Beauty Sparkling

Brian Bowles used a counter right hook late in the first round to defeat Miguel Angel Torres by TKO and win the WEC Bantamweight title in the main event of another exciting fight card from Zuffas MMA promotion showcasing the lighter weight classes. Though Bowles entered as a highly respected, undefeated challenger his stoppage victory over Torres”a fighter who ranked high atop most pound for pound best lists”has to be considered one of the major MMA upsets of the year.

The event will be remembered for the main event and the shocking upset of Torres, whom commentator Frank Mir had been championing as the pound for pound best fighter in the sport of late. Torres certainly had the credentials”a fighter equally as dangerous on his feet as on the ground, hed compiled a 37-1 record entering the fight against Bowles.

Bowles entered the cage accompanied by the music of Johnny Cash. This prompted WEC commentator Todd Harris to quip “It takes a special man to walk in to Johnny Cash”. He wasnt kidding, and Bowles quickly announced his presence with authority rocking Torres with an overhand right and scoring a takedown within the first minute. After a groundfighting sequence, the two fighters exchanged punches again and initially it looked like Torres was getting the best of things as he landed a multiple punch combination that sent Bowles backing up. Almost out of nowhere, however, Bowles countered with a perfectly placed short right hook that sent the champion to the canvas. He followed up with some nasty ground and pound punches including a big left hand that knocked his opponent unconscious and forced the referee to wave off the fight.

In his postfight interview, Bowles was clearly pleased but not exactly surprised by the result. His comments indicated that hed been very well prepared for Torres considerable skills and though he conceded that hed been stung by the punching barrage waited for the opening to throw the right hook that ended the fight. Bowles displayed considerable class in victory, and Torres conducted himself in a matter befitting a champion as he accepted the defeat.

A rematch between Bowles and Torres is almost inevitable, but theres plenty of talent in the WEC bantamweight division. The semifinal bout on the card pitted two of these competitors in what may have been an elimination match for #1 contender status as Dominick Cruz handed feisty Joseph Benavidez his first professional loss via unanimous decision. The unorthodox and insanely athletic Benevidez had a good deal of trouble with the superior height and reach of Cruz. Benavidez managed to give a good account of himself, but in the end the physical disparity along with Cruzs repeated takedowns and sharp striking skills spelled the difference in this matchup.

Further muddling the picture in the bantamweight division was an earlier fight on the card, in which Takeya Mizugaki outlasted Jeff Curran to win a split decision victory. Mizugaki had trouble with the active guard of Curran, but scored takedowns in all three rounds.

Gina Carano put women’s MMA on the map, but Cris Cyborg Santos may have become the sports first dominant female champion by virtue of her overwhelming TKO victory in the main event of Saturdays STRIKEFORCE event. Cyborg simply was too physically strong and her punches too powerful for Carano, who fought valiantly before succumbing to a barrage of ground and pound punches at the end of the first round.

Before a near capacity crowd at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, Carano and Cyborg made history as the first women to headline a major US mixed martial arts event. Cyborg entered the cage first to a mostly negative reaction, stopping along the way to shadow box and throw kicks on the entrance ramp.

Despite the fight being scheduled for five rounds of five minutes each, the women set a frantic pace from the opening horn. Cyborgs size and strength advantage was apparent from the outset, as she landed an immediate flurry of punches before taking Carano to the canvas. Carano landed in top position, but quickly found herself in trouble as Cyborg worked for a kneebar and then a heel hook. Carano was able to extricate herself, and get to her feet but Cyborg took her back and immediately took her down again. Carano landed in top mount, however, and was able to score with some big punches from the top. Inexplicably, she backed off and let Cyborg get to her feet instead of pressing what may have been her best opportunity to win the fight.

Carano was able to land a couple of effective jabs on the ensuing standup exchange, but Cyborg caught a body kick attempt and quickly closed the distance again. Cyborg once again took her opponent to the mat and after an unsuccessful armbar attempt mounted Carano and began a brutal punching assault that eventually forced the stoppage at 4:59 of the first round.

Despite Cyborgs triumph the most dominating performance of the evening belonged to former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. In his first fight at 205, Mousasi destroyed STRIKEFORCE light heavyweight champion Renato Babalu Sobral via TKO at the 1:00 mark of the first round. Mousasis victory wasnt a shocking outcome, but the utter ease with which he handled a tough, experienced and well rounded opponent in Sobral was stunning and evoked comparisons to recently signed heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. Making Mousasis triumph all the more incredible is that at 24 years of age hes only going to get better.

Earlier in a card full of decisive finishes, Gilbert Melendez became STRIKEFORCE interim lightweight champion with a third round TKO victory over the double tough Mitsuhiro Ishida. Though Melendez dominated the fight, Ishida gained the respect of fans with his toughness and heart. Melendez will now face Josh Thompson to unify the belts once Thompson is medically cleared to resume fighting.

Hugh Hefner is really starting to show his age, but there he was at cageside wearing his trademark pajamas and bathrobe. Every time the STRIKEFORCE cameramen got a shot of him with the comment that “There’s Hef looking on” it appeared as if he was taking the opportunity to attend to some paperwork. Had he bothered to look up every now and then he would have enjoyed a spirited night of fighting.

STRIKEFORCE had to scramble on this show, as injuries changed the main event several times. It was initially a non-title matchup between former UFC bad boy Renato Babalu Sobral and promotion light heavyweight champion Bobby Southworth. Eventually, both sides of the main event changed several times before settling on a matchup between former BoDog middleweight champion Trevor Prangley and Anthony Ruiz.

The Prangley/Ruiz contest was a one sided affair, with the South African using his strength to repeatedly takedown his opponent and control him on the ground. Ruiz had the edge in the standup game, but Prangley avoided trouble by keeping the fight where he wanted it en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The main event was nominally the US debut of World Victory Roads Kazuo Misaki aka The Grabaka Hitman taking on well traveled veteran Joe Riggs. After an uneventful first round, the second round brought fireworks. Riggs struck first, flooring Misaski early in the round with a short left hook. It was what could most properly be called a flash knockdown that in no way hurt the Japanese fighter. In fact, he basically somersaulted back to a standing position and responded in kind with a straight right hand that sent Riggs to the canvas. Josh Rosenthal quickly waved off the fight awarding Misaki the TKO victory.

After the stoppage, Riggs immediately jumped to his feet in protest. The crux of his argument was that he was defending himself and that Misakis blows were doing little damage. He did have something of a case, as the replay showed that he was covered up and absorbing most of the blows to his gloves. Still, the referee is within his authority to step in and stop the proceedings if a fighter is not intelligently defending himself. While Riggs may not have been taking the full brunt of Misakis strikes, he was basically covered up in survival mode and not doing anything to improve his position. With the safety of the fighters always the top priority, our conclusion was that the stoppage was legit. At the same time, however, you certainly cant blame Riggs for not being happy with it.

Earlier in evening, STRIKEFORCE lightweight champion Josh Punk Thompson made short work of a game but overmatched opponent in Ashe Bowman. Bowman was making a huge step up in class here, and was clearly nervous at the prospect of facing such a high profile opponent. To his credit, Bowman figured that he had to take the fight to the champion and went on the attack. Thompson then put on a counterpunching clinic nailing Bowman with a straight right followed by a flurry of uncontested punches that sent the young fighter to the canvas for a quick stoppage.

The most impressive submission of the night was courtesy of PRIDE vet Mitsuhiro The Endless Fighter Ishida. Justin Wilcox was the unlucky recipient on a beautiful submission when he attempted to take Ishida down and almost too fast to see the Japanese fighter slapped on an armbar for the quick tapout.