Strikeforce made its way to the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee tonight for Strikeforce Challengers 13: “Woodley vs Saffiedine.” The event was headlined by a welterweight bout between unbeaten Tyron “T-Wood” Woodley and fellow rising star Tarec “Sponge” Saffiedine.
Also on the card, Ovince St. Preux faced off with Ron “Abongo” Humphrey in light heavyweight action, while Daniel Cormier clashed with Devin Cole in a heavyweight bout. Amanda Nunes battled Julia Budd in the lone women’s matchup. MMARising.com has play-by-play for the night’s main card.
Tyron “T-Wood” Woodley vs Tarec “Sponge” Saffiedine
Round 1:
Woodley opened the fight with a punch-kick combo and the fighters exchanged knees to the body in a clinch. Both landed punches over the top and Woodley backed Saffiedine up to the cage. He took Saffiedine down and landed strikes, but Saffiedine stood. A clinch followed and Woodley landed short knees. The fighters were separated and Saffiedine landed a knee. Woodley responded with punches and more knees were exchanged. 10-9 Woodley.
Round 2:
Saffiedine landed a grazing head kick in round two and Woodley answered with punches. Saffiedine landed a hook and clinched, then scored with knees. More knees were exchanged and Woodley took Saffiedine down. He punched to the body and escaped a triangle choke attempt from Saffiedine. Woodley kept Saffiedine down and passed to the side to escape an omoplata. He took Saffiedine’s back in a scramble and attempted a rear-naked choke before the bell. Close round. 10-9 Woodley.
Round 3:
Both fighters connected with nice right hands in the final round and they clinched against the cage. Woodley landed an uppercut and Saffiedine backed away. He stuffed a Woodley takedown attempt and took top position in side control. Woodley scrambled up and knees were exchanged. He took Saffiedine down and escaped a Kimura. Back on the feet, the fighters were separated and both landed punches. Saffiedine landed a knee and punches in the final seconds. 10-9 Saffiedine.
Winner: Tyron Woodley by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 8-0-0.
Ovince St. Preux vs Ron “Abongo” Humphrey
Round 1:
St. Preux rocked Humphrey with a left hook to open the fight and countered a takedown attempt with a throw. St. Preux landed punches and moved to half-guard. He passed to side control and looked to isolate Humphrey’s right arm. Humphrey defended and stood, but fell into a triangle choke. Humphrey escaped and dropped back for a heel hook.
St. Preux defended with punches and took top position, but Humphrey torqued back with a kneebar. St. Preux held on and escaped, then moved to mount. He tried for an arm-triangle choke and unloaded with left hands. St. Preux locked on another arm-triangle choke, but Humphrey escaped before the bell. 10-9 St. Preux.
Round 2:
St. Preux flurried with punches in the second round and took Humphrey down against the cage. The fighters were stood up rather quickly and Humphrey lunged in with punches. He stunned St. Preux briefly and St. Preux fired back with punches and a big knee. Humphrey was hurt, but clinched. St. Preux took him down again and Humphrey began to bleed from below the left eye.
Short punches scored for St. Preux from the top and he did just enough to prevent another referee standup. St. Preux moved to half-guard and the fighters were indeed stood up. St. Preux landed two big knees and a glancing head kick. Humphrey swarmed with punches and St. Preux dove for a leg. He managed to get Humphrey down and escaped a guillotine choke. 10-9 St. Preux.
Round 3:
St. Preux landed a nice counter knee in the final round and reversed a takedown attempt. He settled into Humphrey’s guard and landed short strikes, but the fighters were quickly stood up. Humphrey landed a kick to the chest and St. Preux answered with another takedown. Humphrey secured a guillotine choke and St. Preux fought free.
St. Preux moved to side control and punched, but Humphrey got back to guard. The fighters were stood up and punches were exchanged briefly. Both attempted kicks, but Humphrey fell and wound up on the bottom. St. Preux looked to pin Humphrey’s arm and landed short strikes until the final bell. 10-9 St. Preux.
Winner: Ovince St. Preux by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 10-4-0.
Daniel Cormier vs Devin Cole
Round 1:
The fighters jabbed early on and Cormier landed leg kicks. Cole answered with a right hook and Cormier clinched. Short punches landed for both fighters and Cormier briefly dropped Cole with a front kick. He threw Cole to the mat and landed in side control. Cole tried to scramble up and did so, but Cormier took his back.
A clinch ensued and Cormier kept Cole pinned against the cage. Both fighters landed short punches and Cormier backed away. A big overhand right scored for Cormier and he followed with a head kick. Cole answered with a kick of his own, but Cormier drilled him with power punches. He took Cole down and punched until the bell. 10-9 Cormier.
Round 2:
The second round opened with a clinch and both fighters landed punches. Cormier took Cole down and punched from the top while keeping Cole pressed against the fence. Cole pushed off of the cage and escaped out the back, but Cormier took him back down and wound up in side control. Cole regained half-guard, but Cormier punished him with strikes.
Cormier tried to pass to mount, but settled for side control again. Cole scrambled, but was unable to get to his feet. Cormier moved to the back and tried to secure hooks for a rear-naked choke. Cole defended against the choke, but wound up on the bottom. He tried for a Kimura on Cormier’s left arm, but Cormier remained calm. 10-9 Cormier.
Round 3:
Cole closed in with punches in the final round, but Cormier countered with a one-two. Cole flurried again and Cormier landed a knee and an uppercut. He backed Cole up to the cage and landed short strikes until referee Greg Franklin called for a break. Both fighters missed with punches and Cormier fell after a failed takedown. He took Cole’s back in a scramble, but Cole stood.
The fight returned to a clinch and this time Cole pinned Cormier against the cage. Cormier reversed and punched to the body. The fighters were separated, but Cormier clinched again and slammed Cole down near the cage. He moved to half-guard and scored with punches in the final 30 seconds. Cormier closed out the bout with a flurry before the bell. 10-9 Cormier.
Winner: Daniel Cormier by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 7-0-0.
Amanda “Lioness of the Ring” Nunes vs Julia “The Jewel” Budd
Round 1:
Nunes landed a right hook early in the fight and followed with a flurry. A left hand floored Budd and Nunes dove in with hammerfist strikes that knocked Budd out on the ground. Extremely impressive win for Nunes in her Strikeforce debut.
Winner: Amanda Nunes by KO (Punches) at 0:14 of round one. She improves to 6-1-0.
Rhadi Ferguson vs John Richard
Round 1:
Richard punched his way into a clinch and took Ferguson down right away. Ferguson attempted a heel hook, but Richard punched free and took his back. He nearly secured a rear-naked choke, but Ferguson escaped. Ferguson spun into Richard’s guard and punched to the head and body. Richard’s mouthpiece fell out twice and was replaced each time.
Ferguson continued to punch to the body with his right hand, then switched to lefts to the face. Richard attempted to roll, but Ferguson kept him down and punched away. Richard spit his mouthpiece out and referee Al Wichgers deducted a point. Ferguson landed more punches until the bell to steal the round after a shaky start. 10-8 Ferguson.
Round 2:
Little transpired in the second round until Richard landed a kick to the midsection. Ferguson fell and appeared to indicate that it was a groin strike. Richard pounced with punches, but Ferguson countered with a kneebar. Richard tried to scramble, but Ferguson wrenched back on the knee and Richard tapped out.
Winner: Rhadi Ferguson by Submission (Kneebar) at 2:00 of round two. He improves to 3-0-0.