As with every major show, BloodyElbow.com will be here to bring you live results and commentary for Strikeforce: Evolution. The live blog will start with the beginning of the Showtime broadcast (at 10 PM ET), so make sure to make Bloody Elbow your home for this event.
Bloody Elbow will be in the building for the event to bring even more in-depth coverage and impressions from the live environment.
As always we have our one rule: NO SPOILERS! In the interest of not ruining anything from the undercard that may make the broadcast we ask that you do not discuss the results of the undercard in the comments until either the broadcast ends or the fight makes the air.
SPOILER REMINDER #2: Since we have two major MMA events being broadcast live tonight, do not discuss the on-going action or results of WEC fights in this live-blog. The same will go for discussion of Strikeforce fights in the WEC live-blog.
This is Kid Nate filling in for Michael Rome who’s battling connectivity issues at the arena.
The show is live on Showtime.
Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal vs Mike Whitehead: Whitehead looks a bit soft. Lawal looks loose in his corner. Michael Rome reports: Crowd loves Mo entrance. If he wins crowd will erupt. Round 1 They touch gloves. Bad leg kick misses for Whitehead. Mo is crouching low then fires with a combination of punches. More punches. Whitehead forces Mo against the cage. Nothing doing. Mo tags Whitehead with a left hook. Mo keeping his hands low, no respect for Whitehead’s power. Whitehead landing leg kicks. Mo ddrops Whitehead with a 1-2. Follows up with ground and pound. Muhammad Lawal wins by TKO. Michael Rome comments from the arena: “The entrance made King Mo a star live. Huge, huge mistake by Showtime not showing it. Do they want stars or not?”
Matt Lindland vs Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza Big John McCarthy in the cage. Round 1 They’re trading early. Jacare tagging Lindland with punches. Lindland shoots in, gets hooks in deep, gets behind but Jacare escapes. Comes back swinging. Shamrock is commenting that Lindland has slowed down. Lindland shoots, Jacare rolls thru, but Lindland gets top position. Jacare working for the arm bar! Now moving to omaplata position. Punching Lindland’s head. Lindland escapes to an omaplata of his own! Now Jacare in Lindland’s guard. Jacare gets side control behind a hard forearm. Lindland to 1/2 guard. Jacare gets an arm triangle and he chokes him out! Jacare Souza chokes out Matt Lindand. Michael Rome reports: Crowd loved all the reversals on the ground, very educated crowd.
Gilbert Melendez vs Josh Thomson Round 1 Melendez looking angry before coming out. Lots of feints as they feel each other out. Melendez shoots and gets nothing. Thomson throws a high kick follows up with combination punches. Melendez shoots again, nothing. Melendez fires a kick, gets his leg caught, Thomson follows him down, works a guilloting. They’re trading punches. Hard to say who got better of the trade. Thomson landed more, Shamrock says Melendez hits harder. Thomson scoring again with the 1-2. Melendez shoots for a single. No go. Thomson scores on the break. Melendez lands a leg kick. Melendez firing jabs. Thomson with a leg kick. Melendez tags Thomson with two rights. They trade inconclusively to finish the round. Bloody Elbow scores the first round 10-9 Thomson. Round 2 Melendez pawing with jabs. Melendez drops Thomson with a counter right on a leg kick from Thomson. But Thomson is right back up. Thomson slips, Melendez firing elbows. Back to cage center. Melendez lands a low knee to the groin. Thomson the time to recover. Back to action. Trading leg kicks. Melendez eating body kicks to both sides. Thomson catches a kick and tries to pull Melendez down. Back up. Melendez catches a kick and punishes Thomson. They trade against the fence. Great fight! Melendez with a HARD leg kick. Thomson firing and scoring with combinations. They’re trading. Thomson smells blood and goes in but Melendez drops him with a hard shot. Now Melendez in Thomson’s guard. Rubber guard. Incredible action. Bloody Elbow scores the second round 10-9 Melendez. Round 3 Thomson finally throws a front kick. Melendez evades it. Melendez landing with a kick-punch combo. More punches. Thomson tries a spinning kick. Whiffs. Melendez with a jab-body punch combo. Trading leg kicks. Advantage Melendez. Thomson lands an overhand. Trade jabs. They clinch, Thomson slips out. Body punch from Melendez. Jab jab, leg kick for Melendez. Very nice. Both fighters slip to the floor after Melendez lands an uppercut from way outside. Trading leg kicks. Front kick from Thomson. Thomson shoots. Melendez sprawling as Thomson tries to run the pipe. They break then trade in the clinch. Thomson lands a knee. BloodyElbow scores the third round 10-9 for Melendez. Round 4 They touch gloves. Leg kicks from Thomson. Melendez responds. Thomson fires a crescent kick. Thomson shoots, gets stuffed, eats a knee shoots again, gets Melendez down. Melendez back up. Eats a knee. Melendez responds with a brutal combination. Melendez with a knee to the head. A jab from Gilbert. Combination scores. Melendez with another kick punch combo. More trading. Melendez sweeps Thomson with a kick. Back to the feet. Thomson with a front kick after an exchange. Thomson shoots, nothing. Melendez with a combination. Thomson fires to the body. Eats a combination. Great exchanges to end the round. Knees, kicks, and an eye poke to Thomson just as the fun was getting intense. Back to it with 0:12 left. Round is over. BloodyElbow scores the fourth round 10-9 for Melendez. Thomson is in a deep hole. Round 5 Thomson with a leg kick. Melendez with punches. Thomson shoots, lands a knee. They trading wildly. Thomson getting the worst of it but hanging in the pocket and firing back. How are they standing! Great great fight. Melendez drops Thomson with a right and follows him down. Thomson gets guard. Thomson turtled up, eats a punch on his way back to his feet. Thomson firing with all he’s got. Crowd is insane. Leg kick from Melendez, right from Thomson. Melendez bouncing on his feet. Thomson looks tired. Eats a hard knee to the body. Suddenly they’re down, Thomson with the take down and almost gets mount! Melendez is back to his feet. Thomson forces an exchange to end it. This is a career defining rivalry for both men. BloodyElbow scores the final round 10-9 for Melendez and gives the fight to Gilbert Melendez 49-46. We’ll see what the judges say. Unanimous decision for Gilbert Melendez who retakes the Strikeforce lightweight title. Michael Rome reports: Fight of the year level atmosphere for an amazing fight. Crowd was going nuts, and for good reason.
Cung Le vs Scott Smith Dreadful entrance music for Smith. Big John is the ref. Round 1 Smith comes out behind a wild high kick. Right spinning back kick to the body drops Smith and Le is battering him on the ground. Hammerfists. Punches to the face. Smith is doing nothing. Smith fights to his feet. Smith chasing behind punches. Another spinning kick grazes Smith and drops him. Follows him down. Back to the feet. High kick to the face. Punches from Le. Smith lands a punch. Another spinning body kick to the body backs Smith up. Le with a left and a kick. Le with a leg kick. Up against the cage to end the round. BloodyElbow scores it 10-8 for Cung Le based on two knock downs. Round 2 Le goes for a single leg. No go. Le landing body kicks. High kick from Le. Punch lands from Le. Another spinning back kick to the body drops Smith again. Damn. Le in Smith’s guard. Not a classic jiu jitsu battle here. We need a restart and Big John delivers. Smith comes in punching. Le circles away. Body kick. Le feinting take downs. Le attempts an ochi mata but nothing doing. Clinched up against the fence. Le may be slowing down. Smith with double unders, pins Le up against the cage, tags Le with an uppercut. Smith with an elbow. Smith firing with uppercuts to end the round. BloodyElbow scores the second round 10-9 for Cung Le. Round 3 Le tags him with a spinning high kick. Another kick! Le going for the kill. Smith misses a counter. Another side kick staggers Smith. Smith lunges with punches but misses. Smith is stalking Le. Le backs Smith up and is scoring with punches. Spinning back fist lands! Huge throw from Le! Back to the feet. Le looking for the knock out. Body kick. Left hook. Smith firing away and backing Le up. Oh my god Scott Smith tags Le and knocks him down. Another! Scott Smith gets a TKO win over Cung Le at 3:25 of Round 3. Michael Rome reports: “Complete shock and then huge ovation for Smith.”
Undercard results in the full entry.
AJ Fonseca vs. Alex Crispim:
Round 1: Fonseca stuffs a takedown early, and after a long clinch battle Crispin gets him down. Nothing happens for a long time, Crispin working for a guillotine but can’t get it. Fonseca is up and landing but doesn’t have a lot of power. Crispin wants no part of standing. Bloody Elbow scores the round 10-10.
Round 2: They clinch right away. They break off, AJ shoots in and gets caught in a guillotine. It’s tight, but Crispim isn’t in the right position to finish it and has to let go. Crispim finds his way into mount, but AJ works his way to his feet. Nice jabs from Crispim find a home, as does a leg kick. Crispim dominating as the round ends. Bloody Elbow scores the round 10-9 for Alex Crispim.
Round 3: Crispim lands a hard right cross early and showboats a ton. They battle along the fence. Crispim uses a guillotine to reverse position and unloads a bunch of knees, including an illegal knee to the head. I think he lost a point. Fonseca decides to keep fighting, and gets a takedown. If he can steal a 10-8 with a point he could take this fight. Nevermind, Crispim working an omoplata and landing shots. Bloody Elbow scores the round 9-9.
Bloody Elbow scores the fight 29-28 for Alex Crispim. The judges agree and Crispim takes the unanimous decision.
This is Kid Nate: Michael Rome is having connectivity issues at the live event so we’re holding off on further undercard results. We’ll pick up the action with the Showtime broadcast.
Justin Wilcox def. Daisuke Nakamura by unanimous decision.
Michael Rome reports: “Wilcox won a decision, dominated the fight striking.”
Antwain Britt def. Scott Lighty by TKO.
Michael Rome reports: “Antwain Britt won when the doctor wouldn’t let it continue after a round. Britt knocked him down over and over, Lighty could barely stand after a round.”