Thomson Outworks Melendez in Shut-out Victory

All three judges saw the five round Strikeforce Lightweight championship bout the same way: Every round going to Josh "The Punk" Thomson. Thomson (15-2) overcame illness and injury to execute a tactical performance against "El Nino" Gilbert Melendez (14-2).

The bout had moments of brilliance from both fighters. Thomson worked a game plan of outmaneuvering Gilbert and picking him apart with plenty of kicks to the body and alternating low kicks to both the insides and outsides of Melendez's thighs. He also met Gilbert's iron jaw with plenty of knees that would surely down a lesser opponent.

"I stuck to the game plan. The game plan Javier Mendez came up with was to stay on the outside and make Gilbert reach. We wanted him to overextend himself so we could take him down. Javier Mendez is a master of coming up with game plans for fighters and tonight I listened to him and I succeeded."

When asked about the fight Gilbert commented "My game plan was to put Thomson on his back. The plan was to ground and pound him. I just couldn't stick to him. I want to fight him again. I want my belt back."

Thomson commented on a possible rematch "I would fight him again next fight if it is what the promoters wanted. I have all the respect in the world for Gilbert. I was hoping Yves Edwards would beat KJ Noons so I could rematch him to unify the titles, but that won't happen. I want to fight the best fighters, whoever the top guys are. I want Strikeforce to bring in the best fighters so I can fight them."

Bobby Southworth Retains Light-Heavyweight Title in Rematch

Last year saw Bobby Southworth (9-5) suffer a TKO loss to Anthony Ruiz (20-11). He managed to out-grapple Ruiz in the rematch to a Unanimous Decision victory. The fight was competitive at times, but often felt as if we were watching a grappling sparring session between two fighters who are past their physical prime.

"Anthony Ruiz has helped me grow as a fighter." Southworth commented post fight.

"I want Strikeforce to give me some big names to fight. I know they signed Babalu. Babalu has a lot more international recognition than I do. I would like to fight him next."

Evangelista Victory Seen as Controversial by the Fans

Billy Evangelista (7-0) was in deep waters against local favorite Nam Phan (14-5) in their lightweight contest. After clearly dropping the first round, Phan rallied to stun and rock Evangelista in the second. Going into the third both fighters needed to make a statement. Phan would fall short for his efforts, and despite stunning Evangelista multiple times, and attempting an arm-bar off of the lone takedown in the third, he would not see his hand raised as the judges' decision was read. The crowd became volatile and protested the verdict. It is inevitable in our sport that when a fight is left in the judges' hands a fight can be viewed a variety of ways. They may have weighted the takedown more and the third round was closer than many of us thought.

Miesha Tate Dominates Groundwork to Decision Elaina Maxwell

Had the first round been one second longer the fight would have resulted as an arm-bar victory for Miesha Tate (2-1.) Tate dominated the first two rounds of the contest and made for a competitive third round to take the unanimous decision over Cung Le student Elaina Maxwell (2-3).

Maxwell's inability to stop the takedown or defend herself properly on the ground resulted in her taking a loss on this Strikeforce card.

Jeremiah Metcalf Mauls "The Real Deal"

Team Voodoo fighter Jeremiah Metcalf (9-4) put his experience and grit to work to choke out WCL champion Raymond "The Real Deal" Daniels (0-1) at 59 seconds into the second round.

Daniels lacked the fundamentals to stop a takedown and never got to work his standup game. It was his pro debut and maybe shouldn't have faced a fighter with a dozen fights in his initial outing.

The Rest of The Card

A bantamweight bout saw Chris Cariaso (7-1) finish Anthony Figueroa (4-3) late in Round 2 with a rear naked choke. This was a rematch, where Figueroa lost a decision in their first bout. Despite a background listed as Muay Thai, Cariaso showed a technical ground game and out-positioned Figueroa for the majority of the fight before he scored the finish.

Bobby Stack (5-1) defeated Jose Palacios (3-1) by unanimous decision. Palacios looked sharper on the feet, but he was out-positioned and outpointed on the ground.

Featherweight fighter Bryan Caraway (9-2) put a submission grappling clinic on Alvin Cacdac (4-4), submitting him with a rear-naked choke at just 1:39 of round 1. The match saw Caraway immediately take the fight to the floor and work to Cacdac's back to finish him.

Welterweight action saw Cyrillo Padhillo (2-2) took a decision over Jesse Jones (2-1), despite a knockdown in the fight. Padhillo controlled the tempo of the fight, keeping Jones on his back, and earned points in the eyes of the judges, although he was not entertaining to the fans. Jones knew he needed a KO to pull out the win, and although he connected with a few bombs, he ended up suffering his first career loss.

Light-heavyweight Jorge Interiano (1-0) stalked Travis Johnson (0-1) and cut him wide open in both fighters professional debut. Johnson looked like he had enough after two rounds and the doctor stopped it. It was a decent bout, with a lot of leather being thrown. Interiano stayed in the pocket and looked to bang it out with his opponent, and his gutsy striking paid off.

The evening's lightweight opener ended in just 37 seconds, with Alexander Trivino (2-0) arm-barring Eric Jacob (1-0) after Jacob scored an early takedown attempt.

What Lies Ahead

While the event was not earth shattering, it was definitely a positive experience for everyone involved. The champions want to prove themselves against the world's elite at their respective weight classes and they want to fill the HP Pavilion to maximum capacity. The training efforts of these fan favorites are paying off and many of the local talent have improved over the past few years that MMA has been sanctioned in the state of California.

My personal feeling is that this show helped develop the younger talent emerging in the Golden State and prepare the way for more high quality fights at the championship level.

We can expect Strikeforce to bring in a variety of talent to face off against their champions and I am looking forward to it.