Press Release – DALLAS, June 18 – Veteran lightweight Conor Heun spoiled the Strikeforce debut of Brazil’s Magno Almeida in preliminary card action at American Airlines Center Saturday, scoring a hard-fought unanimous decision in a compelling three round scrap.
Scores were 29-28 across the board for Heun.
Solid groundwork was turned in by both men in the opening stanza, with Almeida working his submission attempts while Heun unleashed hard punches on the mat, as well as kicks while his opponent was on his back.
The second round was a closely contested one as well until Almeida broke it open late with an armbar attempt that looked like it was going to finish the bout. Heun battled his way free though, drawing an appreciative roar from the crowd.
The nip and tuck action continued in the third, with Almeida almost finishing Heun with a choke. But with his usual resilience, Heun broke loose and fired away with ground strikes for the majority of the rest of the round, ending the exciting battle in style.
Heun improves to 9-4 with the win; Almeida falls to 9-2.
The lightweight bout between Justin Wilcox and JZ Cavalcante ended in a no decision after the cageside doctor ruled Wilcox unable to continue after he took an accidental poke in the eye.
The end came at :31 of the second round.
Wilcox (11-3, 1 ND) controlled the first round with relative ease, using movement and hard punches to keep Cavalcante (15-4-1, 1 ND) from getting untracked. The bout came to an abrupt end in the second frame though, when Wilcox caught an inadvertent poke in the eye and was unable to continue.
Philadelphia’s Nah-Shon Burrell was impressive in welterweight action, scoring a hard-fought unanimous decision win over American Top Team’s Joe Ray.
Scores were 29-28 across the board for Burrell, who improves to 6-1; Ray falls to 6-2.
Burrell may have looked like he was in control during an exciting first round, but it was Ray who did the majority of the great work from the bottom, landing hard strikes and compiling a series of submission attempts that Burrell deftly escaped.
Despite tagging Ray repeatedly with crisp strikes early in round two, Burrell oddly decided to go for another takedown shortly thereafter. This time, Burrell avoided any danger from the side control position. With less than two minutes left, Burrell took Ray down a second time, and he kept him there, effectively mixing offense and defense to take the round.
In the third, Burrell fought past fatigue and finished strong both standing and on the mat, with Ray’s only offense a guillotine choke attempt in the second half of the frame that Burrell pulled himself free from.
Isaac Vallie-Flag gamely agreed to face Brian Melancon after the Houston product came in at 175 pounds on Friday for their welterweight bout, and the gamble paid off, as he scored a razor-thin and unpopular split decision victory in the opening bout at American Airlines Center.
Scores were 29-28 twice, and 28-29 for Vallie-Flag.
Melancon hammered Vallie-Flag with lefts and rights from the opening bell, rocking him before throwing him to the mat. Once on the canvas, the Jackson’s MMA team member began to gather his wits, but Melancon wouldn’t allow him to get back into the fight. With less than three minutes left, Vallie-Flag, showing the wear of the fight on his face, got to his feet, but he continued to get tagged with hard shots. Remarkably, he made it to the bell.
Having taken Melancon’s best, Vallie-Flag came out as the aggressor for round two, and he negan to close the gap on the scorecards with some solid striking and control against the fence. Melancon got his licks in as well though, opening the door for an interesting final frame.
Melancon appeared to be the fresher of the two in the third, and after some solid strikes, he set up a takedown. Vallie-Flag took some shots on the bottom before getting back to his feet, but Melancon wrapped him up against the fence for a spell before a restart by referee Don Turnage. After another lull, Melancon scored another takedown in the closing seconds, but it wasn’t enough to lock up the decision.
With the win, Vallie-Flag improves to 12-3-1; Melancon falls to 5-2.
The prelim bout between Mike Bronzoulis and Todd Moore will take place after the main event…results to follow…