The Weekly Wrap: Dec. 19 - Dec. 25
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Jack Encarnacao Dec 26, 2009
The Weekly Wrap walks readers through the last seven days in
MMA, recapping and putting into context the week's top story,
important news and notable quotes.
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2009 ended with a bang, as Strikeforce and World Extreme
Cagefighting put forward their most action-packed cards of the year
on Dec. 19, the first time the promotions have gone head-to-head on
the same night.
A host of fighters in several weight classes delivered some of the best performances of their MMA careers on both sides of the dial, including two “Fight of the Year” caliber battles in Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez and Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff and another unforgettable comeback from Scott Smith in handing Cung Le his first loss.
The best fight of the weekend saw Gilbert Melendez avenge his loss to Josh Thomson in a 25-minute barnburner to become the unified Strikeforce lightweight champion. Melendez used improved standing punching power to damage “The Punk,” who made several dramatic recoveries from knockdowns throughout the bout. Unlike their first bout last June, Melendez was not set on a takedown-heavy game plan and comfortably boxed with the technically-sharp Thomson, winning four out of five rounds.
The battle highlighted Strikeforce’s “Evolution” card from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The event was capped by Cung Le suffering his first career loss at the heavy hands of Scott Smith via third round TKO. Le picked Smith apart with precision spin kicks to the body through the bout until a trademark Smith flurry in the third turned the tides in thrilling fashion. The finish left Smith emotional and on all fours in the center of the cage, and the difficult-to-hit Le with cuts and bruises on his face.
It may be the last MMA effort in a while for Le, who is heavily sought-after on the action movie circuit. Le earned an event-high $150,000 for the fight, more than double what the second highest-paid fighter, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, did. Smith took home $55,000. Le, whose roots run deep in the San Jose-area kickboxing community, helped draw 8,552 to the HP Pavilion for a $634,000 gate. The gate was lower than Strikeforce’s past two showings in their home arena, Carano vs. Cyborg in August ($700,000) and Shamrock vs. Diaz in April ($750,000).
Smith wasn’t the only fighter showcasing remarkable resilience on Dec. 19. Ed Ratcliff hung tough through a litany of punishment from the charismatic Donald Cerrone in the main event of WEC 45, which emanated from the 2,100-seat Pearl Concert Hall at The Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Cerrone, three months after a grueling five-round “Fight of the Year” candidate against Benson Henderson, withstood early fits of striking aggression from his karate-based opponent to pour on heavy strikes and sink several choke attempts. Cerrone kept it dramatic in several ways, having lost a point in both the first and second rounds due to groin strikes. This meant he entered the third round with an 18-18 scorecard, where he won via rear-naked choke submission. WEC officials awarded both fighters $10,000 bonuses for having the fight of the night; that is on top of Cerrone’s $24,000 disclosed purse and Ratcliff’s $9,000.
WEC also gave a “Fight of the Night” bonus to bantamweights Scott Jorgensen and Takeya Mizugaki for a bout that saw Jorgensen drop the hard-chinned Japanese fighter with a wide right hook in the first and take him down effectively in the second. Mizugaki surged back in the third, hitting a hip throw and turning the tides on the former Pac 10 wrestling force. After the fight, Jorgensen was being mentioned in the 135-pound title picture alongside Team Alpha Male’s Joseph Benavidez, who bounced back from his first pro loss by defeating Rani Yahya via first-round TKO. Post-fight, Benavidez, who earned an event-high $25,000 purse, was asked about potentially facing Miguel Torres when the former champion returns at WEC 47 in March.
The “Best Knockout” bonus of the WEC card went to Anthony Njokuani, who blasted former IFL standout Chris Horodecki with a kick to the face while Horodecki raced across the cage to create distance. The hit created the opening for a torrent of fight-ending blows. It was the third straight KO bonus for Njokuani, who is now solidly in the WEC lightweight picture. The night’s best submission bonus went to U.K.-born fighter Brad Pickett, who tapped Kyle Dietz with a swift Peruvian necktie.
Strikeforce’s four-fight main card was rounded out by two of the promotion’s surefire future title challengers. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza proved his elite competition grappling credentials transition smoothly to MMA, as he dominated the positional game against veteran Matt Lindland before finding an arm-triangle choke for the first-round tapout. Souza called for a middleweight title shot after the bout.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal notched himself a first-round win as well, stopping a sluggish Mike Whitehead with a sound punch combination for the TKO. Lawal channeled the pro wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin following the win, pouring Rock Star energy drink down his throat and on his head as the wrestler does with cans of beer. The display led to the California State Athletic Commission to fine Lawal 10 percent of his $10,000 show purse for violating a prohibition on bringing open-drink containers into the cage.
Also picking up wins on the Strikeforce card were Antwain Britt (doctor’s stoppage over Scott Lighty); Justin Wilcox (decision over Daisuke Nakamura) and Alexander Crispim (decision over AJ Fonseca). Picking up winners’ purses at WEC 45 were Bart Palaszewski (split decision over Anthony Pettis); Zach Micklewright (division over Muhsin Corbbrey); Chad George (decision over John Hosman); Brandon Visher (first-round KO over Courtney Buck); and Eric Koch (decision over Jameel Massouh). Visher and Pickett’s victories made the Versus broadcast.
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A host of fighters in several weight classes delivered some of the best performances of their MMA careers on both sides of the dial, including two “Fight of the Year” caliber battles in Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez and Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff and another unforgettable comeback from Scott Smith in handing Cung Le his first loss.
The battle for television ratings looked to tip in Strikeforce’s
favor. The promotion’s Showtime broadcast drew an average of
341,000 viewers compared to 330,000 viewers for the WEC 45
broadcast on Versus, according to MMAJunkie.com. The Strikeforce
number is impressive because Versus is available in six times more
television households than Showtime is.
The best fight of the weekend saw Gilbert Melendez avenge his loss to Josh Thomson in a 25-minute barnburner to become the unified Strikeforce lightweight champion. Melendez used improved standing punching power to damage “The Punk,” who made several dramatic recoveries from knockdowns throughout the bout. Unlike their first bout last June, Melendez was not set on a takedown-heavy game plan and comfortably boxed with the technically-sharp Thomson, winning four out of five rounds.
The battle highlighted Strikeforce’s “Evolution” card from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The event was capped by Cung Le suffering his first career loss at the heavy hands of Scott Smith via third round TKO. Le picked Smith apart with precision spin kicks to the body through the bout until a trademark Smith flurry in the third turned the tides in thrilling fashion. The finish left Smith emotional and on all fours in the center of the cage, and the difficult-to-hit Le with cuts and bruises on his face.
It may be the last MMA effort in a while for Le, who is heavily sought-after on the action movie circuit. Le earned an event-high $150,000 for the fight, more than double what the second highest-paid fighter, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, did. Smith took home $55,000. Le, whose roots run deep in the San Jose-area kickboxing community, helped draw 8,552 to the HP Pavilion for a $634,000 gate. The gate was lower than Strikeforce’s past two showings in their home arena, Carano vs. Cyborg in August ($700,000) and Shamrock vs. Diaz in April ($750,000).
Smith wasn’t the only fighter showcasing remarkable resilience on Dec. 19. Ed Ratcliff hung tough through a litany of punishment from the charismatic Donald Cerrone in the main event of WEC 45, which emanated from the 2,100-seat Pearl Concert Hall at The Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Cerrone, three months after a grueling five-round “Fight of the Year” candidate against Benson Henderson, withstood early fits of striking aggression from his karate-based opponent to pour on heavy strikes and sink several choke attempts. Cerrone kept it dramatic in several ways, having lost a point in both the first and second rounds due to groin strikes. This meant he entered the third round with an 18-18 scorecard, where he won via rear-naked choke submission. WEC officials awarded both fighters $10,000 bonuses for having the fight of the night; that is on top of Cerrone’s $24,000 disclosed purse and Ratcliff’s $9,000.
WEC also gave a “Fight of the Night” bonus to bantamweights Scott Jorgensen and Takeya Mizugaki for a bout that saw Jorgensen drop the hard-chinned Japanese fighter with a wide right hook in the first and take him down effectively in the second. Mizugaki surged back in the third, hitting a hip throw and turning the tides on the former Pac 10 wrestling force. After the fight, Jorgensen was being mentioned in the 135-pound title picture alongside Team Alpha Male’s Joseph Benavidez, who bounced back from his first pro loss by defeating Rani Yahya via first-round TKO. Post-fight, Benavidez, who earned an event-high $25,000 purse, was asked about potentially facing Miguel Torres when the former champion returns at WEC 47 in March.
The “Best Knockout” bonus of the WEC card went to Anthony Njokuani, who blasted former IFL standout Chris Horodecki with a kick to the face while Horodecki raced across the cage to create distance. The hit created the opening for a torrent of fight-ending blows. It was the third straight KO bonus for Njokuani, who is now solidly in the WEC lightweight picture. The night’s best submission bonus went to U.K.-born fighter Brad Pickett, who tapped Kyle Dietz with a swift Peruvian necktie.
Strikeforce’s four-fight main card was rounded out by two of the promotion’s surefire future title challengers. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza proved his elite competition grappling credentials transition smoothly to MMA, as he dominated the positional game against veteran Matt Lindland before finding an arm-triangle choke for the first-round tapout. Souza called for a middleweight title shot after the bout.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal notched himself a first-round win as well, stopping a sluggish Mike Whitehead with a sound punch combination for the TKO. Lawal channeled the pro wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin following the win, pouring Rock Star energy drink down his throat and on his head as the wrestler does with cans of beer. The display led to the California State Athletic Commission to fine Lawal 10 percent of his $10,000 show purse for violating a prohibition on bringing open-drink containers into the cage.
Also picking up wins on the Strikeforce card were Antwain Britt (doctor’s stoppage over Scott Lighty); Justin Wilcox (decision over Daisuke Nakamura) and Alexander Crispim (decision over AJ Fonseca). Picking up winners’ purses at WEC 45 were Bart Palaszewski (split decision over Anthony Pettis); Zach Micklewright (division over Muhsin Corbbrey); Chad George (decision over John Hosman); Brandon Visher (first-round KO over Courtney Buck); and Eric Koch (decision over Jameel Massouh). Visher and Pickett’s victories made the Versus broadcast.
