Melendez Mauls Masvidal; Ward Frustrates Froch
Melendez Victorious at Strikeforce
By Brian Knapp
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Gilbert Melendez took care of business against Jorge Masvidal.
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Behind a relentless stream of two-, three- and four-punch combinations, Gilbert Melendez kept his stranglehold on the lightweight championship with a one-sided unanimous decision over Jorge Masvidal in the Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” headliner on Saturday at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego. All three cageside judges scored it for Melendez (20-2, 10-1 SF): 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.
The 29-year-old champion has rattled off six straight wins.
“I had to do what I had to do,” Melendez said. “This guy was one of the toughest matchups for me, and I beat him at his own game. I think I’m more than a decent striker.”
Melendez found a routine home for his right hand in the first round, as he mixed in leg kicks and kept Masvidal off balance and unsure of himself. He caught an attempted kick from the American Top Team representative, drove him to the ground briefly and threatened to finish it with a standing guillotine choke. Masvidal escaped, only to be met yet again by Melendez’s relentless volley of punches.
Outside of a stiff left jab that resulted in some damage to Melendez’s right eye, Masvidal (22-7, 4-1 SF) had no real answer for the Cesar Gracie protégé’s attack. Leg kicks and occasional left hooks to the body were nice but not nearly enough to interrupt Melendez’s rhythm. The champion came forward, put punch after punch on the challenger and left no doubt as to who was the better man. Known for his takedowns and ground-and-pound, Melendez elected to go the standup route.
“I knew he was going to be working the sprawl really well, and I knew he was underestimating my striking,” he said. “I wanted to get the takedown, but he’s not an easy guy to take down. He has really good movement, really good distance, really good length. He doesn’t really walk forward, so it’s not really there. I was prepared for every scenario. I had to keep it on my feet, and I kept it there.
“He has to take my belt,” Melendez added. “This is my belt. He has to take it from me.”
The question now turns to what worthwhile challenges — if any — are left for Melendez in Strikeforce. Talk of a potential move to the Ultimate Fighting Championship figures to intensify in wake of his latest performance, despite UFC President Dana White’s spoken desire to keep Melendez under the Strikeforce banner.
“They need to bring some guys over here to challenge me,” Melendez said. “I’d like to challenge the champ, whoever it is in the UFC. Come to my hexagon, and let’s fight.”
‘Cyborg’ Dismisses Yamanaka in 16 Seconds
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos retained her Strikeforce women’s featherweight championship in overwhelming fashion, as she stopped Hiroko Yamanaka on first-round strikes in the co-main event. It was over in 16 seconds, Yamanaka having been floored twice by the brutal power of the champion.
Cyborg (11-1, 5-0 SF) went on the offensive right out of the gate, as she leveled Yamanaka with a crisp right hook inside the first 10 seconds. The Brazilian swarmed, threatened briefly with a rear-naked choke and allowed the Japanese challenger to rise. Another flurry from Cyborg dropped Yamanaka (12-2, 0-1 SF) at the base of the cage and forced the stoppage.
“I trained hard for a year and a half,” said Cyborg, who had not fought since June 2010. “This is amazing. I love training and fighting. I want to fight more.”
On an 11-fight winning streak, Cyborg has finished her last five foes. Afterward, attention turned to a possible matchup with unbeaten Olympic silver medalist Ronda Rousey.
“I think [Rousey] speaks too much,” Cyborg said. “I’m ready; anytime, anywhere. I’m ready. Just come.”
Mousasi outworked St. Preux.Mousasi Halts St. Preux Streak
Onetime Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi dominated Ovince St. Preux for two rounds and then held on for a unanimous deicision in a featured matchup at 205 pounds. Mousasi (32-3-2, 3-1-1 SF) swept the scorecards by matching 29-28 counts, as he won for the 19th time in 21 fights.
Mousasi bashed St. Preux on the feet, took him down multiple times in the first two rounds and unleashed on the former University of Tennessee linebacker with heavy ground-and-pound. Twice, he came close to finishing it, first with a kimura and later from the topside crucifix position.
St. Preux (11-5, 5-1 SF), who entered the cage on an eight-fight winning streak, bounced back in round three, as he grounded Mousasi and eventually mounted him. Late in the round, he scrambled into top position, blasted Mousasi with a standing-to-ground left hand and locked in a brabo choke in the closing seconds. It was not enough.
Mousasi, a perennial title contender, seemed dissatisfied with his performance.
“I was sick before this fight,” he said. “It took a lot of my conditioning away, but I think I did enough to win. If I got the chance [to fight for the vacant Strikeforce light heavyweight championship], I would definitely do it, but there are some other contenders for the title.”
Noons Outduels Evangelista at 155
A cleaner, busier and more effective puncher, former EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons captured a hard-fought unanimous decision from Billy Evangelista in a 155-pound showcase. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Noons (11-4, 3-2 UFC), who halted the first two-fight losing streak of his career.
It was anyone’s fight through the first 10 minutes. Evangelista (11-2, 1 NC, 7-2, 1 NC SF) scored effectively in close quarters with punches, knees and standing elbows. Noons, as expected, was the superior fighter at a distance, where his jab, low kicks and lead right uppercuts took hold.
In the third round, Noons seemed to find another gear. The 29-year-old fired fearless uppercuts and jabs in volume, and he landed a head kick out of nowhere roughly 90 seconds into the frame. Later, Evangelista threatened with a standing guillotine choke, but Noons freed himself and returned to work in an upright position.
“Billy is a terrific fighter,” Noons said. “That was a war. He put on a show for all the fans. It’s great [to win] coming off a couple of losses. I think he’s great. I’ve got to become a better MMA fighter all around. I think people see me as a boxer, so I was trying to do the takedowns and kicks and put on a good show. That’s what it’s all about.”
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Andre Ward tops Carl Froch in Super Six Final
Article courtesy of the Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Andre Ward staked his claim as the top 168-pound division fighter, using his speed and a combination of lefts to defeat Carl Froch in a unanimous decision Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in the Super Six super middleweight tournament final.
Ward, the Olympic gold medalist from Oakland, Calif., retained his WBA championship and won the WBC super middleweight belt in the final bout of the unique tournament that stretched out over two years.
Andre Ward fell short of a KO and seemingly failed to excite the judges, but those were the only drawbacks in Saturday’s brilliant win over Carl Froch. Story
“One of the strongest assets I have is my mind. I kept my composure, I kept things under control. And we pulled it off,” Ward said. “I hope I did a good job. But we can still get better, believe it or not.”
Ward (25-0, 13 KOs) dictated the pace from the opening round, connecting on a series of left hooks to rattle Froch. Froch, out of Nottingham, England, never came close to getting knocked out. Froch (28-2, 20 KOs) did not get going until late, though, finally showing some overdue aggression in the 10th.
“I wanted to put my shots together, but he moves around, and slips and slides. He’s very good at that,” Froch said. “And that’s why it was a bad night for me.”
Ward dominated the six-man, 168-pound tournament, backed by premium network Showtime. And he did so — on this night, at least — despite injuring his left hand in camp, and then again in the sixth round.
“Give credit to Andre. I never found myself in the zone where I could get my shots off and do what I wanted,” Froch said. “That’s something I’m going to have to work on in the gym.”
One judge scored it 118-110 and two others had it 115-113 for Ward.
“We wanted to fight inside and outside, and we pulled it off,” Ward said. “I was actually surprised at how slow Froch was. He was as slow as he was on tape.”
Ward and Froch were slated to meet Oct. 29 before Ward was injured in training and the fight was rescheduled. Ward needed stitches for a cut above his right eye.
Carl Froch couldn’t handle the speed and defense of Andre Ward, who won their Super Six final Saturday in Atlantic City, N.J.
Ward still hasn’t lost a bout since he was an amateur. He entered the Super Six tourney as an underdog to the more experienced Arthur Abraham, Froch and Mikkel Kessler.
He proved himself as the best of them all in Atlantic City.
Ward smothered Froch when they were close, then was elusive enough to keep his distance from Froch for most of the bout. Ward said he was surprised at how slow Froch was during the 12-round fight.
Ward landed 243 of 573 of his punches (42 percent) while Froch was a miserable 23 percent (156 of 683). Froch, who lost and regained his WBC belt during the inaugural tournament, averaged only 56 punches per round after averaging 69 in his previous four Super Six fights.
“I never found myself in the zone where I could get my shots off and do what I want. That’s something I’m going to have to work on in the gym.”
Froch, 34, went 4-1 in the previous rounds of the tournament. He opened with a 12-round decision over Andre Dirrell on Oct. 17, 2009, then rebounded from the first loss of his career — a 12-round decision to Kessler on April, 24, 2010 — with decision victories over Abraham and Glen Johnson, respectively.
The tournament took a bit of a hit with various boxers dropping out because of injuries. Ward proved himself as one of the elite with wins over Kessler and Allan Green to reach the semifinals against Abraham, who advanced despite losing twice.
Ward dominated with the left hook in the first few rounds to set the tone for the rest of the lopsided bout and add the tournament trophy to go with his Olympic gold and unified belts.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
