I had an above average night on my overall picks. Even though my main event record took a hit thanks to comeback virtuoso Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith (Pictured at left), I still finished up some cash-- more on that later. After going 3-1 on the main card of Strikef0rce:Evolution, my record stands at 133-76 (%63.6) and 16-6 (%72.7) in main events.
STRIKEFORCE QUICK RESULTS:
Main Event:
---Scott Smith def. Cung Le via TKO (Strikes), Rd. 3
Main Card:
***Undisputed Lightweight Champ Gilbert Melendez def. Josh Thomson by Unanimous Decision
***Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza def. Matt Lindland by Submission (Arm Triangle), Rd. 1
***Muhammed "King" Mo Lawal def. Mike Whitehead via KO (Strikes), Rd. 1
*** Correct Picks --- Incorrect Picks
Up until the very last minute of Strikeforce:Evolution, everything panned out more or less exactly as I had predicted. Of course, not being among the small handful of Canadians TV-obsessed enough to subscribe to SuperChannel, I wasn't able to watch the card live, but I read the live results as I watched WEC45 (results below) live on TSN. Anyway, it was an alright little night of MMA action to be sure.
Back to the Strikeforce card, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal started the night off with a literal bang, stopping Mike Whitehead via first-round KO. Yet again, "King Mo's" natural athleticism made a slow-moving, second-rate heavyweight pretty easy pickings. Still, Lawal's laughable lack of size deeply concerns me. He weighed in for this fight at a paltry 218 lbs, which is a fairly light walking-around weight even for a LHW. Trading speed for size may have worked so far, but that gambit will land him in a world of hurt against virtually any of the top-25 at HW. Then again, the word is that "King Mo" wants Strikeforce LHW champ and world #7 at LHW Gegard Mousasi for his second Strikeforce fight, which also has bad idea written all over it.
Speaking of finishing fights early, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza capped of an embarassingly dominant first round over Matt Lindland with a fight-ending arm-triangle. At 39-years-old and coming off two consecutive first-round losses, it might be time for Lindland, an MMA elder-statesman, to consider a less brain-cell-threatening avenue of income. "Jacare" showed improved stand-up and impressively displayed his underrated Judo en route to the early victory. Another fight with Jason "Mayhem" Miller will most likely be next for "Jacare."
There's not much to be said about Melendez vs. Thomson II except that it was a lot closer than their first match, but had the opposite outcome. Considering how thin Strikeforce's LW division is, a third and deciding match is very likely.
Then there was the main event. Without hyperbole, it was very likely the absolute greatest comeback in the history of MMA and was perpetrated by the sports ultimate comeback king, Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith. Cung Le nearly finished Smith in the first round and absolutely peppered him throughout the first two-and-a-half. Le landed big kicks, little kicks, push kicks, spinning backs, high kicks, low kicks, body kicks, wheel kicks and everything in between. Smith was rocked, dropped, bloodied and almost beaten multiple times. Then, Smith suddenly caught Le with a BIG left, followed it with another, and finished the San Shou expert, leaving him in a heap. With this victory, Scott Smith capped of a trilogy of epic comeback KOs that will most likely never be touched in terms of their relevance and sheer shock-value. It all started with the infamous hail-mary KO of Pete Sell at The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale in late-2006. Then, Smith scored another out-of-the-blue fight-ender against Benjii Radach this spring. His victory over Le was perhaps the greatest one of all. Rarely in the history of the sport has any fighter caught such a savage one-sided beating for two-plus rounds. I mean, guys have been beaten up before, but Le was just running show on Smith, essentially untouched. Then, lights out.
On the one hand, Smith dented my prized main-event record with his statistically absurd shenanigans. Then again, he also won me some cash as part of a parlay with "Jacare." What can I say, at +300 I'll take a flyer on Smith's hands against almost anybody.
Undercard:
Antwain "The Juggernaut" Britt def. Scott Lighty by TKO (Cut), Rd. 1
Justin "The Silverback" Wilcox def. Daisuke Nakamura by Unanimous Decision
Alex Crispim def. A.J. Fonseca by Unanimous Decision
WEC 45 QUICK RESULTS:
Main Event:
Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone def. Ed "9mm" Ratcliff by Submission (RNC), Rd. 3
Main Card
Anthony Njokuani def. Chris "The Polish Hammer" Horodecki by TKO (Strikes), Rd. 1
Joseph Benavidez def. Rani Yahya by Knockout (Punch), Rd. 1
Scott "Young Guns" Jorgensen def. Takeya Mizugaki by Unanimous Decision
Preliminary Card
Bart "Bartimus"Palaszewski def. Anthony "Showtime" Pettis by Split Decision
Zach Micklewright def Muhsin Corbbrey by Unanimous Decision
Chad George def. John Hosman by Unanimous Decision
Brandon Visher def. Courtney Buck by TKO (strikes), Rd. 1
Brad Pickett def. Kyle Dietz by Submission (Peruvian Necktie), Rd. 2
Erik Koch def. Jameel Massouh by Unanimous Decision
Not too many comments to share here. Donald Cerrone didn't really surprise anyone with a victory here. Well, he might have surprised Ed Ratcliff with the series of nut-shots he landed in the first two-rounds, but that's about it. The real stories of the night were Scott Jorgensen and Anthony Njokuani who put themselves on the map with big-time victories. In particular, Njokuani made a lasting impression by scoring a KO on a fleeing Chris Horodecki.
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