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FIVE ROUNDS WITH STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS 15

While this weekend was mainly dedicated to the greatness that was WWE Wrestlemania 27, but Strikeforce Challengers 15 carved a niche of its own. The event was headlined by Justin Wilcox and Rodrigo Damm, with the Douglas twins in action as well. Also, the advent of elbow strikes on the ground proved to be the deciding factor in the evening’s main event.

Round One: Justin Wilcox & Elbows Earn A Victory

It only took one main event appearance for Justin Wilcox to make himself a player in an ultra-thin Strikeforce Lightweight Division. Justin Wilcox absolutely destroyed Rodrigo Damm, who was once a challenger for the Strikeforce Lightweight Title, on the ground and with elbow strikes. Justin Wilcox could easily become the first Strikeforce Challengers headliner to challenge for a championship. It also only took one event for Strikeforce fans to be shown how important the once banned elbow strikes can be.

Next Round For Justin Wilcox: Josh Thomson or KJ Noons

Next Round For Rodrigo Damm: Jorge Gurgel or Conor Heun

Round Two: The Twins Go 1-1

I could be off on this statistic here, but I believe that David and Damion Douglas could be the first twin brothers to compete on the same card. Correct or not on that statistic, the Douglas twins had gone 1-1 at the event, but they could’ve easily lost both fights. In the first fight for the twins, Damion Douglas defeated Wayne Phillips via a controversial split decision. In the other encounter, Caros Fodor handily defeated David Douglas by TKO late in the fights final round.

Next Round For Damion Douglas: A rematch with Wayne Phillips

Next Round For David Douglas: Cardio training in a gym

Next Round For Caros Fodor: Rodrigo Damm or Jorge Gurgel

Next Round For Wayne Phillips: A rematch with Damion Douglas

Round Three: Late Replacement, Early Victory

Lorenz Larkin accepted the fight with Scott Lighty on a weeks’ notice, so just imagined how well Lorenz Larkin would’ve performed with more training time. Lorenz Larkin looked dominant, destroying Scott Lighty with tons of strikes and well placed kicks to the body. This was a fight that Scott Lighty, for all intents and purposes, should’ve been able to win with little problems at all. Lorenz Larkin proved though, that if you go into a fight with an opponent who overlooks you that a victory is within reach.

Next Round For Lorenz Larkin: Mike Kyle or a returning King Mo

Next Round For Scott Lighty: Satoshi Ishii, Scott Lighty’s original opponent

Round Four: That Was Impressive

James Terry is a fighter who is on the verge of becoming a breakout star in Strikeforce, especially after his performance on Friday Night. James Terry showed impressive striking on route to knocking Josh Thornburg out cold with a solid right to the draw. James Terry now has to continue on the road to improvement, because he has a bright future ahead of him. Josh Thornburg, who has a chance to be a top MMA fighter, needs to hit the gym to improve his striking defense.

Next Round For James Terry: Justin Wilcox or KJ Noons

Next Round For Josh Thornburg: A boot from Strikeforce

Round Five: Finish, Finish, Finish!!!

There was one key fact to keep in mind when reviewing the events on Friday Night, which is that only two of the nine fights on the card went to a decision. Despite having a somewhat lack of star power on occasions, Strikeforce fights tend to have more finishes than decisions. Also an interesting tidbit from that fact is five of the seven finishes all occurred within the opening round of the fights. The way Strikeforce is going to attract more fans is with exciting finishes, which is what we got on Friday Night.

Next Round For Strikeforce: Strikeforce – Diaz vs. Daley on April 9th

You can contact David tees at bigteesps3@yahoo.com

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