Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (left) and Roger Gracie Dominated Strikeforce

San Jose, Ca - “No judges need apply” could have been the Strikeforce mantra as a little over 9,000 fans visited the HP Pavilion to see a lively 10-match affair where no fight went the distance. Rather than just playing purely for the knockout with a procession of cross-trained wrestlers throwing awkward bombs going for the “knockout of the night” bonus, Strikeforce has been loading up their shows with very technical fighters of different styles, which again provided extremely interesting match-ups

Nick Diaz successfully defended his welterweight title as he survived numerous legs kicks from Evangelista Santos (the other Cyborg) early in the first stanza then came back in round two to win via arm-bar.

Not to be outdone, former BJJ arch-rivals “Jacare” Souza and Roger Gracie, whose battles in the Absolute Division of the BJJ World Championships are legendary, both won by rear naked choke tap-out, with Souza beating Robbie Lawler in the third round and Gracie beating Trevor Prangley in the first.

In a bit of a sideshow, former NFL star Herschal Walker, who is just a couple of years shy from being eligible to join the AARP, beat Scott Carson via TKO in the middle of round one. Walker is a traditional martial artist with a karate black belt who would have been a legitimate contender if he were 30 years younger. At the risk of being criticized for saying the emperor has no clothes, Walker now has to be matched-up carefully in order to be competitive and shouldn’t be a main event fighter from a purist standpoint. With that being said, however, there is definitely a huge “fun factor” in seeing a former Heisman Trophy winner get it on and he’s such a classy guy you can’t help but pull for him.

On the surface, the crowd of 9,000 was a little bit of a disappointment from the Frank Shamrock glory days of 18,000+ fans packing the arena. However, viewed in the context of the anemic U.S. (and particularly California) economy with sky-high unemployment and increasingly less disposable income available it should be viewed in a favorable light. The overall strength of the Strikeforce cards are the best they’ve ever been and as word gets out and the economy hopefully improves those numbers should rise.

Results

170 lbs. - Nick Diaz (24-7, Cesar Gracie BJJ) DEF Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (18-14, The Arena), R2, 4:50, Arm Bar (Diaz retains Welterweight Title)

185 lbs. - Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (14-2, XGym) DEF Robbie Lawler (18-7, HIT Squad), R3, 2:00, Rear Choke (Souza retains Middleweight Title)

Hvywt - Herschel Walker (2-0, American Kickboxing Academy) DEF Scott Carson (4-2, Reign Training Center), R1, 3:13, TKO Strikes (Walker retains Heisman Trophy)

205 lbs. - Roger Gracie (4-0, Gracie Barra UK) DEF Trevor Prangley (24-7-1, American Kickboxing Academy), R1, 4:19, Rear Choke

170 lbs. - Nate Moore (7-2, American Kickboxing Academy) DEF Nathan Coy (8-4, Team Quest), R2, 0:25, KO

155 lbs. - Isaiah Hill (5-7-1, Cung Le’s Universal Strength) DEF Bobby Stack (8-2, Skrap Pack), R1, 1:02, Triangle Choke

185 lbs. - Ron Keslar (6-3, American Kickboxing Academy) DEF Eric Lawson (9-4, Combat Fitness), R1, 1:57, Arm Bar

135 lbs. - Germaine de Randamie (2-1, Muay Thai, Netherlands) DEF Stephanie Webber (1-2, Victory Athletics) R1, 4:25, TKO

170 lbs. - James Terry (9-2, Cung Le’s Universal Strength) DEF Lucas Gamaza (4-2, Cesar Gracie BJJ), R1, 3:26, TKO

120 lbs. - Jenna Castillo (1-0, Fairtex Gym) DEF Charlene Gellner (0-1, Bay Area Fight Academy), R2, 3:57, TKO