Roger and Prangley / Photo: Esther Lin
There was a lot at stake at this Saturday’s Strikeforce event in San Jose, California. Two belts were on the line, but something eles that marked the show was the ground games on display in three of the main bouts on the card.
In the evening’s main event, Nick Diaz put his black belt in Jiu-Jitsu to good use in hanging on to his welterweight belt. The Cesar Gracie student had his hands full standing against Evangelista Cyborg. In the second round, after being taken to the ground, he bust out his gentle art skills. As the round came to a close, he sunk an armbar from the guard, forcing his opponent to tap out.
In defending his middleweight title against Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo Jacaré showed he’s still got Jiu-Jitsu. The black belt dominated the first round, but not without taking a score. Lawler landed some solid strikes standing and in ground-and-pound action. In the second round, Jaca let his ground game flow, trying some slick armbar variations. The third round was more of the same, with the ADCC 2009 supermatch champion making it to his opponent’s back and finishing with a rear-naked choke.
In one of the most heavily-anticipated fights of the night, Roger Gracie didn’t encounter to much resistance in submitting Trevor Prangley and remaining unbeaten in MMA with four wins, all by submission. After testing the waters standing, Roger went for the takedown. The black belt quickly mounted and then back-mounted, finishing his opponent off with a rear-naked choke while still in the opening round.
Check out the results:
Strikeforce
San Jose, California, USA
January 29, 2011
Nick Diaz submitted Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos via armbar at 4:50 min of R2
Ronaldo “Jacaré” Souza submitted Robbie Lawler via rear-naked choke at 2min of R3
Herschel Walker defeated Scott Carson via TKO at 3:13 min of R1
Roger Gracie submitted Trevor Prangley via rear-naked choke at 4:19 min of R1
Nate Moore defeated Nathan Coy via KO at 0.25 min of R2
Isaiah Hill submitted Bobby Stack via triangle at 1:02 min of R1
Ron Keslar defeated Eric Lawson via armbar at 1:27 min of R1
Germaine de Randamie defeated Stephanie Webber via KO at 4:25 min of R1
James Terry defeated Lucas Gamaza via TKO at 3:26 min of R1
Jenna Castillo defeated Charlene Gellner por TKO aos 3min57s do R2
Anthony Dariano defeated Alan Perez via unanimous decision
Ricky Jackson defeated Niko Jackson via unanimous decision
Armin Safiari defeated Sam Bracamonte via unanimous decision