Shields and Henderson staredown at weigh-ins. Photo: Esther Lin
Strikeforce this Saturday, in Nashville, Tennessee, proved how strong its roster of fighters is. Jake Shields held on to his middleweight belt against the powerful Dan Henderson, who went into the match riding a wave of fanfare from the UFC, principal competitor to the event.
Shields suffered a knockdown in the opener, getting the worst of the round. In the rounds that followed, however, he recovered using his savvy Jiu-Jitsu game. He managed to get the takedown and work well from the top, making it to advantageous positions, even the mount. His win came by way of unanimous decision.
And the surprises didn’t end there. On a 15-fight win streak, middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi was caught off by the big mouthed and still undefeated King Mo via unanimous decision.
In the third and final title dispute, Gilbert Melendez held on to his belt against Japanese standout Shinya Aoki. His win, too, came by way of unanimous decision.
Check out all the results:
Jake Shields defeated Dan Henderson via unanimous decision
Gilbert Melendez defeated Shinya Aoki via unanimous decision
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal defeated Gegard Mousasi via unanimous decision
Ovince St. Preaux defeated Chris Hawk via TKO in R1
Andrew Uhrich submitted Dustin West via rear-naked choke in R1
Jason “Mayhem” Miller defeated Tim Stout via TKO in R1
Cale Yarbrough defeated Josh Schockman via TKO in R2
Zach Underwood defeated Hunter Worsham via unanimous decision
Dustin Ortiz submitted Justin Pennington via rear-naked choke in R1
Cody Floyd defeated Thomas Campbell via KO in R3