· “Strikeforce: Lawler vs Shields” Recap And Results

"Strikeforce: Lawler vs Shields" took place Saturday May 6 from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The event was headlined by a main event fight of Jake Shields (23-4-1) versus Robbie Lawler (16-5). Read on for the full event details.

The start of the night kicked-off around 6:45pm CST. Before the first fight just 10% of the seats were filled.

Pat Benson vs. Dave Cochran

Round 1:
Cochran has the hometown crowd behind him as they start cheering for him right away. The action started with a good feeling out period where Cochran threw some leg kicks and Benson returned with some punches and leg kicks of his own. Benson threw an overhand right and immediately shot for the take down and got it. Cochran has Benson tied up pretty good and threw hammer fists from the bottom. Benson returned the favor by throwing some hammer fists of his own. After some back and for of hammer fists, Benson goes to posture up and Cochran is able to stand up. Both fighters exchange and Cochran gets a trip take down after some questionable knees that the ref was unable to see. Benson utilizes the rubber guard and locks in a double arm bar at 2:18 of the first round.

Lucas Lopes vs. Scott Ventimiglia

Round 1:
The start of the fight saw both fighters exchanging leg kicks with each leg kick seeming to hit harder than the previous. Lopes stopped throwing leg kicks and started throwing a jab to counter the leg kick with some success. Both fighters land a good shot before clinching up where Ventimiglia got a takedown and landed in half guard. Ventimiglia worked some good ground and pound and switched to a kimura. He was able to trap Lopes's other arm between his legs and started to throw some effective punches to the face. Lopes tried to sweep, but Ventimiglia ended up in full side control. Again, he worked for a kimura and this time it looked really bad and everyone thought the arm was about to break. Lucas rolled to escape, and while doing so, was able to get Ventimiglia in full guard. Ventimigila immediately passed back into side control. Lucas grabbed a hold of Ventimiglia's leg and had him in a knee bar which was enough to force the fighters to try to stand. Ventimiglia mistimed his knee and landed an illegal blow that knocked Lopes out. The referee called a DQ at 3:26 in the first round. Lopes was able to walk out on his own, but was taken out on a stretcher for precautionary reasons.

Tyron Woodley vs. Salvadoer Woods

Round 1:
Woodley was first to throw a strike and then followed it up with a heavy left. Woods threw some punches but couldn't find his range. Woodley then threw a nice combo and the fighters clinched up. Woodley had a very impressive take down were he ended up in the north south position. He had a choke, but let it go when he moved to side control. He was able to secure full mount, but was unable to do much with it as Woods escaped and both fighters were back on their feet. Woods threw some uppercuts but didn't follow them up with anything which led to Woodley securing another take down into side control. After some back and forth on the ground, Woodley ended up in full guard. Woodley postured up and landed four hard punches and worked to get into side control. Woods seemed to just give up his neck and Woodley locked in a choke and got the victory at 4:20 of the first round.

Booker DeRousse vs. James Wade

Round 1:
Fighters touched gloves and immediately DeRousse went for the clinch and worked some knees up against the cage. A total of six knees landed before DeRousse got a take down and landed in side control. He moved to north south position, but Wade was able to stand up. DeRousse started to telegraph his takedown attempts, and Wade easily side stepped. Both fighters exchanged some kicks and then the crowd got into it changing for Wade. They clinched and DeRousse threw more knees while Wade looked for a take down and couldn't get it. Wade breaks from the clinch and lands a straight right that hurts DeRousse. Both fighters started throwing haymakers before clinching up again. Wade gets a take down, but DeRousse reverses it and landed on top. Wade turned and gave up his back and DeRousse sank in a rear naked choke. DeRousse let go to throw some punches, and the referee warned Wade that he had to do something. DeRousse continued his punches and the ref called a stop to the fight at 4:06 in the first round.

Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante vs. Mike Kyle

Round 1:
The crowd is immediately behind Cavalcante after they saw Anderson Silva in his corner. Both fighters had some nice strikes to start things off and Cavalcante started throwing leg kicks. Kyle shot in for a take down and had Cavalcante against the cage, but couldn't get it. The rest of the round has both fighters still trying to find their range, but never landing anything serious. The action got heavy at the end of the round and Kyle threw a punch clearly after the bell rang.

Round 2:
Cavalcante went for the take down and landed in Kyle's guard. Cavalcante worked some body punches while moving Kyle closer to the cage. Kyle was able to wrap Cavalcante up and neither fighter was able to do much. Cavalcante stood up to try to improve his position and was able to pass to side control. He then moved into full mount and flattened Kyle out and was landing some punches. Kyle gave up his back but was able to escape and landed a massive left hand. Cavalcante and Kyle both started throwing with the intent of a knock out, but the fighters appeared to be flat footed. Kyle threw two straight rights and a cross that hurt Cavalcante. Kyle immediately jumped on him and knocked him out cold at 2:05 in the second round.

Josh Bumgarner vs. Jesse Finney

Round 1:
Both fighters touched gloves and then exchanged leg kicks. Finney's sounded and looked like they were doing more damage. After a brief bit of boxing, Finney threw two leg kicks followed up with a superman punch. He then went for the take down and landed in half guard. Finney is able to hold Bumgarner down very well and passed to side control. He was able to secure one arm between his legs and started landing some heavy blows. The crowd got really loud at this point and the referee warned Bumgarner. Finney then switches to work a kimura/arm bar and Bumgarner tapped at 1:55 in the first round.

Main card

Kevin Randleman vs. Mike Whitehead

Round 1:
Both fighters found their range quickly and exchanged some good blows. Whitehead shot for the first take down and scored, but Randleman got right back up and secured a take down of his own. Through out the rest of the round, both fighters continued to find there range, and Whitehead took Randleman down two more times. Neither fighter looked hurt by the other, and it was a close round. Round 1 went to Whitehead as he looked like he inflicted slightly more damage.

Round 2:
Not much happened in this round. Whitehead got a takedown and just held Randleman down. The crowd started booing heavily. After a stand up neither fighter looked like they had much of anything in the tank. Round 2 went to Whitehead as the only major action was the take down.

Round 3:
Randleman came out swinging. Both fighters were low on energy at this point. Whitehead got rocked by Randleman but had one of the fastest recoveries ever. Randleman wasn't able to finish Whitehead and the fight went to the judges scorecard. Whitehead won the unanimous decision.


Phil Baroni vs. Joe Riggs

Round 1:
From the very beginning Riggs got a take down and set the pace of the entire fight. He had Baroni in trouble early in the round and unloaded some great ground and pound. Around the three minute mark, Baroni was able to secure the dominant position, but he didn't do much with it. The referee stood the fight up and Riggs landed a great straight left that sent Baroni down. Baroni was able to roll and got control on the ground before the bell rang. Riggs did a lot more damage and controlled most of the round. Round one went to Riggs.

Round 2:
Riggs started to unload his arsenal of attacks in this round. After landing some great combos, he stepped back and then delivered a flying knee which connected flush. Late in the round, Baroni was able to take Riggs down, but was in serious trouble after Riggs secured a triangle choke. Baroni escaped and the crowd went absolutely crazy. Riggs won round two as he inflicted significantly more damage.

Round 3:
The fight stayed standing and Riggs basically put on a five minute clinic of striking. Riggs threw an average of ten strikes to every one that Baroni threw. Riggs landed another flying knee, had some great kicks, and hurt Baroni bad. Riggs was unable to finish Baroni, but the judges scored the fight 30-27 for Riggs.

After the fight, Riggs stated that he broke both of his hands during the fight.


Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith

Round 1:
Both fighters came out and decided to keep the fight standing. Diaz, using his trademark peppering shots, was very sharp. Diaz started to taunt Smith by purposefully exposing his chin for a free shot that Smith did not capitalize on. Smith landed some heavy hits, but Diaz returned the favor with more shots. Diaz landed more punches and at one point rocked Smith. Round one goes to Diaz.

Round 2:
Both fighters mixed things up a bit in this round and threw some kicks in addition to punches. Diaz landed body punch after body punch and looked a lot fresher than Smith. Smith started to throw for the fences but missed on nearly every attempt. At the end of the round, Diaz pulls the trigger and just unloaded on Smith with a barrage of punches. Smith gets saved by the bell, but was extremely slow to get up. Round two goes to Diaz.

Round 3:
Smith went to touch gloves and Diaz doesn't want any part of it. Smith is pissed off about it and went full steam at Diaz. Diaz was able to weather the storm and the fighters clinched. Big John steps in after there is little action from either fighter. Diaz rocked Smith with a right hand and Smith went down. Diaz jumped on Smith who turned and gave up his back. Diaz capitalized on his dominant position and sunk in a rear naked choke at 1:41 of round 3. After Diaz released the choke, Smith was still kind of laying on top of Diaz as Diaz kicked Smith off of him.


Andrei Arlovski vs. Brett Rogers

Round 1:
Both fighters touched gloves and Rogers then went after Arlovski. Rogers hit Arlovski with a left hook, followed by a right hook, and finished with another left hook. Arlovski was out and Big John called a stop to the fight 22 seconds into the first round.


Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields

Round 1:
Shields came out and went for a quick take down, but Lawler did a good job at sprawling to avoid it. Shields, unable to get the take down, realized that he needed to stand up with Lawler. Both fighters threw a couple of punches before working their clinch game. Lawler decided to drop down from the clinch to go for a single leg take down, but Shields jumped up and secured a guillotine choke. Lawler was able to stand up while being choked and considered a slam, and instead went back down to the ground. Lawler tried to pry Shields's arm off, but wasn't able to and tapped at 2:02 in the first round.