StrikeForce: ‘Evolution’ Results – The Comeback Kid Does it Again

In a thrilling main event Scott Smith survived an early barrage from Cung Le and came back to secure the technical knockout in the third round. Smith was hurt early when Le had him up against the cage and pampered him with relentless hammer fists that nearly forced referee John McCarthy to stop the fight. If that wasn’t a 10-8 round in favor of Le, then I don’t know what a 10-8 round is. Smith survived the punishment but didn’t land a significant strike until midway through the second round. After two rounds of action, I had the bout scored 20-17 for Le. Smith began to find his range and continued to throw the big power punch, but was unsuccessful in landing it. The end officially came at 3:25 of the third round. Le was rocked and Smith didn’t make the same mistake that Le did in the opening round. He finished the fight. Smith is always such a class act in every interview he gives, and his fights are always exciting whether he wins or loses. Hopefully this fight will help him to gain some additional fans because he deserves it.

Fight of the year? Possibly. Our very own Producer Bones feels that way about the StrikeForce Lightweight Championship between Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson. These guys stood toe to toe for five rounds and delivered an action packed slugfest. Melendez was able to secure the unanimous decision by knocking down Thomson multiple times throughout the fight. I’m sure we’ll see a rubber match in the future. Until then Gilbert Melendez is the official StrikeForce Lightweight Champion.

Dare I say that it’s time for Matt Lindland to hang it up? He didn’t look very good against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and has only two wins since 2007. Another case of the Emelianenko curse? Maybe so. Lindland’s stand up looked overly sloppy, and his ground game wasn’t on par with Jacare. To Lindland’s credit, Jacare has world class Jiu-Jitsu, but he brought no offense whatsoever to this fight. Jacare secured the arm triangle at the end of the first round to get the victory.

We’re going to have to get some tougher opponents for Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. Yet another first round knockout for the 28 year old wrestler. This time around it was Mike Whitehead who fell victim to King Mo’s ground and pound. He was dropped with a big shot and immediately finished off in the first round. How about Brett Rogers vs. King Mo? That’s a fight that I’d love to see, but King Mo would definitely have to put on some weight for that one.

Full results of StrikeForce: ‘Evolution’ found below:

Main Card on Showtime

• Scott Smith def. Cung Le via TKO in round three
• Gilbert Melendez def. Josh Thomson via unanimous decision
• Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza def. Matt Lindland via submission (arm triangle) in round 1
• “King” Mo Lawal def. Mike Whitehead via KO in round 1

Preliminary Bouts

• Antwain Britt def. Scott Lighty via TKO (cut) in round 1
• Justin Wilcox def. Daisuke Nakamura via unanimous decision
• Bobby Stack vs. David Douglas – bout was canceled due to medical problems
• Alex Crispim def. A.J. Fonseca via unanimous decision