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SARAH KAUFMAN DEFEATS TAKAYO HASHI TO BECOME FIRST
STRIKEFORCE WOMEN’S WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION IN HISTORY
AT STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS
Photos: Esther Lin/Strikeforce

Yancy Medeiros earned a
one-sided three-round decision over Raul Castillo in the opening
match of the telecast.


Tarec Saffiedine won a
unanimous three-round decision over James Terry at the San Jose
Civic Auditorium.



Luke Rockhold scored an impressive 2:24, first-round TKO (strikes)
over Paul Bradley in one of the featured bouts on STRIKEFORCE:
Challengers.


What was shaping up as good fight between
Karl Amoussou and Trevor Prangley ended in a first-round techical
draw at 4:14 due to an accidental eye-poke.



Sarah Kaufman (left)
pitched a five-round shutout over Takayo Hashi to capture a
unanimous five-round decision and the first-ever STRIKEFORCE Female
135-pound (welterweight) world championship in the main event Friday
on SHOWTIME®.


___________________________________________________________
Rockhold Crushes Bradley, Saffiedine and Medeiros
Victorious
On SHOWTIME ® at
STRIKEFORCE’s Birthplace in San Jose
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Feb. 27, 2010) –
Before a sold out crowd of 2,322, former ballet dancer turned
undefeated professional mixed martial arts (MMA) star Sarah
Kaufman (11-0) became the first STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight
(135 pounds) Champion in history by powering her way to a five-round
unanimous decision over Japan’s Takayo Hashi (12-2) in the
STRIKEFORCE Challengers main event at San Jose’s Civic
Auditorium on Friday, Feb. 26, on SHOWTIME®.
Luke Rockhold (7-1) continued his climb up the middleweight
(185 pounds) ladder with a stunning first-round (2:24) TKO over
Paul Bradley (12-2). A middleweight contest between former South
African national wrestling champion Trevor Prangley (22-5-1)
and France’s Karl Amoussou (11-2-2) ended prematurely after
Prangley accidentally poked Amoussou in the eye, leading to a doctor
stoppage and technical draw being declared.
From the outset, Kaufman pressed the action with a stiff jab and
one-two punch combinations, but was unable to finish Hashi who
repeatedly backpedaled her way out of trouble. Kaufman landed her
best shots in the first round, dropping Hashi with a straight right
hand.
In the third stanza, Kaufman sent Hashi reeling back and nearly
put down the Japanese fighter for a second time in the bout with a
straight right hand. After a Kaufman jab snapped Hashi’s head back,
Hashi responded by shooting for a takedown that Kaufman stuffed.
A chess match ensued for the remainder of the bout. Kaufman
continued to score with her hands and right leg kick while Hashi
retreated to avoid imminent danger. All three judges scored all five
rounds in favor of Kaufman.
In the first round of their much anticipated matchup, Rockhold
dropped Bradley with a right hand to the side of the head. Bradley
fought his way back to his feet, but Rockhold quickly went on the
attack, scoring a head kick and following up with three straight
knee strikes to the body.
Badly battered from the series of blows, Bradley turned his back,
prompting the referee to immediately stop the action.
As expected, Amoussou came out of the gates firing punches at
Prangley, who covered up and countered the Frenchman’s assault with
his own hands. Prangley scored a takedown, but was unable to advance
his position from half guard.
After the referee stood up the fighters, Prangley, with an open
left hand, accidentally poked Amoussou in the right eye. The
ringside physician immediately entered the cage and examined
Amoussou, who was unable to open his eye, and declared the fighter
unable to continue at the 4:14 mark of the first round (According
to MMA rules in the state of California, the ringside physician has
the discretion to stop a bout in the event that an accidental foul
causes an injury).
In other action Yancy Medeiros (5-0) of Waianae, Hawaii
dominated Raul Castillo (6-1) at middleweight with continuous
flurries throughout the matchup between the unbeaten fighters.
Medeiros stuffed Castillo’s repeated takedown attempts and
continued to pour on the punishment with both hands, putting
Castillo on the canvas with a right hand in the third round. After
an exchange of shots brought the bout to a close, all three judges
awarded the fight to Medeiros.
Like Medeiros, Tarec Saffiedine (8-2) maintained an
all-out stand up offensive in a welterweight (170 pounds) fight with
James Terry (7-2) for three straight rounds, opening a cut on
Terry’s lower lip and bringing about a welt under Terry’s left eye.
Terry repeatedly attempted to bring the fight to the mat, but
Saffiedine defended the takedowns well and responded with more
strikes. After three rounds, Saffiedine was declared a unanimous
points winner.
Amongst those in attendance at Civic Auditorium, was MMA's newest
star, football legend Herschel Walker, as well as STRIKEFORCE
World Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz, and STRIKEFORCE World
Lightweight Champion Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez.
During an interview with STRIKEFORCE Challengers host
Mauro Ranallo, Walker said, "(MMA) is the toughest sport there
is. To step in the cage and go mano-a-mano, there's nothing like it.
It is the toughest training I've ever done."
Regarding his future in the sport, the
47-year-old Walker said, "I will leave that up to my team at AKA
(American Kickboxing Academy, San Jose) when I get back in the gym.
We'll see if they say I am capable of going again. (If they do),
we'll do it again."
Complete STRIKEFORCE Challengers Results:
Main Card:
Yancy Medeiros def. Raul Castillo – Unanimous Decision (3 Rounds)
(30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Tarec Saffiedine def. James Terry – Unanimous Decision (3 Rounds)
(30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Luke Rockhold def. Paul Bradley – TKO (knees to the body) – 1st
Round (2:24)
Trevor Prangley - Technical Draw - Karl Amoussou (doctor stoppage
after unintentional foul ) – 1st Round (4:14)
Sarah Kaufman def. Takayo Hashi – Unanimous Decision (3 Rounds)
(50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Preliminary Card:
Ronald Carillo def. Anthony De Los Santos – submission (armbar) –
2nd Round (1:20)
Steve Dickie def. Alan Lummel – TKO (punches) –1st Round (:33)
Renee Robinson def. Lilia Salas – TKO (punches) – 1st Round
(1:06)
Jesse Tobar def. Johnson Nguyen – Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) –
2nd Round (1:24)
Tristan Arenal def. George Miller – TKO (punches) – 2nd Round
(:30)
Samuel Bracamnonte def. Chris Stewart – TKO (punches) – 3rd Round
(:59)
Wayne Phillips def. Eric Lawson – Submission (armbar) – 1st Round
(4:27)
About STRIKEFORCE
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.
About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS
Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks
SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex
channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®,
SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY
ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE
MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON
DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture
between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide
enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes
sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a
pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.
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