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The broadcast is live. First fight up shortly.
“King Mo” Lawal vs. Gegard Mousasi For the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship – Round 1-Head kick by Mousasi is blocked. Right hand by Mo lands flush. Mo is throwing combos that aren’t landing but he’s showing some decent hands. Single leg by Mo and he eats a bunch of punches but does finish the takedown. Mo working to land from the top but Gegard is defending. Mo passes to side control. Mo standing over him and Mousasi lands a few up kicks. Mo landing a few nice punches from the guard and stands back over him. Right hand lands solid for Mo. Three more shots land for Mo and Mousasi is just working to defend and bide his time. Mousasi uses distance to get back to standing. Mo shoots and he looks badly gassed. Mousasi landing a few nice knees and punches and Mo gets him against the cage for a takedown. The round ends and it was 10-9 Mo but he looks very tired. Round 2 – Mo is flailing for takedowns and eats a few strikes before he gets to his feet. Mousasi landing big punches from his back. Mo is really looking lost this round even though he’s on top. Mousasi is blasting him from his back and hitting upkicks when Mo stands over him. Back to standing and Mousasi lands a big left hand and gets taken down. Mo looks like he can barely stand up when they’re on the feet. If the judges score this round for Mo based on being on top and nothing else it will show a massive flaw in the scoring of fights. Mousasi creates space and gets back to standing. Mo with another takedown. Mousasi looks for a triangle. Mousasi gets to his feet and Mo looks like he is about to give up as Gegard pelts him with shots. The round ends and it was easily 10-9 Mousasi. Round 3– Mousasi with a leg kick and a big right hand that wobbles Mo. Right ahdn lands for Mo and he’s throwing Hail Mary shots. Mo landing a few shots here and now a trip to the ground and Mo is in Mousasi’s guard. Mo’s strategy appears to be to stand over Mousasi and try to throw diving punches as a guard pass but it isn’t working very well. Mo landing some decent punches to the body. Mo lands a few more decent punches and this is a much better round for him. The round ends and it was 10-9 Mo to put him up 29-28 on my card. But given that he was on top most of round 2 the judges may have him up 30-27. Round 4 – Mousasi landing jabs but Mo lands nice punch and a takedown. Mo is landing some punches and while his strategy isn’t particularly impressive Mousasi is looking increasingly like he has NO gameplan at all. Big upkick lands for Mousasi. Mo landing more GnP now. Big John stands them up for lack of action. Mousasi gives up a takedown that he seemed like he could have fought out of. Mousasi landing strikes from his back and the round ends. 10-9 Mo but it wasn’t pretty. Round 5 – Left hand lands for Gegard. Mo with a nice shot after getting hit with a left hand. Upkicks land for Gegard again. Illegal upkick from Mousasi and Mo is given time to recover. Big John takes a point for the foul and there is now no way he wins on the scorecard. Mousasi is landing a bunch of strikes from his back. Back to standing and Mousasi lands a few punches before getting taken down again. Back to standing and another takedown. I’d actually give the round to Mousasi but given the point deduction it’s 9-9. Final scorecard for me is 48-45. Official Scorecards: 49-45 across the board. King Mo Lawal wins by unanimous decision.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Shinya Aoki – Round 1 – Melendez looking to work from distance and land jabs. Body kick from Aoki and Melendez trips him down but doesn’t go to the ground. This is getting boos from the crowd but if Melendez engages too much it’s the only way he can get caught. Aoki pokes him in the eye accidently and they take a short break. As they resume Aoki pulls him to the ground and looks for an arm but Melendez manages to get back to standing. Aoki looks to get it to the ground again but is just in butt scoot position with Melendez over him kicking the legs. Aoki dives into the guard and lands a few right hands. Big punches from Melendez and Aoki is the one that stands back up. Body kick by Aoki. A few more punches from Melendez and Aoki is bleeding from the nose. Knee to the body and the round comes to an end. Clear 10-9 for Melendez. Round 2– Aoki shoots but eats a right hand. Again Melendez defends the takedown. And again but this time Aoki uses his incredibly strong grip to drag him down by the wrist. Aoki keeps trying to grab on but Melendez gets back to his feet. Left hand lands solid for Aoki. A flurry and punches land for both guys. Aoki complains that he’s being held behind the head I guess…not sure why though. Knee to the body by Aoki but Melendez is just looking to get to the right distance. Shot by Aoki and Melendez defends and lands some big punches. Aoki landing kicks to the shoulder from the ground. Shot by Aoki is defended and Melendez landing some big punches. 10-9 Melendez again. Round 3 – Aoki much more active looking for takedowns now. Melendez keeps defending and for some reason now Melendez gets into Aoki’s guard. Melendez manages to get to his feet. Quick sprawl by Melendez. The crowd is hating this fight. Melendez back into Aoki’s guard. Rubber guard by Aoki now and Melendez gets out of it. Big punches from Melendez now. As they’re working on the ground the ref stands them up. Aoki with a knee to the chin standing but Melendez throws a flurry of punches back. The round ends and it’s more of the same 10-9 Melendez. Round 4 –Aoki tries a flying knee and then pulls guard. Right hand to the body by Melendez. And he keeps going back to the body. Big knee to the body now. Aoki is lost here. Aoki shoots and fails again. Aoki has no chance with these shots. Yamasaki was going to stand the fighters up and as he did so Melendez dove in with a series of punches that hurt Aoki but were illegal based on the ref trying to stand them up. Odd stuff. The round ends and 10-9 Melendez again. This is…not a fight made for TV. Round 5 – Aoki catches a finger in the eye. Aoki drags him down and tried to grab rubber guard but just eats a bunch more punches to his face for his trouble. It would really benefit Aoki if he were good at any aspect of MMA besides the submission game. Melendez is circling here and calling Aoki back to his feet. Melendez is pouring it on him this round. 10-8 Melendez makes it 50-44 on my card. Official Scorecards: 50-45 all for Gilbert Melendez. Gilbert Melendez wins by unanimous decison.
Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields – Round 1 – Body kick and leg kick by Shields. Right hand by Henderson and Shields’ legs give out. Henderson follows him to the ground but now Shields is trying to attack a leg but Henderson gets back up. Another right hand and Shields goes stumbling. Henderson landing a bunch of right hands and now a big uppercut and Shields is in serious trouble. They’re clinched against the cage and as they separate Shields fails to get a takedown. Now a good single leg by Shields and Dan just slides his hips and is back to standing. Shields tries to land a punch after the bell and misses, that pretty much sums up the round. 10-8 Henderson. Round 2 – Shields with a jab and a failed shot. Now they’re on the ground and as Dan goes for the rear naked choke Shields turns and is on top. Shields passes to mount quickly. Shields landing small punches and now postures up and lands a few bigger punches. Henderson uses hips to get half guard back and Shields right back to mount. Henderson eating pretty big punches now. Shields looks for an arm triangle but Hendo powers out of it. Shields throwing a lot of punches that don’t look like they’re hurting Dan but they’re doing a ton of scoring. 10-8 round for Shields. How strange is that? Round 3 – Shields landing some nice jabs early. Kicks form Shields as Henderson is looking to load up on the right hand. Single leg by Shields and Henderson sprawls well. Shields is winning the stand-up this round. Single leg again by Shields and this time he gets the takedown. Shields to side control and now knee on belly but back to side control. Now to mount and Shields looks for the guillotine but can’t finish. Shields landing a bunch of punches and now looking for an armbar and the round ends. 10-9 Shields. Round 4 – Right hand lands for Henderson and then Shields shoots but can’t get the takedown. Henderson looks pretty tired at this point. Henderson tries to scramble and Shields gets under his leg and finishes the takedown. Shields into mount yet again. Shields looking for an arm now. Shields out of mount, and right back into it. Shields rides out the rest of the round landing punches. 10-9 Shields again. Round 5– Shields with another takedown and right back to mount. This is…something else. Shields keeps mount and landing punches. Kimura attempt and Henderson avoids. Shields tries to take the back but can’t quite get there. Shields landing some more punches here. Kneebar attempt by Shields and the fight comes to an end. 10-8 Shields and I have the fight 48-44 for Shields. Official Scorecards: 49-46, 49-45, 48-45. Jake Shields wins by unanimous decision.