Strikeforce Challengers Results
Kaufman vs. Hashi/Prangley vs. Amoussou

By:  Jeff Townsend, Boxing writer
Bayareasportsdrive.com
02-27-10

Last night, Strikeforce’s Challengers MMA event took place at the San Jose Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California.  The Challengers series focuses on up-and-coming fighters and fighters who are not yet full-fledged stars.  Instead of having 10,000 fight fans coming out to the HP Pavilion in San Jose for a Strikeforce event, a sold-out crowd of 2,322 were crammed into a venue that ensured that everyone would have a great view of the fights. 

 Main card (Televised on Showtime)

Sarah Kaufman (11-0) defeated Japan’s Takayo Hashi (12-2) via five round unanimous decision, winning the first ever Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight (135) Championship.  Hashi clearly wanted this fight to be fought on the ground but her takedown attempts never went anywhere against the well-prepared Kaufman.  Using a stiff jab and effective combinations, Kaufman controlled the action throughout the fight and forced Hashi to stand and fight. 

 The co-main event featuring Trevor Prangley (22-5) against Karl Amoussou (11-2-1) ended in a technical draw.  Prangley accidentally poked Amoussou in the eye near the end of the first round, causing the ring doctor to call an end to the fight. 

 Luke Rockhold (7-1) defeated Paul Bradley (12-2) via TKO (knees to the body) at 2:24 of the first round.  In arguably the most exciting fight of the night, Rockhold controlled the action before knocking down Bradley twice with hard right hands.  After staggering Bradley for the second time in the fight, Rockhold landed some hard knees to Bradley’s body which forced the ref to stop the fight. 

 Tarec Saffiedine (8-2) defeated James Terry (7-2) via three round unanimous decision.  Saffiedine’s takedown defense was impeccable which led to an all-action stand-up battle, allowing Saffiedine to land strikes repeatedly in this clash of rising welterweights (170).

 Yancy Medeiros (5-0) maintained his undefeated record by winning a three round unanimous decision against Raul Castillo (6-1).   Castillo offered very little offense in this fight while his takedown attempts were almost never successful.  Medeiros took advantage of the fact that no punches were coming his way by peppering Castillo with strikes, dropping Castillo with a well-placed right hand in the third round. 

 Preliminary card

In a seesaw battle, Wayne Phillips (4-3) defeated Eric Lawson (9-3) via submission due to an armbar at 4:27 of the first round.  Lawson started the round landing some good right hands to Phillips’ body.  They each secured a rear-naked choke at different times during the round but an escape by both fighters allowed the fight to continue.  Phillips locked in an armbar near the end of the round, forcing Lawson to tap out.   It was clear that Lawson had sustained some type of injury to his left arm, most likely due to the armbar. 

 Samuel Bracamnonte (1-0) defeated Chris Stewart (0-1) via TKO due to strikes at :59 of the third round.    

 Tristan Arenal (4-1) defeated George Miller (3-2) via TKO due to strikes at :30 of the second round. 

 Jesse Tobar (2-1) defeated Johnson Nguyen (0-1) via submission due to a rear naked choke at 1:24 of the second round.

 Renee Robinson (1-0) defeated Lilia Salas (0-1) via TKO due to strikes at 1:06 of the first round.

 Steve Dickie (4-0) defeated Alan Lummel (1-1) via TKO due to strikes at :33 of the first round.

 Ronald Carillo (2-0) defeated Anthony De Los Santos (0-1) via submission due to an armbar at 1:20 of the second round.   

MMA fighters in attendance included former football stand-out Herschel Walker, Nick and Nate Diaz, Frank Shamrock, Josh ‘The Punk” Thomson, Gilbert Melendez and Dan Henderson.   

Email Jeff with questions and comments to jtownsend@bayareasportsdrive.com

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