Strikeforce MMA in Nashville
Posted by Office on April 25th, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Saturday night marked MMA’s return to primetime on CBS featuring a STRIKEFORCE World Championship Tripleheader.
8,196 fans saw the event live at the spectacular Breakstone Arena and more than 2.5 Million people watched the event aired live on the CBS Television Network.
Middleweight Champion Jake Shields battled back from two early knockdowns to convincingly beat UFC veteran Dan Henderson by unanimous decision, retaining his belt, in surprising upset.
The three cageside judges scored the fight 49-46, 49-45 and 48-45 for the 31-year-old Shields, who used his masterful Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to overwhelm the 39-year-old Henderson.
Going into the fight Henderson was the favorite. Early on, it was clear why. Seconds into the battle he dropped Shields with a powerful right hand. But Shields weathered the storm and quickly applied an ankle lock to break Henderson’s momentum.
Henderson spent most of the rest of the round pummeling Shields with rights and lefts.
Shields, who has now won 14 consecutive fights , looked outmatched in the first round for the first time in his stellar career.
But the rest of the fight was a different story.
After taking Henderson’s best punches in the first round, Shields returned to his Jiu Jitsu and kept Henderson on his back. Shields controlled the former two-time U.S. Olympic wrestler.
Shields, trained by Cesar Gracie, stayed on top in the dominant position and seemed to tire the bigger Henderson, zapping Henderson of the power he showed in the first round.
Rounds 2 through 5 saw Shields gain in confidence and use his Jiu Jitsu to keep Henderson at bay.
Shields, who was considered a heavy underdog against Henderson going into the fight, relished the victory.
“Henderson’s a true legend, man,” Shields said after the fight. “I am glad to have beaten him. He beat the crap out of me, the worst I have ever been beaten in that first round.”
Shields’ moment to celebrate, however, was interrupted when STRIKEFORCE Middleweight contender Jason “Mayhem” Miller interrupted Shields/ live post-match interview by asking for a rematch. Shields won a five-round decision over Miller earlier this year.
The Shields-Henderson fight was the third on the live broadcast to go the distance.
Earlier in the evening, STRIKEFORCE Lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez topped master submission wrestler and DREAM Lightweight champ Shinya Aoki, who is regarded as one of the best lightweights in the world.
Melendez, put on a textbook performance, and was so dominant that he stopped all of Aoki’s 18 takedown attempts. Worse for Aoki, Melendez landed 137 punches to Aoki’s 18. Judges scored the fight 50-45 got Melendez.
Going into the fight Melendez had trained to avoid Aoki’s takedowns. The San Francisco resident fought virtually a perfect fight, clubbing Aoki with several strikes and refusing to allow Aoki to ever take him down.
Aoki spent much of the fight on his back kicking up at Melendez, but Melendez refused to take the bait, forcing Aoki to stand and fight him.
The few times Melendez chose to go the ground with Aoki, he landed rights and lefts to his face, bloodying his nose.
“I wished I could have pulled the trigger more, but this guy’s really dangerous,” Melendez said after the fight.
In the night’s third upset. “King Mo,” Lawal, beat Gegard Mousasi, in another unanimous decision, to win the STRIKEFORCE Light Heavyweight Championship.
Although Mousasi never looked hurt or even tired, he was unable to block King Mo’s takedowns. King Mo took Mousasi down 9 times, seemingly at will.
King Mo, a charismatic former NCAA wrestling champion, took Mousasi down and maintained control over him during most of the fight.
The judges scored the match 49-45. Mousasi, from the Netherlands, had won his previous 15 fights and not lost since 2006.
Despite his victory, King Mo, now 7-0, left the cage bloodied and with his left eye nearly swollen shut from Mousasi’s repeated kicks to the face.
“He was hitting me with some short shots,” King Mo said, after the fight. “They weren’t hurting me or nothing, but you can see the damage on my face.”
Other results:
“Mayhem” Miller (23-7), California, TKO 1 (strikes, 3:09) over Tim Stout (12-9), Newnan, Georgia.
Ovince Saint Preaux (5-4), Knoxville, Tenn., TKO 1 (strikes, 0:47) over Chris Hawk (3-4), Memphis.
Cale Yarbrough (7-1), Atlanta, Georgia, TKO 2 (strikes) over Josh Schockman (6-3), Nashville.
Zach Underwood (6-2), Nashville, unanimous decision over Hunter Worsham (1-2), Nashville.
Dustin Ortiz (2-0), Nashville, submitted (rear-naked choke) Justin Pennington (0-1), Nashville, 4:27 of first round.
Cody Floyd (4-0), Nashville, KO 3 (strikes) over Thomas Campbell (3-1), Nashville