quote

Strikeforce (or Strikeforce Fighting Championship) is an American professional kickboxing and mixed martial arts promotion based in San Jose, California.

On March 10, 2006, Strikeforce held Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie, the first MMA event sanctioned by the state of California, taking place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. With 18,265 in attendance, Shamrock vs. Gracie broke the previous record for the largest audience at a North American MMA event, earlier held by UFC 57. The record was since broken by UFC 68 and K-1 HERO'S Dynamite!! USA, although Shamrock vs. Gracie retains the paid attendance record of 17,465.

Among the promotion's roster are former UFC champion Frank Shamrock, WWE Tough Enough winner and AKA fighter Daniel Puder, and San Shou champion Cung Le. Recently the promotion contracted Renato Sobral following his termination with the UFC stemming from his violation of UFC regulations.

Strikeforce is promoted by American K-1 promoter Scott Coker and Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment, operators of the HP Pavilion and the San Jose Sharks NHL hockey club.

Their next card is this Friday night (presented by BodogFight), but here's the big reason to watch: Free MMA! The card will be streamed live for FREE on Yahoo Sports starting at 11 PM ET, the second time they have done this (I think the first event, from the Playboy Mansion, can still be seen on Yahoo's video player for free). Only catch is that you have to be outside a 150-mile radius of San Jose. The big deal here is they're doing the first-ever sanctioned (in California) one-night tournament. The 4 fighter Middleweight (185) tournament features Trevor Prangley and former UFC fighters Falaniko Vitale, Yuki Sasaki, and Jorge Santiago. The winner could earn a potential shot at Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Frank Shamrock. The rest of the card is loaded too:
Alistair Overeem vs. Paul Buentello for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title
Brian Schwartz vs. Lemont Davis
Sean Salmon vs. Dennis Hallman
Cung Le (obviously the huge draw on the card as the hometown hero) vs. Sammy Morgan
Anthony Ruiz vs. Bobby Southworth
Luke Stewart vs. Bryson Kamaka
Nam Phan vs. Billy Evangelista

I don't know if I can stay up to watch it live, if not I plan to watch it when it's archived on Yahoo. I still need to watch the Playboy Mansion event too.

Strikeforce results from last night:
Dennis Hallman beat Jeremiah Metcalf by submission (heel hook) at 1:39 of round 1.
Chris Drumm vs. Evan Esguerra went to a No Contest (punch to back of Drumm's head) at 2:35 of round 2.
Alex Crispin beat Clint Coronel by unanimous decision, 1 30-27 and 2 29-28s.
Anthony Figueroa beat Pete Sabala by split decision, 30-27 Figueroa, 29-28 Sabala, and 29-28 Figueroa (the last courtesy of the "always scary" Cecil Peoples card). Sabala actually pulled off a legit Oklahoma Stampede and a DDT in round 1. Seriously.
Eric Lawson beat Josh Neal by submission (rear naked choke) at 20 seconds of round 2.
Jorge Santiago beat Sean Salmon by KO (flying knee) in 24 seconds. It got really scary here-Salmon was DOWN AND OUT. He had to be taken out on a stretcher. He also had what was believed to be a seizure in the ring and although he will be fine (hospitalized but CT scans were negative with no bleeding of the brain and no skull fractures), there is a chance that his MMA career is over.
Trevor Prangley vs. Falaniko Vitale went to a majority draw. 2 19-19s and 20-18 Vitale (the tournament fights were 2 rounds). As a majority draw, by the California tournament rules, the referee picks the winner. He picked Prangley and he gets the official win. Vitale was temporary blinded during the fight by an accidental finger to the eye.
Luke Stewart beat Bryson Kamaka by KO (knee) in 19 seconds.
Anthony Ruiz beat Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth by TKO (cut) at 52 seconds of round 2 in a NON-TITLE match.
Lemont Davis beat Brian Schwartz by unanimous decision, 3 29-28s.
Alistair Overeem beat Paul Buentello by tapout (knees) at 3:42 of round 2 to become the first Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion.
Josh Thompson vs. Gilbert Melendez for the Strikeforce Lightweight Title is announced by the fighters for 3/29/08 at HP Pavilion.
Jorge Santiago beat Trevor Prangley by TKO (knees) at 2:31 of round 1 to win the Strikeforce Middleweight Tournament. As a result, Santiago may earn a potential shot at Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Frank Shamrock.
Main Event: Cung Le beat Sam Morgan by TKO (kick to liver) at 1:58 of round 3. Shamrock got on the mic after the match for a promo, which could potentially setup a Shamrock-Le fight next.

If Yahoo has the archived broadcast available this weekend I definitely will be checking it out, hopefully they'll show the prelims too. I especially want to see just what happened to Salmon, it just sounds beyond brutal.

For those who haven't seen it yet, here's a picture of the KO that may end Salmon's career:

From the many replays I saw from different angles, it looked like he went for a flying knee or knee kick and caught Salmon with the front of his lower leg above the foot. Jorge got in a hard right punch after Salmon went down before the ref literally dove in. Irony-guess who the ref was? The judge that everybody loves to hate, Mr. Close Fight Scorecard Controversy himself...Cecil Peoples.

Here are the results from last night's Strikeforce weigh-ins for tonight's show:
Joe Riggs is off the card because he disclosed he took a banned substance. Drew Fickett was rumored as a replacement to face Luke Stewart, but that isn't confirmed.
Everyone else made weight.
Gilbert Melendez (155) vs. Josh Thomson (155) for the Strikeforce lightweight title
Bobby Southworth (204.5) vs. Anthony Ruiz (203) for the Strikeforce light heavyweight title
Elaina Maxwell (146) vs. Miesha Tate (145)
Raymond Daniels (184) vs. Jeremiah Metcalf (185)
Anthony Figueroa (134.5) vs. Chris Cariaso (135.5)
Nam Phan (154) vs. Billy Evangelista (155)
Brian Caraway (140) vs. Alvan Cacdus (141.5)
Jesse Jones (169) vs. Cyrillo Padhillo (169)
Travis Johnson (205) vs. Jorge Interiano (201)
Alexandre Trivino (156) vs. Eric Jacob (156)
Bobby Stack (155) vs. Jose Palacios (155)
Jesse Gillespie (186) vs. Eric Lawson (185)

Edit: Fickett will replace Riggs. The Fickett-Stewart fight will be a catchweight fight at 185.

2nd edit: No he won't. Now Fickett is off. Participation vetoed by the Canadian promotion MFC (Maximum Fighting Championships) because Fickett is to fight for them on July 25 and MFC has a 45-day no-compete rule stating their participants can't fight for anyone else starting 45 days before their event. So they vetoed Fickett fighting.

This message was edited by DCRage on Jun 27 2008.

When you will you have the results up for this mate?

Before MMAPG as always?

Probably midday tomorrow. Can't stay up late enough to watch the card (starts at 10:30 PM ET on HDNet, not a staggered feed in US so it's 7:30 PT) and gotta get up early for an appointment tomorrow morning, so if not before I head to that then when I get back. Hit the Playground tonight.

Hmm well tonight for you is like 4AM or something for me..

It's 12:05am here lol so i'll check in the morning. Quite a packed event, not sure on how well the fights will turn out.

Underdog Galore

Bet quite a few people made poor picks for that event looking at the turnout. Well mine were awful anyways.
Some jammy bugger put an 11k parlay wager on Evangelista, Southworth, Tate and Thomson. He ended up with $570,000+

You should see my UFC 86 parlay then.

Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson results:
Alexander Trivino beat Eric Thomson by submission (armbar) in 37 seconds.

Jorge Interiano beat Travis Johnson by TKO (doctor stoppage) after round 2.

They announced fans could text the stipulations of the main event. Choices were no elbows on the ground, Cecil Peoples banned from judging the fight (HAHA) and the back of the head being defined as vritually the entire head except if you draw a line down the front of the face and have one inch in every direction legal. WTF?!? Only logical one was no Peoples. (Meltzer over on F4WOnline had some fun doing his report, especially after every Cecil Peoples fight)

Cyrilo Padilho beat Jesse Jones by unanimous decision, 1 30-27 and 2 29-28s.

Brian Caraway beat Alvin Cacdac by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:37 of round 1.

Bobby Stack beat Jose Palacios by unanimous decision, 3 29-28s.

Chris Cariaso beat Anthony Figueroa by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:54 of round 2.

Jeremiah Metcalf beat Raymond Daniels by submission (rear naked choke) at 59 seconds of round 2. Meltzer: So much for Chuck Norris going on TV about how his guys would clean up in MMA when his best fighter (Daniels) got destroyed by a journeyman.

Miesha Tate beat Elaina Maxwell by unanimous decision, 3 29-28s. Meltzer: For those keeping track at home, Peoples has scored every match perfectly so far.

Bobby Southworth beat Anthony Ruiz by unanimous decision, 50-45, 49-46, 48-47, to become THE NEW STRIKEFORCE LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!

Billy Evangelista beat Nam Phan by split decision, 29-28 Evangelista, 29-28 Phan, 29-28 Evangelista. Meltzer: Fans are booing like crazy this decision. No way Phan didn't win two and three. No way. Freaking Abe Belardo. Well, and Marcos Rosales. Good fight. But it would be nothing speical on most big promotion shows. This show needs a great main event. Everyone at press row couldn't believe Phan didn't get rounds two and three. (No Peoples on this one)

Josh Thomson beat Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez by unanimous decision, 3 50-45s, to become THE NEW STRIKEFORCE LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION!

Jesse Gillespie beat Eric Lawson by submission (choke) at 1:03 of round 1.

Next show is rumored to be in September at the Playboy Mansion.
Rumored fighters for 9/19: Renato Sobral, Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, and the top name so far-Kazuo Misaki, the #5 Middleweight in the World according to Weekly. Some big names.

This message was edited by DCRage on Jun 28 2008.

The CSAC has announced the drug test results from Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson...All fighters were tested for drugs of abuse and performance-enhancing drugs, all passed.

Here are the reported fighter payouts from the event:
Josh Thomson ($35,000) beat Gilbert Melendez ($50,000)
Eric Lawson ($8,000) beat Jesse Gillespie ($3,500)
Miesha Tate ($1,500) beat Elaina Maxwell ($4,000)
Bobby Southworth ($25,000) beat Anthony Ruiz ($200)*
Jeremiah Metcalf ($8,500) beat Raymond Daniels ($10,000)
Chris Cariaso ($6,000) beat Anthony Figueroa ($5,000)
Billy Evangelista ($14,000) beat Nam Phan ($10,000)
Brian Caraway ($3,000) beat Alvin Cacdac ($3,000)
Cyrillo Padilho ($2,500) beat Jesse Jones ($2,000)
Jorge Interiano ($1,500) beat Travis Johnson ($2,000)
Alexander Trivino ($1,500) beat Eric Jacob ($1,000)
Bobby Stack ($3,000) beat Jose Palacios ($3,000)
Total disclosed payouts: $203,000
*-Ruiz received most of his pay in an advance prior to the fight.
Lawson's pay includes a KO/Sub of the Night bonus of $1,000.
Attendance: 7288 with 6750 paid for a live gate of $355,487.

Strikeforce At The Playboy Mansion 2 results:
Jesse Gillespie beat Dave Martin by split decision, 30-27 Martin, 29-28 Gillespie, 29-28 Gillespie. Controversial decision.

Brandon Magana beat Brandon Thatch by split decision, 29-28 Magana, 29-28 Thatch, 29-28 Magana.

Eric Lawson beat Kenneth Seegrist by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:07 of round 1.

Luke Stewart beat Jesse Juarez by submission (armbar) ar 4:55 of round 1.

Trevor Prangley beat Anthony Ruiz by unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-26, 29-28.

Mitsuhiro Ishida beat Justin Wilcox by submission (armbar) at 1:21 of round 1.

Terry Martin beat Cory Devela by TKO (strikes) at 2:08 of round 3.

Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson beat Ashe Bowman by TKO (strikes) at 1:14 of round 1 in a NON-TITLE match.

Main Event: Kazuo Misaki beat Joe Riggs by TKO (strikes) at 2:29 of round 2. Riggs thought stoppage was premature.

Here are the reported fighter payouts from SF at the Playboy Mansion, which kinda surprised me a lot:
Kazuo Misaki ($1,400) beat Joe Riggs ($20,000)
Josh Thomson ($40,000) beat Ashe Bowman ($2,000)
Terry Martin ($10,000) beat Cory Devela ($10,000)
Mitsuhiro Ishida ($1,400) beat Justin Wilcox ($5,000)
Trevor Prangley ($40,000) beat Anthony Ruiz ($6,000)
Luke Stewart ($8,000) beat Jesse Juarez ($2,000)
Eric Lawson ($6,000) beat Kenneth Seagrist ($2,000)
Brandon Magana ($2,000) beat Brandon Thatch ($2,000)
Jesse Gillespie ($2,000) beat Dave Martin ($1,000)
Total disclsoed payouts: $159,300
If that $1400 figure for Misaki is legit, that's a bargain bin deal they got him to sign considering he's regarded as a Top 5 Middleweight.

Strikeforce wuns tonight in Colorado, here are weigh-in results:
2 fighters-Tyra Parker and Lumumba Sawyer-missed weight. Parker will be fined based on how much she missed weight by-4 pounds-and that will go to Michelle Waterson. Sawyer will not be fined but will be reprimanded-it's an amateur bout with no purse.
MAIN CARD (Professional Bouts):
Duane Ludwig (165) vs. Sam Morgan (164.8) (Main event)
Frank Trigg (183.8) vs. Falaniko Vitale (185.6)
Donnie Liles (170.8) vs. Pete Spratt (170.8)
Luke Caudillo (155) v. Billy Evangelista (155)
Michelle Waterson (111.4) vs. Tyra Parker (116)
Andre Walker (202.4) vs. Carlos Zevallos (205.4)
Tyler Toner (146) vs. Ricky Johnson (143.6)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Amateur Bouts):
Lumumba Sawyers (171.2) vs. Drew Dober (167.8)
Jordan Goodwin (157.6) vs. Alan Gomez (155.6)
Jeremy Malaterre (159.4) vs. Eric Galvin (160)
Brett Tillis (141.8) vs. Turrell Galloway (139.2)
Aaron Trujillo (122.8) vs. Haven Torres (126.4)

Main card airs LIVE at 10 PM ET on HDNet.
PS-if anyone is wondering if Waterson lives up to her nickname, "Karate Hottie", oh yeah.

She's the one on the right.

I actually get this on NBC at about 2am on Saturday nights, but I never remember to watch. It's only a half hour show though.

We all do, that's the weekly recap program. I might try to see if I can find a live stream of the show tonight since there are probably a few sites out there that do it. Probably can't say which ones they are here (I did this for the last UFC).

Edit: Strikeforce: Payback results:
Prelim matches (Strikeforce: Young Guns amateur fights):
Aaron Trujillo beat Haven Torres by TKO (strikes) at 2:59 of round 1.
Turrell Galloway beat Brett Tillis by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:21 of round 1.
Eric Galvan beat Jeremy Malaterre by split decision, 29-28 Galvan, 29-28 Malaterre, 30-27 Galvan.
Alan Gomez beat Jordan Goodwin by unanimous decision, 3 29-28s.
Drew Dober beat Lumumba Sawyers by KO in 16 seconds.
TV fights:
Tyler Toner beat Ricky Johnson by TKO (strikes) at 3:44 of round 2.
Michelle Waterson beat Tyra Parker by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:20 of round 1.
Carlos Zevallos beat Andre Walker by TKO (strikes) at 4:48 of round 1.
Billy Evangelista beat Luke Caudillo by unanimous decision, 1 30-27 and 2 29-28s.
Donnie Liles beat Pete Spratt by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:59 of round 3.
Frank Trigg beat Falaniko Vitale by unanimous decision, 1 30-27 and 2 29-28s.
Main event: Duane Ludwig beat Sammy Morgan by submission (strikes) at 2:01 of round 1.

This message was edited by DCRage on Oct 04 2008.