ISKA EUROPE

Steinbrunn, Austria;  promoter Mr. Helmut SCHALLEK announce the  “International Burgenland Open” on October 16th  in Semicontact. Lightcontact and ring sports, open for all fighters. Steinbrunn is located about 40 Km outside of Vienna.

This tournament is perfect for last preparation for the upcoming ISKA World Champions ships in November in Alicante. On the evening is also a team fight Austria vs. Hungary in Ring sports, plus professional fights.

For further informations send mail to the promoter Mr. Schallek.

Istra, Russia;  Top promoter Dimitri Alexeyevich IVANOV and his team organised a special Open Air event 50 Km north of Moscow in a beautiful forest area. This was again a co-operation of ISKA RUSSIA and FKR – federation Kick boxing Russia.

More than 2.500 people ( and three bears ) seen an amazing 5 hour show with various live bands, Russian pop singers, charming dancing show of the Russian Showgirls and, and, and …

Beside the show program the fight card was also respectable. Eight fighters from Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Hungary, Serbia, Uzbekistan and of course Russia fought in tournament system in Lowkick ( freestyle) , won by the Russian Champion.

Россия чемпион

The main fight was  for the ISKA Full contact World title-64,50 Kg , Russian  Champion Denis LUKASHOV  challenged Egyptian Champion and number 1 ranked in ISKA AFRIKA ranking Mohamed ABD ELAZIZ.

The Egyptian was in very good shape and highly mobile with excellent kicking techniques. Lukashov as always attacked all the time, put a lot of pressure on the African fighter. Denis is known as excellent boxer and he won almost every round. In the 6th round the fight was over after a sweet spinning back kick to the stomach of Abd Elaziz, and referee Sergei MAYFAT had to count him out.

Although the victory of Lukashov was doubtless, Abd Elaziz was handicapped with a broken right thump from the third round. A possible re-match in Cairo is in negotiation.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (June 27, 2010) – On a historic night of Mixed Martial arts presented by STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL and televised on SHOWTIME®, two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum (14-4) registered the most spectacular upset in MMA history with a 1:09, first-round submission (triangle choke) over the world’s No. 1 heavyweight and pound-for-pound fighter, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (31-2) before 12,649 Saturday at HP Pavilion.

Fedor, a six-footer, had Werdum in trouble in the opening moments after dropping him with a right uppercut that was followed with several more punches. But from his back, Werdum, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and member of Brazil’s vaunted Chute Boxe fight squad, got Fedor into a combination triangle- and arm-choke. Within seconds, the fight was over. The famed Fedor had tapped out.

“I am so very, very happy,’’ the six-foot-four Werdum said. “He is such a strong man.  He is a great fighter. I would be glad to fight him again.’’

It was the first “legitimate’’ defeat in Fedor’s legendary career. His other loss, while official, came as a result of a disputed doctor stoppage due to a cut he sustained seconds into a matchup with Japan’s Tsuyoshi Kosaka on Dec. 22, 2000.

“One that doesn’t fall doesn’t stand up. I was concentrating on the strikes and made a mistake,’’ Fedor said. “I will have to go back and analyze what happened.’’

Saturday marked the first time in MMA history, the No. 1 male and female fighters in the world fought in the same cage on the same night.

While Fedor failed in a stunning shocker, the top women’s fighter, Cris Cyborg (10-1) of Curitibia, Brazil, was her usual brutal self as she retained the STRIKEFORCE Women’s World Middleweight (145 pounds) title with a dominant second-round (2:27) knockout (strikes) over game, determined challenger, Jan Finney (8-8) of Springfield, Ohio, in one of the featured fights on SHOWTIME.

In other televised fights, former STRIKEFORCE middleweight champion and hometown favorite, southpaw Cung Le (17-3) of San Jose, convincingly stopped Scott “Hands Of Steel’’ Smith (18-7) of Elk Grove, Calif., at 1:46 in the second round; and popular, local fan favorite and former STRIKEFORCE world lightweight belt-holder Josh “The Punk’’ Thomson (17-3), of San Jose, turned back a determined bid of Pat “Bam Bam’’ Healy (23-16) of Portland, Ore., to  score a hard-fought, third-round submission. A tight, even fight ended via rear-naked choke at 4:27.

In an emotional moment midway through the telecast, MMA pioneer and San Jose’s original favorite MMA son, Frank “The Legend’’ Shamrock, made one last walk down the ramp, in a suit, no less, and into the cage where he formally announced his retirement.

As the respectful fans stood and listened in appreciation, Shamrock, who is an expert analyst for SHOWTIME MMA telecasts, took the microphone, surrounded by family, promoters and executives, and said: “I’m 37. My time has come. Tonight, I announce my retirement. Tonight, I enter the cage for the last time as a fighter. I want to thank the people, my friend and an honest promoter, Scott Coker, for always keeping his word. In 2006, I threw one punch and STRIKEFORCE was born. Again, I want to thank all the people, the HP Pavilion and my family who put up with my craziness that was MMA. You, the fans were there when I won, and when I lost, and it was an honor for me to bleed and to break bones and entertain you.’’

Shamrock then slowly bowed to each side of the cage, precipitating one final roar of cheers from those in attendance.

By defeating Fedor, Werdum’s record now against the Emelianenko’s is 2-0. On Nov. 26, 2006, Werdum submitted Fedor’s brother, Aleksander, via arm triangle choke at 3:24 in the first round in Rotterdam, Holland.

Werdum may also have earned an immediate shot at STRIKEFORCE heavyweight world champion, Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem, whom he’s already defeated once. “I am ready to fight anybody,’’ Werdum said.

Cyborg, who had a meaningless point deducted for hitting behind the head in the opening round, praised Finney, who went down several times, but felt the fight could have been halted earlier.

“I was really surprised the fight wasn’t stopped in the first round,’’ said Cyborg after her 10^th consecutive victory. “I know she was trying hard, but I could tell I was hurting her, especially when she was down and covering up like she was. But it is my job to keep fighting until the fight is over.’’

Cyborg was crowned the first STRIKEFORCE women’s champion in history on Aug. 15, 2009, after she stopped Gina Carano in the first round at HP Pavilion.

Finney fought as hard as anyone could expect and, true to her word, kept firing back.

“I think this, being a world title fight, could have gone on a little longer,’’ she said. “If I was really hurt, I would have tapped.’’

Southpaw Le, who had dominated Smith before getting stopped last Dec. 19, left little to doubt this time around. A spinning leg kick to the body dropped Smith and after a succession of punches, the referee stepped in. Afterward, an ecstatic Le back-flipped out.

“I want to thank Scott Coker and SHOWTIME. I know what happened last time and was determined not to have it happen again. I knew I was in shape. I was pushed really hard during training. I was totally focused. I didn’t eat pizza. I didn’t eat chocolate for six or seven weeks.

“If Scott Coker wants a rubber match, that would be fine with me. Last time was Scott (Smith’s) night. This was my night. I am the one standing.’’

In another electrifying night of kickboxing at the Clanree hotel, Letterkenny, Ireland. Paddy Toland (Pt’s Kickboxing Gym head coach) showed why his club is rated amongst the best in the world, as his latest  protégé stepped up to the plate in style.

Natalie Mc Carron fought her way to European glory over a very game and durable, Sonya Woods from England. In the final fight of the evening the two ladies took to the ring to challenge for the vacant ISKA super flyweight Full Contact European title.  This fight was surrounded by hype as it was the first time the ladies headlined the event, and it did not disappoint.

In a bruising encounter going the distance McCarron had out-kicked and out-punch the battle hardened English fighter.  Natalie’s focus and determination was phenomenal on the night as it seemed nothing would stand in her way of claiming her first major honour, anything Woods threw at McCarron, she returned two fold and had Woods on the canvas five times throughout the duration of the bout.  One of the knock downs was a sensational spinning back fist that dropped the English fighter to the canvas in the third round, but credit to Sonya Woods; she held strong and continued to fight until the final bell.

When the judges cards were collected it was declared that by unanimous decisions that Natalie Mc Carron was the new Full Contact ISKA Super Flyweight Champion of Europe, the crowd in the Clanree erupted into celebrations as Natalie was presented with the title belt and the champagne bottles exploded over the ring, as her family and husband Gerard came in to congratulate her.

Also on the undercard was Letterkenny’s own Tommy ‘the ghost’ Mc Cafferty in an international prestige fight with English man Alan Smith.  This was Tommy’s return to the Clanree, and he done it in style.  This was a fast paced fight.  Mc Cafferty, his foot on the throttle from the first bell as he hit Smith with some tremendous combinations and body shots.

A clash of heads in the second round opened a small cut above Mc Cafferty’s eye.  His corner men worked hard on this between the rounds, but this didn’t faze  Mc Cafferty as he came out all guns blazing in the third round hitting Smith with some solid shots which seen the English man hit the canvas for two standing eight counts only to be saved by the bell.  The onslaught continued throughout the  4^th and 5^th round with the English man doing well to stay on his feet with Mc Cafferty firing all cylinders and blasting hard kicks and punches to the Englishman’s body before landing a spectacular spinning kick which had the crowd on its feet again.  McCafferty was declared an easy winner with all 3 judges’ scorecards.

The second of two international prestige fights seen Aidan ‘lights out’ Lafferty square off against the much taller Karl Johnstone from Jesters gym England.  From the first bell this fight was one way traffic with Lafferty putting the English man under constant pressure and keeping him in the corner and on the ropes and continually slipping the English mans southpaw jab and banging in hard hooks to his body and head and following up with several high impact spinning back fists, Lafferty was on top form as he kept up this phenomenal pace for the entire five rounds, leaving the English man with no answers to Lafferty’s onslaught. When the cards were collected it was a unanimous decision to the PT’s fighter, this was the fight that got started off the pro bouts and really energized the crowd as the intensity started to build.

Also on the undercard were some excellent amateur fights as the stars of future took to the ring to learn and perfect their craft, there was a couple of outstanding performances put in on the night by Colm ‘Stumpy’ mc Menamin, Derek ‘Bam Bam’ Walker, the younger generation also put on a great show of kickboxing as Gareth mc cafferty and glen mc farlane battled it out in a fight that was declared a draw.

On Saturday 29^th May the London International Freestyle Open competition took place at the famous Excel Exhibition Centre in London. The ISKA sanctioned London International Freestyle Open was part of the bi-annual SENI Combat Sports weekend with so much going on, ranging from Judo, BJJ and Eskrima tournaments, a great evening Thai Boxing show and much more.  But it was the London Open which caught the crowds attention when the kids took to the mat all padded up and ready to do battle.

In the boys -25kg, M. Ainsbury fought J. Russell from Cardiff in a great final, both fighters wanting to win this great battle but in the end there could be only one winner at that was M. Ainsbury.  He also went one better by taking first place in the -30kg to do the double, a worthy champion.

S. Derby secured 1^st place in the boys -35kg then stepped up into the -40kg where the Bolton blockbuster met E. Buck from Nottingham School of Black belts.  After a tense fight with both fighters exchanging techniques S. Derby took his second gold medal of the day.

Over in the girls section M. Mingle from Solihull Kickboxing Academy faced T. Price from Cardiff Freestyle, Mingle took this fight after a hard fought battle.

A .Jones won the -45kg while C. Buck took the +45kg.  Over in the light contact, J. Tawse from Cardiff met J. Price, his club mate in the finals with the club shouting for both fighters.  J. Tawse edged to victory in the end.  However, J. Price moved up in the -40kg and beat W. Jenkins to win a gold medal.  R. McClusky took his second gold in the +45kg beating N. Pugsley in the final.

Junior boy light contact -55kg S. Brewer beat J. Mason while D. Emsley took third place.

C. Hawthorne beat S. Barrett in the -67kg.  The girls light contact section was also very competitive.

J. Madden beating M. Price in the -35kg in the junior girls.  A. Price overcame F. Jones in the -59kg in a tight final.

Over in the men’s point fighting in the -67kg T. Kelly from S.A.M.A fought and beat J. Wright from Yeovil.   M. Watton beat J. Beech in the -71kg while over in the -86kg C. Lowe faced a hungry

M. Watton, however, this time C. Lowe took gold.  Men’s light contact in the -75kg D. Edens defeated E. Gohari while M. Tracey from Solihull Kickboxing Academy won against J. Chester of Essex in the

-91kg.

Women points G. Morgan from Hick’s Karate faced a fierce R. Nelson from Phoenix, point for point, this fight went all the way but it was Morgan who edged to victory.

Women’s light contact Z. Malewicz of the F.S.K beat S. Whittlock also of the F.S.K in the women’ veterans points fighting  In the +63kg veterans light contact ladies, Meely Lo who has not fought for 5 years returned to action and showed she has not lost anything by defeating N. Gupta in the finals.

A.Watton won the veteran -63kg points and then stepped up into the +63kg and took a second gold

for the day.

The forms area ran very smoothly, thanks to the hard work from all the judges and officials. The kids sections kicked off the area with -13 Japanese Hard Style with C. Scoble Somerset Karate taking the top spot with her Kata. Next up was -13 Creative Open Hand; with the music playing loudly the area was the main attraction of the competition with spectators from SENI coming over to see what was going on. J. Meek, Phoenix, went home with the Gold medal; with J. Riva, Infinity, received the Silver. Next it was the weapon exponents turn to show off their skills with the reigning ISKA World Champion Jack Underwood in attendance. After all the competitors had performed it was over to the judges and they answered with K. Macdonald, Team Resurrection, in 3^rd Position with J.Meek, Phoenix, taking 2^nd and J. Underwood the champ taking gold and gaining his spot on the 2010 ISKA UK forms squad.

Over to the Juniors sections with P. Cerson Team Fusion attaining a double whammy taking gold in both the Girls Creative Open Hand and Girls Creative Weapons. N.Whiles, Team Excel, took three Golds in Boys Japanese, Korean and Traditional Weapon Sections. Back to the Creative side with the Boys Creative Open Hand, this was a very tough section for the judges to call with all competitors performing at a high level. N.Whiles had to settle with a Bronze medal this time with M. Lightfoot, Infinity, receiving a well deserved Silver and J.Lewis, Team Resurrection, earning himself a Gold Medal and a place on the ISKA UK forms squad for the first time. In the Boys Creative Weapons J.Lewis took the top spot again with N.Whiles in a very close 2^nd and J. Pitman, Infinity, in 3^rd.

In the adult sections C.Kelley, Somerset Karate, took the top spot in Men Japanese Hard Style. Next the Soft Style sections with T.Osborn, ZDL, putting in an outstanding performance of his soft style form, taking gold and his team member H.Osborn won the Women’s Soft Style section too. T.Ledger, Team Relic, won both the Womens Creative Open hand and Creative Weapons sections. M.French, Team Resurrection, took 1^st in Men Creative Open Hand pulled off a top form even though he was suffering with a serious injury throughout the weekend. J.Evans, Team Relic, performed a solid extreme sword routine, winning himself a gold medal in the Men Creative Weapons section.

Last but not least was the Extreme Martial Arts Tricks Battle. In the -18 years J.Lewis, P.Cerson and N.Whiles battled it out throwing some tough combinations of flips, kicks and twists wowing the crowd with their gravity defying skills. P.Cerson came out on top with N.Whiles 2^nd and J.Lewis took the 3^rd. Now it was over to the adults with reigning European Champ M.French not wanting that Gold Medal to slip out of his hands. A.Spinx and A.McDonald battled it out for a place in the final with A.Mcdonald winning the judges vote. Next up was A.Ward against the champ M.French, both competitors going all out in their 30 second routines the judges raised there hands towards M.French. It was an epic final with both Team Resurrection members A.McDonald and M.French battling it out for the top spot. When their time was up, they knew they had done their best and it was over to the judges, M.French received the gold with A. Macdonald in 2^nd and A. Ward in 3^rd.

With all sections finished the ISKA UK would like to thank all the referees and timekeepers who worked hard to make sure everything ran smoothly on the day and the ISKA Amateurs Directors Clifton Findley, Owen King, Paul Gilmore and Joe Hallett.  Well done to those who all qualified for this year’s world championships which will be in Alicante, Spain 2nd- 7th November

3 wins for Persians 1 win for Germans & 1 draw were the results of GERMANS VS PERSIANS in Tehran on 11.06.2010

It was a historic night for the audiences in Tehran where ISKA GERMANY faced ISKA Iran in 5 different weight categories under ISKA ORIENTAL RULES. 2000 fans witnessed an outstanding event with a very close matchmaking in an open air Gala in the Tennis court of Enghelab Sport Complex in Tehran.

BOUTS

SHNEIDER VS SHAHABI

1st fight was between Jurgen Schneider & Saeed shahabi in -85kg. The fight started with domination of Shahabi in the first two rounds of the match. He kept pushing his German opponent all the way back to the ropes & stroked couple of hard low kicks which could put Schneider in trouble. At the beginning of the third round it was the Schneider who showed some good moves & tried to convince Shahabi with some back kicks. At the end of the match Shahabi managed to win the fight by 3-0

GISS VS MIRZADE

The 2nd fight took place between Wilhelm Giss & Sepehr Mirzade who has been away from the ring for one whole year to finish his studies. The fight started with a very hard round kick to the face of Giss, but Giss blocked the kick & did not show to be impressed by Mirzade’s first move. Mirzade kept on puting pressure on Giss, but Giss still managed to block all the strikes of Mirzade which were more kicks. Giss tried to find the required distance to Mirzade in order to uses his boxing skills, but Mirzade kept pushing him back with his hard low kicks & did not offer him enough chances for boxing. It was quite impressive, how Giss took all those raging punishments by Mirzade & still kept on fighting & being a danger to Mirzade at all time during the fight. At the end Mirzade was announced as the Winner by 3-0 decision.

GEBEL VS YAZDANPANAH

Wasilli Gebel & Mohsen Yazdanpanah were set as the 3rd fight of the event. The fight started very even & both fighters tried to keep the centre of the ring as the dominant fighter. But it was the Yazdanpanah of Iran who slowly dictated himself to Wasilli. Wasilli showed stronger in the 1st round but in the 2nd & 3rd it was Mohsen who convinced the judges & was announced as the winner of the fight.

LANDER BONNIGER VS MOHAMD EFTEKHARI

The 4th fight was in the class B (5 rounds X 2 mins) Leo who had some about 15 centimetres of height advantage showed stronger at the beginning of the 1st round, but very soon Eftekhari took the Charge & forced himself in the centre of the ring & started chasing his taller opponent. In the 2nd round Eftekhari surprised Bonniger with a spinning back fist, but Leo managed to control the fight & did not go dawn. Eftekhari performed 2 very strong rounds but at the beginning of the 3rd round he it was Leo who slowly came back to the fight & showed some effective resistance. Round 4 was were Leo started to push Eftekhari back & stroked series of combination o his opponent who looked very tired In the 5th round both fighters tried to win the rounds but eftekhari who seemed to have some serious problems with his conditions could not fight answer Bonniger’s strikes as expected. The Match was announced as a drw by the judges.

LORAND SACHS VS TOOFAN SALAFZOUN

This was the last & most promising bouts of the night, where the 1st Iranian K-1 MAX fighter Toofan salafzoun was to face experienced former ISKA World Champion Lorand Sachs. This fight was performed under ISKA ORIENTAL RULLES Class A (5 rounds X 3 mins)

Toofan started the fight much stronger & harder than expected. He exercised much pressure on th 33 years old Sachs. He attacked Lorand with some very hard combinations which mostly ended with some tough Low kicks. Lorand was so hardly punished in the first 3 rounds that almost everybody was expecting Lorand to give up the fight voluntary or be forced to stop the fight through a knockout! But Lorand fought back with his heart & after each punishment, he answered his opponent with counter strikes. Right after the 4th rounds all of the sudden, Toofan who carries the ring name of Storm was stopped by Lorand & he performed a very weak 4th rounds!

It seemed that he had some problems with state of his conditioning. Lorand who probably was waiting for his chance to attack back, took advantage & forced himself to Toofan. In the 5th round Lorand even stroked 2 knees to the head of Toofan which impressed the judges & the crowd. Basi Katawasi the Referee of the Event even had to count dawn Toofan in the last seconds of the fight. At the end after a very close fight the Judges scored 2-0 in favour of Lorand Sachs.

YANG MENG KHOO VS HAMIDREZA MOHAMADPOUR

The ISKA ASIAN title fight in 72.3kg under Oriental rules was meant as the highlight of the evening where the very experienced Meng Khoo was fighting against the young & talented Hamidreza Mohamadpour who was supposed to fight over the same title last year against Mustapha Yaghmur of Lebanon.

The fight started with a series of long & hard combinations stroked by Mohamadpour. Khoo was totally surprised by the speed & aggression of Mohamadpour, although Khoo did not show any sign of backing dawn the fight. The crowd were so excited that almost everybody in the crowd was standing on their feet. At the end of the 1st round Mohamadpour’s jumping knee kick caused a cut under Khoo’s right eyebrow. This had to be taken care of by Khoo’s cutman. Th e2nd rounds Mohamdpour kept on pushing the pressure of Khoo & this resulted a strong bleeding from the cut & Doctor of the contest had to be called in & he stopped the contest.

Mohmadpour is now the ISKA ASIAN CHAMPION.

ISKA World Champion Ship 2010 in Alicante, November 2nd – 7th

ISKA SPAIN and it´s president Juan PINILLA and his team are working like hell to organise and prepare the upcoming World Champion ships in Alicante, Spain. An amazing City , directly situated on the sea, with nice Seafood restaurants directly dockside, charming city centre. Pups, discotheques,  Mediterranean food, friendly and nice people, fair price politics and much more.

Sangria, Sun and Sport.

Beside all this amazing reasons to go to Alicante we have a real big sports hall , big enough for the estimated 2.500 fighters from all over the world.

Until today we have got confirmation from over 50 countries, especially our African brothers will come with first time with many countries. For Northern Africa regions is just opposite to Alicante , easy to go.

We got secret informations that USA and Canadiens train like hell to beat European´s (and others)  at home. Wait and see

ISKA Чемпионат мира по кикбоксингу в Аликанте, Испания, 2 ноября -7

Istra, Russia; on July 10th Egypt ISKA champion Mohamed ABD ELAZIZ challenge Russian WAKO World Champion Denis LUKASHOV for the vacant ISKA World title  -64,50 kg in Full contact. Venue of this event is the City Istra, north of Moscow.

This is for the very first time an African Top class fighter get a chance to became World Champion in Russia. promoter Mr. Vadim URKRAINTSEV is one of the most active promoters in Europe.

Next scheduled ISKA World title fight with a Russian is scheduled for September 25th in Vienna, Austria, with Yuri TROGIYANOV, 57 kg, low-kick. Possible opponent is World Champion Sunny HIRA from England.

The countdown has begun…

For the first time in the Syrian kick boxing history in a close cooperation between ISKA Syria and ISKA Hungary, on the 23^rd of June, 2010, in Damascus During the sport4 all Exhibition the first Armature Kickboxing international event Between Syria and Hungary a common training camp will be held before the fights and the fights will be held under the supervising of the Syrian sport federation and the ambassador of Hungary, The highlight of the show will be the born of MMA in Syria there will be some demonstration fights During the events as MMA now is an official sport with a separated committee  in the General   sport federation.

BIG FOOT SILVA DOMINATES ARLOVSKI; JACARE SOUZA, ROGER GRACIE AND RAFAEL FEIJAO CAVALCANTE ALSO VICTORIOUS ON SOLID STRIKEFORCE FIGHT CARD

ST. LOUIS (May 16, 2010) – Alistair “The Demolition Man’’ Overeem lived up to his nickname and his billing as one of the most dangerous heavyweights in the world on Saturday as he easily retained his STRIKEFORCE World Heavyweight Championship with a 3:40, first-round knockout over Brett Rogers in the main event of an action-packed mixed martial arts card before 8,136 enthusiastic fans who turned out for “STRIKEFORCE St. Louis: Heavy Artillery” at Scottrade Center on SHOWTIME®.

In other televised results: Brazil’s Antonio “Big Foot” Silva (14-2), of Coconut Creek, Fla., registered the biggest victory of his career with a unanimous decision over Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski (15-8) of Chicago in a matchup of former world champions; world-ranked Brazilian middleweight “Jacare” Souza (12-2), of Rio de Janiero, Brazil, scored an impressive three-round decision over hard-trying Joey Villasenor (27-7), of Albuquerque, N.M., unbeaten Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu sensation Roger Gracie (3-0) of London, England, won his STRIKEFORCE and United States MMA debut with a 4:10, second-round submission (rear-naked choke) over ex- UFC heavyweight champion Kevin  Randleman (17-15), of Las Vegas; and Rafael “Feijao’’ Cavalcante (9-2) of Rio De Janiero, produced a 3:45, first-round knockout (strikes) over Antwain “The Juggernaut” Britt (11-4) of Virginia, Beach, Va.

For Overeem (33-11), of The Netherlands, it was a brilliant performance and it marked the eighth time in nine fights that he has won in the first round since becoming the first STRIKEFORCE heavyweight champion in history with a second-round knockout over Paul Buentello on Nov. 16, 2007.

In a dominant performance, Overeem overwhelmed the outclassed Rogers (10-2) on the feet and on the ground from the outset. “It’s been a while, but now I’m back and I’m still STRIKEFORCE champion,’’ Overeem said. “Rogers has my respect.’’

The loss was the second in a row for Rogers, of St. Paul, Minn. In his last outing on Nov. 7, 2009, he came perilously close to becoming the first fighter to legitimately defeat the famed Fedor Emelianenko before falling, but styles make fights and he never had a chance against the talented Overeem. Rogers, known for his two-fisted power, hardly got an opportunity to let his fists go.

Silva performed in an intelligent, controlled manner throughout as he outpointed Arlovski by the scores of 29-28 three times. Silva dictated the pace and had an answer for whatever Arlovski attempted to throw at him. Arlovski fought with a bloody cut around his nose from early in the match.

The defeat was the third in a row for Arlovski, who was knocked out by Rogers and Fedor in his two previous starts.

Souza was also an impressive winner on an evening full of stalwart performances. A submission wizard, Jacare couldn’t get close to making the always-tough Villasenor to tap, but he was in control throughout and won by the scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice.

The 6-feet-4 Gracie towered over Randleman, who stood his ground for one round, but was no match for the Brazilian when he turned it up a notch in the second. Gracie has now won all three of his MMA outings by submission.

A devastating striking with a fierce killer instinct, Feijao turned what had been an even, competitive fight around with a huge right hand that staggered Britt. He followed with a left hook and another right hand and the referee stopped it shortly thereafter.

By winning, Feijao, who has won all eight of his wins inside the distance, moved a step closer to challenging recently crowned STRIKEFORCE 205-pound champion “King Mo’’ Lawal. The victory was the second in the row for Feijao.

STRIKEFORCE: St. Louis will be available On Demand beginning Wednesday, May 19.

Versatile play-by-play broadcast veteran Gus Johnson called the action on SHOWTIME with MMA expert Mauro Ranallo and MMA superstar Frank Shamrock serving as expert analysts.

Saturday’s non-televised results: Jesse Finney (6-0), St. Louis, submitted  (guillotine choke) Justin DeMoney (14-3-1), Ottumwa, Idaho, at 3:32 of the first round (170 pounds); Lyle Beerbohm (14-0), Spokane, Wash., split decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29) over Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (20-4), Rio De Janiero, Brazil (155 pounds); Darryl Cobb (4-1), East St. Louis, split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) over Booker DeRousse (2-3), St. Genevieve, Mo. (185 pounds); Michael Chandler (3-0), St. Louis, submitted (rear-naked choke) Sal Woods (4-8), Granite City, Ill., at 0:59 of the first round (170 pounds); Tom Aaron (7-2), St. Louis, submitted (guillotine choke) Erik Steenberg (3-1), St. Louis, at 0:56 of first round (155 pounds); Francisco “Kiko” France (5-1), Rio De Janiero, submitted (rear-naked choke) Lee  Brousseau (4-2), Wood River, Ill., at 1:27 of the first round (205 pounds), and Matt Ricehouse (2-0), St. Louis, submitted (rear-naked choke) Greg Wilson (0-1), Cobden, Ill., at 0:45 of third round (155 pounds).

MMA/SHOWTIME Schedule: “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (17-5) will collide with former STRIKEFORCE light heavyweight champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral (35-8) at a catch weight of 195 pounds when STRIKEFORCE hits Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on Wednesday, June 16 (11 p.m. ET/PT). In other announced fights on STRIKEFORCE: Los Angeles, former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley (5-0) will face fellow unbeaten Ron “The Monster” Sparks (5-0) in a heavyweight bout and DREAM welterweight champion Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis (13-4) will meet Evangelista Cyborg (17-13) in a welterweight contest.

On Saturday, June 26, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, the world’s No. 1 heavyweight and pound-for-pound MMA fighter, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (31-1), will make his eagerly awaited return to the cage to face two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion and top-ranked superstar Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum (13-4) in a STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL co-promoted event at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The No. 1 female fighter in the world, STRIKEFORCE World Middleweight (145 pounds) Champion Cris Cyborg (9-1) will fight an opponent to be determined.

For more information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive video, photos and news links on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and STRIKEFORCE mixed martial arts telecasts, along with access to the SHOWTIME Sports Facebook® and Twitter® pages, please go to http://Sports.Sho.com.

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995,STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.”  In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.