Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsWith a payday of $10,000, Lorenz Larkin, Ryan Couture and Lavar Johnson were the highest earners at this past Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers 19 in Las Vegas.
Larkin, who defeated Nick Rossborough in the evening’s main e…
Larkin, who defeated Nick Rossborough in the evening’s main event, earned $5,000 to show and another $5,000 to win. Couture and Johnson each received $10,000 flat. Couture, though, won his fight against Maka Watson, while Johnson was submitted by Shawn Jordan.
Salaries for all 18 fighters on the card are after the jump.
Please keep in mind these salaries are the numbers Strikeforce reported to the Nevada athletic commission and does not necessarily represent a fighter’s final earnings.
Showtime Bouts
Lorenz Larkin ($5,000 + $5,000 win = $10,000) def. Nick Rossborough ($3,000)
Shawn Jordan ($4,000 + $4,000 win = $8,000) def. Lavar Johnson ($10,000)
Ryan Couture ($10,000) def. Maka Watson ($2,000) Jason High ($4,000 + $4,000 = $8,000) def. Todd Moore ($4,000)
Preliminary Bouts
Brian Melancon ($3,000 + $3,000 win = $6,000) def. Felipe Portela ($2,000) James Terry ($4,000 + $4,000 win = $8,000) def. Magno Almeida ($2,000) Bobby Green ($3,000 + $3,000 = $6,000) def. Charon Spain ($3,000)
Christopher Spang ($3,000 + $2,000 = $5,000) def. Joe Ray ($2,000)
Quinn Mulhern ($2,100 + $2,500 = $4,600) def. Danny Davis Jr. ($2,900)*
Mulhern failed to make weight and forfeited $400 of his purse to Davis Jr.
Let’s pretend that you’re a novice MMA fan. You just started watching the sport after being at a bar that was showing “one of those UFC events”, and you want to follow this sport more closely. Specifically, you want to be able to watch the sport’s brightest prospects fighting on the same card while it’s still mostly for recognition. Then let me tell you everything you need to know: The UFC 135 Facebook prelims begin at 5:30 ET. You’re welcome.
For those of you who really want to be hardcore fans, and want to know about the brightest prospects of the minor leagues fighting to be somewhat more famous minor league prospects, we got your back, too. Strikeforce Challengers 19 went down last night in Las Vegas last night at the Palms Resort Casino. While most of the fighters were pretty rough around the edges, the crowd was still treated to some decent fights.
In the main event, light heavyweight prospect Lorenz Larkin remained undefeated by edging out Nick Rossborough for a unanimous decision victory. Despite accepting the fight on short notice, Nick Rossborough kept the fight close throughout the first round by utilizing the clinch against the shorter Larkin. However, Larkin managed to wear Rossborough down with leg kicks throughout the second round, and opened up a cut on Rossborough’s forehead with elbows in the third. Lorenz Larkin is now 12-0 in his MMA career, while Nick Rossborough falls to 20-15.
Let’s pretend that you’re a novice MMA fan. You just started watching the sport after being at a bar that was showing “one of those UFC events”, and you want to follow this sport more closely. Specifically, you want to be able to watch the sport’s brightest prospects fighting on the same card while it’s still mostly for recognition. Then let me tell you everything you need to know: The UFC 135 Facebook prelims begin at 5:30 ET. You’re welcome.
For those of you who really want to be hardcore fans, and want to know about the brightest prospects of the minor leagues fighting to be somewhat more famous minor league prospects, we got your back, too. Strikeforce Challengers 19 went down last night in Las Vegas last night at the Palms Resort Casino. While most of the fighters were pretty rough around the edges, the crowd was still treated to some decent fights.
In the main event, light heavyweight prospect Lorenz Larkin remained undefeated by edging out Nick Rossborough for a unanimous decision victory. Despite accepting the fight on short notice, Nick Rossborough kept the fight close throughout the first round by utilizing the clinch against the shorter Larkin. However, Larkin managed to wear Rossborough down with leg kicks throughout the second round, and opened up a cut on Rossborough’s forehead with elbows in the third. Lorenz Larkin is now 12-0 in his MMA career, while Nick Rossborough falls to 20-15.
The only stoppage on the main card came in the night’s co-main event, as Shawn Jordan secured a keylock in the second round against Lavar Johnson. A member of the LSU’s 2007 National Championship football team, Shawn Jordan caught Lavar Johnson with a vicious left hand thirty seconds into the fight, causing Johnson’s right eye to swell up. From there, Jordan showed off an impressive chin by laughing off Johnson’s punches before dumping him on his back as often as possible. By the second round, Johnson was more focused on his swollen eye than protecting himself from Jordan’s submission attempts, allowing Jordan to secure the fight ending keylock. While the Greg Jackson product needs to work on his standup game, a victory over Lavar Johnson is a quality win for him.
In other action, Ryan Couture still looked pretty raw and one-dimensional, but managed to grind out a majority decision against Maka Watson. Watson managed to open up a cut on Couture’s forehead in the first round, but managed to out-grapple Watson for the majority of the fight. Also, both Jason High and Brian Melancon managed to grind out unanimous decision victories that left the Las Vegas fans booing. Jason High has now won six straight fights.
Lorenz Larkin def. Nick Rossborough via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Shawn Jordan def. Lavar Johnson via submission (keylock) – Round 2, 3:08
Ryan Couture def. Maka Watson via majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jason High def. Todd Moore via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brian Melancon def. Felipe Portela via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
OFFICIAL PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
James Terry def. Magno Almeida via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:27
Bobby Green def. Charon Spain via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:54
Chris Spang def. Joe Ray via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Quinn Mulhern def. Danny Davis via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 4:08
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — MMA Fighting spoke to Shane del Rosario following his win over Lavar Johnson about his performance, what it was like fighting on a big stage and when he would like to fight again.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — MMA Fighting spoke to Shane del Rosario following his win over Lavar Johnson about his performance, what it was like fighting on a big stage and when he would like to fight again.
Filed under: StrikeforceShane Del Rosario stayed undefeated on Saturday night with another impressive performance in the Strikeforce cage, submitting Lavar Johnson with a first-round arm bar.
Del Rosario is now 11-0, and he’s finished all 11 of his op…
Shane Del Rosario stayed undefeated on Saturday night with another impressive performance in the Strikeforce cage, submitting Lavar Johnson with a first-round arm bar.
Del Rosario is now 11-0, and he’s finished all 11 of his opponents, with only one man ever even reaching the second round with Del Rosario. He’s rapidly becoming one of the most exciting heavyweight prospects in MMA.
Johnson is a good story and an exciting fighter, but in falling to 15-4 he showed he’s not on the same level as Del Rosario.
Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsAs usual, Fedor Emelianenko will have to slay a giant.
Hoping to return to the win column after his first loss in nearly a decade, the legendary Russian will be outweighed by well over 30 pounds when he gets in the cage t…
Hoping to return to the win column after his first loss in nearly a decade, the legendary Russian will be outweighed by well over 30 pounds when he gets in the cage to face Antonio Silva at Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva event.
Silva weighed in at 264 pounds while Emelianenko checked in at 230 for their main event matchup at the weigh-ins, held at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Filed under: StrikeforceWhile small-scale gambling on the NCAA basketball tournament is something of an American tradition, I’ve found it’s much harder to get my friends and neighbors involved in a Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix betting pool.
While small-scale gambling on the NCAA basketball tournament is something of an American tradition, I’ve found it’s much harder to get my friends and neighbors involved in a Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix betting pool.
That’s because a) all my friends and neighbors know that I follow this stuff for a living, while they’re still wondering why Kimbo Slice didn’t get included in the bracket, and b) the lack of seeding means you kind of have to actually know something about each fighter in order to effectively pick a winner.
Thankfully, online oddsmakers have handicapped Saturday night’s opening round for us, so we might as well sift through the betting lines and see if there aren’t any egregious errors. Won’t you join me below?
With a payday of $10,000, Lorenz Larkin, Ryan Couture and Lavar Johnson were the highest earners at this past Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers 19 in Las Vegas.
As usual, 
While small-scale gambling on the NCAA basketball tournament is something of an American tradition, I’ve found it’s much harder to get my friends and neighbors involved in a Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix betting pool.