Friday Fight Recap: Bobby Lashley Wins, Billy Evangelista DQ'd
by Kid Nate on May 16, 2009 10:31 AM EDT
in MMA News
Email
Print
In addition to the Bellator VII welterweight tournament which Eugune covered live for us, last night there were two other events of note: MFC 21 "Hard Knocks" and the debut Strikeforce Challengers show.
Former pro-wrestler Bobby Lashley improved his record to 3-0 with a 0:24 choke out win over Mike Cook. Sherdog has the details:
Lashley closed the distance with a right hook that Cook ducked, but then latched on a front headlock and quickly flattened out Cook on his stomach. The 33-year-old wrestler secured the submission in North-South position for the victory.
Multiple UFC vets fought on the MFC card -- Trevor Prangley, John Alessio, David Heath and Marvin Eastmon -- all picking up wins except Heath who lost a controversial split decision to Travis Galbraith.
Sergio Non reports on the controversial headliner of the Strikeforce Challengers show:
Billy Evangelista (9-1) suffered the first loss of his career after being disqualified for kneeing Mike Aina (12-6-1) in the face while Aina's hand and knee appeared to be touching the mat. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout on the advice of the ringside doctor, who said Aina may have suffered a fractured jaw.
Television replays seemed to show that Evangelista's knee hit Aina in the left arm, rather than the head, which was being pushed against the cage.
This is the second big fight where the B.J. Penn trained Aina has thrown a wrench in the works for a bigger name fighter. At Elite XC Uprising in September 2007, he took Nick Diaz to a hotly contested split decision and made the former UFC star look less than celestial in the process.
Evangelista's troubles with Aina seem to have been more self-inflicted. Its his first loss and should be a learning experience for the rising contender, nothing more. An immediate rematch would be the best way to set things right.
As for Bobby Lashley, he needed an impressive win after his lackluster and boring showing against Jason Guida. Next up for Lashley, Bob Sapp.
47 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
That Lashley fight looked awfully shady to me.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
That.
I’m trying to figure out why his opponent put his palms flat on the canvass and kicked his legs around. After two years of BJJ, you’d think I’d have learned that escape. Maybe the guy legitimately doesn’t know how to escape from a guillotine, but it sure didn’t look convincing to me.
BUT, if they’re going to have him throw the fight, why do it in the first 30 seconds? You’re more likely to annoy the fans, who want to see a little bit of back and forth.
Either the guy took a dive or he was a really bad fighter. Either way, it makes for a pointless fight.
by AlwaysRelaxing on May 16, 2009 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m not saying it was or wasn’t shady, but a couple of things:
Cook may not be the highest level fighter out there. In other words, he very well may not know what to do in that situation and panicked.
As for the “kicking” of the legs, I saw a guy get choked out a couple weeks ago who did the same thing. It was actually pretty scary to see, as opposed to the just going to sleep choke outs. He was flattened and had Bobby’s weight down on his head, pushing down over the arm, s it may have been pretty solid. And I think teh palms flat was trying to create space between him and the mat, but I could be wrong.
Unfortunately, i think this is a stigmata that is going to follow guys like Lashley making the transition from “wrasslin”, to an extent.
I have a hard time believing this was a work, due to the lack of anything to gain by the promotion vs a huge amount to lose.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
I agree it wasn’t a work but to play devil’s advocate the promotion doesn’t have to have anything to do with it if the fight was a work. If Lashley wanted an easy win he could have paid his opponent to take the loss.
Again though, I don’t think the fight was fixed.
www.mma-elite.com
mma-elitedotcom.blogspot.com/
by Brad Ackerson on May 16, 2009 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions
It's in the feet
I’ve seen plenty of dudes convulse after being choked out, and you’re right, it’s always scary. I also thought it was fishy at first, but after watching it a few times, you can see his feet go from plantar flexion to limp in just a few seconds. That’s how you know someone’s truly out cold. When their feet/ankles go limp. Plus, I’ve been caught in blood chokes that have snuck up on me. And it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for a solid blood choke to shut you down.
by mictlantechutli on May 16, 2009 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions
I’ve been caught in blood chokes that have snuck up on me. And it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for a solid blood choke to shut you down.
Anyone who has practiced jiu jitsu at least a couple of times can relate to this. Nothing worse than realizing you’re being choked as you’re on your way out…
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
Because he was out.
From what we saw, it looked like Cook got choked out instantly and was twitching.
Follow my analysis of all things MMA on BloodyElbow.com
by Leland Roling on May 16, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions
The Strikeforce card was boring. Quach/Jones had little action for 2 rounds. Rosa & Ruiz are not good Light Heavyweights. So no matter who won, neither would be a threat to Babalu or Cavalcante. I skip the women’s fights.
So the card had 2 good elements. Lavar Johnson’s KO was nice. And the main event had solid action until the bogus stoppage. If anything, Billy came out of that fight with his stock down. As a young prospect, he should have looked much better.
by AlwaysRelaxing on May 16, 2009 11:49 AM EDT reply actions
Wow, you skip women’s fights.
Kaufman vs. Tate was actually VERY good. Tate was actually decent in the second round, and Kaufman’s boxing was refreshing to see from the women. You’re depriving yourself.
Follow my analysis of all things MMA on BloodyElbow.com
by Leland Roling on May 16, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions
I say I skip it, but I just fast forwarded through some of the action.
Women don’t have enough power. It’s kind of like watching men’s Bantamweights and Flyweights (minus a few select fighters). Actually, I think the women’s fights are harder to watch.
Compared to their male counterparts, their striking is bad. And those takedown attempts by Tate were High School level at best. Not impressed.
by AlwaysRelaxing on May 16, 2009 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions
It was still a very good bout, one of the better bouts
Follow my analysis of all things MMA on BloodyElbow.com
by Leland Roling on May 16, 2009 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions
SF was pretty lackluster. Johnson’s KO was awesome, considering teh position of the fighters at the time.
The women’s fight was probably the best one. Tate was overmatched on the feet, but she hung tough.
MFC was pretty good, imo. Not a bad night of mma for free.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
Lashley choked him out and the guy started twitching. Who here really thinks Cook threw that fight or that MFC told him to throw it?
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
What benefit does MFC have
to get an opponent to throw a fight? MFC benefits more if Lashley loses on their promotion.
AWmusic - mp3 blog on independent music..
Not necessarily. Pavelich isn’t solely about testing Canadian talent against the rest of the world. It also benefits him to promote Lashley fighting on his shows and forming positive relationships with Lashley and his management. This enables Pavelich to not only potentially use Lashley again in the future for fights on MFC cards, but for various other forms of brand exposure as well. Admittedly, winning isn’t required necessarily for this to work, but it certainly makes it a hell of a lot easier. I bet Pavelich is gleeful over Lashley’s win.
Haha, oh hell yeah you know Pavelich is ecstatic. Like I said over in the fanshots, I bet Pavelich gives Lashley a title shot very soon. Having Lashley as their HW champ would only do good for them.
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on May 16, 2009 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions
I wouldn’t put anything past Mark Pavelich at this point, and the results of the headlock look really really shady to me.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
Have you ever had a man of that size try to squeeze your head off? It wasn’t a technical submission, he was more than likely putting a ton of pressure on dudes throat, and he just flopped around. This isn’t a once in a lifetime occurence, I’ve been to amateur shows and seen a couple of guys do the same thing. Lashley probaby saw dudes neck wide open and put the super squeeze on him. lol
by Kaleb Kelchner on May 16, 2009 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t think he choked him out, many undertrained (even some who are dedicated to training) fighters have meant to tap and just freaked out and started flailing, this dosen’t happen in bigger professional fights, but I have seen it happen plenty of times in AM fights. People just love to toss the fixing accusations around huh? Heaven forbid a former pro wrestler kick ass in a fight…
by Kaleb Kelchner on May 16, 2009 12:59 PM EDT reply actions
I think we should discuss….
Big John McCarthy’s retarded point deduction from Newton, but nothing for Prangley. No warning for Newton. Sorry, he’s a good referee, but that was very odd.
Follow my analysis of all things MMA on BloodyElbow.com
How about David Heath getting absolutely jobbed?
by Derek Suboticki on May 16, 2009 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, I was pissed. It ruined my parlay.
Follow my analysis of all things MMA on BloodyElbow.com
by Leland Roling on May 16, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Either way Heath fought like shit. He only turned it on for the last ten seconds of each round and he certainly didn’t leave it all in the ring. He still had plenty of energy post fight and it is his own fault for not pushing the fight.
Sorry about your parlay.
Heath should’ve won that fight. Period.
by Derek Suboticki on May 16, 2009 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Surprise, Surprise….a BJ Penn trained fighter fakes an injury and gets his opponent DQ’d. That knee thrown by Evangelista did not connect with Aina’s face. Not only should Billy not have been disqualified, he should have won by TKO.
I hope he protests. Aina is a faker.
by cauliflower_ears on May 16, 2009 2:23 PM EDT reply actions
100% Agree, it was a perfectly legal shot.
I was pissed to see that called a DQ. If Herb and the doctor had been able to see a replay themselves it likely would have changed things. I’m not saying he didn’t break his jaw, just not from an illegal knee to the head.
This is an interesting situation. You’d imagine that if he protests, the fight shoud be ruled a NC, but I wonder if there is a chance it could be ruled as a DQ against Aina for unsportmanlike conduct or some other criteria.
Thank you. I love the look up at the ref, point to his opponent, and then dramatically wince and go to clutch the head move that Aina does there.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
Fuck that.
Is there anyway to get the DQ overturned when there’s this solid evidence it’s bogus?
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on May 16, 2009 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions
At least with Varner, the knee grazed his head or just barely missed, making it questionable – this blatantly hits the shoulder. This is horseshit.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on May 16, 2009 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions
WTF?
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on May 16, 2009 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions
WOW… Is it wrong that I’m disliking BJ more and more although this is just a guy from his camp?
by poundnground on May 16, 2009 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions
I just wanted to say that anyone who missed the Kaufman-Tate fight missed two awesome things: the heart and tenacity of Meisha Tate, and the scary-good striking of Sarah Kaufman. It was a straight-up clash of styles slugfest and I found it hugely entertaining.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
I want to see Kaufman fight Emily Klienfelter. Just as good a striker (if not better) and solid blue belt level BJJ. Klienfelter just doesn’t have the name yet (in mma, she’s got the boxing cred).
by mictlantechutli on May 16, 2009 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions
She said on the UG that her coach comes up with joke nicknames based on how pale she is. Frozen Chicken was my favorite.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
MMA Rankings
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
