ShoMMA: Strikeforce Challengers I Results
> View historic Strikeforce results listed online here by Pro Fighting Fans including the results of the September 25 Strikeforce Challengers 3 event!
The first edition of the new Showtime fight series: Strikeforce's ShoMMA took place on Friday, May 15 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The show was created when Strikeforce acquired remaining assets of Elite XC in order to give more chances to young fighters who are looking to get their first taste of big-time MMA.
There were many entertaining fights in the debut of ShoMMA but the main event of Billy Evangelista vs. Mike Aina produced controversy. Aina was hit with an illegal knee by Evangelista in the jaw which put him out of action for the night.
LaVar “Big” Johnson, Bao Quach and Sarah Kaufman were all impressive in their return to action Friday night. Here is a look at some of the night’s other action:
Bao Quach vs. Tito Jones (Featherweight – 145 lb)
Bao Quach took the next step in shedding the “gatekeeper” status when he earned a tough decision victory against Team Alpha Male fighter, Tito Jones.
The 1st and 2nd rounds were similar in that both fighters seemed tentative keeping their opponent at bay. The kick boxing match finally turned to a MMA bout mid-way through the 2nd round. Quach went to his low leg kicks to score points while Jones, who is a trained boxer, went to his “bread and butter” by peppering Quach with his right hand. Quach looked to be slightly ahead after two rounds.
The 3rd and final round was much different that the previous two. Jones dropped Quach twice in the final round, first with a right hook then later with a straight right hand. He didn’t finish him and instead gave the stunned Quach, time to recover by running away from Jones until time ran out.
Even with the two knockdowns, Jones wasn’t able to comeback from the first two mediocre rounds. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of the veteran.
Quach is doing a solid job of getting rid of the journeyman status and proving that he belongs on a big-time Strikeforce card. He is now a winner in 10 of his last 11 fights and improves his record to 16-9-1. Although impressive in the loss, Jones snaps his two fight win streak and drops his record to 6-3 overall.
Anthony Ruiz vs. Aaron Rosa (Light-Heavyweight – 205 lb)
Muay Thai specialist Aaron Rosa used his size advantage to neutralize the heavy-handed Ruiz, stopping him with a 1st round TKO in the process.
Ruiz charged out at the bell swinging wildly, missing with most of his initial strikes. After clinching with the aggressive Ruiz, Rosa began to use his knees and elbows on the body of his opponent. Ruiz eventually broke from the clinch, going back to the wild strikes. Unsuccessful the first time Rosa grabbed his opponent a slamed him to the mat.
Now fighting from the mount Rosa begins to work positions on Ruiz. Ruiz begins to scramble but instead gives up his back. Rosa uses the body triangle, loosens up Ruiz with strikes, then slaps a fight-ending - Rear Naked Choke on at 4:29 in the 1st.
San Antonio native - Aaron Rosa adds another TKO to his fight resume. Now 12-2, Rosa has TKO wins in his last two fights. Ruiz falls to 21-13 overall, losing two in a row and 3 of his last 4. He is now 2-4 while fighting for Strikeforce and in danger of losing his position on the organizations roster.
LaVar Johnson vs. Carl Seumanutafa (Heavyweight – 265 lb)
Former toughman competitor, LaVar “Big” Johnson showed that he is more than a glorified “tough-guy” with his devastating punching power. He knocked his opponent out 18 seconds into the fight.
Seumanutafa, who is trained in wrestling, tried to utilize his strength against the stand-up fighter, Johnson. The Samoan fighter – shot for a takedown but Johnson stepped aside and threw a right uppercut that hit Seumanutafa and knocked him cold. Referee Herb Dean didn’t allow anymore damage putting a halt to the fight and awarding Johnson the KO.
Johnson is quickly moving up the Heavyweight ladder, winning five fights in a row and improving his record to 12-3. He has 11 KO’s and a submission win over the course of his five-year MMA career. Seumanutafa has lost three in a row after winning his first four fights. His record now stands at 4-3 with the loss.
Sarah Kaufman vs. Miesha Tate (Women’s Bantamweight – 135 lb)
Sarah Kaufman used her superior striking to outclass upset-minded - Miesha Tate with a unanimous decision victory. The 23-year old was filling in for the departed Kim “Sugar Free” Couture.
Round one was a lot of Kaufman bullying Tate around the cage and connecting with a number of heavy combinations. Tate, who is a submission wrestler by trade, attempted and failed on her takedowns until the last 20 seconds when she secured a double-leg takedown. She was unable to do anything from the top as the time shortly ran out in the 1st.
Tate tucked her chin and stayed in the pocket, getting the worst of the stand-up. She hung in with her game-plan and executed another takedown midway through the 2nd. This time she stayed on top of her dangerous opponent and took her back with less than 10 seconds in the round.
Kaufman took over in the final three minute round. She was obviously in better condition and showed it throughout the 3rd frame. She found herself on top position of Tate late in the round. She used her ground attack, pounding the face and body of Tate until time ran out in the fight.
Sarah Kaufman keeps churning out wins, this time the hard way, Tate was the first women to take her the distance. Kaufman is 9-0 overall with 8 KO’s after the unanimous decision victory. Tate drops her second fight overall (6-2) and stops a four fight win streak that she had put together.
Billy Evangelista vs. Mike Aina (Lightweight – 155 lb)
Both lightweights were unable to make weight but agreed to fight at their weigh-in amounts of 157 lbs. Hawaiian – Mike Aina was awarded the disqualification victory although it looked to be very controversial. Billy Evangelista dominated the fight but made one big mistake costing him his first career loss.
Round one was a very close round – Evangelista, the more technical of the two fighters, kept his distance and connected on some of his overhand rights. Aina pushed the pace and clinched with Evangelista but wasn’t able to deliver much damage. Evangelista did secure a takedown in the 1st and also was warned for a low blow at the very end of the 1st round.
The second round showed promise when Evangelista began to attack the lead-leg of Mike Aina. Evangelista continued to take advantage and secured a double-leg takedown then delivered punches to the face of “Iron” Mike Aina. Aina started to come back with some solid body shots still from the bottom position. Aina almost managed to get back to his feet before Evangelista connected with a knee to the head of Aina.
Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight saying that Aina had both a knee and his hand still on the mat when the illegal knee was delivered. Video and camera angles show that Aina indeed looked to have both knee and hand off the canvas when the knee caught him in the jaw. The DQ could quite possibly be changed to a No Contest in the very near future.
Officially Aina is now 12-6-1 and still has never been knocked out or submitted in any of his fights. He has won three fights in a row and 5 of his last 6 overall. Dominating as he was, Evangelista is now 9-1, after his first official loss in over three years of professional MMA.
Main Strikeforce Challengers Bouts:
- Mike Aina defeats Billy Evangelista via Disqualification (Illegal Knee) - Round 2 @ 3:40
- Sarah Kaufman defeats Meisha Tate by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Lavar “Big” Johnson defeats Carl Seumanutafa by KO (Punch) - Round 2 @ 0:18
- Aaron Rosa defeats Anthony “El Toro” Ruiz via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) - Round 1 @ 4:29
- Boa Quach defeats Tito Jones by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Strikeforce Challengers Bouts:
- Ben Holscher defeats Cody Cantebury via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) - Round 1 @ 2:47
- Ousmane Thomas Diagne defeats Kaleo Kwan by Unanimous Decision
- Fabricio Camoes defeats Torrance Taylor via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) - Round 1 @ 3:21
- Spencer Herns defeats Chad Sutton via Majority Decision