It?s that time again, fans and friends. Another MMA event has come and gone, and this time it was the fifteenth edition of the ?Strikeforce Challengers? series of shows that aired live and uncut on the Showtime network. It was a night that saw one rather boring fight end in a controversial decision, immediately followed by three straight and rather entertaining finishes. And then in the main event, Justin Wilcox thoroughly dominated and destroyed Rodrigo Damm. Here are the full results as well as some early commentary on Strikeforce: ?Challengers 15?.
Anthony Avila defeats Rafael Rios via unanimous decision. Robert Escalante defeats Raul Sandoval via submission (armbar) at 4:10 in Round 1. Tristan Arenal defeats Tom Peterson via submission (armbar) at 1:58 in Round 1. Ronald Carillo defeats Adam Antolin via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:48 in Round 1. Damion Douglas defeats Wayne Phillips via Split Decision. James Terry defeats Josh Thornburg via KO at 4:38 of Round 1. Lorenz Larkin defeats Scott Lighty via TKO at 3:15 of Round 2. Caros Fodor defeats David Douglas via TKO at 2:12 of Round 3. Justin Wilcox defeats Rodrigo Damm via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 1.
The first fight of the Strikeforce broadcast honestly left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This was judging ineptitude at its finest. Damion Douglas was clearly gassed by the end of Round 1, he was honestly gassed near the halfway mark of Round 1. Wayne Phillips didn?t do a whole lot, but he certainly did more than enough to take a unanimous 29-28 decision. And to make matters even worse, it was a rather mundane and pedestrian fight. I?m a fan of ?Challengers?, but I?m a realist first and foremost: this fight stunk, and the judges watching it were either blind or profoundly stupid.
However, I did enjoy the next two fights. James Terry and Josh Thornburg were in the middle of a watchable if not underwhelming contest before Terry landed a surprise KO punch. It wasn?t the most dramatic of finishes, but it was a bit unexpected. I was very impressed by Lorenz Larkin, who completely dominated Scott Lighty before stopping him in the second round. Larkin has plenty of power in both his punches and his kicks, and I look forward to seeing where he goes in Strikeforce.
I honestly was pretty surprised that ?Tarzan? was so thoroughly dominated by Caros Fodor. Fodor seemed to be just too good at everything: his strikes were too crisp, his wrestling and clinching really drained the stamina of Douglas, his ground control was too good. Pat Miletich said it best: Douglas was dismantled. Fodor proved me wrong, and I?m not even slightly angry that he did so. He even apologized for the fight being slightly boring, which it honestly wasn?t. I?ll definitely be paying attention when Fodor next fights.
Justin Wilcox did exactly what I thought he would, and he was even better than I expected him to be. I think there can be no doubt: Justin Wilcox is ready for the main stage. Wilcox is a big threat, and honestly too big for ?Challengers?. I wouldn?t be surprised if Wilcox was fighting for the championship before the year was through.
All in all, I did enjoy this event. I absolutely hated the first fight, but it?s tough to hold a grudge when I?m then given four straight finishes. This was a good event, and further proof that ?Challengers? is constantly improving. As far as my contest to crown my next ?dark horse favorite? promotion goes, ?Challengers 15? did an amicable job of keeping this series in the running. It all hinges on how much I like tomorrow?s Bellator event.
And what about you, fans and friends? Any thoughts on ?Challengers 15??
Maurice Mo Smith Patrick Smith Scott Smith Renato Babalu Sobral
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