takes on UFC veteran
Sam Morgan (Pictures).
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Round 1
Hallman misses a leaping punch but moves into a guillotine choke. He can't close the guard and Metcalf does a nice job of controlling Hallman's legs. He escapes, they stand and Hallman again initiates a clinch. Three knees by Hallman separates the fighters. They trade sloppy punches now, and Hallman lands with uppercuts on the inside. Hallman tries a double and is stuffed, but he transitioned to an attack on Metcalf's left leg, locking in a textbook heelhook. The end comes at 1:39 of round one and Hallman is fresh and ready if he's needed for tonight's tournament finals.
Round 1
Evan Esguerra comes out swinging, but Chris Drumm answers with a nice double-leg that puts him in side-control.
From half-guard Esguerra lookes for a guillotine but misses. Drumm goes to his back looking for a choke, but it's easily defended.
Esguerra lands some punches in the guard and Drumm explodes to his feet, but eats a strike for the effort.
They end the three-minute round exchanging knees in the clinch.
Drumm lands a takedown and goes to half-guard. Esguerra makes the mistake of turning his back and Drumm gets in the hooks.
Drumm has back-control as he lay's back-first on the canvas.
Esguerra reverses and fires right hands from Drumm's guard.
The separate and go to the feet, where Esguerra connects with a stiff right. Drumm looks tired.
Drumm eats another right during an exchange. On the canvas, Esguerra throws a punch that connects to the back of Drumm's head, at which point referee Cecil Peoples immediately deducts a point. The ringside physician is checking on Drumm, and is now consulting CSAC executive officer Armando Garcia. Peoples waives the fight off and the sparse crowd boos. The strike to Drumm's head was called an accidental foul, this despite the point deduction. Because two full rounds were not completed it could not go to the cards, and was called a technical draw.
Round 1
Alex Crispin comes out kicking against a patient Clint Coronel. A slow pace to start this fight and Coronel isn't doing much. Finally he fires an overhand right, that glances off Crispin's glove. The boos start and Crispin responds with a snapping right that pops sweat off Coronel's head. Crispin drops levels and controls Coronel's hips for a takedown. Stuffed against the cage fencing, Coronel takes some short, choppy punches. Crispin passes to side-control.
As the round ends, Crispin lands two right hands from knee-on-belly. 10-9 for Crispin.
Round 2
Some dancing between the lightweights before they engage in the clinch. Coronel grabs a handful of shorts and the two start a wrestling match. Crispin is moving in deep and is attempting to secure Coronel's right leg to put him back-first on the canvas. It works and now Crispin works from Coronel's open guard. A very slow pace now; not much from either man in the guard. We're less than half a minute from the conclusion of round two and Crispin looks to be up two rounds to nothing, based on little more than control. 10-9 for Crispin.
Round 3
They miss with simultaneous right hands. And the dancing continues as we're more than a minute into the final period. Crispin bobs and weaves to nonexistent punches. A shot by Crispin falls short. Coronel is doing very little, though he's moving forward and seems to be building to some sort of striking effort. A knee from Coronel just misses and Crispin dives in for a single. They're stalled now with 60 seconds to go. These two refuse to throw, the fight ends as they're locked in the clinch. 10-9 Crispin. Alex Crispin def. Clint Coronel unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Round 1
Sabala uses a nice bodylock takedown to swivel Figueroa to his back. They stand for a moment and Sabala gets dumped on his head for trying a guillotine choke. Figueroa is aggressive now and the crowd is behind him. Sabala drives Figueroa into the cage but eat a punch that has Figueroa seeing and end. He stands above a turtled Sabala and fires punches to the body. Sabala recovers, however, and lifts Figueroa hight before dumping him to the canvas, where he locks in a guillotine. Figueroa rides out the exciting round. 10-9 Figueroa but close.
Round 2
Figueroa comes out firing and against Sabala goes down, looking as if he was hurt. However, he manages to survive and get into his fast opponent's guard. The bantamweights are all over the place and Sabala goes for a guillotine with an arm inside. Figueroa pops his out and Sabala again slams Figueroa hard to the canvas. The pace slows some as Sabala fights in Figueroa's guard. 10-9 Sabala.
Round 3
Marcos Rosales looks like a giant compared to the 135 pounders as he brings both to the center of the cage to start the third. Figueroa lands a knee that sends Sabala scrambling. But somehow Sabala recovers and puts Figueora on his back, where he now is trying to land shots in the guard. Sabala is on his knees as Figueroa fires down punches and even a knee to the body. Figueroa has the fight now and brazenly stands up from side-control. Sabala's left eye appears to be closing. As good as the fight was, the final 30 seconds disappointed. Neither man engaged. But Figueroa should have done enough to take the fight 29-28. Split decision is the call -- 30-27 and 29-28 for Figueroa and 29-28 for Sabala.
Round 1
Lawson opens with a takedown and pushes Neal into the fence. Neal works his legs up for armbar and switches to a triangle. It's locked in tight and Lawson is trying to free himself with right hands. The triangle is deep, yet somehow Lawson is staying in the fight. Amazing effort by Lawson to stay alive. He continues to battle and create minimal space. The clapper sounds for the close of the round and Lawson lasts to the bell. On wobbly legs he returns to the corner. 10-8 Neal.
Round 2
A Neal low kick is met by a perfect counter right straight from Lawson. They go to the canvas and Lawson forces a rear-naked choked on Neal, who taps 20 seconds after the start of round two.
Round 1
A jumping knee from Santiago puts Salmon flat on the canvas and out cold just seconds into the bout. A wobbly Sean Salmon stands up minutes after the impact. The official time is 0:24 of the opening period.
Sherdog.com editor Josh Gross reports that Salmon has been transported to Valley Medical. According to California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Armando Garcia, Salmon suffered seizure in the ring. Garcia also stated that Salmon's career is in jeopardy.
Round 1
Vitale cracks Prangley with a right hand. Prangley tries to judo toss Vitale but the Hawaiian has none of it. Vitale defends knees from the clinch with his back to the cage just as referee Marcos Rosales separates the stalemate. Another hard punch lands for Vitale. Prangey opens up with his hands and follows with three knees to the head from the Thai clinch that connect. Vitale is stunned but he quickly recovers. Vitale stands in the center of the cage and tees off with a left straight and right uppercut. 10-9 for Vitale.
Round 2
Prangley starts strong in the second round with a right hand and a knee to the mouth. Vitale answers with a stiff right to the body. Prangley, not to be out done, digs two hard right hands into Vitale's midsection. Vitale catches a finger in the eye, which promts the referee to call a timeout. The fight is called by what is called a "scratch on the eye." Vitale is livid. The time is 2:46 of the second round.
After several minutes, a strange result has been rendered. In this evening's tournament bouts, the referee will decide the winner if the fight is scored a draw after two rounds. Since the unintentional foul ended the bout prematurely, the fight went to the scorecards.
The scores read: 19-19 (Doc Hamilton), 19-19 (Cecil Peoples), and 20-18 for Vitale (Dan Stell). The bout is ruled a majority draw.
Referee Marcos Rosales ruled that Trevor Prangley had won the bout, so the South African will advance to face Jorge Santiago in the tournament final. The final result is based on "Referee decision."
Round 1
Kamaka rushes forward with punches and is dropped with a knee to the chin. Stewart crushes Kamaka with an illegal knee to the head on the ground as referee Cecil Peoples rushed in to stop the contest just 19 seconds into the bout.
Garcia stated that the result stands because Peoples had called the fight before the illegal knee landed.
The attendance has been announced as being 8,233.
Round 1
Southworth glances a right hand of Ruiz's head and followed him to the canvas. Southworth, looking to finish, hops to the mount and took Ruiz's back shortly after. Ruiz reverses and stands to his feet, where he delivered a knee to the champion's abdomen. Rosales separates the fighters and calls for action. Ruiz goes right back to the clinch and lnds two standing right elbows. Southworth trips Ruiz to the floor and works from half-guard. 10-9 for Southworth.
Round 2
Ruiz rocks Southworth with a three piece and a biscuit, landing four straight haymakers hat send the champion retreating backwards and to the mat. The champion was cut above the left eye in the exchange, which also saw an incidental headbut. The fight is called at 52 seconds of the second stanza due to the cut.
Round 1
Schwartz hits Davis' body with some flashy TMA kicks. Schwartz locks on a guillotine and pulls guard. Davis defends while slugging at Schwartz's body with his left hand. The referee stands the fighters up and the round closes shortly after. 10-9 for Schwartz.
Round 2
Schwartz shows good footwork as he dances around the cage, pumping a soft jab. Davis clinches and lands an overhand right. Schwartz is bleeding from a cut on the hairline near the center of his face. The fighters trade wild punches but nothing lands solidly. Schwartz knees Davis in the groin, which halts the action so he can recover. The bell sounds shortly after action is resumed. 10-9 for Davis.
Round 3
Davis locks in a guillotine and falls to his back. Schwartz, in half-guard, pops Davis in the face with his right hand while he defends the choke. Schwartz pops his head out and rides out the rest of the round. Schwartz hits Davis with an illegal knee from the four-point position as time expires, but it was not caught by the referee. Sherdog.com scores the round 10-9 for Davis. All three judges agree -- 29-28 for Lemont Davis.
Round 1
Overeem barely misses with a jumping knee before tripping Buentello to the canvas. From side-control, Overeem knees the body and punches Buentello with his right hand. Buentello gives up his back and eats more punishment. Overeem, now standing, traps Buentello's arm behind his back and peppers his opponent's face with punches and a few knees. Buentello, now with his arm free, is bleeding from his mouth. Overeem nearly secures a finish with a D'arce choke but Buentello escapes. Dominant first round for the PRIDE veteran. 10-8 Overeem.
Round 2
Buentello loads up with uppercuts early in the second round, but Overeem drops levels and takes him down with a well-executed single-leg takedown. Referee Doc Hamilton stands the fighters up after several minutes of inactivity. Overeem shoots in and trips Buentello down on all fours. Buentello stands up, where he is greeted with two crushing left knees to the body. Buentello falls down and taps out. The official time is 3:42 of the second.
Strikeforce announces that Gilbert Melendez will headline its March 29 card against Josh Thomson.
Round 1
The tournament finalists trade punches and strikes from the outside, with Santiago getting the best of the exchange with a right hand. Santiago lands a right hand and two hard knees to the body that send Prangley down for the night. Santiago captures the first California sanctioned one-night tournament at 2:31 of the first.
Round 1
Le crushes Morgan with a shot to the body before taking him to the canvas. Le stands up and hurts Morgan with another kick to the body. Le knocks Morgan down with a side kick to the chest. Morgan swings wildly and is tossed back to the mat. Le smoothly evades a flurry and again throws Morgan on the mat. Le briefly strikes from side control but he stands up to his feet. Morgan lands his first punch of the fight but is taken down and mounted by Le. Cung holds the fence and strikes before standing up. Easy 10-9 for Cung Le.
Round 2
Morgan rushes in with sloppy punches and is hip tossed to the ground. Le, in side-control, thinks about attacking a limb but he chooses to stand. Le continues to throw Morgan around as he executes another highlight-reel hip toss. Le briefly looks for a shoulder lock but he gives it up. Morgan is trapped in the crucifix position and eating shots. 10-9 for Le.
Round 3
Le drops Morgan with an overhand right. Cung stands over him and invites him to his feet. A left kick to the liver sends Morgan to the floor as the refeee rushes in to save him. Perfect impact on the kick. The official time is 1:58.
After the bout, Le challenges Frank Shamrock. The former UFC champion accepts.
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