“King” KJ Noons vs Jorge “J.G.” Gurgel
Round 1:
Gurgel landed a nice right hand early in the first round and Noons began to target the body. A one-two and a glancing head kick followed for Gurgel and the fighters traded leg kicks. Gurgel threw another leg kick and ate a jab. Noons put together a combination and landed a left hand to Gurgel’s eye. Gurgel winced, but fired back with a quick combination of his own. An exchange of punches followed and Noons got the better of it. Noons put together quick punch-kick combos and Gurgel answered with a four-punch flurry.
A leg kick and a one-two landed for Gurgel and Noons answered with kicks and punches of his own. Gurgel, cut beside the right eye, scored with a hard leg kick and a pair of glancing flurries in close. Noons threw two leg kicks and Gurgel answered with a jab and a wild flying knee. Gurgel targeted the body and landed a left hook, then sent Gurgel backwards with another hard left. Noons landed a big head kick and floored Gurgel with a left hook a split second after the bell. Gurgel was very woozy when he stood up. 10-9 Noons.
Round 2:
Noons landed a big right hook and dropped Gurgel very early in round two with a follow-up left. Noons didn’t follow up and the referee did not stop the fight, so Noons dove in with more punches. The referee stopped the fight just as Noons threw an illegal knee to a downed Gurgel. Noons began celebrating as confusion ensued. He was not disqualified for the illegal knee.
Winner: KJ Noons defeats Jorge Gurgel by KO (Punches) at 0:19 of round one. He improves to 10-2-0.
Chad “The Gravedigger” Griggs vs Bobby “The Dominator” Lashley
Round 1:
Lashley shot in for a takedown right away and took Griggs down. He passed to side-control and threw short punches with his free hand. Lashley kept Griggs in place and landed a handful of punches, but seemed content to dominate the positional battle. Griggs worked back to his feet and threw two looping punches, but Lashley took him down again. Lashley worked from half-guard and moved to side-control, then North-South.
Griggs scrambled up and landed a hard knee to the body. Lashley doubled over, but stayed on his feet and clinched. Lashley landed left hooks to the body until referee Jon Schorle separated the fighters. Griggs landed a big uppercut and more punches as Lashley clinched and slammed him down. Lashley, bleeding heavily from just below his eye, struck from the top until the bell. 10-9 Lashley.
Round 2:
Lashley picked Griggs up in round two and slammed him down to the mat. He landed in Griggs’s half-guard and punched from the top. Lashley’s eye began to bleed badly again and the crowd grew restless as the action slowed. Lashley moved to side-control and briefly to North-South, throwing punches along the way. He passed to full mount and rained down punches, but Griggs used the cage to try to push off and escape. Lashley remained in mount and threw punches from the top, but Griggs answered with some of his own from the bottom.
Lashley postured up and ignored an obvious armbar opportunity in favour of throwing a few more punches. Time was called to check Lashley’s cut. The fight was allowed to continue, but Lashley was completely exhausted and could barely move. He dove for a desperation takedown and Griggs blasted him with a series of vicious hammerfists. Lashley turtled until the bell, but was badly dazed and the fight was waved off. Lashley was so exhausted that he could barely breathe and remained on his corner’s stool for quite some time.
Winner: Chad Griggs by TKO (Retirement) at 5:00 of round two. He improves to 9-1-0.
Daniel Cormier vs Jason “The Juggernaut” Riley
Round 1:
Cormier shot in for a takedown early on and clinched. Riley broke free, but Cormier clinched again and landed a right hook. Riley wilted and fell to the mat. He turtled as Cormier pounced with punches and hammerfists. After a few seconds, Riley tapped out to the strikes. Cormier wins for the third time in three weeks.
Winner: Daniel Cormier by Submission (Punches) at 1:02 of round one. He improves to 5-0-0.
André “The Young Giant” Galvão vs Jorge “Macaco” Patino
Round 1:
The fighters cautiously circled until Patino threw a head kick that was blocked. Galvão clinched and scored a takedown against the cage. He stood over Patino and rained down a flurry of punches. He landed more punches and moved to side-control, then took Patino’s back. Patino scrambled out and got back to his feet, then landed a combination.
He tried to set up a punch-kick combo, but Galvão backed up. Patino missed with another punch and kick, but floored Galvão with a right hand. He swarmed with punches, but Galvão managed to survive. He got back to his feet and Patino drilled him with more punches. Galvão tried for a heel hook and Patino stepped free. Patino dominated the final minute with more punches. 10-9 Patino.
Round 2:
Galvão missed with a winging right hand and Patino countered with a head kick that was blocked. Galvão dove for a leg and tried to take Patino down. Patino stayed up and defended against the cage. Galvão managed to get Patino down and worked from his guard. He threw punches from the top and moved to half-guard. Patino regained full guard again, but Galvão postured up and landed punches from the top.
Galvão took Patino’s back in a scramble as Patino stood up. He dragged Patino back down, but Patino escaped and backed away. Galvão clinched and scored a takedown. He moved to partial mount and threw punches. Patino defended and regained half-guard. Galvão teed off with punches in the final 20 seconds, but Patino blocked most of the strikes. 10-9 Galvão.
Round 3:
The fighters traded punches early in round three and Patino missed with an uppercut. He followed with a punch-kick combo and Galvão took him down. Galvão moved to half-guard and landed punches and hammerfists from the top. He tried to set up an arm-triangle choke and Patino defended. Galvão took Patino’s back and threw more punches.
A scramble ensued and Galvão maintained back control. He threw three punches and referee Jon Schorle, notorious for questionable stoppages, stopped the fight in controversial fashion. Patino was still defending and appeared to be fine. Unfortunate ending to a good fight.
Winner: André Galvão by TKO (Punches) at 2:45 in round three. He improves to 5-1-0.
Undercard Fights:
Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhães defeated Rocky Long by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 2-1-0 with the win.
Adam Schindler defeated Kier Gooch by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in the first round. He improves to 8-1-0 with the win.
Reynaldo “The Truth” Trujillo defeated Jose Santibanez by TKO (Punches) in the first round. He improves to 8-2-0 with the win.
Chad “Robo” Robichaux defeated Humberto DeLeon by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. He improves to 9-0-0 with the win.
Artenas “Chico” Young defeated Chad Cook by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 4-1-0 with the win.
Relative upsets were the story of part of the Strikeforce: Houston main card. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante snatched the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship from Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in the main event, while Chad “The Gravedigger” Griggs proved that Bobby “The Dominator” Lashley is nowhere near ready for title shots. Lashley could not continue for the third round and was subsequently stretchered out of the arena. Poor officiating aside, Strikeforce: Houston was otherwise a solid event and also featured Ronaldo “Jacaré” Souza becoming the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.