Burrell Edges Out Terry In Split Decision
In the final Sho Extreme preliminary bout at Welterweight Nah-Shon Burrell scored a controversial 3 round split decision win over James Terry who is after a Lightweight title shot (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).
Fast rising prospect, Burrell now 8-1 spent much of the first 2 rounds on his back with the Strikeforce veteran, Terry now 11-4 displaying a good ground game.
Both fighters traded punches early in the opening round with Burrell landing the harder blows. Terry with the more dominant ground game brought secured the first takedown after 90 seconds. The final stages of the round were fought in a clinch against the cage after Burrell brought it back up from the mat.
Terry again got the first takedown of round 2 and moved into half guard, where he then attempted to take the back of Burrell. The move was unsuccessful and both once again traded from centre cage. Terry brought it back to the ground for the final 40 seconds with the round ending that way.
Burrell the superior striker opened up in the final round with him being 2 rounds down on the unofficial scorecards landing some big bombs rocking Terry who had taken his foot of the pedal in the final round but was able to shake it off securing a takedown with 40 seconds left.
Villante Records Opening Round Knockout Of Smith
In a Light-Heavyweight contest Gian Villante evened up his Strikeforce record (2-2) with a first round knockout of Trevor Smith who was hoping to make the jump from prospect to contender.
It was Villante’s second consecutive win after 2 losses to start his Strikeforce career. With both fighters having a solid ground game it was Villante who pulled off the early takedown but Smith brought the fight straight back to the feet.
Villante traded from centre cage before catching Smith with a right hand which sent his opponent crashing to the ground and Villante came in landing hammer fists and with Smith not responding the fight was stopped at 1:05 of the opening round.
Legere Hands Spang First Career Loss
King of the Cage veteran, Ricky Legere (14-4) making his Strikeforce debut handed Chris Spang (4-1) his first professional loss with a 3 round unanimous decision at Welterweight.
Legere scored with takedowns and kept the fight where he wanted it on the mat and dominating from top control while Spang the better striker of the pair was struggling on the floor although getting his chance to land his heavy punches and kicks.
All three of the judges scored the fight 29-28.
Payan Decisions Martinez In Opener
In the opening Sho Extreme preliminary bout at catchweight of 160lbs, it was a classic battle between a striker-Estevan Payan and a wrestler-Alonzo Martinez with Payan finding a way to keep the fight on the feet and claiming an unanimous decision 30-27 on all 3 cards.
Payan rattled Martinez with jabs and heavy combinations throughout the 3 rounds at a fast rate with Martinez beginning to back up as the fight went on. His face became bloodied and swollen from the Rage in the Cage veteran’s strikes. Any takedown chances from Martinez were quickly shut down by Payan.
With the win Payan moved to 13-3 which includes 7 in a row.
