Strikeforce Challengers Jorge Gurgel vs. Billy Evangelista Results

Last night's installment of the Strikeforce Challengers Series on Showtime came to us all live from Fresno, California. In sum, it was a great night of fights for some up and comers, and featured an excellent main event battle between Jorge Gurgel and Billy Evangelista.

Strikeforce Challengers Results

Zoila Frausto vs. Elisha Helsper: Helsper was the stronger and bigger fighter. That said, she waited until the third round before she began looking for takedowns, and by then Frausto, a longtime Tae Kwon Do practitioner, had accumulated points with a roundhouse kick to the face that opened a cut under her opponent's left eye, some nice jabs, and timely knees in the clinch.  And that was all she needed for victory.

Zoila Frausto defeats Elisha Helsper by way of a unanimous decision. Merritt Warren vs. Thomas Diagne: Diagne's san shou kickboxing skills showed through early in the first, as he delivered some impressive kicks, including a very nice sidekick, before executing an up, up, and away takedown. But that proved to be his downfall when Warren sunk in a reverse heel hook on him soon after they hit the canvas.

Merritt Warren defeats Thomas Diagne by way of heel hook at 3:49 of round one.

Luke Rockhold vs. Jesse Taylor: Taylor took Rockhold down early and even managed to take his back there. But he was too high and as a result of this, fell off his opponent, allowing Rockhold to flip the switch on Taylor and take his back. Soon after, Rockhold took home victory by way of a rear naked choke.

Luck Rockhold defeats Jesse Taylor by way of rear naked choke at 3:42 of round one.

Shane Del Rosario vs. Brandon Cash: Cash nailed Del Rosario with a huge right early in this fight that dropped him. From there, he continued a ground and pound assault inbetween instances where Del Rosario was able to get to his feet which would've taken out most lesser men. But Del Rosario proved that he had both a chin and heart in this one. Along with this, his ability to stay alive eventually allowed him to sink in a severe omoplata attempt. And that was that.

Shane Del Rosario defeats Brandon Cash by way of omoplata at 2:57 of round one.

Billy Evangelista vs. Jorge Gurgel: Name a boring fight that Jorge Gurgel has engaged in. Exactly- it's hard to come up with one. And last night's battle between he and Evangelista was no different. The first round was the least eventful, with Evangelista connecting with the crisper shots and gaining a takedown to take it. The second round was a tale that could seemingly be divided into three parts- 1) Gurgel's aggressiveness on his feet probably won him points early on; 2) Evangelista's takedown and ground and pound turned the tide in the middle; 3) A Gurgel high kick that dropped his adversary coupled with a guillotine choke attempt won him points late. The final round was very close with Gurgel seemingly connecting with some of the better shots late in the stanza, before Evangelista was able to turn the tide on him with a takedown at the every end. Strangely, two judges offered up a 30-27 decision in favor of Evangelista (the other gave him the fight 29-28). In reality, I thought this fight could've gone either way. Regardless. . .

Billy Evangelista wins via unanimous decision.

More Articles

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers