Strikeforce returned to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri tonight for Strikeforce: “Henderson vs Babalu.” The solid card was headlined by a light heavyweight rematch between former PRIDE champ Dan “Hendo” Henderson and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral.
Also on the card, Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith faced Paul “Semtex” Daley in a battle of welterweight strikers, while “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler took on Matt “The Law” Lindland in middleweight action. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for all of the televised fights on the Showtime card.
Dan “Hendo” Henderson vs Renato “Babalu” Sobral
Round 1:
Henderson landed a right hook in close early on and Sobral answered with a head kick that Henderson blocked. Another right landed for Henderson and Sobral fired back with three more kicks. Henderson staggered Sobral with a pair of hooks that prompted Sobral to dive in for a takedown. He wound up on the bottom and ate four more punches. Henderson postured up and rained down two big right hands that left Sobral barely conscious. Referee John McCarthy failed to step in and Sobral was blasted with four more unnecessary shots that left him out cold.
Winner: Dan Henderson by KO (Punches) at 1:53 of round one. He improves to 26-8-0.
Paul “Semtex” Daley vs Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith
Round 1:
Daley opened the fight with a one-two and a leg kick, but Smith sent him off-balance with a left hook. Daley landed another leg kick and just missed with a head kick. Daley dropped Smith with a one-two and swarmed with punches, but Smith got back to his feet. Daley continued to score with one-twos and jabs, and also targeted the body. A succession of six left hooks rocked Smith and Daley left him face-first on the mat after one final devastating left hook. Brutal knockout.
Smith woke up several seconds later, but got to his feet quite quickly.
Winner: Paul Daley by KO (Punch) at 2:09 of round one. He improves to 26-9-2.
“Ruthless” Robbie Lawler vs Matt “The Law” Lindland
Round 1:
Punches and kicks were exchanged early on and Lawler scored with a left that staggered Lindland. Lawler landed a looping right hook that sent Lindland flying through the air, face-first to the canvas. He rolled over and ate one more right hand that left him completely unconscious. Big win for Lawler.
Lindland remained down for quite some time, but eventually got back to his feet and left the cage.
Winner: Robbie Lawler by KO (Punch) at 0:50 of round one. He improves to 18-6-0, 1 NC.
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva vs Mike “MAK” Kyle
Round 1:
Kyle opened the fight with a nice right hand, then dropped him with another right seconds later. He unleashed a series of punches and hammerfists from the top, but Silva managed to regain guard. More punches followed for Kyle and he mixed in more hammerfists from half-guard, but began to slow down.
Kyle kept the pressure on with short strikes and prevented Silva from rolling to his side. Silva regained full guard again, but not before eating a dozen more peppering punches. Kyle switched to elbows to the body and continued to punch all the way until the bell. 10-9 Kyle. Could easily be 10-8 because Silva was never able to do anything.
Round 2:
Silva, with both eyes swollen and red, dove in for a sloppy takedown in round two and Kyle easily stuffed it. Silva scored with a one-two and finally managed to take him down against the cage. Silva postured up with punches and fought off a triangle choke. He moved to side-control and then to North-South. Big hammerfists scored for Silva and he secured a Brabo Choke as Kyle tried to stand.
Silva rolled into an Anaconda Choke, but Kyle escaped. Silva moved to mount and rained down punches and double axe handles. He landed a particularly vicious trio of right hands that briefly knocked Kyle out and the fight was stopped. Excellent fight and a great performance in defeat by Kyle, who took the fight on extremely short notice.
Winner: Antonio Silva by TKO (Punches) at 2:49 of round two. He improves to 15-2-0.
Ovince St. Preux vs Benji “Razor” Radach
Round 1:
St. Preux set the tempo with strikes early on, but Radach took him down against the cage. Radach was unable to mount any offence on the ground and St. Preux battled back to his feet. Radach landed a knee and a right hand that seemed to stun St. Preux, but Radach did not take advantage and St. Preux pushed forward with punches. St. Preux landed a kick and a straight left that forced Radach to his back.
St. Preux took Radach’s back on the ground and flattened him out. He teed off with rights and lefts to the sides of Radach’s head, but Radach held on. St. Preux looked to set up a rear-naked choke, but Radach fought it off and St. Preux resumed punching. He tried for the choke again and postured up with big punches. Radach turtled and managed to survive until the bell. 10-8 St. Preux.
Round 2:
St. Preux dropped Radach immediately in the second round and quickly took his back once again. He punched away and tried for another rear-naked choke, but Radach defended. From partial back control, St. Preux landed punches and Radach turtled. More punches followed for St. Preux as Radach crawled towards the cage.
St. Preux began to slow down, but he continued to throw occasional lefts and rights as Radach remained on his knees near the cage. Radach turned and regained guard up against the fence as the crowd grew restless. St. Preux took his back again and landed more punches. Radach very briefly stood up and St. Preux dragged him down with more punches. 10-8 St. Preux.
Round 3:
Radach swarmed with big punches in the final round, but was unable to land a knockout strike and St. Preux floored him with a counter hook seconds later. St. Preux once again took Radach’s back and landed weak punches until the referee stood the fighters up. Radach threw a lunging one-two and St. Preux answered with a head kick that missed.
Radach clinched, but absolutely nothing happened and the referee separated the fighters. Radach landed a right hook and tried for a takedown. St. Preux countered with elbows, but two were illegal and he was briefly warned. The fighters were separated again and Radach immediately clinched once more. He took St. Preux down at last, but could only land a few punches before the bell. 10-9 St. Preux.
Winner: Ovince St. Preux by Unanimous Decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 9-4-0.
Undercard Fights:
Wayne Phillips defeated Fernando Bettega by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. He improves to 5-3-0 with the win.
Justin Lawrence defeated Max “Payne” Martyniouk by Technical Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in the third round. The bout was stopped after an illegal soccer kick from Lawrence, which was deemed accidental. Lawrence improves to 1-0-0 with the win.
Patrick Cummins defeated Terrell Brown by TKO (Punches) at 2:44 of round one. He improves to 1-0-0 with the win.
Cortez “Hollywood” Coleman defeated Lucas Lopes by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:04 of round one. He improves to 6-1-0 with the win.
Matt Ricehouse defeated Thomas Aaron by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 4-0-0 with the win.
Mike Glenn defeated Lee “Manimal” Brousseau by TKO (Punches) at 2:00 of round one. He improves to 5-6-0 with the win.
Booker DeRousse defeated Coltin Cole by TKO (Punches) at 3:04 of round two. He improves to 3-4-0 with the win.
J.W. Wright defeated Josh Epps by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:29 of round one. He improves to 1-0-0 with the win.