411’s Strikeforce: Evolution Report 12.19.09

Posted by Larry Csonka on 12.20.2009

Scott Smith once again comes from behind to defeat Cung Le via KO, Gilbert Melendez became the undisputed Lightweight champion, King Mo KO’d Mike Whitehead and more! Check out 411’s Strikeforce: Evolution report for all the details!



Preliminary Bout Results:
* According to MMAJunkie.com, the preliminary card bout between Bobby Stack and late replacement David Douglas was pulled from the card due to a "post-weigh-in medical problem" with Douglas. The show was just three preliminary bouts and four main card fights.
* Alex Crispim def. A.J. Fonseca via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
* Justin Wilcox def. Daisuke Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).
* Antwain Britt def. Scott Lighty via TKO (cuts) - Round 1, 5:00

STRIKEFORCE: EVOLUTION
12.19.09
HP PAVILION
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA

-Broadcast LIVE on Showtime.

-This is the last Strikeforce event of 2009.

-Mauro Ranallo, Frank Shamrock and Stephen Quadros are the announcers.

-Frank Shamrock talks about the ring rust that could cause an issue with Cung Le, due to his long layoff.

-Stephen Quadros discusses all of the new fighters that have joined the Strikeforce roster.

-Jake Shields is in the crowd, along with Robbie Lawler, CYBORG with new dark hair, KJ Noons, Herschel Walker, Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley.

HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT - Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (5-0) vs. Mike Whitehead (24-7):

ROUND ONE: Mo will have a 4-inch reach advantage, but Whitehead has nearly 50 pounds on him. Jon Schorle is the official. Here we go! They come out, touch and Whitehead misses a leg kick. Leg kick lands for Whitehead, Mo looks to come in and backs off. Gets a combo, Whitehead looks to clinch and Mo backs off. Left hook by Mo, to the cage they go and they separate. Mo circles, Whitehead throws a knee and then gets a left. Leg kick by Whitehead, jab by Mo. Another lands as does the leg kick. Body shot by Mo, crowd not happy with the lack of action. They both connect, leg kick by Whitehead, and another. Jab by Mo, right by Whitehead and as Whitehead lands a leg kick, MO DROPS HIM with a right, ground and pound and the ref calls it off!

THE RESULT: King Mo via RD1 (3:08) KO

Stephen Quadros is with King Mo and he says you cannot teach what he has. Mo says Whitehead was tough, but that Whitehead talked shit and he took him out at heavyweight. He says he is a MONEY WEIGHT fighter and will fight anyone.

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-Jenn Brown is with Josh Thomson. He says Melendez earned the interim title, but he is glad to finally get back and have the rematch. Thomson says regardless of injury that he will use the leg kicks. He and Melendez are friends, but it is on tonight.

-We see Melendez warming up.

MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT - Matt Lindland (21-6) vs. Ronald "Jacare" Souza (10-2):

ROUND ONE: Big John McCarthy is the official. They come out, pawing jabs by Lindland, lands a body kick but eats a right from Jacare. Good combo by Jacare, they clinch and separate. Body kick by Lindland, good right by Jacare and then Lindland goes for a takedown, but fails as Jacare fires away with a combo. Lindland looks slow here, Jacare just seems so much faster. Jacare pushes, Lindland gets a takedown, rolls and into half guard. Jacare looks for a triangle, but then transitions to the arm bar, great escape by Lindland. Jacare looks for the omoplata, and starts to land rights. Lindland with a great escape, looks for an arm bar, and Jacare into the guard. Jacare landing from the guard, Lindland tries to hang on, Jacare stands, elbow drop into side control. Back to half guard, good hammer fist by Jacare. Head and arm triangle by Jacare, and Lindland has to tap!

Alligator grip!

THE RESULT: Ronald "Jacare" Souza via RD1 (4:18) Submission

Stephen Quadros is with Jacare. Jacare says Strikeforce is his new home and thanks everyone for coming. He then says he is ready for everything.

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-Jenn Brown is with Cung Le. Le says he is excited to be back, he loved training again and he enjoys his career. When asked about ring rust due to the movie career, and he says he is undefeated, did movies early in his career, and he is there to enjoy himself. He is honored to be in the main event. His mom is here, even though she doesn't like to watch him fight.

-We see Scott Smith warning up.

LIGHTWEIGHT UNIFICATION BOUT: Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson (16-2-1nc) vs. Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez (16-2):

ROUND ONE: Josh Rosenthal is the official. And here we go! They touch and jabs by Melendez to kick things off. Jab and a leg kick by Melendez. Melendez shoots, pops back up and they trade wildly. Thomson throws a high kick, blocked, and Melendez shoots in and gets stuffed. Leg kick by Melendez, caught and taken down by Thomson. Thomson looks for a guillotine, but Melendez throws a right and escapes. Thomson looks great after a crisp exchange, they circle, jabs by Melendez. Right by Melendez, hard leg kick by Thomson and a combo follows. Melendez shoots in, single leg try, stuffed but he lands a right. Thomson misses a leg kick, one lands for Melendez. Pawing jabs by Melendez, leg kick by Thomson. They get wild, Melendez lands some good rights, leg kick by Thomson again. They get a bit wild towards the end of the round, and the round ends.

SCORECARD: Really fun round, and close. Thomson 10-9.

ROUND TWO: Round two begins, they circle, pawing jabs by Melendez. Leg kick by Thomson, but Melendez lands a counter right and DROPS Thomson. Thomson is back up, jabs by Melendez and Thomson slips. Elbows by Melendez, they get wild and both connect. Knee and a right by Melendez, but Thomson got caught low in the exchange and we take time for him to recover. It was the knee that caught him. Back to action, jabs by Thomson, leg kick by Melendez. Body kick by Thomson, another and then jabs by Melendez. Wild combos again by both, Melendez tries for a takedown, stuffed, and they separate. Melendez catches a leg kick, shoves him off, lands a knee and they go to the cage. Thomson looks to take him own, knee by Melendez and they separate. Good leg kick by Melendez buckles Thomson, more of the pawing jab ala Diaz. Great left hook by Thomson, they get wild again and Thomson is down! Melendez into his guard, landing rights as we are under one minute here. Thomson works the rubber guard, and Thomson throws an elbow, but the action continues until the horn sounds.

SCORECARD: Round two to Melendez, 19-19.

ROUND THREE: the third round begins, Thomson looks for the leg kick, gets a body kick and then Melendez with a hard leg kick. Leg kick by Thomson right by Melendez and they dance around. More of the pawing jab by Melendez, body kick by Melendez. Thomson backs off, good combo by Thomson. Counter by Melendez, body shot by Melendez as well. Melendez working the leg kick a bit, combo by Melendez, Thomson slips and is fine. Kick pinch combo by Melendez, jabs by Thomson. Leg kick by Melendez, one by Thomson. Push kick by Thomson, shoots in, fails as Melendez stuffs him. Thomson grabs a single leg, but Melendez is out of that. Knee by Thomson, more jabs by Melendez. Good leg kick by Melendez, and the round will end.

SCORECARD: 29-28 for Melendez.

ROUND FOUR: And into the championship rounds we go. They touch, jabs by Melendez to kick off the round. Leg kick by Thomson, jabs and the leg kick by Melendez. Body kick by Thomson. Thomson shoots in, gets stuffed and then gets it on the second try ad to the cage they go. Melendez up, quick exchange and they separate. Kick and a right combo by Thomson, jab by Melendez. Push kick by Thomson and he eats a combo by Melendez. Left jab and right hand combo by Melendez. Melendez is counter punching well, combo now lands for him. Wild shots from both men again, and it appears as if Thomson is slowing in his striking. Melendez with a trip, north south for a moment and they separate and circle. Push kick by Thomson, wild combo from both, and as Thomson shoots in, he fails again. Both guys slowing at this point, and a good body shot by Thomson, but then eats a combo. Another good combo by Melendez. A right and then a knee by Melendez. They throw, and it looks as if Thomson got poked in the eye. 12 seconds left in the round, and the ref tells Thomson that he needs to decide if he can go. Back to action, and Thomson backs off and goes to his corner as the round ends.

SCORECARD: 39-37 Melendez.

ROUND FIVE: FINAL ROUND NOW! They touch and here we go! Thomson looks aggressive early, leg kick lands but also eats a right from Melendez. Leg kick by Thomson, shoots in and then gets a knee and a right to Melendez. WILD EXCHANGE AGAIN by both, Thomson working but also eating as many shots as he is taking. They have thrown all skill out the window and are just having a brawl here! Jab by Melendez, who is tired now. Three minutes left, leg kick by Melendez, overhand right by Melendez and THOMSON is down! Melendez into guard, follows up with some short hammer fists and body shots. Melendez rides him to the cage, Thomson to his feet, and they separate. They begin to just throw again, Melendez is bleeding from his left eye. Leg kick by Melendez, right by Melendez. Body kick by Thomson. Combo by Melendez, back spin kick by Thomson to the body. BIG takedown for Thomson, tries to get the back of Melendez, almost, but NO Melendez is up! Under a minute left, they circle, combo by Melendez. They get wild again, Melendez backs off and then just start to throw and the round ends in the heated exchange! HELL of a fight!

SCORECARD: 49-46 Melendez.

THE RESULT: AND UNDISPUTED STRIKEFORCE LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION Gilbert Melendez via Unanimous Decision (49-47, 49-46, 49-46)

Stephen Quadros is with Melendez. Melendez says it feels great to perform better than the last fight, and that Thomson is the hardest opponent he has ever faced. Thomson now steps in, and says that Melendez won because he was better tonight, no excuses. They are asked about a rematch, and Thomson says it is Melendez's moment, and he wants to let him have it.

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-Jenn Brown is with Dan Henderson and Bobby Lashley. She talks with Lashley first, and Lashley says this will be all business. He will have fun in TNA, but MMA is all business. Now she talks to Hendo about holding the two PRIDE titles at once, and Hendo says he will fight at Middleweight to begin with. He will fight in April, while Lashley will fight in January. When Hendo is asked about Fedor, he says he has other fights to do before that, but would love to challenge Fedor.


-SHO MMA Challengers returns to Showtime on January 22nd. Strikeforce returns on January 30th on Showtime.

-They talk about CYBORG and show off her new hair. The fan text poll wants a CYBORG vs. Carano rematch, defeating the Noons vs. Diaz rematch.

MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT - Cung Le (6-0) vs. Scott Smith (16-6-1nc):

ROUND ONE: The official is Big John McCarthy. And here we go with the main event. Smith is aggressive, misses a high kick and Le lands a hard body kick. Le JUST misses a head kick, push kick by Le. Body kick by Le, spinning kick by Le lands. Back spin kick by Le DROPS Smith and Le stands over him and starts to land rights. Smith covers up, Le in side control and landing more rights as Smith is doing nothing. Hammer fists by Le, slow but hard ones, Smith is just covering up and not doing anything to get up. Big John takes a knee and warns Smith to work, rapid fire shots by Le, but Smith to his feet finally. Smith gets wild, Le backs off and avoids almost all shots. Big kick again by Le, Smith down again. Le went in, landed a few shots and backed off. Body kick by Le, head kick to the FACE by Le and Smith is amazingly still standing. Smith is throwing everything he has, but is not connecting. Back spin kick to the gut by Le and Smith flies back against the cage. Smith tries to chase, but eats a left by Le. Leg kick by Le, they clinch and to the cage they go. A few body shots by Smith and the round ends.

SCORECARD: 10-8 Le.

ROUND TWO: Round two begins, Smith chases Le, Le shoots in and then backs out as he gets stuffed. Body kick by Le, left lands, right by Smith. Back kick again by Le to the gut and Smith is down. Le into the guard, stacks up Smith and tries to free his hands. Good wrist control by Smith, Le gets the hands out for a moment, but they basically do nothing and get stood up. Kick by Le, and finally a combo by Smith. Head kick checked by Smith, Smith takes him to the cage, Le avoids the takedown, and they work against the cage again. Shoulder shrugs by Le, knees follow, Smith turns him, but cannot get him down. Smith with an uppercut, they separate and a leg kick by Le. Clinch now, Smith misses an elbow, gets a combo and then misses the uppercut as the round ends. Le is tired.

SCORECARD: 20-17 Le.

ROUND THREE: Le with a huge kick again to Smith. Body kick again, Smith throws a kick, misses and eats another by Le. Back spin kick by Le, misses a right, body shot by Smith. Body kick by Le, Smith presses the action but hesitates. Right by Smith, Le avoiding most of the strikes, good defense. Rights and lefts by Le. Spinning back fist and a body kick by Le land. High crotch slam by Le! Smith back up, starts to get a bit wild, and a body kick by Le. Smith gets him against the cage, lands some good shots, and then DROPS LE! Le is back up, starts to land, and then Smith DROPS Le again! He follows up and THE FIGHT IS STOPPED! Scott Smith comes from behind once again! Le is busted up and bleeding from the nose and mouth.

THE RESULT: Scott Smith via RD3 (3:25) KO

Smith says that was a "Rockstar Energy" finish right there. Product placement baby. He says he got beat down, but that he is never out of a fight. Smith will go home and enjoy Christmas with his kids, and all he wants is good fights. Le says he got caught, and that Smith is the better man tonight. He says they delivered an exciting fight, and he says he focus was not split.


-End scene.