Tyron "T-Wood" Woodley (8-0) continued his streak of perfection, earning a unanimous decision over Tarec "The Sponge" Saffiedine (10-3) in a highly-anticipated showdown of rising welterweight (170 pounds) stars and the STRIKEFORCE Challengers main event Friday night, live on SHOWTIME from Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
Woodley neutralized Saffiedine's stand-up game, pressing Saffiedine against the fence and striking whenever possible. Woodley's ground game was superior for the most part as he remained in dominant position for much of the three round encounter.
Former University of Tennessee star linebacker Ovince Saint Preux (10-4) continued his recent surge, earning a unanimous decision over road warrior "Abongo" Humphrey (7-3) of Atlanta. His start made the 27-year-old Saint Preux, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, the first fighter in history to compete in three consecutive STRIKEFORCE events.
"I knew I had to win the third round to get this fight. He's definitely a tough opponent," said Saint Preux, a winner of seven straight bouts.
Saint Preux came out on fire in the opening round of action, mounting Humphrey three times while working aggressively on the ground. In the second stanza, Humphrey scored a knee strike that stunned his opponent and Saint Preux countered with a flurry that hurt Humphrey, but was still unable to finish the fight.
Looking somewhat fatigued in the third, Saint Preux fought off Humphrey well enough to win the round and earn the nod from all three judges.
Two-time United States Olympic wrestling team member Daniel Cormier (7-0) extended his perfect record by dominating a far more experienced Devin Cole (18-9-1) for three consecutive rounds.
It was the first time in his MMA career that the 31-year-old Cormier, who competed five times in 2010, was taken the distance of a fight. He displayed increased versatility in the cage, including a much improved kickboxing game, throughout the matchup.
Cormier was able to take Cole down repeatedly during the contest and control his opponent, but never able to finish Cole.
Twenty-two year old Amanda Nunes (6-1) of Patterson, New Jersey by way of Brazil stunned the crowd by decimating fellow prospect Julia Budd (1-1) just 14 seconds into the first round of their meeting.
Both Nunes and Budd who hails from Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada, came out swinging from the outset of the first round, but it was Nunes who landed the first big shot – a straight left hand, which put Budd flat on her back.
Nunes immediately pounced on her downed opponent, raining down on Budd with hammer fists until the referee stepped in and halted the action. The stoppage was Nunes' sixth consecutive win by way of KO.
United States Olympic Judo player Rhadi Ferguson (3-0) shined in his STRIKEFORCE debut against John Richard (3-2), submitting Richard with a heel hook in the second round (2:00) of their matchup.
Richard, a late replacement for Ferguson's original opponent, Ion Cherdivara, scored a hard leg kick in the second round that staggered Ferguson and put him in noticeable pain. After Richard charged forward, the fight went to the ground.
From his back, Ferguson looked for the submission, eventually working his way to the heel hook that forced Richard to tap out. Despite the convincing result, Ferguson expressed disappointment with his performance after the fight, stressing his need to gain more experience in the cage.
STRIKEFORCE returns to SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast) on Sat., Jan. 29 with a world championship doubleheader at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. In the main event, Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz will put his title on the line for the second time against Evangelista Cyborg. Middleweight Champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu submission wizard "Jacare" Souza will risk his belt against superstar knockout artist "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler.
In other SHOWTIME televised featured action on Jan. 29, football legend turned MMA upstart Herschel Walker will make his second start in the cage against Scott Carson in a heavyweight bout and unbeaten Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Roger Gracie, the latest offering from MMA's first family, will square off with former South African National Wrestling Champion Trevor Prangley.
On Sat., Feb. 12, the historic, eight-man single-elimination STRIKEFORCE World Grand Prix – Heavyweight Tournament will kick off live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast) from IZOD Center in E. Rutherford, New Jersey. In one of two tournament bouts on the STRIKEFORCE and M-1 Global promoted card, the legendary Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko will face off with streaking powerhouse Antonio "Big Foot" Silva. In the other tournament contest, former world champion Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski will face Russian Sambo master Sergei Kharitonov, the last fighter to defeat reigning STRIKEFORCE Heavyweight Champion, Alistair "The Demolition Man" Overeem.
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.