Gurgel vs. Evangelista to Headline Strikeforce Challengers

After his shocking first loss via disqualification, Billy Evangelista (9-1 MMA) will return to the cage against UFC veteran and well respected Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Jorge Gurgel (13-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at Strikeforce Challengers Series in his hometown of Fresno, California.

Evangelista will fight in the same building, the Save Mart Center, where he was disqualified after kneeing “Iron” Mike Aina (12-6-1 MMA) somewhere. The knee was scene by the referee to land on Evangelista’s head, but upon replay, it became clear that the knee landed on the arm of Aina, which struck the head, making it a legal strike, despite the fact that Aina was downed at the time.

Gurgel won his first bout in the Strikeforce: ShoMMA series when he defeated Conor Huen (8-3 MMA) by Unanimous Decision. Jorge made a name for himself as the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach for then UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin (25-4-0-1 MMA, #6 IWMMAR), but has come into his own as a fighter in a lot of minds with respectable UFC performances, winning fight of the night twice. Of course, many of his other bouts were less than memorable, but winning fight of the night twice is a respectable statistic.

The bout between two respectable lightweights should make for a nice headlining card to the ShoMMA series, which will hopefully feed prospects into Strikeforce’s major shows.