Strikeforce rolled into Houston on Saturday night with a great card, and the Texas fans and Showtime subscribers certainly got their money’s worth, although they might not be very happy with all the outcomes.
Tim Kennedy, who lives in Austin, couldn’t bring home the vacant Middleweight Championship for his fellow Texans. Brazilian Ronaldo Souza won the fight by close-yet-unanimous decision to take the gold strap, putting him atop the division formerly ruled over by Jake Shields.
Tim Kennedy hit by Ronaldo Souza
KJ Noons provided an exciting end to his fight, knocking out Jorge Gurgel just 19 seconds into the second round. Some people called it the most exciting match of the televised part of the card.
KJ Noons putting it to Jorge Gurgel
In one of the higher profile fights of the night, former WWE Champion Bobby Lashley suffered the first loss of his MMA career at the end of the second round against Chad Griggs. Lashley is said to have attempted a double-leg takedown from too far of a distance, and because of the mistake, Griggs was able to block it and go to work on Lashley. The round ended, but Bobby wasn’t able to get to his feet, so the referee called the fight and declared Chad Griggs the victor.
Chad Griggs vs Bobby Lashley
In the main event of the evening, Strikeforce viewers were given yet another shocking outcome in a Light Heavyweight Championship fight as Rafael Cavalcante stopped the championship reign of “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal in his first defese. The fight went 74 seconds into the third round, at which point Cavalcante got the victory by knockout, taking down the wrestler Lawal with strikes, something Gegard Mousasi was not able to accomplish back in April.
Rafael Feijao Cavalcante dethrones King Mo Lawal
photos courtesy of Strikeforce.com
