Lawson given all he can handle but avoids the upset
There will be no Fight of the Night bonus but only because Strikeforce doesn't hand out such awards publicly. Eric Lawson and Waylon Kennell deserve some extra cheddar. They went back and forth for nearly five minutes leaving their kitchen sinks behind.
Lawson (9-2) was in some real trouble with 1:10 left in the round when Kennell (2-3) caught him with some big punches out of a clinch along the cage. Lawson fleeing, turned his back and was taken down. Kennell rained down some hard punches and tried to transition to an armbar but his form was awful. Lawson reversed the position and mounted Kennell. From there it took 15 seconds to pound out the win as referee John McCarthy stopped it with six second left in the round.
In the prior fight, Raul Castillo (6-0) made quick work of Brandon Michaels. Judging by their conditioning, both fighters appeared to be fighting out of their class at middleweight. Michaels was clearly out of his class battling a guy like Castillo, who comes in with big credentials from the submission world. Castillo faked a Superman punch and dove for a double-leg takedown. He improved position quickly from half-guard to side control and then to mount. Castillo rained down punches and Michaels gave his back immediately. Castillo slapped on a rear-naked choke and it took two seconds for Michaels to tap at 1:45 of the first.
Castillo is training at the famed American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. He tried out for The Ultimate Fighter 7 but came up short.
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