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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
STRIKEFORCE: NASHVILLE
APRIL 17, 2010
LIVE FROM NASHVILLE, TENN.
The opening video posted on the site earlier today opened up the show, quickly running down what's on tap for tonight's broadcast. Gus Johnson introduces the broadcast and talks about the night's card before bringing in Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock in as his broadcast team tonight to break down more of what to expect on the card tonight in the three Title fights.
FIGHT ONE: GEGARD MOUSASI VS. MUHAMMED "KING MO" LAWAL (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
-They showed a few seconds of King Mo's entrance with ring girls and his crown before going to commercial.
[Commercial Break]
-They're using the EA Sports MMA game to run down the keys in the cage for the fight. Better than the muscular skeletons, I guess.
ROUND ONE: King Mo comes out to the center and they both feel out the range early on here. Mousasi throws a high kick and it gets blocked. Mo walks him down and lands a combo. He swings wildly and Mousasi avoids the damage. King Mo grabs a single leg and Mousasi lands a ton of punches before Mo completes the takedown. Mousasi nearly locks in a triangle but King Mo gets out of it. Mo stays in Mousasi's guard and avoids some upkicks. He stands up and moves to side control. Mousasi gets him out of that position and lands an upkick as Mo stands back up. Mo throws his legs to the side and gets back down to the butterfly guard. Mousasi covers up and King Mo stands back up. Mousasi lands another upkick. King Mo tries to drop down with some big punches but Mousasi is covering up well. Mo gets in with a few punches on the ground and drops with some more. Mo stands up again and Mousasi motions to him to come down at him. Mousasi scrambles and works his way back to his feet. He lands a short flurry and sprawls. Mousasi lands a high kick and another flurry before Mo drops down for a double leg and completes the takedown. Mousasi gets back to his feet with ten seconds left. Mo lands an uppercut as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 King Mo. He had two takedowns and held the dominant position for awhile, but Mousasi can take punishment there's no doubt about that.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND TWO: King Mo gets another double leg takedown early in the round bit Mousasi moves to his knees. As he rolls to his back he lands some winging punches from his back. King Mo stands up again Mousasi lands some upkicks as Mo drops down to his half guard. Mousasi kicked him off again and landed a couple more upkicks. King Mo again tried to drop down with punches but Mousasi blocked it. Mousasi tags him with more punches from his back. Mousasi kicks him off and steps back to his feet. Mousasi lands a punch and King Mo takes him down again. Mousasi blocks Mo as he drops down and lands some more punches from his back. Mousasi landed some more upkicks as Mo tried to drop back down. Mousasi lands some more punches from his back, pushes Mo off and gets back to his feet. Mousasi got in close and King Mo took him down. Mousasi nearly had a triangle but Mo got out. Mousasi got back up to his feet and took Mo's back as time was running out in the round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Mousasi. He was taken down twice but did a lot more damage from his back.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND THREE: Mousasi walked Mo down early and landed a couple of punches. Mo tried to land a combo. Mousasi barely missed a big left hook> He pushed forward and landed a straight left. He tried to stay on him with punches and King Mo clinched. Mousasi pushed him to the cage. King Mo started winging punches and Mousasi was covering up well. King Mo then tripped him up and got another takedown. King Mo finally tried to posture up after a period of inactivity. Mousasi tries to kick him off and Mo drops back down. Mousasi tries to roll and King Mo lands some grazing shots. Mousasi is content to cover up right now and Mo is holding control. He lands some good punches from the top as Mousasi is just covering up. Mousasi rolls over to his side again. Mo drags him down and finishes the round throwing punches before Mousasi kicks him off.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 King Mo. He controlled more of the action on the ground, and Mousasi wasn't doing a whole lot.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND FOUR: Mousasi threw a few early kicks and King Mo pushed him back with a combo. He got in close and took Mousasi down again. Mousasi tried to land an upkick as Mo again tries to jump down. He rolls to a knee and Mo tried to land some more shots. He kicked him off and landed some up kicks as Mo dropped back down. Mousasi continued to cover up as Mo was throwing punches. Mousasi landed some more punches from the bottom and Big John McCarthy stood them up. Mo landed an uppercut and shot for a single leg. King Mo took Mousasi down again. He got to side control and landed a knee to the side. Mo postured up and landed another short combo on the ground. Mousasi lands some more punches from his back and King Mo stands up as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 King Mo. Mousasi's just not doing enough. He needs to finish this fight in this round or he's going to lose.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND FIVE: Mousasi stuffs a takedown and lands some hard jabs. King Mo then shoots in and gets a big takedown. Mousasi tries to kick Mo off. He lands some up kicks and King Mo drops back down. Mousasi throws some punches from the bottom but he needs to get back to his feet. Mousasi tries to land a couple more punches. Mousasi landed an upkick with Mo on his knees and Big John warned him and gave Mo time to recover. He took a point away from Mousasi. They restart them in the same position. Mousasi really needs to get back to his feet. Mousasi lands a few punches and another flurry as Molands a few more. Mo lands a punch and Mousasi lands another combo. Mo dropped back down with some punches. Mousasi lands some more punches and rolls to get back to his feet. Mo takes his back standing with a body lock. Mousasi got out and he's got just over a minute. He starts swinging for the fences and King Mo drops and takes him down again. Mousasi kicks him off and gets stood up. Mousasi lands a left. King Mo lands a left. Mo tags Mousasi with a punch and ends the round with a takedown.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 King Mo. Mousasi couldn't defend the takedown at all and had a point taken away. Lawal's eye is swollen shut but he still got multiple takedowns and Mousasi, while he did some damage, wasn't able to stay on his feet or really do much else. This was not a great fight.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Lawal via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-45)
[Commercial Break]
POST FIGHT: Lawal said he was getting careless and allowed Mousasi to hit him too much on the ground. He told the crowd they can go ahead and keep on booing him but he's going to keep on winning.
STAR RATING: (**-) That was not a great fight. Mousasi was landing a lot more on the ground, but he spent the entire fight on his back and wasn't able to do much on the feet. Despite stealing the second round with that, he didn't do much more than that. It was not a very good performance from Mousasi at all.
RAMIFICATIONS: Mousasi needs to work on his takedown defense. After seeing that performance, there are a ton of guys in the UFC that he would not be able to beat for that very reason. Mo's still got some holes, but his wrestling is something he can fall back on to win fights.
-Dan Henderson is interviewed backstage and says he doesn't feel any added pressure tonight. He talked about Shields style being slow, and said as a fan he'd like to see more of MMA in Shields style with striking. He says he plans on knocking Shields out.
[Commercial Break]
-There are still two fights left for tonight's event, and only an hour left in the broadcast. Looks like we're going over again tonight.
FIGHT TWO: GILBERT MELENDEZ VS. SHINYA AOKI (LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
PRE FIGHT: Melendez says he knows he can get his arm broken in this fight. Aoki says this is business as usual. Aoki said he broke Hirota's arm because he didn't tap out. Aoki said the fight won't even go two rounds. Melendez said he wants to prove he's one of the best out there.
ROUND ONE: Melendez takes the center of the cage. He lands a punch to the body. He comes in with another one and backs out. Aoki throws a kick and Melendez tosses him down but lets him back up. Melendez walks Aoki down and backs him up to the cage as Aoki circles around. Melendez lands another punch to the body but got a finger to the eye. The crowd is not liking the slowed action as Melendez is given time to recover. He wipes his eye on Mario Yamasaki's sleeve and he continues. Melendez lands a combo as Aoki drops to pull guard. He goes for a triangle but Melendez gets out and pushes Aoki to the cage. He got back up to his feet and made Aoki stand. Melendez landed another hard punch to the body. He walked Aoki down again on the cage. Aoki shot and Melendez sprawled. Aoki rolled to his back. Melendez dropped into Aoki's guard with a right. He landed two more and started landing some big punches to Aoki on the ground before Aoki scrambles and gets back to his feet. Aoki is just circling on the cage and Melendz is staying on him. Melendez lands a good combination. Aoki throws a kick and Melendez walks through it. Melendea lands another combination before the round comes to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Melendez. If he keeps this up he's going to be able to roll through this fight. He's tagging Aoki on the feet and got the better of things on the ground as well.
ROUND TWO: Aoki comes in for a leg kick but Melendez stalks him well at the beginning. Aoki shot in and Melendez shrugged him off as he tried to pull guard. Melendez lands some good right hooks on the ground. He lands another body punch and then backs off and forces Aoki to stand. Melendez continues to stalk. Aoki pops Melendez with a left but Melendez stays on him. He lands a combination against the cage. Melendez is still tentative here. He pops in with a combo and Aoki sends him back with a knee. Melendez lands another combo on the cage as Aoki tries to circle out. Aoki lands a knee but Melendez stays on him. Melendez is staying in the center. Aoki shot in and pulled guard and Melendez landed a few punches. He tags Aoki with a quick right and backs out of the guard. They get stood up. Melendez stays on Aoki. He lands a big right as Aoki tries to pull guard again. He lands another right and a shoulder to the face against the cage as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Melendez. More of the same from Melendez here. He's controlling the pace and doing more damage on the feet and the ground.
ROUND THREE: Aoki tries to shoot and Melendez sprawled nicely and kept Aoki off and stepped away. He then came back and dropped a right into Aoki's guard. Aoki held control of Melendez's wrists. Melendez dropped a left and then backed off he dropped in with a right and they got stood up. Melendez walked Aoki down and sprawled on another takedown attempt. The crowd booed as Melendez dropped to a knee and landed a punch. They got stood up again. Aoki dropped to guard again and Melendez landed a right. Melendez landed a left. He landed another left. The crowd is not liking this fight either. Melendez lands a number of right hands. He keeps teeing off the rights to the body and the face. They get stood up again with 30 seconds left in the round. Melendez lands a flurry and Aoki gets in a knee. They end the round standing off.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Melendez. Aoki's not doing much of anything in this fight, as he just keeps trying to pull guard.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND FOUR: Melendez lands a couple of right hands early. Aoki comes in and pulls guard again. Melendez lands few rights and then stands back up. Melendez lands another right and Aoki again tried to pull guard. Melendez walked him down again and landed another right. AOki tried to pull guard again and Melendez dropped him with a knee to the body. Melendez with another right to the body. Melendez got in close with another combo. Aoki shot in again, got sprawled and tried to pull guard. Melendez walked Aoki down some more as he tried to circle on the cage. Melendez landed another body punch. This is just another highly disappointing fight right now. Aoki shot in and tried to pull guard. As Aoki was butt scooting Melendez dropped down with a right as Mario Yamasaki was halting to force Aoki to stand. Melendez dropped Aoki with a shot as they restarted and got into the butterfly guard. He landed a couple of punches as Aoki grabbed wrist control. Melendez stood up and landed a couple of kicks as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Melendez. Clean sweep for the Champ thus far, Aoki's offering no challenge.
[Commercial Break]
ROUND FIVE: Melendez landed an early right. They just said Melendez has out struck Aoki 102-15 tonight. Aoki shot in again and tried to pull guard. He got poked in the eye and was given time to recover. He can restart. Aoki pulled guard again and Melendez shoved him to the cage. Melendez landed some body punches. He postured up and landed some right hands. He stood up and made Aoki stand again. Melendez landed a good right as Aoki circled some more around the cage. This is just not good here again tonight. Highly disappointing so far. Aoki tried to pull guard as he had another takedown attempt stuffed. Melendez landed a right. Aoki again had a takedown stuffed and successfully pulled guard, but Melendez stood up. Melendez started circling and stuffed another takedown attempt as Aoki dropped to his back. This is just a joke here. Melendez pushes in and drops a hammer fist on Aoki as Aoki pulls guard again. Melendez landed a few punches and sent Aoki to the ground with a flurry as the round came to an end. Good finish for Melendez to a fight that wasn't very good.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Melendez. Aoki did nothing in this fight. At all. That was just a terrible performance from the supposed "second best lightweight," and Melendez just outclassed him tonight.
[Commercial Break]
WINNER: Melendez via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
POST FIGHT: Melendez said he knew he couldn't make any mistakes in the fight. He said he wished he could pull the trigger more but Aoki was dangerous on the ground. He said hopefully he'll get some love now.
[Commercial Break]
STAR RATING: (**-) Another highly underwhelming fight on this card. Aoki was 0-18 on takedown attempts, and though there were small spurts of excitement from Melendez the fight as a whole was just not anywhere near what people were hoping to see. Aoki's standing in the lightweight division seriously needs to be reconsidered after that.
RAMIFICATIONS: That's the biggest win of Melendez's career, and he could very well challenge a lot of the lightweights in the UFC. Seeing that I think Aoki wouldn't fare much better against a lot of the UFC lightweights than he did in this fight.
-They showed highlights of Jason "Mayhem" Miller's TKO victory on the undercard. They announced a bout against Robbie Lawler for June 16 in Los Angeles.
[Commercial Break]
MAIN EVENT FIGHT THREE: DAN HENDERSON VS. JAKE SHIELDS (MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)
PRE FIGHT: Henderson said he's got more goals to accomplish. Shields said he's fighting one of his heroes. Henderson said knowing what he's about to do makes him smile because he loves his job. Shields said the fight is business and he's going for the win.
ROUND ONE: Shields lands a couple of early kicks. Henderson drops Shields with a right hand and tries to pounce. Shields grabs for a leg lock and Henderson has to slow it down. He gets out and stands back up. Shields threw a half hearted kick and Henderson sends him back with a punch to the body. Henderson lands another combo and sends Shields to the cage. Shields drops down but Dan makes him get back up. He drops Shields again with an uppercut and starts unleashing punches. He stops and lets Shields stand. Henderson pushes him to the cage. He backs away and stalks him down. Shields lands a right but Henderson comes forward. He lands a right and clinches on the cage. They get separated. Shields throws a kick. Henderson is not afraid of Shields' stand up at all. Shields shoots in for a single leg and Shields counters it and gets back to his feet. He lands some nasty knees to the ribs on the cage. The round ends with them trading punches.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Henderson. Shields impressed with surviving that first right hand, but he is so overmatched in this fight.
ROUND TWO: Henderson stuffs a couple of early takedowns and nearly gets Shields' back, but Shields rolls over and gets to his half guard. Shields moves to side control and gets mount. Shields postures up and lands a couple of punches. Shields keeps trying to work the position. Henderson covers up and Shields stays on him. Henderson gets back to half guard. Shields moves back to the mount and lands some more punches. Shields lands some punches from the top as Henderson lands a few punches from the bottom. Shields is putting a beating on Henderson right now! Shields is really putting the beating on in the mount here. The punches are not that powerful, but he's tagging him with a ton of punches. Henderson gets to the cage and gets back to half guard. Shields landed some more punches to the body and the head as the round was winding down. Great round from Shields.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Shields. He had the mount for nearly three minutes and put on a ton of punishment in the position.
ROUND THREE: Shields walked Hendo down early. He shot in for a takedown and Henderson held it off and got to his feet nicely. Shields threw a leg kick and a left. Henderson landed a right. Shields shot in for a single leg again and got Henderson to the ground. He completed the takedown into Henderson's guard. Shields tried to pass and got to half guard. Shields moved to half guard. He put his knee on the gut of Henderson to pass to mount but Henderson got him to half guard. Shields got back to side control. Henderson got it back to half guard as Shields keeps working. Shields landed some short punches. Shields moved back to the mount again. Henderson tried to kick off the cage and Shields landed some big shots in the mount as the round wound to the end. Shields grabbed for an armbar but the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Shields. This is incredible right now. I can't believe Shields is dominating this much of the fight.
ROUND FOUR: Henderson lands a couple of leg kicks and scrambles nicely on the first takedown attempt from Shields. Shields shoots in again. Henderson tries to scramble and Shields stayed on him to keep him on the ground. He got in side control against the cage. Shields tried to move back to the mount and landed a couple of punches on Henderson. He got back to the mount again. This is insane. Shields moved over to side control and grabbed an arm. He let it go as he didn't have a good grip. Henderson tried to scramble and Shields stayed on him in half guard, landing some punches. Shields stepped over to the mount again and landed some more punches. Shields keeps landing punches in the mount. Henderson gave up his back briefly but turned over and Shields kept landing punches in the mount. Shields continued to land punches from the mount as the round came to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Shields. So much for him being overmatched. Holy hell, if he just survives this round he wins this fight. This is quite impressive.
ROUND FIVE: Henderson looks for the big right hand early, but Shields holds him off and gets another takedown. He moves to side control easily. He gets to the mount again. The crowd is booing for some reason. Shields lands some more punches and stays in control of Henderson. I just can't believe this is happening. He lands some more punches to Henderson. Henderson gets back to half guard and Shields went for a kimura but lost it. He got back to the full mount and landed some more short punches. Henderson tries to get out and Henderson stays on him. He lands some more punches. Shields tries to go for the arm triangle choke but can't get it locked on. Shields nearly takes Hendrson's back but Henderson turns back and Shields stays in mount. Shields goes for an armbar late and then goes for a knee bar as time runs out. The crowd boos as the fight ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Shields. This is unbelievable, but Shields dominated Dan Henderson for four rounds of that fight. I think Dana White's going to come calling after that performance.
WINNER: Shields via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-45, 48-45)
POST FIGHT: Shields got interrupted by Jason "Mayhem" Miller who said "where's my rematch" and a freaking riot broke out with Shields' camp swinging punches and kicks to Miller. Wow, way to show professionalism on national television, Strikeforce. This has just been one of the most surreal nights of MMA ever.
[Commercial Break]
STAR RATING: (***) That was a hell of an upset by Jake Shields, and it was an absolutely dominating performance from the second round on. I don't know that Henderson's ever been dominated position-wise like that, and it was highly impressive from Shields tonight.
-They bring Shields back cageside and he said it was out of his character. Shields said he wanted to put more in. Shields apologized for his action. Mauro Ranallo is trying to sneak back into camera view awkwardly. Frank Shamrock said he wasn't a fan of Shields before tonight, but he is now. Ranallo said what Miller just did was disgusting. Wow, what a strange end to a bad night for Strikeforce overall. With Shields possibly on his way out and two other boring fights on the card this was just not a good night for Strikeforce, and they're going to have a tough sell to get back to CBS when they went 40 minutes over the allotted time.
-That's another event in the books for Strikeforce, and it was just a strange, strange night. We'll have plenty more on this tomorrow on the website and during our Sunday Conversation livecast from 2-4PM ET on BlogTalkRadio.com. Thanks for joining us tonight, and join us tomorrow for even more!
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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