Saturday, Oct 9th 2010 will be remembered in MMA History for top notch match-ups and incredible fights without any disappointment whatsoever.
The televised night on Showtime started with Tyrone Woodley (6-0) , an All American NCAA wrestler with powerful striking skills proved to the audience he is a dominant force in Strikeforce’s fighter line-up. His dominant opponent, Andre Galvao (4-1), a superior BJJ practitioner was not able to withstand Woodley’s powerful striking. After a few takedown attempts, the Brazilian looked wobbly when he stood back up. Woodley received his first KO win as a pro fighter in the first round.
Next up, the ladies exhibited incredible stand up and grappling showmanship with Sarah Kauffman (12-1) the 135lb champion against Marleos Coenen (18-4). Kaufmann, a strong wrestler was over taken by Coenen’s BJJ skills. Throughout the match, it was very clear that Kaufmann is really strong and powerful grappler. Coenen exerted technical and precise strikes combined with submission magic. Coenen, hailing from Amsterdam’s Golden Glory camp (which also has the Heavyweight Champ, Alistair Overeem) pulled a brilliant arm bar out in the third round utilizing her entire body in motion making Kaufmann tap. Coenen’s first title defense will be Meisha Tate, the Strikeforce 135lb tournament winner.
Josh Thompson (18-3-0-1), the previous lightweight champ had a tough decision win over the defiant and strong Jesus “JZ” Calvacante (15-4-1) who had fought mostly in Japan. Everyone felt it was a close match except for one judge gave a 30-27 score which rattled Thompson as incorrect since the match was very close….more like a 29-28. Controversy with judges seems to plague fighters and fans alike.
The Diaz vs. Noons part II was a bloody standup extravaganza. The first time they fought, a few years ago in the now fallen Elite XC, Noons won by KO due to doctor stoppage for a deep wound on top of Diaz’s eye. This time, both fighters received cuts and Noons actually broke his hand and jaw early in the fight. Noons, the more powerful and experienced pro-boxer actually out-scored Diaz with striking. Diaz attempted a few takedowns, but Noons had quick and skillful defense against the Cesar Gracie blackbelt. This was a close battle with Diaz the victor by decision. Perhaps we will see an end to this intriguing war part III in late 2011 or the recurrent BS between Diaz and Jason Mayhem Miller can produce a phenomenal fight next year with a catch-weight or such. To Be Continued !
