Strikeforce “Destruction” Results

Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN since 1995, and co-produced the first SHOWTIME pay-per-view MMA event in history with its world championship “Shamrock vs. Baroni” card on June 22, 2007. Last night was another great show with Strikeforce “Destruction” in San Jose, California

Strikeforce: “Destruction” Main Card Fight Recaps:

 

Joe “Diesel” Riggs defeats Luke Stewart via technical knockout in round two
This was a nice fight with Riggs just outclassing and outlasting Stewart.  Stewart looked to wear down a little in the second round and Riggs took advantage.  Riggs had Stewart backed up against the cage and in an exchange caught Stewart with a BIG right hook.  After the fight it looked as if  the right hook may have broken Stewart’s nose and Riggs commented in his post fight interview that he broke his left hand during the first exchange of the fight.

Kim Couture defeats Lina Kvokov via technical knockout (strikes) in round one
What a joke!  Honestly, I don’t even want to comment on this.  Lisa Kudrow, I mean Lina Kvokov didn’t even want to fight.  She spent the fight running from Couture with her head turned until the ref stepped in after seeing enough (he was more patient than I was watching it) then she sat in the cage crying – it was embarrassing for Strikeforce and for women MMA fighters in general.  This is exactly why Dana White doesn’t want to promote women’s MMA.

Duane “Bang” Ludwig defeats Yves Edwards by the way of a unanimous decision
Edwards had 4 takedowns compared to 2 takedowns from Ludwig but Ludwig outstrikes Edwards 59-26 earning him a unanimous decision (29-28).  This was a nice fight but lacked the fireworks I was expecting to see.  The two spent a fair amount of time on the ground and never really provided that “Bang” standing up.  Edwards seemed to fade down the stretch which winded up costing him the fight.  The fight was scored 2 rounds to 1 making that third round so crucial for the worn down Edwards.

Renato “Babalu” Sobral defeats Bobby Southworth via ref stoppage due to a cut at the end of the first round making him the new Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight Champion
Southworth took Babalu down early in the first round.  Other than the takedown it was a round full of hugging against the cage with Southworth dictating the fight until Babalu slipped out of the clinch and threw a left elbow opening a huge gash on the right eye of Southworth.  The cut came with around 20 seconds left in the round.  The fight was briefly stopped for the doctors to take a look at the cut before allowing Southworth to continue.  Southworth was happy to continue and ended the round with a right hand dropping Babalu.  In between rounds the fight was stopped.  Babalu was crowned the new Light Heavyweight Champion and took a moment to talk to Southworth (it appeared they were agreeing to a rematch).

Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith defeats Terry Martin by way of knockout 24 seconds into the first round
WOW! That didn’t take long.  Terry Martin got KTFO!  This fight was exactly what people were expecting, just a little faster than expected.  The bell rang, they touched gloves, each threw a couple of jabs, and then they started to exchange.  In the exchange it took just one right cross from Smith to crumble Terry Martin leaving him sleeping face first on the canvas.  There was no way the fight was going to go the distance but I wish it would have lasted a little longer than that.  If you didn’t know why they call him “Hands of Steel” now you know.