Nortje Stuns Sapp with First-Round Onslaught
Ellis, Masvidal Impress
Dave Mandel Feb 24, 2008
Despite being a recent replacement for Duane Ludwig (Pictures), Eddy Ellis (Pictures), who hails from Yelm, Wash., came
out strongly against Steve
Berger (Pictures) and got the crowd behind him,
then didn't disappoint.
After a back-and-forth first two rounds with each fighter trading blows toe-to-toe, Berger (18-18-2) earned a slight edge due to his arm and leg locks on the ground. But it all changed in the third round, when Ellis (14-14-1) gained a strong position behind Berger and came within centimeters of a rear-naked choke.
The wily Berger avoided the upset for nearly five full minutes and
escaped to the scorecards. Unfortunately for him, the judges saw it
unanimously for Ellis: 30-27 and 29-28 twice.
With both fighters predicting quick victories, it was the 2004 NCAA boxing champion Ryan Healy (Pictures) (9-3-1) who landed the first strike on Jorge Masvidal (Pictures) (13-2).
"I don't want to make excuses," Masvidal said after the victory. "But my back has been sore and I couldn't run like I normally do, so I got a little bit gassed. … If there's a rematch, I'm going to beat his ass."
Strikeforce used talented local fighters to fill out the card. Twelve out of the 18 fighters hailed from Washington State, with three more from the greater Northwest.
But Mychal "Bolo" Clark (5-3) was the lone true hometown boy, and he didn't let Tacoma down, showing immensely superior speed and athleticism as soon as his fight against Josh Bennett (Pictures) (6-4) began.
Clark landed elbows, knees to the face and straight kicks to the stomach after juking and faking out Bennett. His signature move was a swift leg sweep, quickly followed by a fake with the same leg. His eyes would drop to Bennett's left leg, but then instead of going for another right sweep, he would land a right cross.
Near the end of the first round, the fight swung Bennett's way, with the larger fighter using his superior weight advantage on the ground. But Clark's cardio came through for him. He escaped Bennett's hold quickly and righted himself, then landed several elbows with Bennett against the cage, opening up a cut on Bennett's left eye.
In the second, Bennett had more opportunities to use his weight advantage to gain points. Yet by the end of the round, the cut above his eye had grown into a massive knot, and the fight was stopped.
There were no distractions from Lyle Beerbohm (Pictures)'s fancy pants. It was clear from the start of the fight that he had a plan to defeat Ray Perales (Pictures) (9-14) and was ready to see it through.
In a fight that mostly took place on the ground, the one highlight came early in the second round when Beerbohm (4-0) -- in a crouched position -- lifted Perales from the edge of the cage and threw him to the ground. Beerbohm's striped Day-Glo flecked shorts could be seen on top of Perales for almost the whole fight. In the end, Beerbohm was able to clinch Perales into a guillotine choke 1:19 into the third round.
Beerbohm had one thing to say after the fight: "I want to thank my mom for making my shorts."
Matt Kovacs (1-1) and Mike Hayes (1-0), both pankration fighters, came out looking for a standup fight, throwing punches left and right. At first, it seemed like none of their wild swings would hit. Midway through the second round, though, Hayes landed a ferocious combination and took Kovacs to the mat. He then landed several punches to the head from a mounted position.
Hayes tried to end it all right out of the gates in the third round with a flying punch, but Kovacs blocked it and quickly came back with some strong strikes of his own. With his nose bleeding, Hayes finally landed a solid right that left Kovacs reeling. However, the fight was stopped after Kovacs hit his opponent below the belt and was penalized a point.
Hayes came close to a guillotine after the restart, but Kovacs escaped before the bell. Overall, Hayes had landed the majority of the punches and won a unanimous decision, 29-28 and 30-27 twice.
What Zach Skinner gave up in kickboxing ability he made up for on the ground against Scott Shaffer. Schaffer (0-1) wouldn't give up, however, and Skinner (3-2) earned a unanimous decision in the closest fight of the night.
In the opening bout, Nathan Coy (Pictures) (3-0) knocked out Dave Courchaine (0-1) at 1:46 in the first round.
After a back-and-forth first two rounds with each fighter trading blows toe-to-toe, Berger (18-18-2) earned a slight edge due to his arm and leg locks on the ground. But it all changed in the third round, when Ellis (14-14-1) gained a strong position behind Berger and came within centimeters of a rear-naked choke.
Advertisement
With both fighters predicting quick victories, it was the 2004 NCAA boxing champion Ryan Healy (Pictures) (9-3-1) who landed the first strike on Jorge Masvidal (Pictures) (13-2).
But Masvidal would not be denied, coming close on an armbar in the
first round. The Miami-born fighter hung on for a unanimous
decision.
"I don't want to make excuses," Masvidal said after the victory. "But my back has been sore and I couldn't run like I normally do, so I got a little bit gassed. … If there's a rematch, I'm going to beat his ass."
Strikeforce used talented local fighters to fill out the card. Twelve out of the 18 fighters hailed from Washington State, with three more from the greater Northwest.
But Mychal "Bolo" Clark (5-3) was the lone true hometown boy, and he didn't let Tacoma down, showing immensely superior speed and athleticism as soon as his fight against Josh Bennett (Pictures) (6-4) began.
Clark landed elbows, knees to the face and straight kicks to the stomach after juking and faking out Bennett. His signature move was a swift leg sweep, quickly followed by a fake with the same leg. His eyes would drop to Bennett's left leg, but then instead of going for another right sweep, he would land a right cross.
Near the end of the first round, the fight swung Bennett's way, with the larger fighter using his superior weight advantage on the ground. But Clark's cardio came through for him. He escaped Bennett's hold quickly and righted himself, then landed several elbows with Bennett against the cage, opening up a cut on Bennett's left eye.
In the second, Bennett had more opportunities to use his weight advantage to gain points. Yet by the end of the round, the cut above his eye had grown into a massive knot, and the fight was stopped.
There were no distractions from Lyle Beerbohm (Pictures)'s fancy pants. It was clear from the start of the fight that he had a plan to defeat Ray Perales (Pictures) (9-14) and was ready to see it through.
In a fight that mostly took place on the ground, the one highlight came early in the second round when Beerbohm (4-0) -- in a crouched position -- lifted Perales from the edge of the cage and threw him to the ground. Beerbohm's striped Day-Glo flecked shorts could be seen on top of Perales for almost the whole fight. In the end, Beerbohm was able to clinch Perales into a guillotine choke 1:19 into the third round.
Beerbohm had one thing to say after the fight: "I want to thank my mom for making my shorts."
Matt Kovacs (1-1) and Mike Hayes (1-0), both pankration fighters, came out looking for a standup fight, throwing punches left and right. At first, it seemed like none of their wild swings would hit. Midway through the second round, though, Hayes landed a ferocious combination and took Kovacs to the mat. He then landed several punches to the head from a mounted position.
Hayes tried to end it all right out of the gates in the third round with a flying punch, but Kovacs blocked it and quickly came back with some strong strikes of his own. With his nose bleeding, Hayes finally landed a solid right that left Kovacs reeling. However, the fight was stopped after Kovacs hit his opponent below the belt and was penalized a point.
Hayes came close to a guillotine after the restart, but Kovacs escaped before the bell. Overall, Hayes had landed the majority of the punches and won a unanimous decision, 29-28 and 30-27 twice.
What Zach Skinner gave up in kickboxing ability he made up for on the ground against Scott Shaffer. Schaffer (0-1) wouldn't give up, however, and Skinner (3-2) earned a unanimous decision in the closest fight of the night.
In the opening bout, Nathan Coy (Pictures) (3-0) knocked out Dave Courchaine (0-1) at 1:46 in the first round.
Related Articles
