11/16/07: Live Strikeforce on Yahoo! Sports Recap

Hit F5 or refresh as often as you like as we'll be covering the Strikeforce show that airs free on Yahoo! Sports tonight LIVE. Coverage starts in just minutes!

We are live from the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California! Armando Garcia has just been introduced and the tournament rules explained. In the blue corner, from Columbus, Ohio - Sean Salmon! Webber and Shamrock are our ringside announcers for this show. They keep reminding us this is the first official MMA tournament show ever sanctioned in California. From Ft. Lauderdale, FL here comes Jorge Santiago, heading out to the strains of Kanye West's "Stronger." The winner of this fight will face the winner of Vitale v. Prangley. Santiago is taller and has the reach advantage, not to mention he is three years younger at 30 to 27. The in-ring announcer reminds us that these fights are streaming on sports.yahoo.com to which I say A-DUH, how would I be watching otherwise! The announcer nearly butchers Sean Salmon's last name to boot, which I didn't think would be possible with a name as easy as Salmon. At least he got Santiago right. Our referee is Cecil Peoples. Here we go!

* Sean Salmon v. Jorge Santiago

Jorge Santiago kills him with a flying knee less than 30 seconds into the opening round. IT'S ALL OVER!! JORGE SANTIAGO WINS VIA KO! Salmon is being looked at in the ring - Peoples absolutely freaked out when Salmon crumpled. Salmon got caught with more of the shin than the knee but it was right on the button regardless. This is freaky to be honest - I remember Sean Salmon being knocked out in equally devestating fashion by a Rashad Evans high kick. Salmon is up now, but he's incredibly wobbly, and the medical staff wants him to lay back down to be on the safe side. OFFICIAL TIME: 24 SECONDS.

Prangley v. Vitale will be coming up later but right now they're taking an abundance of time and all due caution to make sure Salmon is okay. The live video feed has gone out now, only background sound is audible. We will of course continue the live recap once the video feed comes back.

Prangley and Vitale are both giving pre-taped promos. Prangley says he loves the old school fight 'til you can't fight no more style of the tournament, and 'Niko says he's well prepared for this evening. In fact Vitale, with a record of 24-7, is the first man to head out to the ring for our second fight. He's a construction supervisor by trade, a father to three girls, and he has family here so the announcers expect he will have a strong contingent of supporters tonight. "The South African Hammer" Prangley is on his way out now to the red corner, and he's got the Rolling Stones "Start Me Up" music for his entrance. I'm either watching MMA or a Microsoft commercial. "You make a grown man cryyyyyyyyyyyy!" Falaniko Vitale comes in at 5'10" and 185 pounds and comes from the 8-0-8 Fight Factory. Prangley is three inches taller, same weight, and hails from Cape Town. We are waiting for a paramedic to be at ringside before the fight starts. Okay the paramedic's here now. Our ref in charge is Marcos Rosales.

* Falaniko Vitale v. Trevor Prangley

They look at Josh 'The Punk' Thomson at ringside and Webber reminds Shamrock to keep his comments "family friendly." Prangley gives chase and goes for a leg trip to little effect. Big knee. Vitale tries to push him up against the cage but Prangley moves away. Prangley goes for underhooks and pushes Vitale into the cage. Prangley keeps landing short knees and Shamrock praises his "attrition game" as two minutes have gone by. Rosales moves them back to center for lack of action. Prangley gets a muay thai clinch and explodes with more knees but Vitale survives. Prangley gets his hooks in and they're up against the cage again, and Rosales is much faster to seperate them this time for a restart. Prangley owns him in the clinch again and keeps working knees to the head. Vitale occasionally peppers him with a shot in return but with 90 seconds to go Prangley is clearly in control. Vitale finally tags Prangley good and gets blood flowing from the nose. Vitale's strikes at the end were good but I don't think they were enough to win the round. I'm scoring it 10-9 Prangley.

Round two is underway! Prangley tags Vitale a few times with strikes and gets him backpedaling into the fence, but the knees don't do much and once again Rosales seperates them. Vitale hits a big body shot and a left hand. Shamrock compliments the hook'n'jab and also the bodywork by Prangley. Shamrock notes Vitale is content to give up the grappling position and isn't so sure that's a good idea. Prangley comes in with the body shots and explodes with a knee that pops the crowd. Vitale accidentally gets fingered in the eye and Rosales calls for time. THE FIGHT IS OVER. Apparently the finger caused a scratched eyeball and the doctor stopped things for safety. The crowd is not pleased and Vitale threw down his mouthpiece in disgust. We're waiting for the official announcement.

Here's Danny Miller with the announcement. TOURNAMENT RULES - ACCIDENTAL FOUL, THE PARTIAL ROUND IS SCORED, THE SCORE WAS A MAJORITY DRAW. ROSALES DECIDES THE WINNER, THE WINNER IS PRANGLEY. Well that's one hell of a bizarre way to conclude and find a winner, but I can't say I disagree with Rosales ruling for Prangley since he was ahead on my card up until the accidental foul. It's likely Prangley would have won round two as well unless Vitale had started controlling the grappling and landing more strikes, at which point it may have ended up a draw anyway.

Time for our next fight! Bryson Kamaka is on his way to the ring to 50 Cent's "I Get Money." Luke Stewart gets a huge pop on his way out as a native of San Francisco, California. He's 4-0 in Strikeforce and trains with the Gracie Academy. Webber says his "Eminem-A" has improved greatly in the last 18 months. Seriously. Stewart has a stone cold look on his face before entering the cage, and you can tell this man owns a tattoo shop as his body is literally plastered in ink. Danny Miller to make the introduction. Cecil Peoples is the ref in charge and this fight will be 3 five minutes rounds. In the blue corner, with a record of 5-8, Bryson Kamaka. In the red corner, standing 5'11" and weighing 171 pounds, with a perfect 4-0 record, Luke Stewart!

* Luke Stewart v. Bryson Kamaka

Kamaka tries to come in right off the bat with punches but Stewart catches him with a big knee to the head just 18 seconds in and it's all over! UNOFFICIAL WINNER: LUKE STEWART. He climbs the cage to celebrate and wave at family and friends. The replay shows that Stewart sprawled effectly and then shot in knees right up the middle, first softening up his defenses, then finishing him off with ease. The music in the background is "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." Well Kamaka gave it his best shot but Stewart definitely HIT his best shot. Peoples stops the fight at 19 seconds of R1 for THE WINNER BY TKO: LUKE STEWART.

Next up is Anthony Ruiz v. Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Bobby Southworth in a non-title fight. Ruiz comes out to "Get Down With the Sickness." Southworth gets a huge hometown pop and comes out to 2Pac's "No More Pain." You may remember in the Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion show he ended his fight with Bill Mahood by hitting him so hard with a punch Mahood suffered a broken rib. Both fighters weigh in at 204 for this match. We're once again reminded this show is being streamed live, but ALSO that this fight is sponsored by Punishment Athletics. Ruiz record is 17-10 while Southworth's record is 8-4. Our referee in charge is Marcos Rosales.

* Bobby Southworth v. Anthony Ruiz

The fight goes quickly to the ground and Southworth takes the mount. Ruiz gives up his back trying to escape but Southworth is unable to capitalize. Ruiz gets a reversal and ends up on top against the cage. Southworth gets back to his feet and the two exchange knees. Ruiz keeps trying to work knees against the cage from double underhooks but Southworth doesn't seem fazed. Rosales screams "STOP!!!" and seperates the two. Southworth charges out with strikes and slips but quickly recovers before Ruiz can capitalize. Nonetheless Ruiz ends up pushing him up against the cage again. Ruiz goes for a single leg takedown on the right but Southworth's balance helps him survive the attempt. Southworth gets a takedown of his OWN with the help of a leg trip slash leg sweep. Southworth is being held in the guard as there are 30 seconds left to go in the round. Ruiz is trying to fight out but Southworth holds on to finish the round. It's close but I'll give Southworth the 10-9 edge off the strength of the last takedown.

Some moisture in Ruiz' corner is mopped up as Webber says Shamrock should ride a zamboni out to the middle, as Shamrock responds that he's all about the hometown Sharks. Round two is underway! Southworth gets rocked and has a big cut over his eye as Ruiz gets the takedown. The cut is so severe that Rosales stops the fight so the doctor can take a look at it. THIS FIGHT IS OVER. The replay is shown and Ruiz hit a headbutt and a devestating series of lefts and rights in succession. OFFICIAL WINNER AT 4:06 OF R2 VIA REF STOPPAGE ON DOCTOR'S ADVICE: ANTHONY RUIZ.

Lemont Davis vs. Brian Schwartz is up next. Davis says he's got a lot to prove tonight and Schwartz says if Davis tries to take him down he'll pay for it. Greenville, North Carolina is the home for Davis, fighting out of the blue corner. He's 5'8" and just a quarter of a pound under 172. Schwartz is a California native and gets the huge hometown pop coming out to the red corner. He's been a kickboxer for years but this is his first official MMA fight. We're told he dominated in ISKA and that he'll have the major height and reach advantage, and standing three inches over six feet he's certainly a long and lanky fighter, in fact weighing five pounds less than Davis. Schwartz gets another huge pop when introduced by Danny Miller.

* Lemont Davis v. Brian Schwartz

Schwartz fires off kicks. Davis goes for a takedown. Schwartz has him in a guillotine on the attempt. I should note CSAC only sanctioned three minute rounds for this fight. Davis can do nothing with him on the ground as Schwartz keeps the guard tight and the arm controlled. Crowd gets impatient and starts booing and the ref gets them stood up. Davis gives chase again but this time Schwartz keeps his balance and doesn't get taken down. The first round ends in largely a stalemate but I would actually score it to Davis for being more active.

Round two finds Davis giving chase again and Schwartz staying on his feet even when Davis manages to connect with strikes. Schwartz hits a big foot stomp as they're tied up along the cage but he is bleeding from the strikes of Davis. They start trading in the middle of the cage and Davis gets the leverage and pushes him up against the fence again. Shamrock criticizes Schwartz playing possum here and says that it doesn't look good to the crowd or the judges. The ref calls for time as Schwartz finally does land a knee, but it's a knee to the groin. He was aiming for the leg but it's fighting, shit happens. The fight is restarted but there are only 5 seconds left, so Davis throws wildly and Schwartz eggs him on. The fight doctor attends to his cuts as we await round three. I'm calling it 2 rounds to none for Davis.

Third and final 3 minute round. Schwartz goes for a takedown or is tripped down and ends up in mount but Davis attempts to take a guillotine in the process. Schwartz is in a bad position here, Davis only needs to take position and he could sink in the choke. Davis won't let go but can't hang on forever and over two minutes into the round Schwartz finally escapes. Schwartz and Davis are both on their knees and Schwartz is trying to pepper the ribs with punches. Schwartz tries to get one big knee in right at the end of the fight but it's going to a decision. I'm not a judge and I'm not in California but if I were scoring this I'd give all three rounds to Davis 10-9.

Here's Danny Miller with the announcement. JUDGES SCORE - ROSALES, PEOPLES AND HAMILTON ALL SCORE 29-28 UNANIMOUS DECISION FOR LEMONT DAVIS.

Paul Buentello vs. Alistair Overeem is up next. One man will become the Strikeforce heavyweight champion. 'Headhunter' Buentello says Overeem showed no hesitation agreeing to five minute rounds, so he had to train harder than he ever has before. Overeem comes out first and they say that he's had more quality wins over more opponents worldwide even though their fight records are remarkably similar. Nonetheless Buentello has won his last three fights and as the announcers note he's a KO specialist - he either gets them or TAKES them. Overeem weighs in at 224 and Buentello weighs in at 250, but as we all know weight is not always an advantage - just look what Couture did to heavier opponents like Sylvia and Gonzaga. Overeem's record is 25-11-1 and he fights from Holland out of the blue corner. Buentello is 23-9 and fights out of the red corner, hailing from Amarillo, Texas. Hamilton is our ref for this fight.

* Paul Buentello vs. Alistair Overeem (Strikeforce heavyweight title)

Overeem quickly takes the fight to the ground only ten seconds in and works from side control on the right. Buentello tries to push off the cage with his feet but isn't having much luck. Overeem has leverage and is landing knees and hammerfists when he chooses. Overeem's rights to Buentello's face looks particularly nasty. Buentello tries to roll to his knees and get up but Overeem nearly gets a guillotine out of it. Buentello finally gets the standup he wants but Overeem just clinches and peppers him with knees. Buentello's face is bloodied. Overeem clinches him against the cage and fires hard lefts at his face. Buentello goes down to his knees and Overeem takes North-South. He's looking for a guillotine again. Overeem softens him up with knees to the body and tries to throw a leg over for the guillotine but gives it up when he doesn't have position and the two stand up. Overeem pushes him into the cage and continues to bloody the nose with lefts as round one ends. This wasn't 10-9 folks, this was 10-8. Overeem owned Buentello on every aspect of the game.

Buentello comes out swinging for the fences at the start of R2. Buentello is looking gassed and offers no defense when Overeem goes for the double leg takedown, getting it with ease. Shamrock: "Body, head, body, under, over, just like boxing." Overeem has the full mount and is throwing lefts and rights. The crowd starts to boo as Buentello pulls the guard tight and even tries to move his legs up Overeem's back. Overeem has no trouble pushing free but Nelson Hamilton gets impatient and stands them up. Overeem gets him right back down and goes North-South. Buentello almost seems to be turtling up here but he stands up, which turns out to be a mistake since Overeem hits a knee to the body that's so devestating Buentello falls to his knees and starts tapping the mat. IT'S ALL OVER - OVEREEM THAT IS, YOUR NEW STRIKEFORCE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION. Buentello's face is a mess.

Danny Miller makes it official - FIGHT STOPPED AT 3:42 OF R2 TO CROWN THE FIRST EVER STRIKEFORCE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP ALISTAIR OVEREEM. Shamrock interviews him in the cage afterwards and Overeem says he's here to stay in San Jose for a long time. Up next is Gary 'Jerry' Millen who says Saturday, March 29th will be Strikeforce 8. First up is Gilbert Melendez, and next up is Josh Thomson, and he says both men will be fighting that night. Thomson vows he'll make this one of the best fights in MMA and he says he refuses to talk shit because guys who talk shit get their ass beat. Melendez: "Whassup San Jose, how's it going! Dude I'm just excited to get back in the cage. We're gonna show why Strikeforce is down, we're gonna scrap, it's gonna be amazing, you guys will love it."

Finals of the middlweight tournament! In the blue corner Jorge Santiago. Trevor Prangley fights out of the red corner. There's not much else to say because we went over each man's stats and credentials in their semi-final fights. Time for the finale!

* Jorge Santiago v. Trevor Prangley (Middleweight tournament championship fight)

Two five minute rounds, here we go, round one is underway! Santiago gives chase and Prangley defends well. Prangley snaps off a quick left. Left-right combo. Santiago swings with an overhand right a la Liddell but misses. Santiago with leg kicks on Prangley. Prangley fires back with fists. Santiago lands a big punch and nearly takes Prangley off his feet with a right leg kick. Santiago circles and keeps looking for angles. Santiago hits the big knee and the overhand right AND IT'S ALL OVER! Replay shows that an overhand right set it up, a big knee to the body softened him up, and Santiago hit the KO knee immediately afterwards in the clinch. OFFICIAL TIME 2:31 OF R1 FOR THE WINNER BY TKO: JORGE SANTIAGO. Sam Morgan v. Cung Le is next!

Le: "When that cage door closes I become Cung Le the fighter. It's like an on-and-off button. Next step, Frank Shamrock, or whoever it is, after that Shamrock. Can't look too far ahead because Morgan is standing right in front of me." Danny Miller performs the introductions and Sam 'The Squeeze' Morgan comes out to the blue corner for our main event of the evening. Cung Le comes out through the Mooninite to a huge pop as the hometown hero. Cung and his mom came to the U.S. three days before the fall of Saigon, and he's been a legend in sansho and undefeated in kickboxing before ever entering MMA - but so far he's undefeated in MMA too and the hometown crowd just can't get enough of him. Shamrock says if he "grows up" in this fight he just might take him on, and contrary to popular opinion he's not ducking Le. (I wasn't aware that was popular opinion - I thought everybody knew they were building up Le to be a money draw for a big fight with Shamrock later down the road.) Morgan's record is 18-8 and he hails from West St. Paul, Minnesota. Le's record is 4-0 and he's the hometown San Jose favorite. Enough talk, let's fight! Rosenthal is the ref in charge.

* Sam Morgan v. Cung Le

Le is all over him with a sidekick and a hip-toss and works him over with kicks, the crowd exploding with each one that connects. Morgan manages to get back to his feet but Le takes him down again. Morgan gets up but Le hits a left. Le is connecting almost at will. Another takedown by Le and the crowd goes wild! Morgan pops back up. Morgan swings wildly so Le pops him with a kick to the chest and takes him down again. Morgan gets back up. Le throws a spinning kick so Morgan mocks him with a windmill kick of his own. Le takes him back down. Back up again. Morgan does manage to hit a few strikes as we move under a minute in the round. Le pulls him down for some big rights and almost could have been docked for holding onto the cage if a different judge was watching or it was in a different town. Le misses on a kick and goes to the ground as the round ends. 10-9 for Le. Not total domination but pretty darn close.

Round two is underway! Crowd chant of Cung Le starts as Morgan is swinging wildly but not connecting with much. Hip toss by Le and Morgan is down again. His corner yells at him to step over in the mount. Morgan pops up. Le chases with shots and ducks a big one from Morgan. Morgan shoots in for a leg. Le with a knee as they work for position on the cage wall. Le backs away, Morgan comes in, another hip toss with ease. Le transitions to full mount but Morgan rolls out. Le gets on top again. He's got side control and fires lefts at the head as we're under two minutes away from the end of round two. Crowd is booing because they wanted Le to steamroll Morgan. Le may be looking for a submission here, possibly a shoulder lock. Le moves up the mount and starts firing shots at Morgan's head. Knees to the body. Lefts to the face. 30 seconds left. Le with a hard right to the body. 10 seconds to go. Time expires. Another 10-9 round, dominating, but not devestating. Maybe it's just me but I'm starting to think Le is being exposed in this fight. Shamrock agrees, saying Le has no submission skills on the ground.

Round three begins! Morgan keeps swinging for the fences and getting almost nothing but air. Le hits a leg kick that sends Morgan spinning. Le fires another spinning heel kick. Le connects with a big body-to-neck kick and throws a big punch at the head of Morgan when he's down AND IT'S ALL OVER! REF STOPPAGE. LE WINS AT 1:58 OF R3 VIA TKO. Shamrock comes to the ring. Le: "I think it's a good business decision for you and I to get in this cage. It's all about competition and putting fans in the seat." Shamrock: "Fans love you and fans love me, but it's only room in here for one of us, but if that's your decision I accept it." Le: "I'm glad you accept it! Thank you everyone for supporting me, for supporting Strikeforce." He reads off a list of sponsors - don't care really. "To all the fans, I love you, my girl I love you, Lord I love you. USH!!" Shamrock: "Your winner and second best San Jose fighter, Cung Le!" Le: "That's fine, I'll take second best until I prove it!" That's where our live Yahoo! Sports show ends, with Queen's "We Are the Champions" playing in the background.

UNAIRED FIGHT RESULTS COURTESY WWW.SHERDOG.COM ARE AS FOLLOWS.

Dennis Hallman vs. Jeremiah Metcalf
The end comes at 1:39 of round one via heel hook for Dennis Hallman.

Chris Drumm vs. Evan Esguerra
The fight was called a technical draw as they couldn't go to the cards due to Drumm taking a punch to the back of the head in R1 that stopped the fight.

Clint Coronel vs. Alex Crispin
Alex Crispin def. Clint Coronel unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

Pete Sabala vs. Anthony Figueroa
Split decision is the call -- 30-27 and 29-28 for Figueroa and 29-28 for Sabala.

Josh Neal vs. Eric Lawson
Lawson forces a rear-naked choked on Neal, who taps 20 seconds after the start of round two.