Editorials
Strikeforce
Payback
Strikeforce Payback was held in the
Broomfield Event Center. Where Dwane Ludwig was going
to try to get revenge for his loss to Sam Morgan but
in other fights on the card was Frank Trigg and Falaniko
Vitale were going to be meeting as the co main event.
Prior to this event Frank had fought in Japan so health
is a question for him. The rest of the card was Ricky
Johnson taking on Tyler Toner, Carlos Zevallos and
Andre Walker, Tyra Parker vs. Michelle Waterson, Billy
Evangelista is taking on Luke Caudillo and Pete Spratt
vs. Donnie Liles.
Ricky Johnson, Behring BJJ taking on Tyler Toner,
Easton BJJ in the featherweight division was the first
match shown. Ricky was 0 and 1 coming into the fight
and Ricky was 2 and 1 Ricky comes in with some high
kicks and Tyler reacts with his own combos. Ricky
looked a bit reserved and Tyler seemed a bit more
composed. Against the fence Tyler comes across with
a nice over head elbow. Coming off the fence Tyler
throws a front kick that just missed. Back in the
middle these two BJJ guys are throwing blows! It sure
seems like they didn’t want to go to the ground
although Tyler was getting the better of the stand
up. Tyler really mixed the stand up but it was a nice
knee that put Ricky down but he recovered quickly
and ran to get away from the onslaught. Then Tyler
did what a lot of guys do and Tyler got overly happy
and when he threw a right kick to the body and Ricky
caught it and landed a nice right which put them on
the ground with Tyler caught on the bottom but only
for a bit as Ricky had a guillotine but he passed
the guard to side control and was not in any danger.
The bell rang and it was off to round 2 where Ricky
came out firing nice combos. Ricky was not doing well
against the stand up as he took some hard kicks to
the body. Tyler wound up in the guard of Ricky as
a knee sweep to work the ground and pound. Ricky was
getting hammered but even mounted Ricky really showed
heart as the ref stepped in to stop the match. Tyler
showed some very nice striking ability and control.
The girls took center stage as Tyra Parker taking
on Michelle Waterson and Tyra came in with a BJJ background
under Rush MMA where Michelle comes in with a Muay
Thai and her MMA under Jackson’s submission
fighting with a 4 and 3 record. These two started
off bangin in the middle of the cage but ended up
getting pinned against the cage where Michelle landed
some hard ass knees to Tyra’s face which turned
Tyra around and she took her back and dragged her
to the mat and sunk in a nice rear naked choke for
the win at just 1:20 of the first round.
Carlos Zevallos and Andre Walker were the first light
heavies to take the cage and this being Carlos’s
“MMA” debut he is a Muay Thai champion.
But Andre wanted to win this match by KO! Well we
shall see! Well in the opening round the Muay Thai
champ was put on his ass by a nice left jab and while
against the cage Andre really tried to end it but
Carlos was able to push Andre away and it was back
to the feet for Andre to continue an assault on Carlos.
Carlos had a clinch and it looked like Andre was burnt
out and was landing some shots just not that hard
of shots. Carlos had Andre against the cage and landed
some knees and over head shots but Andre escaped and
after some more trading in the middle. At one point
they ended up against the cage and Andre tired to
single leg inside trip but it was Carlos that ended
up in side and eventuall in the mounted position and
punched his way to a victory and the ref stepped in
to stop the fight just 20 seconds to the end of the
round. Early? Maybe, but the ref had had seen enough!
Next up was the 7 and 0 Billy Evangelista and Luke
Caudillo at 14-10 with 10 k’s this should be
a test for Billy and a mark for Luke! This match was
nuts as Caudillo caught Billy with a huge left jab
that put Billy on the mat where Luke jumped on him
and caught him again with a overhand right but Billy
wasn’t about to give up and he recovered quickly
and the war was back on. I thought that match was
over after 3 knock downs but great recovery by Billy.
Billy tried a knee but Luke caught him with a right.
Luke tried a left kick but Billy caught it and put
him on the ground for a second. In the last minute
of the match it was Billy that was dominating that
match and at the bell Luke was pounding on a turtled
up Luke.
Round 2 was a bit like the first right in the beginning
but then after about 2 minutes in and some flying
knees from Billy you could see that he was finding
his range and was looking to pick Luke apart. After
a failed shot attempt he would follow up with a nice
knee. Not much happened in round 2 as Luke really
was patient and didn’t really get over anxious
for the KO.
Round 3 was much like the second as Billy pressured
the match and Luke waited for a shot. Billy was actually
the one to get a double leg on Luke and had him against
the cage where he did some ground and pound. With
not much happening on the ground the ref stood them
up and in the center a bit of exchanging and Luke
shot in for a double leg but just couldn’t finish
it. Billy pushed him off and it was back to center
stage for some stand up and this is where finished
the judges were left to make a decision that went
to Billy as he was able to out play Luke.
Donnie Liles was stepping up to fight Pete Spratt
in the beginning of the round Pete had a nice combo
to a nice left kick to the body but he slipped and
it put him on his back to a backward summersault then
pounced back to his feet. While back in the middle
of the ring the exchanging began but while clinched
an inadvertent low blow cause a pause in the match.
The match resumed and the stand up was going to Spratt
for a bit but a nice right put him on his butt against
the cage for a second but Pete wasn’t about
to let it end there and got away and then he put Donnie
against the cage where he tried to do an inside leg
trip that Pete defended and he ended up on top looking
to do a bit of GnP as the bell rang. Round 2 the flurry
began and Donnie jumped guard but really wasn’t
able to mount an offence as Pete backed off and stood
up. Pete was really landing some hard shots to the
body. The match really slowed a bit as Donnie and
Pete looked at how they could out strike each other
but finally Donnie was in the clinch and got a takedown
to side control then was able to mount and as he went
for an armbar Pete rolled out and gave up his back
but it was the last 10 seconds. So it was off to round
3 where Pete was taken down but Pete was fast enough
to get it right back to his feet. Donnie wasn’t
about to give up as he got the double leg and as he
went to mount Pete rolled again to give up his back
where he secured a rear naked choke 1:59 in the third.
Falaniko Vitale and Frank Trigg was the co-main event
as the night was closing out and the stare down it
looked like no love lost in this match. Frank came
out strong and set the tone for the match as he worked
the stand up but caught Falaniko in the groin. A few
minutes rest and it was back to the game. Frank had
Falaniko against the cage and started hammering him
with elbows and upper cuts, knees everything and it
made Falaniko look to escape and he did but only to
the other side of the cage where in the clinch Falaniko
had an over hook and as Frank was working a knee Falankio
tripped Frank to the ground but Frank recovered quick
and was against the cage but got out in the idle and
resumed his onslaught on punches and kicks. Falaniko
just seemed to be out gunned on the stand up as Frank
did as he wanted. Round 2 Frank exhorted his will
on Falaniko just with a little less power. Frank had
Falaniko against the cage just teeing off on him for
most of the round. Fatigue was obviously setting in
as Frank really wasn’t as active in this round
but he out scored the game Falaniko. So was round
3 going to be the same? Yup it was except Frank did
get a takedown in the first 30 seconds where he landed
in half guard and as he tried to work but Falaniko
got it back to the feet where they fell asleep against
the cage till the ref work em up and that was where
Falaniko got a great right hook that put Frank on
his heels. Frank recovered and went on the attack
with knees and jabs. He shot in and put it against
the cage again but this time Falaniko got it the mat
with a double leg but Frank got back to his feet and
just picked Falaniko apart with jabs and combos. Frank
ended up getting a takedown in the last 30 where he
finished the round out in his guard. Frank ended up
winning with a judge’s unanimous decision.
Dwayne Ludwig and Sam Morgan was the final match
and Sam wasn’t about to keep it standing as
he got the clinch and did the body drag to the ground
but Dwayne didn’t want that so he got back to
his feet and he pushed it to the fence but not before
catching Sam with a nice knee to the stomach. Then
Dwayne kick tripped sam to the ground where he landed
in his guard and Sam kick pushed him off but Dwayne
landed a great left to the body that dropped Sam to
the ground and Dwayne came in for the kill and pounced
on him and kept pounding until Sam tapped.
