Santiago Wins Middleweight Tournament; Cung Le Dominates Morgan
San
Jose Ca. By: Jeff Townsend,
Boxing and MMA Writer
Bayareasportsdrive.com 11-17-07
Visit Strikeforce Photo Gallery &
Ring Girl Photo Gallery
Strikeforce returned to the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California with 13 Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights that were packed with many local fighters, international stars and up-and-coming MMA fighters. The hard-hitting action produced seven fights that ended by KO or submission, witnessed by 8,233 screaming fans.
Cung Le Adds Another KO Win To His Record
In
the main event of the evening, four-time K-1 champion and San Shou specialist
Cung Le (20-0) of San Jose faced off against “Ultimate Fighter” Season 2 star
Sam Morgan (19-8) in a three round middleweight bout. Le established control of
the fight early on, using his trademark kicks and striking ability to keep
Morgan from getting a takedown. It was clear Morgan started to get frustrated,
as he began throwing wide, looping punches.
Several of Le’s kicks sent Morgan to the canvas but Morgan was able to quickly get back on his feet.
Le continued his assault until halfway through the third round when he landed a hard kick to Morgan’s ribcage. Morgan went down to one knee which prompted the referee to correctly stop the bout, giving Le another KO win.
Middleweight Tournament Prelims
The one night, four man Middleweight (185) tournament brought extra intrigue to an action-packed fight card. All tournament fights consisted of two, five minute rounds. The winner of the two fights would face each other at the end of the night. A lottery determined who would fight who in the opening bouts.
The first fight of the tournament saw Sean Salmon (14-4), a former Ohio State wrestler, face off against Jorge Santiago (14-7) from America’s Top Team. Salmon was a late replacement for Yuki Sasaki who was not cleared to fight by the California State Athletic Commission due to medical issues.
Santiago came out fast and landed a beautiful flying knee kick that connected squarely with Salmon’s chin. Salmon was out cold and fell back to the canvas immediately. The referee jumped in to stop the fight, giving Santiago a KO win at just 27 seconds into the first round. Not only did Santiago come away with a win but he had used very little energy in doing so, which was very important on this night since he would be fighting again later in the evening in the finals. Salmon was taken out of the ring on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital for tests.
The second tournament fight of the event pitted South African Trevor Prangley (16-4), out of the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose, against Falaniko ‘Niko’ Vitale (24-7), a Hawaiian jiu-jitsu specialist. The first round consisted of some good exchanges with both combatants on their feet, exchanging blows and knee kicks. Halfway through the second (and final) round, Prangley accidentally poked Vitale in the eye which caused a momentary pause for the ringside doctor to examine the injury.
It was determined that Vitale could not continue so the fight went to the scorecards. All three judges scored the first round differently, resulting in a majority draw. Since this fight was a tournament fight, a definitive outcome had to be rendered so the referee was given the task of making the final decision. The referee raised Prangley’s hand, indicating that the final match of the tournament would be Trevor Prangley against Jorge Santiago.
Middleweight Tournament Finals
Going into the tournament final, it seemed likely that Santiago held the advantage since Prangley had exerted much more energy in his fight. Santiago was getting the best of the action until halfway through the first round when he landed a big knee to Prangley’s stomach and then another knee to Prangley’s head as he was falling to the canvas. The referee quickly stopped the fight at 2:31 of the first round, making Jorge Santiago the winner of Strikeforce’s first Middleweight tournament. There has been talk that the winner of this tournament may be in line for a mega-fight with Frank Shamrock.
A New Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Is Crowned
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship was on the line when American Kickboxing Academy’s Paul Buentello (23-9) faced off against Dutchman Alistair Overeem (25-11) in the longest scheduled fight of the night at five, five minute rounds. Buentello received a warm response due to the fact that he trains out of San Jose even though he lives in Texas. Along with his hometown status, Buentello has an exciting style of using fast, hard strikes and uppercuts to dominate his opponent.
On this night, Overeem was clearly the better fighter. Overeem was able to take down Buentello and work him over with punches to the face and body. When Buentello was able to get back on his face, Overeem continued with a barrage of punches that bloodied Buentello’s face. Overeem continued his assault in the second round until he landed two hard knees to Buentello’s stomach. Buentello dropped to the canvas and tapped out near the end of the second round. Overeem became the first Heavyweight champion for Strikeforce.
Earlier Action
In a three round light heavyweight bout, Bobby Southworth (8-4) of San Jose was forced to accept a TKO loss at the hands of Anthony Ruiz (17-10) after suffering a bad cut. The fight was pretty close and the action was fast-paced until Ruiz landed several hard shots to the left side of Southworth’s face. The blood was flowing pretty good which caused the referee to stop the fight at the advice of the ringside doctor near the end of the second round. Ruiz wins via TKO.
Dennis Hallman def. Jeremiah Metcalf via submission at 1:39 of the 1st round
Chris Drumm vs. Evan Esguerra resulted in a No Contest in the 2nd round due to an illegal punch
Alex Crispin def. Clint Coronel via a three round unanimous decision
Anthony Figueroa def. Pete Sabala via a three round split decision
Eric Lawson def. Josh Neal via submission at :20 of the 2nd round
Luke Stewart def. Bryson Kamaka via KO at :19 of the 1st round
Lemont Davis def. Brian Schwartz via a three round unanimous decision
Note: All fighter records listed above represent their fight history prior to tonight’s event
Email Jeff with questions or comments at jtownsend@bayareasportsdrive.com