Archive for December, 2009

Gilbert Melendez put on an impressive performance in the Fight of the Night on his way to unifying the Strikeforce lightweight championship. Melendez pushed the pace and was the more aggressive fighter all night in a slugfest that could receive some Fight of the Year talk. Here is Gilbert’s post-fight interview with Strikeforce where he discusses the fight and calls out DREAM lightweight champion, Shinya Aoki:

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal looked spectacular in his Strikeforce debut on Saturday night as he easily disposed of Mike Whitehead. After the fight, King Mo sat down to discuss his performance and his future plans with the organization:

Cung Le returned to the cage for the first time in almost two years tonight. His opponent was the heavy handed Scott Smith. It was an incredible bout that ended with Scott Smith (17-6) scoring another unbelievable come from behind victory. Le had dominated Smith for a majority of the fight, but in the final minutes Smith put together a stunning finish to hand Cung Le (6-1) the first loss of his career. The two fighters wasted no time exchanging strikes. Cung Le put his vicious kicks on display early as he dropped Scott Smith to the canvas with a [...]

In a Fight of the Year candidate, Gilbert Melendez defeated Josh Thomson by unanimous decision to become the new Strikeforce lightweight champion. The fight started off Melendez looking a bit slow. Thomson was eating a few punches, but Melendez was unable to take him to the ground. Melendez kept throwing the heavy hands, but Thomson stayed composed and kept stuffing the takedown attempts. Thomson looked to be the quicker and more active fighter in round one, which ended in a flurry of punches. Melendez looked a lot sharper in round two where he came out and dropped the champ with [...]

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza advanced to 11-2 tonight with a first-round submission victory over Matt Lindland. Ten of Jacare’s 11 victories have come by way of submission. Jacare joined Muhammed Lawal tonight as fighters who were victorious their Strikeforce debut in impressive fashion. The fight was action packed on the ground with both fighters throwing one submission attempt after another. Lindland had Jacare in trouble with an omoplata, but Jacare recovered and worked his way into full guard which ultimately led to the fight ending arm-triangle. Jacare is well on his way to a middleweight title shot against Jake Shields. Shields [...]

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal made the most of his debut on American television. Lawal made easy work of his opponent, Mike Whitehead on way to a first-round knockout victory. Lawal came in significantly smaller than Whitehead, but he used his clear edge in speed to his advantage. King Mo kept his hands by his side and was just toying with Whitehead on the feet. Lawal connected with a right hand that dropped Whitehead immediately to the mat and “King Mo” wasted no time pouncing on Whitehead and pounding out the victory. Lawal advances to 6-0 (5 KO). He will likely [...]

Strikeforce invades San Jose, Calif. tonight with an impressive fight card that will air on Showtime. The televised card will start at 10PM E.T. Strikeforce: Evolution is headlined by a bout between to impressive strikers Cung Le and Scott Smith. The night’s co-main event will be a lightweight title unification bout between champ Josh Thomson and interim champion Gilbert Melendez. The bout is a long awaited rematch and the third time that the fight has been scheduled. In the first two bouts of the night, “King Mo” Lawal and “Jacare” Souza make their long-awaited promotional debuts. Expect a big night [...]

WEC 45: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff takes place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino tonight and it will be broadcast LIVE and FREE on Versus. The headlining bout between Donald Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff is sure to include fireworkds. Ratcliff is one to never back down and he’s always looking to throw down. The main card is littered with top contenders from the lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight divisions. Here are the main card picks: MAIN CARD * Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff PREDICTION: Cerrone def. Ratcliff via 2nd-rd submission * Chris Horodecki vs. Anthony Njokuani PREDICTION: Njokuani def. Horodecki via [...]

It was reported earlier today that Nick Diaz will return to Strikeforce in January to face Marius Zaromskis for the Strikeforce welterweight championship. Zaromskis (13-3) has been a big name in the mixed martial arts community for quite some time, but just this year he really exploded onto the scene and gained the American fans attention. Zaromskis is currently riding a 5 fight win streak and his last three victories have come by way of spectacular head kicks. Here is a video to highlight Zaromskis. Hopefully it exposes him to some fans that may not be familiar with the name. [...]

Nick Diaz has been absent from the cage since June when failed to show up for drug testing prior to his fight with Jay Hieron. His return to Strikeforce finally has a date. Diaz will return to the organization on January 28 to headline the “Strikeforce: Miami” card. The opponent for Diaz will be Marius Zaromskis, the DREAM welterweight grand prix winner. MMAWeekly.com was the first to report the story. Here was their scoop: MMAWeekly.com has learned that Nick Diaz and Marius Zaromskis have verbally agreed to a welterweight battle in the Jan. 30 event’s top slot, set for the [...]