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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS 15: WILCOX VS. DAMM
APRIL 1, 2011
LIVE FROM STOCKTON, CALIF.
Mauro Ranallo runs down the five fight card before appearing on camera to introduce the show. Pat Miletich and Stephen Quadros round out the announce team as they do with all Challengers cards. This is the first Strikeforce event under Zuffa ownership, but there's no discernible difference for the Showtime controlled broadcast.
FIGHT ONE: DAMION DOUGLAS VS. WAYNE PHILLIPS (WELTERWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Phillips took the center. Douglas engaged and landed a short strike before they tied up. Phillips tried to throw Douglas with a headlock but Douglas countered and got on top into Phillips' guard. Phillips stayed active on the ground. Douglas pressed him to the cage, stood up to avoid a triangle and then got Phillips' back in a scramble. He tried to lock on a chok but Phillips got out and to his feet. They separated and squared off again. Douglas threw a couple of punches and they got in close again in the clinch. Phillips went for a headlock and gave up his back standing. Douglas took him down with a double leg, and then got to Phillips' back again. Phillips was on his knees, though and got back to his feet. Douglas landed a couple of good punches as they stood up. He blocked a head kick and landed a couple of punches. Douglas landed a few body punches and ate a right counter. Douglas swung heavily and landed a good right, but he's slowing and looking tired here. Phillips landed a hard kick to the body. Phillips landed an inside leg kick. Douglas is very tired. He tried to get in close again, Phillips grabbed a body lock and took Douglas down. Dougles grabbed for a kimura and scrambled. Phillips took his back standing in the scramble and dropped back with a tight rear naked choke and nearly finished it, but Douglas was saved by the bell.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Phillips. He stole it in the last minute and a half. Douglas was ahead for the first few minutes, but he got a takedown late and was much closer to finishing the fight than Douglas there.
ROUND TWO: Douglas is exhausted. Phillips landed a couple of early strikes. Phillips pressed in and tried for a takedown. Douglas grabbed for a guillotine choke and it looked tight, but Phillips popped out and into Douglas' guard. He stood up and tried to pass, but Phillips kept him in half guard. Phillips landed a couple of strikes. We get the first reminder from the announcers that they're allowed to use elbows with the implementation of the unified rules now. It's something Phillips should be doing here but he's not. Douglas grabbed for a kimura but couldn't get it loose. Josh Rosenthal then stood them up as Phillips wasn't doing anything on top. Phillips landed a couple of knees standing after Douglas threw a punch. They exchanged strikes. Both are really tired here. Douglas pushed in with a couple of punches. Phillips landed another knee. Douglas landed a left hook and an uppercut. Phillips landed a left to the jaw. Douglas landed a right. They squared off as the round ended.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Phillips. Douglas is exhausted here, but Phillips isn't doing a ton even with that fact.
ROUND THREE: Phillips began stalking but Douglas landed a body punch first. Phillips missed a punch and Douglas countered with a few strikes. Phillips shot in and was shrugged off. Douglas came forward with a couple of punches. Phillips missed on a few more strikes. Douglas landed a few more. He may need to finish though as he's likely down two. Phillips is as tired as Douglas now. The crowd booed. Douglas landed a three punch combo. Phillips stalked to the boos of the crowd. Douglas landed a right. He got in a left and a short combo. Douglas continued backing up and then landed a short combo. Again Douglas unloaded with strikes. Phillips isn't doing anything in this round. He's stalking, but Douglas continues landing punches. Douglas continued backing up and the crowd booed, but Douglas then popped in with a combo. Another short combo. Douglas landed a right. Douglas landed another combo and he started dancing around. Phillips landed a right. Douglas started showboating after a few strikes. Close fight that will come down to the first round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Douglas. He landed a bunch of shots while Phillips did nothing but walk forward. However, if Phillips did enough to steal the first then Douglas needed to finish that one.
WINNER: Douglas via majority decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)*
POST FIGHT: Douglas was booed by the crowd. He said that's how pros look when they fight. He said he felt he was more aggressive, did more damage and controlled him on the ground.
STAR RATING: (*) I don't have a problem with the decision at all, this simply wasn't a good fight. The first round was close, with Douglas winning the first three minutes or so, then gassing out completely and nearly getting finished in the waning seconds. Still, him taking the first round makes sense. I don't see how he won the second, but regardless, the fight wasn't good at all.
(* - The cage announcer read the result as a majority decision, but that sure looks like a split to me with those scores)
FIGHT TWO: JAMES TERRY VS. JOSH THORNBURG (165 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Thornburg landed a right early. He landed an outside leg kick. Terry landed a hard overhand right. He's moving in and out from the center. He threw an overhand right again but missed. A head kick shortly thereafter missed as well. Terry landed the right. Terry landed a leg kick. He backed away from a charging Thornburg. Terry got in with a right again, then a short two punch combo. Terry with a couple more kicks. Terry's getting in and out with his strikes nicely and is avoiding counters from Thornburg. Terry landed a right, ducked and landed a head kick. He's lighting Thornburg up on the feet right now. Another combo from Terry landed. Terry landed a hard two punch combo and backed out. Thornburg landed a left that opened a cut to the side of Terry's right eye. Terry with another combo. Terry landed a leg kick. He's slowed down his attack as the round wore on. Thornburg landed a right to the body. Terry with another hard two punch combo and then another leg. Terry then landed a huge overhand right to the jaw and Thornburg crashed to the canvas and he was out cold. The ref stepped right in and stopped any unnecessary damage. Hell of a knockout. Thornburg took the fight on short notice and Terry just picked him completely apart. Nasty knockout, and good job on the ref for getting in there right away.
WINNER: Terry via KO at 4:38 of the first round
POST FIGHT: Terry said he was very glad he was able to finish the fight as it's been his achilles heel in the past. Terry called out someone from MTV's Jersey Shore.
STAR RATING: (**+) One-sided fight ending in spectacular fashion. Terry was too fast and too good with his striking for Thornburg on short notice, and that was a sick knockout finish. Terry looked very good in that fight.
FIGHT THREE: SCOTT LIGHTY VS. LORENZ LARKIN (LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Lighty circled early. He threw a couple of early kicks. Larkin landed a left hook. He tried for a jumping roundhouse but it didn't connect. He then landed a left kick. Lighty landed an inside leg kick. Larkin kept Lighty on the outside as he bounced in the center. Lighty went for a leg kick and Larkin tripped him up with a kick. He landed a couple of strikes on the cage as Lighty got back up. Larkin with a big body kick. He's landing with hard strikes here. Larkin landed a left hook. He switched stances and continued moving forward. He threw a left uppercut but missed. He got pressed back with a right from Lighty. He then landed a head kick but Larkin took it. Larkin landed a hard leg kick. Larkin went back to stalking from the center. They traded kicks. Larkin landed a short right. He landed another hard leg kick. Lighty missed a high kick. Larkin landed a hard push kick and bounced him off the cage. Larkin landed a huge left hook. He pounced and started landing some hard shots against the cage and he dropped Lighty. Lighty took the strikes and managed to get to his feet and came back forward. He landed a hard left. They traded punches. Lighty landed a body kick and a right before the round ended. Good round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Larkin. He found his rhythm a couple minutes in and did a lot of damage in the round, but Lighty delivered some good punches and kicks of his own, and impressively survived that first round.
ROUND TWO: Lighty came out moving forward. Larkin landed a hard body kick and a short uppercut. His strikes are just landing with a lot more force. He landed a hard leg kick. Lighty shot in and Larkin shook him off and landed a big right on the cage. Lighty ran away as Larkin chased him down. Larkin landed a right and a left and dropped into Lighty's half guard against the cage. He stood and landed a hard right. Lighty got his back to the cage and grabbed for a single leg and managed to get to his feet. He landed a left. Larkin blocked a couple of punches. Lighty landed a few nice body shots. Larkin began moving in. He landed a few punches and had a high kick blocked. Larkin landed a kick but he's tiring. Lighty moved forward. He landed a short combo that was partially blocked. Larkin ate a few punches. He hurt Lighty with a left uppercut. Larking dropped him with another uppercut and landed a few more strikes on the ground and the ref quickly stepped in to stop it.
WINNER: Larkin via TKO at 3:15 of the second round
POST FIGHT: Larkin said he wanted to test himself. He didn't want to take it to the ground, he didn't want to come in there and lose and said fans are going to see a lot more from him.
STAR RATING: (**+) That fight was a lot of fun. The first round was excellent with both fighters getting in some hard strikes, but that fight was mostly Larkin. He was simply landing with much more force and doing a lot more damage throughout, and it led to the finish. Good debut for him in Strikeforce, especially considering he stepped in on a week's notice.
FIGHT FOUR: DAVID DOUGLAS VS. CAROS FODOR (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Douglas landed an early knee to the body as Fodor grabbed a body lock and pressed him to the cage. Douglas held off the first takedown attempt and ate a knee to the body. Douglas finally broke free briefly and landed a series of strikes. Fodor held onto him, though, and Douglas landed some more strikes against the cage. Douglas landed a couple of knees. Fodor landed one of his own. He tried for a trip takedown and Douglas countered and got on top. Fodor gave up his back and pulled off a nice escape and they both got back to their feet. Fodor went right back to the clinch and landed a nice knee. Douglas gave it right back to him with a few knees of his own. They exchanged knees to the body once again. Good clinch work from both guys. Douglas tried to move in for a shot. Fodor tried to drop for a guillotine but didn't have it locked on. He got off his back and into a sprawl on Douglas. He then rolled Douglas over and got into Douglas' half guard. He landed an elbow, then a body shot. He went back to elbows and forearms. He's doing some nice ground and pound work with the elbows. He stepped back and landed a hard right. Fodor grabbed for a kimura from side control. Douglas held onto his own shorts to save his arm and Fodor gave it up and ended the round in side control.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Fodor. He controlled the grappling overall, and overtook the last two minutes with the takedown and some good ground and pound.
ROUND TWO: Fodor got Douglas down early, though he gave up on a guillotine attempt from the top and got into Douglas' guard. Douglas rolled to his knees and then scrambled to his feet. Fodor landed a nice knee to the body and got right back to the clinch. Another knee to the body landed. Douglas caught a knee and took Fodor down, though he was caught in a guillotine. Fodor rolled him over with the hold but lost it, although he kept going and transitioned into the mount. He landed a couple of elbows as he postured up in the mount. Fodor postured up and rained down a bunch of punches on Douglas, who rolled to his side. He landed a hard right. Douglas got him back into half guard. Fodor landed a left. Douglas briefly got the full guard, but Fodor got to side control. The crowd was booing the ground work for some reason. Douglas tried to get guard back but only got half guard. More boos from the crowd as Fodor landed a few more elbows. Douglas regained guard as the round came to an end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Fodor. Douglas didn't do anything, and Fodor did damage, had a couple of submission attempts and held positional control throughout the round.
ROUND THREE: Fodor walked forward and landed a few punches. He got in close and lit Douglas up against the cage and clinched. He landed a couple of knees. Fodor started throwing knees to the thighs and then landed one to the body. Fodor then landed a couple to the head and Douglas is just getting beat up here. More knees landed by Fodor on the cage. Douglas is just holding on to Fodor's wrist, but he's eating tons of knees. He let it go and Fodor landed a series of uppercuts and knees and Douglas is just sitting there. Fodor with more knees and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight as Douglas wasn't defending anything against the cage. That was probably the right call there. Douglas stopped defending, and although he was still on his feet he was getting beat up pretty badly there against the cage. Good performance from Fodor.
WINNER: Fodor via TKO at 2:12 of the third round
POST FIGHT: Fodor apologized for conserving energy and not finishing the fight earlier when he had openings.
STAR RATING: (**+) Fodor looked very good throughout that fight. Douglas gassed early, and pretty much got beat up from there on out. The ref made the right call with the stoppage there, as Douglas was just getting hurt and not defending anything. He wasn't out, but he was absolutely done. Second round also could have been scored 10-8 with how dominant Fodor really was. Would probably change that looking back on it.
MAIN EVENT FIGHT FIVE: JUSTIN WILCOX VS. RODRIGO DAMM (LIGHTWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: There is a major delay after the announcements as Josh Rosenthal is waiting for a cageside doctor. Come on CSAC. Damm is bouncing at the center of the cage and the crowd is getting restless. This is freaking ridiculous right now. There's been a two minute delay here with Josh Rosenthal standing in the center and both fighters ready to go. This is completely unprofessional on the part of the CSAC and the announcers rightfully call them out. I've never seen anything like this. Finally the fight gets underway. Unbelievable. Wilcox moved forward looking to throw the right. Wilcox slipped on a head kick but got back up. Damm landed a hard outside leg kick. Wilcox moved in and rocked Damm with a head kick. He landed another one and Damm tried to shoot. Wilcox sprawled. Damm got back to his feet and tried to circle away from Wilcox, who kept chasing him down. Damm landed a couple strikes as Wilcox tried to chase him down. Wilcox threw another high kick and Damm turned to make it hit him in the back. Damm continued inexplicably circling to his left, right into the power of Wilcox. He's just backing off and Wilcox is just following. He threw the head kick again and then dropped Damm with a huge right. Damm recovered on the ground though. He scrambled and tried to grab a leg. Wilcox pushed him backward to the cage and he just pressed Damm's head to the ground. He dropped into half guard and landed some punches. Damm got to his knees and Wilcox stayed patient. He landed a knee to the body and a right to the face. Damm is getting beat up. Wilcox landed some right uppercuts. Damm scrambled again and Wilcox backed off. Damm just stayed on his knees and Wilcox came back in and dropped down another punch. Wilcox finished the round on top of Damm.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Wilcox. I don't know how Damm took that beating in that round. His corner should seriously consider calling it a night, he's going to get hurt.
-Nevermind, as I write that, the doctor's stop the fight in between rounds. Good call. Damm got beat up badly in that round.
WINNER: Wilcox via TKO (doctor's stoppage) at 5:00 of the first round
POST FIGHT: Wilcox referred to himself in the third person and said it's dangerous that they let him use elbows now.
STAR RATING: (**+) Another highly impressive performance from Justin Wilcox. Damm had no answer for him, and he just lit him up with his punches, knees, kicks and elbows. Great performance and a nice cap off to a highly enjoyable event (once you get past the first fight).
-That's another event in the books. Thanks for joining us here tonight, check back with us tomorrow as our own Alvin Carter will bring live in-person coverage of Bellator 39 from the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and then it's time to look forward to the first major Strikeforce card under Zuffa management when they return to Showtime next Saturday night with two title fights and Keith Jardine's Zuffa return as he steps in for the injured Mike Kyle to face Gegard Mousasi.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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