StrikeForce News - Page 1

-Eric Lawson def. Tony Johnson by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) RD1 -Bobby Stack def. Cyrillo Padilha by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) -Kurt Osiander def. Josh Neal by TKO at 2:16, RD1. -Brian Schwartz def. Lemont Davis by KO at 2:22, RD3. -Scott Smith def. Terry Martin by KO at 0:24, RD1. -Renato "Babalu" Sobral def. Bobby Southworth by TKO (Doctor's Stoppage) at 5:00, RD1. -Duane "Bang Ludwig def. Yves Edwards by Unanimous Decision (29-28 on all three cards), RD3. -Kim Couture def. Lina Kvokov by TKO at 1:44, RD1. -Joe Riggs def. Luke Stewart by TKO at 2:05, RD2. -Luke Rockhold def. Nik Theotikos by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:06, RD1. -Darren Uyenoyama def. Brad Royster by Unanimous Decision (30-27 all three cards), RD3. -Alvin Cacdac def. Jose Palacios by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:10, RD2. -Zackary Bucia def. Adam Steele by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:35, RD1.

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Strikeforce held the weigh-ins last night for it's "Destruction" event airing on Showtime tonight. With the exceptions of Kim Couture and Kina Kvokov, everyone else made weight. Couture agreed to the fight knowing in advance Kvokov wouldn't make weight, which was missed by 3 pounds. Couture missed by 2 pounds.

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Scott Smith (13-5) knows the challenges that await him Friday night. The UFC, EliteXC and WEC veteran will make his debut for Strikeforce against fellow slugger Terry Martin (18-5). And despite taking the fight on just a week's notice, Smith recently told TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), that he'll be ready. "Its real risky to take a fight on short notice, especially a guy like Terry Martin," Smith said. "But about three weeks ago I was supposed to fight on that EliteXC card for the Showtime / EliteXC card. I think it was Nov. 8. I was getting prepared for that. So I just kept on training through, hoping something would come up. And this came up. So I'm ready to go."

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After 11 years and almost 50 bouts as pro fighter, very little can rattle Yves Edwards (34-14-1). So while an opponent change less than two weeks before a headlining bout may bother your typical fighter, Edwards can't wait to face Duane "Bang" Ludwig (17-8) at Friday's "Strikeforce: Destruction" in San Jose, Calif. "It's going to be a slightly different fight than I planned," Edwards recently told TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "But I don't think it changes too much. Just because we've got so many guys in the gym. And I love to spar. We're always sparring. I've seen every look that there is to see, and I see it every day." Edwards was originally scheduled to face Strikeforce lightweight world champion Josh Thomson. An broken toe suffered in training forced the champion out of the bout, and Ludwig stepped in with less than two weeks notice.

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]interview[/L] Babalu Sobral: Yes, we opened my gym in Cerritos two weeks ago. Check us out at BabaluBJJ.com. Right now, I’m very focused on my fight, but when I finish my fight, I’ll be back at my gym, working at my gym, teaching jiu-jitsu there in Cerritos in California. I’m very happy to have it. I have a lot of students, and my students are happy because they are going to watch my fight. They know, they talk to me and say, “Ah, this is fun, because now the guy we are watching on TV is the guy we are training with together.” But the thing is, if you train jiu-jitsu, that’s a lot of teaching. I now have a place for when I retire I have a place to stay and give my knowledge away. Give something back to martial arts that they gave to me my whole life.

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Strikeforce middleweight Tony Johnson doesn’t have any trouble knocking people out, even if it has to be done on short notice. With just three days to prepare, Johnson stepped up to face Marcus Gaines at the War Gods event on September 21 at the Salinas Sports Complex in Salinas California and stopped the more experienced Gaines in just 25 seconds. As Johnson tells MMAmania.com (www.MMAmania.com), taking the fight was his only option, regardless of the time frame, because it had the potential to give him unprecedented exposure. “We fought in Selinas, California in the War Gods Show. It’s a local show here, but they are doing a reality show with it. It’s airing on Comcast. It seems to be a big deal here in California.” It’s not uncommon for fighters to be injured in training, and an unfortunate mishap at the American Kickboxing Academy left Gaines original opponent taking an unscheduled nap in the middle of training camp.

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Them's fightin' words, but also an indication of how confident Renato Sobral is going into his fight Friday night against Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth, which is Friday's main event and also Sobral's first fight for Strikeforce.

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Strikeforce has added a middleweight bout between Scott Smith (13-5) and Terry Martin (18-5) to next week's "Strikeforce: Destruction" event. Strikeforce spokesperson Mike Afromowitz today confirmed reports of the bout with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) and said the fight will appear on the HDNet-televised main card. The fight, though, will not headline the event and is instead expected to get co-main-event status. "Strikeforce: Destruction" takes place Nov. 21 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

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Current Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh "The Punk" Thomson is out of his scheduled title defense against Yves Edwards at the promotion's Nov. 21 event in San Jose, Calif. With less than two weeks until fight night, Denver's Duane Ludwig has agreed to step in and take the bout in Thomson's place. Thomson suffered torn ligaments in his toe during training, according to a report by Sports Illustrated reporter Josh Gross. Strikeforce promoter Scott Coker confirmed to SI the news of the injury to Thomson and Ludwig's likelihood to replace him.

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Strikeforce announced on Sunday that they have added Kim Couture to the line-up of fights taking place on Nov 21 in San Jose, CA against fellow newcomer, Lina Kvokov in a bout that will be fought at 130lbs. Couture was last seen in her professional MMA debut in June dropping a unanimous decision to Kim Rose while also suffering a broken jaw in the process. “Losing that fight was the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Couture. “It’s completely changed me as a fighter. I’ve started doing things a lot different. It made me realize that I have to be the aggressor or I’m going to get hurt.” The wife of UFC heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, Kim adds MMA fighter to an impressive list of other jobs as she also currently maintains the Xtreme Couture gym, has run promotions of her own under her brand “KC Concepts” and also managing several fighters under the Xtreme Couture banner.

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With Strikeforce champions Josh Thomson and Bobby Southworth ready to contend, and with Joe Riggs set to face Luke Stewart, in main-card bouts, Strikeforce has filled out the rest of its "Destruction" fight card with prospects and up-and-comers. The rest of the card includes: Champ Josh Thomson vs. Yves Edwards (for lightweight title) Champ Bobby Southworth vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral (for light heavyweight title) Luke Stewart vs. Joe Riggs Lemont Davis vs. Brian Schwartz Tony Johnson vs. Eric Lawson Darren Uyenoyama vs. Brad Royster Alvin Cacdac vs. Jose Palacios Cyrillo Padilha vs. Bobby Stack Zakary Bucia vs. Jaime Rodriguez Raul Castillo vs. Kurt Osiander Nik Theotikos vs. Luke Rockhold

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Strikeforce has announced that Josh Thomson's first Lightweight Title defense, scheduled for the 11/21 event, will be against Yves Edwards. "The Busiest FIghter In MMA" is the only fighter to ever beat Thomson by KO/TKO, scoring a first-round KO against him at UFC 49.

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After delivering some payback in a long-awaited rematch with Sam Morgan earlier this month, Duane Ludwig is likely to bang with Phil Baroni (13-10) next. The 30-year-old Ludwig (17-8) lived up to his "Bang" nickname in the fight against Morgan at "Strikeforce: Payback" on Oct. 3, wasting little time in punching out the former "The Ultimate Fighter 2" contestant in round one. The outcome evened the ledger between Ludwig and Morgan at a win apiece. Morgan upset the Colorado native in his home state in 2005. It was a much-needed victory for Ludwig, who has struggled while fighting for Strikeforce. He’s now 2-3 in the promotion and appears headed for an opportunity to trade shots with Baroni. "We're going to try to put him and Baroni together," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said. "Since they're so close in weight now, we should definitely put that fight together at 170 (pounds). They should fight either in Denver or Seattle."

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Strikeforce is in advanced discussions with NBC to bring live fights to the Peacock Network. The popular West Coast promotion struck a paid programming deal with NBC earlier this year, featuring 30-minute, weekly shows with fights from past Strikeforce events. Extending that agreement to live, primetime shows would be a major boast for Strikeforce as it looks to generate additional exposure for its brand and expand nationally. "It's been signed off on at many levels (at NBC) already, and I think we're at the final stages," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "By the first quarter of '09, we'll probably have some fights going on. We would need that time frame any way to book the right fights and do it properly." Serious talks between Strikeforce and the network have been ongoing for the past couple of months, and Coker says the dialogue is continuing. Approval at the senior most programming levels at NBC is the only hurdle left to clear to bring live MMA to a second U.S. broadcast network.

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The search for Strikefoece Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson's challenger in November continues. In addition to the previously suggested Mitsuhiro Ishida, Strikeforce is now talking to former IFL Lightweight prodigy Chris Horodecki and UFC veteran Caol Uno, but talks with both are in the very early stages.

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After losing in his last fight at Middleweight, Joe "Diesel" Riggs will drop down to Welterweight for his next fight, which will be on the 11/21 Strikeforce event against SF rising star Luke Stewart.

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After having to scrap the fight on an earlier card due to injuries, Strikeforce will try again on November 21 with Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth vs. Renato Sobral for the title.

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BROOMFIELD, Colo. – It’s been nearly three years, but Duane “Bang” Ludwig was finally able to exact a little payback on Ultimate Fighter alumnus Sam Morgan. It was short, but surely sweet for Ludwig as he won in the main event of Strikeforce’s first foray over the Rocky Mountains. The action was fast and furious from the opening bell, but as Ludwig and Morgan traded blows, it was Ludwig that found his range. He landed a thundering left hook to Morgan’s body and followed with a crushing right hand that put him on the mat. Ludwig soon followed, unleashing a measured barrage of strikes that had Morgan tapping out from the punishment. “He came and did his job last time and I didn’t. I wasn’t up for the fight and he was,” said Ludwig of their first meeting, also in Denver. A measured technician, Ludwig says it was his training partners that lead him to such a furious victory. “Sometimes I just sit back and look for the shot, my partners keep telling me to just let it go and I finally did.”

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“The Secret Weapon” Pete Spratt isn’t one to try to be sneaky with his game plan heading into fights. As he puts it, “My game plan is always the same, just as their game plan is always the same: they’re going to try to take me down, and I’m going to try to strike.” That is the creed of the former Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran who will be making his first appearance in the Strikeforce promotion this Friday night against Donnie Liles on the outskirts of Denver in Broomfield, Colo. “It’s nothing new going into this fight,” he continued. “For me it’s all the same fight every time. Whether they’re young or old, veteran or not, it’s the same fight – it doesn’t matter who it is.” Indeed, it’s business as usual for Spratt, and that’s why he remains a fan favorite, even when heading into the hometown of his opponent. “I’ve got quite a fan base in the Denver area,” stated Spratt. “It’s been a while since I fought out here, so I’m excited about that.”

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Quoteworthy: “It’s gonna be an explosive fight. I heard Tyra’s really aggressive and good on the ground so it should be very exciting for the fans.” “The Dean of Mean,” “The Hungarian Nightmare,” “Lights Out,” “The Iceman,” “The Arm Collector,” “The Baby Faced Assassin,” “The Axe Murderer” … Some fighters do a decent job of living up to their nicknames, but Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson (pictured above) takes the cake. Oh yeah, the former bikini model will take on Tyra Parker tomorrow night on the Strikeforce: “Payback” card, which takes place at the Broomfield Events Center in Denver, Colorado and will air live on HDNet beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Yum.

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