Main Event Misfire Mars Initial “Strikeforce Challengers” Outing
Really, you can’t fault Strikeforce. After all, for their first-ever “Strikeforce Challengers” outing on Showtime, they put together a decent card of very capable competitors, most of whom – like heavyweight knockout artist Lavar Johnson and tenacious female fighter Sarah Kaufman – threw down and shined. But when the main event of undefeated lightweight Billy Evangelista and BJ Penn student Mike Aina unraveled with a foul both egregious and questionable in nature, resulting in a disappointing disqualification, well, that wasn’t quite what fans had tuned in for.
The beginning was promising. For the entire first round, Evangelista and Aina set about peppering each other with strikes in a somewhat even back-and-forth affair. But in Round 2 the Californian took over, getting Aina to the ground where he could land more serious blows – blows that prompted the Hawaiian to struggle back to his feet. En route, however, was where the foul occurred. With his knees and one hand clearly on the canvas, Aina found himself on the receiving end of a knee, which left him momentarily dazed and rubbing the side of his face. Referee Herb Dean immediately penalized Evangelista for the perceived infraction, a punishment that held despite instant replays bringing into question whether Evangelista’s knee had truly made contact with Aina’s head or whether Aina’s shoulder took the brunt of it (which would’ve made the move legal). Regardless, when the physicians made their way into the cage and examined the fallen fighter, they determined that Aina may have suffered a broken jaw. For the bout, and for Evangelista’s previously unblemished record, that was all she wrote. Aina was the winner by disqualification.
Was the foul legitimate? At best, the replay was inconclusive. Yet the fact remains that this was Evangelista’s second errant knee of the fight, the first being a shot to Aina’s groin that required some recovery time – he needs to sharpen his aim and polish up on the rules if he wants to be taken seriously.
While Evangelista/Aina was a letdown, Johnson’s 18-second knockout over Carl Seumanutafa was a joy to behold. All it took was for the 250-pound Seumanutafa to shoot for a sloppy takedown and for Johnson to circle and fire off an uppercut right to the kisser. Just like that, Seumanutafa was facedown on the mat and finished. Also impressive was Kaufman, the late-replacement for Kim Couture and the bane of Miesha Tate’s weak stand-up existence. Establishing her dominance on the feet throughout the first round, Kaufman punched and circled and stalked and circled, battering her opponent repeatedly. Round 2 saw Tate do her best lay and pray, while in the final frame Kaufman avoided Tate’s efforts and drilled away. Kaufman was rightfully awarded the unanimous decision after time ran out.
Light-heavyweights Aaron Rosa and Anthony Ruiz went at it in what was initially a clinch war but turned into Rosa dominating on the ground. With only 30 seconds left in the first round, Ruiz was put to sleep with a rear naked choke. In the evening’s featherweight opener, the veteran Bao Quach methodically chipped away at Tito Jones with low-kicks – a game plan that seemed to pay off until Jones found his timing and dropped Quach with a pair of hooks. Quach eventually recovered, though, and was awarded the unanimous decision for his efforts.
Admittedly, expectations are slightly lower for Strikeforce Challengers, as it is meant to be more of a platform for potential prospects than a party with the “big boys”. But disappointment reigns any time a show’s main event culminates in a disqualification. Still, that’s just how it goes. Hopefully, somewhere down the road Evangelista and Aina can finish what they started – for themselves and for the fans.
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