ROUSEY THE BADDEST BROAD IN STRIKEFORCE?
Columbus, OH– Ronda Rousey’s first armbar didn’t finish Miesha Tate Saturday night here at the Nationwide Arena, but you had a feeling the second would, and it did, crowning “Rowdy” Ronda as the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion via first round submission. “I came here to put on a fight,” said Tate. “I didn’t like her so I wanted to come out here and come out hard. I got a little overzealous, she caught the arm. I do respect her as an athlete.”
CHICKS STAGED WAR FOR AS LONG AS IT LASTED!
Tate came out swinging, and not surprisingly, Rousey responded with a takedown. The expected armbar followed, and while it looked to hyperextended, Tate fought off the submission attempt, and with the crowd roaring, the champion got loose and took Rousey’s back. Rousey tried to slam her way out of trouble, but Tate wouldn’t let go. Midway through the round, Rousey got loose and the two locked up against the fence and then on the mat. After breaking, the fighters traded briefly before Rousey scored with a throw. Rousey transitioned into the mount and then took Tate’s back before moving back and securing the armbar again.
EITHER YOU TAP OR YOUR ARM GETS BROKEN!
This time, despite much resistance from Tate, she eventually had no choice but to tap, bringing a halt to the bout at 4:27 of the opening round. “She’s good, she’s legit, but I don’t feel too bad about it,” said Rousey of the finish. It was the first time she had gone past 57 seconds in a bout, pro or amateur. With the win, Rousey improves to 5-0; Tate, who was making the first defense of her title, falls to 12-3
In his first bout since December of 2010, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson returned to the cage and may have earned a rubber match against the promotion’s current 155-pound boss, Gilbert Melendez, scoring a solid, yet unspectacular three round unanimous decision over KJ Noons. Scores were 29-28 across the board for Thomson, who was sidelined by injury for the last 15 months.
A front kick to the face from Thomson (19-4, 1 NC) got Noons’ attention as soon as the bout started, and “The Punk” showed little sign of cage rust as he stayed busy and potshotted his opponent. Thomson had to fight for a takedown two minutes in, but he eventually got it, adding to his scoring tally. The action stalled on the mat, but Thomson remained in control, as Noons couldn’t find a way to get back to his feet.
Noons (10-4) showed more urgency in his attack to start the second, and while a Thomson slip gave him a good opportunity to capitalize on, Thomson got out of trouble with little difficulty, with a takedown following seconds later. Noons still had no answers for Thomson’s control on the ground, and you could see the frustration on his face. On the other side, Thomson was working just enough to keep the bout from getting stood up, but with two minutes left, referee Keith Peterson did restart the bout. Noons, now bleeding from over the left eye, tried to force the action, scoring with some uppercuts, but Thomson put him on the seat of his pants for the rest of the frame.
MISAKI BEATS DALEY ON SPLIT DUKE!
PRIDE 2006 welterweight (170 lbs) Grand Prix champion Kazuo Misaki returned to the Strikeforce cage for the first time since 2009 and he picked up where he left off after his win over Joe Riggs more than two years ago, taking a split decision victory over British bomber Paul “Semtex” Daley. Scores were 30-27, 29-28, and 28-29 for Misaki, who improves to 25-11-2 with 1 NC; Daley falls to 29-12-2.
SAYERS DEFEATS OVERMATCHED SMITH QUICK!
Middleweight (1850 up and comer Lumumba Sayers handed veteran Scott Smith his fourth consecutive loss, submitting “Hands of Steel” just 94 seconds into their bout. Sayers (6-2) opened up his scoring with a couple strikes before taking Smith to the mat. Sayers let Smith get up, only to slam him back to the canvas. Smith (18-10, 1 NC) looked for a choke as he went down, but it was Sayers who fought loose and sunk in his own guillotine choke, prompting an end to the bout via tap out at the 1:34 mark.
EX-CHAMP SOUZA BACK IN WINNER’S CIRCLE!
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza got back in the win column in his first bout since losing his belt to Luke Rockhold last September, submitting Bristol Marunde in the third round of the main card. Souza took his time to start off the bout, working his standup before taking Marunde down to the mat a little more than two minutes gone. While on Marunde’s back, Souza fired off strikes, but shots to the back of the head prompted referee Keith Peterson to call a stop to the action to issue a warning. Having lost the dominant position, Souza wasn’t rattled, especially not after a right hand dropped Marunde with 1:40 left. Souza looked for the submission finish, but the Las Vegan was able to make it out of the round.
“Jacare” mixed up his striking to open up the second, and he was successful, hurting his foe and taking him down the canvas. Marunde shot back up quickly, but he was unable to get any sort of offense going against the Brazilian, who easily put another round in the bank. After getting two rounds of work in, Souza closed the show in the third, taking Marunde down and eventually sinking in the arm triangle choke that made his foe tap out at 2:43 of the third round. With the win, Souza ups his record to 15-3, 1 NC. Marunde falls to 12-7.
“Ring Talk News Service”