In the semi-main, Sarah Kaufman will make the second defense of her 135-pound title against Marloes Coenen, while Miesha Tate waits in line after winning the four-woman tournament earlier this month.

Also on the card so far is Luke Rockhold in his biggest match thus far, against MMA veteran Matt Lindland.

Steve Cofield wrote last night that Lashley left the Toyota Center on a stretcher and included a still shot of a video that showed him being helped out.

Former WWE diva and the mother of Lashley’s child, Kristal Marshall tweeted out after the fight that Bobby wasn’t in good condition. Her tweets are protected so I’ll quote from Stevie J’s Angrymarks.

According to AM, Marshall tweeted out:

Please pray for bobby and our family we just got some very very scary news

And then also tweeted out later:

Bobby got admitted he can’t come home…it is very scary they r running lots of tests im Freaking out they r keeping me in the dark.

Dave Meltzer from F4W/Wrestling Observer added that Lashley was able to leave the hospital this morning.

Although he left the cage under his own power after his loss to Chad Griggs, he was taken out from the Toyota Center to the hospital, where he underwent a series of tests and stayed overnight due to some concern with one of his tests.

What those tests are, we can only guess are blood work related. I’ll update if more information comes out soon.

Ariel Helwani interviews Scott Coker about his marketable fighters losing the majority of the fights at Strikeforce Houston.

He also talks about Paul Heyman and how a deal could be done with him.

In all reality, we got a Strikeforce Challengers card last weekend which didn’t feel all that special and then this regular Strikeforce card which should feel special and doesn’t. I wonder if there’s simply too much MMA out there right now. I’ll watch and write about most MMA, but the difference between this show and a UFC show is that I’ll go out of my way to make sure I see the UFC show live and there’s not that sense of urgency with Strikeforce these days.

Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo, and Frank Shamrock are the announcers.

Bobby Lashley and Chad Griggs are already in the cage.

1. Chad Griggs vs. Bobby Lashley

Griggs has these huge pork chop sideburns. Lashley is down in weight a bit, but still looks jacked.

Lashley immediately shot in and easily got into side control. Gus and Frank talked about why pro wrestlers were coming into MMA. Frank said it’s the same business, yet wrestlers work harder. They should’ve asked Mauro since he actually worked in the business for a bit. Lashley was trying to pass but Griggs was doing a good job of working from the bottom. Griggs got up, but Lashley got him back down. Griggs is slippery and he was able to get up again and nailed Lashley with a knee from the clinch. Lashley buckled. They were separated and Lashley went for another takedown and got it, but Lashley took an uppercut and is bleeding. I don’t think he ever bled in WWE, but I could be wrong. It’s a nasty cut to the left corner of his left eye.

Lashley’s breathing pretty hard to start the round. Lashley picked Griggs up and slammed him down like a spinebuster slam. Lashley is pumping right hands down on Griggs. He was able to get into full mount and Griggs is trying to cover up. Griggs used his feet and the cage to get away from the corner, but couldn’t buck Lashley. If this was the UFC, Lashley would be able to reign down with elbows. They stopped the fight to check out his eye and he says he wanted to continue. Lashley shot in and didn’t get the takedown. He was holding onto one leg while Griggs was firing down hammer shots at him. The bell rang and he landed at least one after the bell. The ref stopped it and the fight is over. Lashley now has one loss.

Winner: Chad Griggs by way of 2nd round TKO

Well, at least Batista vs. Lashley will be easier to put together now. It’s going to be interesting to hear Lashley’s story on this one. His wrestling was better than anything Griggs had, but he just got tired and sloppy. I wonder if Griggs has a future here at heavyweight.

They’re promoting an October 9th card with Nick Diaz headlining without an opponent yet. You’d wish they had one and also that Diaz would be here to talk about it. And instead, they interview Luke Rockhold who fights Matt Linland on the same card. Rather than promoting the main event and draw, you promote a fight that’s probably third from the top. Head scratcher. And it was not a good promo.

2. Jorge Gurgel vs. KJ Noons

We’ll see if Gurgel uses his wrestling. If not, Noons could eat his lunch.

Gurgel looks like he’s in crazy shape. He’s very active with his kicks and also landed a nice right hand. Noons is looking to stalk and he’s taking kicks and punches in order to get closer to Gurgel. Gurgel walked into a nice right hand. If Noons was able to load up at all, the fight would’ve been over. Gurgel is stepping right into right hands which isn’t good for him. Gurgel shot in once, but seemed to be more of a fake than anything and was able to throw a knee that looked to slightly land, but Noons was already moving backwards. Noons is going to knock him out soon. Whoa! They traded shots at the end of the round and just after the bell sounded, Noons knocked him silly with a left hook. It was a beautiful hook too.

Gurgel needs to get to his wrestling. Gurgel ate a straight right and another left hook and then when Gurgel tried to grab him, Noons kneed him illegally. Gurgel had no business coming out in the second round. What a horrendous fight plan by Gurgel. The referee was horrible as well.

Winner: KJ Noons by way of 2nd round TKO

Noons hit him late in the first round, which is arguable that he could’ve prevented it and I don’t think he could’ve as it was bang bang. And then, he knees him illegally when Gurgel is down, yet he was dominating and was going to win walking away. If the referee would’ve stopped the fight once Gurgel went down, none of this would’ve happened. I could see that Gurgel was clueless going into the second round. The second he was touched I would’ve jumped in.

KJ Noons called out Floyd Mayweather. Yep, that’s something Strikeforce couldn’t promote. Smart guys. And by the way, Mayweather wouldn’t allow Noons to hit him.

3. Jacare Souza vs. Tim Kennedy

This is for the middleweight title that became vacant when Jake Shields left Strikeforce for UFC.

Jacare is so quick. He landed a couple of left hooks that Kennedy didn’t really have an answer for. Kennedy countered a leg kick with a left hook of his own. None of them were as pretty as Noons’ though. Kennedy looks uncomfortable on the feed as if he doesn’t know what to look for from Jacare. Even when he does punch and kick, he’s not following through in fear that a counter is coming. Jacare went down after hitting the cage while going backwards and Kennedy jumped on him, but Jacare was fine. Big John McCarthy was really quick to make sure they weren’t going to hit after the bell after what happened in the first two fights.

It’s not like Jacare can’t be hit. He doesn’t move his head at all and stays right in pocket. Kennedy is moving out of the way of some of the bigger shots and taking them on his shoulder and countering. Kind of awkward, but it was successful. Kennedy looked good near the end of the round, landing a superman punch, but then he ate a few to end the round too. I have Jacare up 2-0.

Kennedy is landing that lead right hand, thrown off the wrong foot. Jacare landed a straight right that busted Kennedy open over his right eye. Kennedy shot in and tripped Jacare to the ground. Jacare used the cage to help himself back up. This is a pretty even round except Kennedy has the takedown so he probably wins it. I wonder how many judges give this to Jacare just because Kennedy’s face is bloody?

What’s interesting to me is that on the ground, Jacare has a true killer instinct. He goes for it. But on the feet, he’s content to play point boxing. There were a few times where he had Kennedy in odd positions and stayed patient. Jacare shot in and Kennedy just stuffed him with a great sprawl. Jacare is able to land his right hand because Kennedy drops his when he throws any kind of blow. Kennedy kicked him right in the balls with his front toes. Interesting round. I think Kennedy just tied up the fight. Souza is fighting like he’s way ahead on the scorecard.

Souza definitely looks like the winner and if you score the fight as a whole, he’s probably winning. But with the 10 point must system, I have it tied. To me, the fight was there for the taking for Kennedy, but he didn’t do enough. Kennedy may have landed more shots, but Jacare landed the biggest shots. Kennedy got a huge takedown at the end of the round that could take it, but I think that if you win 4:55 of the round, one takedown shouldn’t sway it the other way. I give the round and fight to Jacare, though neither guy really looked all that good.

Winner: Jacare Souza by unanimous decision

49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 were the scores. I wonder if Dan Henderson is licking his lips. Fundamentally, Souza’s stand-up is solid, but if Henderson could use his wrestling to get inside, he could light up Souza with his mechanical style.

4. Rafael Feijao vs. King Mo

There’s a big King Mo chant going on just as the round starts. Mo used some quick hands to get inside and grabbed a double leg against the cage, but Feijao was able to use his arm to hold his balance and stayed up. Mo grabbed him like he was going to side suplex him and just dropped him hard. Feijao has great balance. Mo took a few shots to get inside and picked him up to slam him again, but Feijao adjusted his weight up in the air and slipped out. Feijao’s landing the better shots and is making Mo pay for getting inside. Mo landed a fadeaway right hand. This is a close round, but Feijao might’ve pulled it out.

Mo looks like he’s figured out that Feijao is stronger than he is and is going to use his stamina and endurance to try to wear him out. He was able to get Feijao down, but not hold him down. He also went to a southpaw stance which I thought was to help his shot, but he landed some strong inside shots. Mo has his guard low as if to try to get Feijao to throw so he can get inside. Mo won the second round fairly easily.

Mo’s lackluster stand-up defense lost it for him. Feijao caught him with a knee and wobbled him. Rather than go to his wrestling and try to catch his breath, he came back at Feijao swinging and opening himself up to getting caught again, which he did. Feijao knocked him near across the cage with a right hand that followed a knee. Mo instinctively shot in and pushed Feijao against the cage, but Feijao just threw hammer shots on him and Mo nearly feel over and Big John stopped it.

Winner: Rafael Feijao

The card was pretty good, but with the exception of KJ Noons, the more marketable fighters lost tonight. Strikeforce has some work to do to get Feijao and Jacare over to a bigger audience than just the hardcores.

Chad Cook (205.25) vs. Arteneus Young (204)

Humberto DeLeon (127.25) vs. Chad Robichaux (131)

Jose Santibanez (154.25) vs. Reynaldo Trujillo (155.25)

Kier Gooch (155.5) vs. Adam Schindler (155.5)

Rocky Long (146.25) vs. Vinicius Magalhaes (144.5)

Andre Galvao (170.75) vs. Jorge Patino

Daniel Cormier (249) vs. Jason Riley (256.5)

Chad Griggs (228.5) vs. Bobby Lashley (246)

Jorge Gurgel (154.75) vs. K.J. Noons (156.25)

Tim Kennedy (185) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (184.75)

King Mo (203.75) vs. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (203.5)

From Bryan Alvarez at F4W/Wrestling Observer:

Patino has not weighed in yet. Robichaux was a pound over and has an hour to make weight for the fight. Noons missed weight by 1/4 pound but Gurgel said that was fine and he won’t have to weigh in again.

If I find an update on Patino and Robichaux, I’ll update it here.

Update:

Per the press release I just received from Strikeforce, Patino weighed in at 170 and 8/10 pounds. I guess they didn’t just want to say 4/5 or just 171.

I’m also not exactly sure what the weight limit is for DeLeon vs. Chad Robichaux as according to the press release, Robichaux was still the same weight.

Another update:

Ariel Helwani added a video of the actual weigh-ins.

Sarah Kaufman is ringside as she’ll face whoever wins the one-night tournament.

The semi-final match-ups are only two rounds, which is pretty bogus. But the reason is because the athletic commission wouldn’t let anyone fight more than 5 rounds in an evening. Thus, if the semi-final fights end in a draw, the judges simply have to pick a winner. Yep, pretty silly.

They are also three minute rounds.

1. Maiju Kujala vs. Miesha Tate

Kujala is the least experienced of all the women. Tate looks in tremendous shape.

The first round was odd. Tate controlled the clinch and had Kujala up against the cage. After half the round, she finally got the takedown. But Kujala had a guillotine in. The referee told the girls to go for submissions or he would stand them up. Kujala did have a submission. And he stood them up anyway.

Kujala’s hands are definitely faster. She’s not as strong as Tate, but she fights at a faster pace. Tate threw two head kicks, but only grazed with one. It was probably Kujala’s round until Tate secured a takedown at the end of it.

The two right, three minute round nonsense is silly. No contender should be decided this way.

Winner: Miesha Tate by decision

2. Carina Damm vs. Hitomi Akano

Mauro Ranallo says Damm was the first female fighter to test positive for steroids. Yikes. I watched Akano fight Cyborg in person and that was a brutal, brutal destruction.

Damm got a takedown early in the round and was working hard on the top, trying to enhance her position. And the referee stood them up, which seemed to anger her. She threw a spinning backfist, but didn’t hit it. The crowd still popped for it more than anything else thus far. Damm went for another takedown, but Akano had her in a headlock and took her down.

In the best exchange of the night so far, Akano was on top and Damm maneuvered to top position, but Akano grabbed an arm and was looking for an arm bar, but Damm figured her way out of it. Then, Akano got high for a triangle and tapped her out.

Winner: Hitomi Akano by way of 2nd round submission

Kaufman thinks Akano is going to beat Tate because she thought Tate looked tired.

3. Lucas Stark vs. Ryan Couture

This was fun. Stark landed a right hand surprised Couture. Couture then stuck a trip takedown. Stark got up and then used a fireman’s carry takedown. Couture immediately put on a triangle and that was all she wrote.

Winner: Ryan Couture by way of 1st round submission

They have some time so they’re showing the women’s reserve bout.

4. Liz Carmouche vs. Colleen Schneider

Carmouche beat her chest like Tarzan coming out. Schneider is 5’9 and looks like a giant compared to Carmouche.

Carmouche was more aggressive and got two takedowns. She wins the first round easily.

Definitely a feistier round. Schneider was trying to throw leg kicks, but not setting them up well. Carmouche continued to rush in and take away her length, but was on the other side of a takedown.

Winner: Liz Carmouche by unanimous decision

5. Hitomi Akano vs. Miesha Tate

Akano was able to turn a Tate takedown attempt into one of her own. Well, she didn’t really take her down as much as she just fell on her. Akano grabbed an ankle lock and held onto it for a little bit. Tate seemed a bit embarrassed after she got out as she decided to try to strike while Akano was on her back and Akano kept her off.

The second round was excellent. Tate was more aggressive in throwing kicks and picking up the pace. She went for a takedown and they both kind of went down with Tate behind her. Akano fought her off well and looked to be trying to grab an arm, but Tate got her back went for a choke. Akano turned her over near the end of the round.

The camera showed Cris Cyborg next to Sarah Kaufman. Though Cyborg fights only 10 pounds higher than Kaufman, she looked 30 pounds heavier.

Tate used the same strategy again. She was able to get Akano down and worked the rear naked choke for over half the round. Both women fought hard. Akano worked hard trying to get out of Tate’s grasp, but Tate rolled with her like it was a scripted wrestling match. Tate ended it strongly with strikes while behind her.

Winner: Miesha Tate by way of unanimous decision

6. Louis Taylor vs. Joe Riggs

The fight is at a 182 pound catch weight.

I’m only writing about the third round here. Riggs got the takedown and crucifixed Taylor’s arms and pounded Taylor out. Taylor’s nose and mouth was bloody. I don’t think I missed much in the first two rounds.

Winner: Joe Riggs by way of 3rd round decision

As has been speculated on various websites, Brazilian Carina Damm is having difficulty obtaining the necessary visa to travel to The United States for her participation in the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event on Friday, Aug. 13 where Damm is slated to compete in the women’s welterweight (135 pounds) tournament in Phoenix, Ariz.

STRIKEFORCE is working diligently to help Carina secure a visa in time to make the trip for next month’s event. In the event that she is unable to acquire a visa, however, we have identified a qualified replacement for the tournament and will release her name if Carina is officially forced to withdraw from the event. This prospective replacement has been in training camp for several weeks and is prepared to take on the task at hand.

Stay tuned for further information. If you have any questions, please call me at 917-566-8754.

Thank you,

Mike Afromowitz
STRIKEFORCE