Inside Fights is your source for live coverage of tonight’s “Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu II” event, which originates from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. This evening’s main event will be televised on Showtime and features a rematch of the RINGS: King of Kings 1999 Final between light heavyweights Dan Henderson and Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Also on tonight’s card, Paul “Semtex” Daley makes his Strikeforce return against Scott Smith, Robbie Lawler battles Matt Lindland, heavyweights Mike Kyle and Antonio Silva square off, and Benji Radach takes on Ovince St. Preux.
Follow along with our round-by-round updates beginning at 10 PM ET for the main card.
Main Card (Broadcast Live on Showtime):
Dan Henderson vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral
Matt Lindland vs. Robbie Lawler
Scott Smith vs. Paul Daley
Antonio Silva vs. Mike Kyle
Benji Radach vs. Ovince St. Preux
Hello…good evening…and welcome to the live blog of Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Bablau here at Inside Fights, this is Chris Roberts and I will be with you for the next few hours bringing you play by play of the event which is being broadcast from St. Louis.
The prelims which were shown earlier on the world wide web have concluded and here are the results
J.W. Wright def. Josh Epps via submission (Round 1, 1:29)
Booker DeRousse def. Coltin Cole via TKO (Round 2, 3:04)
Mike Glenn def. Lee Brousseau via TKO (Round 1, 2:00)
Matt Ricehouse def. Tom Aaron via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Cortez Coleman def. Lucas Lopez via submission (Round 1, 2:04)
Patrick Cummins def. Terrell Brown via TKO (Round 1, 2:44)
Justin Lawrence def. Max Martyniouk via technical unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Fernando Bettega def. Wayne Phillips via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Light Heavyweight Bout
Benji Radach (21-5) vs. Ovince St. Preux (8-4)
Round 1- They dance for the first 45 seconds or so. Radach gets a slow takedown, St. Preux remains in sitting position. Radach keeps him smooshed up against the cage but isn’t doing much else. They break and St. Preux lands a few blows which drops Radach, St. Preux steals his back and starts pounding from behind. St. Preux flattens him out and really starts landing bombs to the back of Radach’s head. Radach goes with the strategy of keeping him hands over his head as a defense. More sick shots are landing on Radach’s face. Goes for a choke but can’t get it in very deep. Radach is not looking good. Big huge shots to end round. 10-8 St. Preux, please allow the judges to agree.
Round 2- Huge shot landed by St. Preux within seconds of the bell and he instantly retakes Radach’s back. This is going to be a long round for Benji. St. Preux is picking his shots as Radach seems unable to even try and escape. Stalling for a bit and then St. Preux turns his attention to the body. We’re halfway through the round and miraculously Radach throws a punch. St. Preux is looking gassed. This fight is becoming tedious. The ref threatens to stop the fight is Radach doesn’t do something. Radach turns over and St. Preux gets him pressed up against the cage in a sitting position. Then right away he gives the back up again and again St. Preux starts raining down shots on him. That is the story of this fight thus far. Scramble but we end up right back where we started. 10-9 St. Preux though I could be convinced that it was even more lopsided than that.
Round 3- Radach comes out swinging. Slugfest and Radach lands some good shots though he is exhausted. St. Preux responds with a crisp shot that shockingly (!!) drops Radach into a turtle position. Once again St. Preux claims the back and begins teeing off on Radach. At the 3 minute mark the ref stands them up. The crowd likes that. . .whatever. Radach throws three punches then collapses from exhaustion in St. Preux. If nothing else we have to admire Radach’s toughness. The ref separates them. Radach throws a right then tries for a single leg. Ranallo reminds us that going for a takedown is kind of a stupid move for Radach at this late stage. St. Preux scolded by the ref for an illegal elbow. Radach pins St. Preux to the cage, the crowd boos, Radach takes it to the mat. Nobody won that round, that is for sure, but if I had to say I’ll call it 10-9 Radach.
Inside Fights Scorecard: St. Preux 29-27
Ovince St. Preux def. Benji Radach via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
Heavyweight Bout
Mike Kyle (18-7-1) vs. Antonio Silva (14-2)
Round 1- Kyle is giving up 44 pounds which is nutty. Kyle lands a shot to the chin. And another that dramatically drops Silva. Kyle launches himself and begins to drop crazy hammerfists. He grabs top position and Silva, lucky to have survived, pulls guard. Silva is just ducking and covering at this point. Kyle has slowed down, saving his gas tank, but remains in control. Open fisted shot to Silva’s head. Silva has literally done nothing thus far. Kyle just keeps swinging and hitting. Kyle drops a headbutt to Silva’s mid-section and gets called out on it. Silva is using the time to recover a little. Ranallo informs that Kyle has thrown 102 shots to Silva’s 12. Haymaker to Silva’s head to end round. 10-8 Kyle.
Round 2- Silva opens with strikes, one lands very well. Silva uses the weight advantage to get an awkward looking takedown. Silva starts throwing bombs of his own, Kyle goes for a triangle choke, Silva passes to north south position. Silva goes to side control, then goes for D’Arce choke which he modifies to an anaconda choke, he seems to have it in deep. Kyle escapes somehow. Silva takes full mount with over two minutes left. A few huge shots and Kyle goes to sleep. Score a victory for Big Foot.
Antonio Silva def. Mike Kyle via TKO (Round 2, 2:49)
Middleweight Bout
Robbie Lawler (19-6) vs. Matt Lindland (22-7)
Round 1- Slugfest to open. Lindland throws a kick to only gets air. Lindland looks significantly chunkier. Lawler tags him with a jab, Lindland comes in, eats an uppercut and then a huge hook which knocks him cold. Lawler adds one once he hits the ground and then celebrates before the ref even calls it off. Huge knockout, something to please the crowd. Lindland looks to be absolutely wrecked and is still on the mat.
Robbie Lawler def. Matt Lindland via KO (Round 1, 0:50)
Welterweight Bout
Paul Daley (25-9-2) vs. Scott Smith (17-7)
Round 1- Boxing opens the round. Daley throws a few kicks to the legs. Daley lands a nasty 1-2 combo which floors Smith. Smith gets up to his feet and is still alive. More boxing though Daley is throwing considerably more punches. Big right from Daley. Daley hits a few good shots, Smith looks hurt. . .then Daley hits an unreal hook to Smith’s head and Smith face plants the canvas. Game, set and match for Daley as I think Nate Diaz should be very concerned about his arrival in the organization. Two knockout of the year candidates in back to back matches, who could ask for anything more?
Paul Daley def. Scott Smith via KO (Round 1, 2:09)
After the fight Daley calls out K.J. Noons
Light Heavyweight Bout
Dan Henderson (25-8) vs. Babalu Sobral (36-8)
Round 1- Kick by Sobral. Henderson goes for the big KO but misses. Henderson goes in with a flurry, misses most, Sobral falls to the ground out of self preservation but eats one on the ground. Henderson keeps on him throwing huge shots, Sobral keeps alive for a few seconds but Henderson finds his range and begins landing those shots. Sobral goes out and the ref waives off the fight. Make that three massive knockouts in a row. I guess that sets up Henderson vs. Feijao. . .I’d watch that.
Dan Henderson def. Babalu Sobral via KO (Round 1, 1:53)
Alright that appears to be all for tonight as the show ends about 45 minutes earlier than planned, but who is going to complain after that spectacular night of entertainment. I just hope some people took the time to click away from The Ultimate Finale to see some of this action. More to come on this event and other Strikeforce news in the days ahead at InsideFights.com.
