Strikeforce: ShoMMA (Live Coverage)

Live is good at the Savemart Center here in Fresno, CA. All of this coverage is live. The event is headlined by Billy Evangelista (9-0) vs. Mike Aina (12-6-1) and a top women’s bout between Meisha Tate (6-1) and the undefeated stud-ess Sarah Kaufman (8-0) who’s posted eight straight finishes by strikes. Also set to appear: Lavar Johnson (11-3) and veteran Bao Quach (15-9-1)

Spencer Herns (American Kickboxing Academy, pro-debut) vs. Chad Sutton (Fresno Kickboxing Academy, 2-1) – Middleweight Bout

The AKA student Herns emerges with Josh Koscheck while the mohawk Sutton enters with some local instructors.

Herns weighted in at 186.6, a little bit over the middleweight limit of 185+1. Sutton, the favored son, is largely expected to run through Herns, and the crowd is largely behind him. Herns looks angry, and in much better shape than his opponent.

Round 1

Sutton lands two hard kicks and then attempts a takedown, but Herns rolls out of the attempt and back to his feet. Sutton pins him against the cage and the two trade knees before Sutton lands a good takedown, but Herns gets quickly back to his feet. Sutton gets another takedown, landing in the halfguard of Herns. The two are stood up after a long period without progress. Herns lands a few hard punches and Sutton shoots, landing in the closed guard. The round ends with a Sutton on top.

Score: (10-9 Sutton)

Round 2

Good leg kick from Herns to open the first. Sutton shoots, but is stuffed pointedly, twice, and Herns ends up on top. Sutton looks for a sweep, but barely gets his back off of the ground before Herns drops his weight back down. Herns strikes ineffectively from inside the guard until the two are stood up. The crowd isn’t booing, but is restless. Both fighters look tired, Herns dropping his hands and Sutton clearly worried about getting hit. Sutton shoots, Herns reverses and gets the takedown. The round ends with Herns on top.

Score: (10-9 Herns)

Round 3

Good leg kick from Herns, who seems more energetic than Sutton, who looks concerned about his opponent’s hands. The fighters circle, boring the fans, who start to heckle and boo. Sutton smiles, but doesn’t throw anything. Herns opens up with combos that look like shadowboxing, but then comes in and lands a hard shot. Sutton responds by attempting a takedown, but even though he catches a leg, the two end up on the cage. Herns reverses and ends up on top and the fight ends shortly afterwards.

Score: (10-9 Herns) Final: (29-28 Herns)

Decision: The fans boo as the decision comes in. Spencer Herns wins by Majority Decision. I don’t know who the hell scored the first fight a draw, but they should be shot.

Torrance Taylor (7-5-1) vs. Fabricio Camoes (9-4) – Lightweight Bout

Taylor enters to heavy metal and a more-or-less silent crowd. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu representative Fabricio “Morango” Camoes enters to old school Brazilian drum beats and looks focused. The crowd is still silent, as there’s no real local talent in this bout, but it looks to be an easy fight. My early pick is the 9-4 Brazilian, but that’s based purely on nationality, style and record, so anything can happen. Herb Dean, rocking the TapouT shoes, will be the referee.

Round 1

The two come out and move. Taylor misses with a leg kick, but the Brazilian lands a hard right. The two move and exchange punches before clinching, which is clearly what Morango wants. Taylor pummles and puts Morango against the cage. Taylor looks for a takedown, but Morango moves to the back and lands a huge slam to establish control of the position. He sinks the hooks in quickly and while Taylor attempts to roll, the Brazilian takes the mount and delivers blows. His opponent tries to buck, but the punches just keep coming. Taylor gives up the back, but Morango keeps the punches coming. And back to the mount for a second, until the Brazilian rolls in to catch a choke, forcing his opponent to tap.

Decision: Fabricio Camoes by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:21 of the first round. The announcer pronounces his name “Fah-bri-koh,” but the Brazilians don’t seem to care.

Ousmane Thomas Diagne (Pro Debut) vs. Kaleo Kwan (7-9) – Lightweight Bout

The veteran Hawaiian Kwan makes his way to the cage to heavy metal. Diagne is introduced purely as “Thomas Diagne” and looks incredibly relaxed for a debuting fighter.

Round 1

The two emerge and while Diagne’s stance looks weird, he’s a Cung Le student, so that might be why. Neither really throw anything effective as the round begins. Diagne opens up with some hard punches forcing the Hawaiian to shoot, but the shot fails. Diagne lands a hard spinning back kick, then a roundhouse to the body.  The Hawaiian looks for another takedown, but is stuffed. Diagne lands a lead left hook during an inactive stalking period, then throws a few more vicious kicks. Definitely a Cung Le student.

Score: (10-9 Diagne)

Round 2

Diagne opens with a hard superman punch, but it doesn’t land. Follows with a hard spinning back kick to the body, which lands. The fighters continue to circle, with Kwan looking clearly afraid to engage. Diagne lands a vicious high kick and follows with short strikes. Kwan lands two jabs. Diagne lands a body kick. It’s clear that Diagne’s reach disadvantage is helping as he lands another body kick. Kwan charges forward, but lands nothing. He shoots for a takedown as the round ends.

Score: (10-9 Diagne)

Round 3

Kwan comes out hard and the two trade, but Diagne doesn’t look worried, using brutal punches. Diagne comes in hard with a flying knee, confident that he’s getting the best of these exchanges. Diagne lands another flying knee, this time with the thai plum on. Kwan seems to have given up on trading aggressive, hurt by the exchanges he lost earlier in the round. Diagne continue to pick him apart with the jab. Diagne lands an unblocked headkick, but Kwan is still standing, and charges forward, landing a few blows as the two tie up in the thai clinch. Diagne looks a little bit hurt. The clinch drops to Greco-Roman, with Kwan against the cage. The two break and Kwan looks to brawl, devastating Diagne with his hands. The round ends with Diagne hurt, but it looks like too little too late.

Score: (10-9 Kwan) which gives us (29-28 Diagne). The guy sitting in front of me suggests it might be 10-8, but since Diagne did far more damage at the beginning of the round, I don’t think the late flurry will do much.

Decision: The decision is unanimous in favor of Diagne.

Cody Canterbury (1-3-1) vs. Ben Holscher (1-0) – 160 Pound Bout

Canterbury enters to silence while Holscher, a local schoolteacher and former wrestler, enters to huge applause. I have a strong suspicion that the weight class was organized specifically for Holscher, who is a huge local draw. Canterbury is largely ignored by the fans, while Ben “The Teacher” Holscher (introduced that way, no joke) gets huge applause. Herb Dean is set to ref this one.

Round 1

The taller, learner Holscher quickly takes the center of the ring and uses the jab, but is caught with a counter. He shoots in and almost slams his opponent, but Canterbury keeps his hips out and locks in a guillotine. Holscher takes him down, but remains in the guillotine as he strikes the ribs from the half guard. Holscher moves to pass, and breaks loose of the guillotine, taking the back. He delivers blows from the back as his opponent sits on his knees, covering his head. Holscher continues to deliver punishment as he works to open up Canterbury, and locks in a rear naked choke to get the tap.

Decision: Ben “The Teacher” Holscher takes it home at 2:47 of the first round with a rear naked choke.

Now we’re sitting, waiting on the live show to get rolling. All of the prefight stuff takes a while, but they’re going to look to get into the fights pretty soon, I think. The Frausto vs. Vilche undercard bouts seems to have been postponed til later, so we’ll see what happens with that. Up next, though, is almost certainly Bao Quach vs. Tito Jones.

Bao Quach (15-9-1) vs. Tito Jones (6-2) – Featherweight Bout

The promo-reels play as we get the show underway. Tito Jones makes his way to the cage as a light smoke machine (which is good, because the heavy stuff kills fighters’ breathing) gets rolling. Jones looks physically cut and mentally calm as he steps into the cage. The 29 year old Bao Quach, with his many-times broken nose, appears onscreen as the spotlights go red and Quach emerges from the back.

Round 1

The fighters come out and don’t touch gloves. There’s a brief exchange, but nothing major lands. The two circle, very tense in the change. The crowd boos until the two trade kicks, but they quickly go back to circling. Solid leg kick for Quach. He circles out, and then lands two more solid shots to the outer thigh. The crowd boos more as the fighters circle. Quch continues to drop audible leg kicks, and then lands a hard body shot. Jones initiates a clinch and pins Quach against the cage. Quach throws knees as the round ends. The fans boo as the fighters go back to their corners.

Score: (10-9 Quach)

Round 2

Quach misses a kick, and the two avoid engagement. Tito moves forward, looking to take control, but backs off when Bao fakes kicks. Another leg kick scores for Bao. Jones lands a quick punch combination. Chants of “You Suck” start to pick up in the corner of the arena.  Another leg kick for Bao, but not a devastating one. The two exchange, and Jones gets the better. Bao throws a push kick, and Jones responds with short punches and his own push kick, but nothing lands. Bao reaches with a right hook and misses. Bao drops another leg kick, and Jones taps his thigh. Bao lands another as the boos pick up and we get into the final minute of the round. Another leg kick for Bao, but not impressive.

Score: (10-9 Quach) Really unimpressive fight for both fighters.

Round 3

The round opens and the fighters look to throw a little bit. Jones lands a vicious punch that stuns Bao, then lands a right that puts him to the mat. He pounces into the half guard, but can’t finish. Bao stands up and clearly retreats, with a sizeable cut on his nose. Jones lands another shot and Bao shoots, but is stuffed. Jones lets Bao retreat, moving in. Bao lands another leg kick and starts to get back into it. He throws a high kick and falls to the mat. Clearly, he’s still rocked. Tito throws a side kick, but it doesn’t land. Bao looks to move forward as we approach the one minute mark. The two mix it up, but nothing lands. Another leg kick lands for Quach, but those aren’t going to help him win the bout. Quach moves forward as Jones lands a jab, keeping his lead hand extended.

Score: (10-9 Jones) which gives me a final of 29-28 in favor of Quach, but either of the first two rounds is debatable. The third round is decisive.

Decision: Yup, I figured the first two went to Quach and the judges agree. The crowd boos vigorously, and we can’t hear Bao at all. People are pissed, as he was knocked out twice, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Anthony Ruiz (21-12) vs. Aaron Rosa (11-2) – Lightheavyweight Bout

Rosa and Ruiz both enter to prepare for a battle. Ruiz is the California native fighting out of Coarsegold, and will probably have the fans support. He’s also the veteran, but Rosa is no joke.  The Texan Rosa looks relaxed in the cage while Ruiz enters to huge fan support. Ruiz is relaxed, too, as Vaseline is applied to the face. Ruiz receives a huge cheer and Rosa is bood as their names are called.

Round 1

Both fighters mix it up, with Ruiz delivering the hard opener, and then clinching. Rosa’s back is against the cage as Ruiz applies pressure, but Rosa counters effectively with the knees. Rosa breaks the clinch and lands a hard right before dropping down to look for a single, but doesn’t get much and ends up back in the clinch. Ruiz throws body shots, but does little, and then re-shoots, but gets nothing. Rosa reverses, putting his opponent against the cage, and then slams Ruiz to the canvas, landing in side control. Rosa quickly takes the back and starts to rain down punishment as Ruiz rolls to give the mount, and then rolls back again. Rosa locks on a right body triangle and stars to work for the choke as we get into the final minute of the round. Ruiz tries to tap, but can’t find a surface to tap on, so he goes unconscious and the ref stops the bout, as he looks up at the ceiling. Rosa wins by rear naked choke.

Decision: Aaron Rosa takes it by rear naked choke at 4:29 of the first round.

Lavar Johnson (11-3) vs. Carl Seufmanutafa (4-2) – Heavyweight Bout

The 25 year old Seufmanutafa (who’s name I have copied so I can paste it in) will take on fellow Californian “Big” Lavar Johnson. As Carl makes his way to the cage, he looks calm, despite the fact that his opponent, being from the valley, will probably be the fan favorite. Seufmanutafa replaced George Bush III not to long out from this fight, but looks prepared. Video of Lavar with his son pops up on the screen as the crowd cheers, and they continue as he makes his way to the cage.

Seufmanutafa weight in at 250.5 pounds and stands 6’1. He is heartily bood by the Central Valley crowd. Johnson receives ear-drum busting cheers as he is introduced, but I can tell from the screen that he weighed in at 246.5 and stands 6’4. Herb Dean will ref this one.

Round 1

Both fighters step out and touch hands. Lavar knocks Seufmanutafa out almost instantly, as he lays on the canvas, unconscious. Upon replay, I can make out the right uppercut that put Seufmanutafa out as he shot in.

Decision: Lavar takes another win back to the Valley at 18 seconds of the first round, to massive applause by the fans, who are silent during the post fight interview.

Sarah Kaufman (8-0) vs. Meisha Tate (6-1) – Bantamweight Bout

Meisha Tate looks to make her way to the cage against the Canadian Kaufman. She enters looking a little bit nervous, showing some jitters for the big stage, but looks like she’s in excellent shape. The 23 year old Kaufman enters the ring and the smoke is now all the way across the arena.  There’s basically no size advantage in this fight, though a slight reach and height advantage go to Kaufman. The bout will be three three-minute rounds.

Round 1

The two touch hands and square off in the center of the ring. Tate throws a body kick, but misses. Kaufman gets the best of the exchange as Tate charges in looking for a takedown. Kaufman lands a hard right and they enter the thai clinch, where Tate seems to be in control. They break and Kaufman lands another hard right. Tate shoots, but is rejected. Meisha continues to look for that leg, but finds herself in the Greco Roman clinch, where the pace slows. They break and trade, and Kaufman continues to throw the right hand. Tate finally lands a takedown, coming down in the half guard of Kaufman, but no progress is made as the round ends.

Score: (10-9 Kaufman)

Round 2

The round opens and the two square off again, Tate backing off as Kaufman works the left hand. Kaufman lands a stiff jab as Tate shoots and takes her to the mat, again the half guard. Kaufman is pinned against the cage as Tate looks to pass. Tate delivers punishment from inside the guard, and then looks to pass again. Kaufman gets Tate in the full guard and works it against the cage, but doesn’t seem to have much of an attack from that position. Kaufman uses her foot to turn against the cage, but is brought back down as Tate postures, and then rolls to the turtle. Tate gets the back, but can’t make anything happen as the round ends.

Score: (10-9 Tate)

Round 3

The round opens and it’s clear that Tate’s nose is bleeding, as the front of Kaufman’s shift is soaked. Tate shoots, but is stuffed and Kaufman lands a right hand. Tate shoots again, but Kaufman sprawls. The two come up against the cage with Kaufman in control, but they break. Tate quick shoots again, but is stuffed. Tate rolls to her back but Kaufman asks her to stand, and continues to work the right. Tate shoots again, and is stuffed. She reshoots with Kaufman sprawled on top, but gets nothing.  Tate hooks a leg and rolls to her back, with Kaufman in sort of a reverse half guard position, before they come back t the feet. Kaufman lands a hard combination to end the round.

Score: (10-9 Kaufman) which gives me a unanimous decision win at 29-28 for Kaufman. A hard fought win.

Decision: All three judges score it 29-28 for the Canadian Kaufman, giving her the Unanimous Decision.

Now we wait for the main event, as Stephen Quadros, Mauro Ranallo and Pat Miletich take the screen.

Billy Evangelista (9-0) vs. Mike Aina (11-6-1) – Lightweight Bout (Evangelista missed weight, so it will be held a catchweight)

The crowd roars as the main event is announced. Mike Aina’s promo runs. Aina is a tall, thin lightweight with respectable jiu-jitsu and good striking. He makes his way to the ring looking a little tense, which is understandable given that he’s coming into an unfriendly crowd that heavily favors his homegrown opponent. The crowd roars again as the light dims and Evangelista’s promo runs. The speakers blare and Evangelista makes his way into the hometown crowd, which gives him a lot of love. Aina waits patiently in the cage.

Round 1

Both fighters touch gloves and approach the center of the cage. Both exchange strikes quickly, Aina making use of the kicks.  Evangelista throws short, low kicks while Aina reaches with the headkicks. Aina lands a hard leg kick, the only solid strike so far. Evangelista shoots for a takedown and gets Aina against the cage in the clinch, but Aina reverses him and stays in control as he delivers knees. Evangelista backs off, smiling to show that he’s ok, and then moves forward, landing a nice hook before shooting of the takedown. He pulls Aina to the mat, but Iron Mike gets quickly to his feet. Evangelista works knees to the thigh of Aina as the crowd chants his name. The clinch comes off of the fence, briefly, but Mike gets pushed back quickly before being kneed in the groin. The crowd boos, though it’s not clear who. They break and the round ends.

Score: (10-9 Evangelista)

Round 2

Both fighters move to the center of the ring, and Evangelista throws a leg kick. Aina responds in kind. Aina misses with a head kick. Neither fighter seems overeager to throw. Evangelista shoots, but is stuffed. Aina checks a leg kick from Evangelista, but Billy throws a second that lands hard. Aina lands a hard right, and then left hook that stuns Evangelista, but blows the opportunity attempting a lazy takedown, which he doesn’t get. Evangelista goes on the offensive with a few punches and a headkick. Evangelista shoots and gets another takedown. He goes to work in the guard of Aina. Evangelista delivers punishment, but stops throwing strikes as Aina grabs on of his arms. They pop up, but as Aina gets back to his feet, Evangelista throws a knee. Aina wasn’t standing, making the knee illegal. The second illegal shot for Billy so far. The fans boo the rules and the ref enforcing them.

On review, the knee actually struck the arm of Aina, which bounced into the head. It’s still technically an illegally strike, as far as I know, but we’ll see how it’s ruled as the fight is stopped by Herb Dean. The crowd leaves before the decision is made official, but makes a point of cheering Evanglista and booing his opponent.

Decision: The fight was called to an end at 3:40 in round two, with the winner declared as Mike Aina. The crowd boos vigorously, chanting “bullshit” as Quadros attempts to interview Aina.