Christmas Comes Early for Evangelista at Strikeforce Challengers
Published by Jim Genia on November 7th, 2009 in Current Events

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Christmas came early for Fresno local Billy Evangelista at last night’s Strikeforce Challengers, as he was awarded a gift decision over Jorge Gurgel despite absorbing the lion’s share of the punishment. For three rounds the two warriors went toe to toe, with the undefeated Evangelista coming on strong in the first firing off kicks to the legs, and the UFC and TUF veteran taking the reigns in the final two frames with a stunning high-kick, combinations and non-stop aggression. But the partisan crowd clearly favored their hometown hero, as did the trio of judges – Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph – two of whom even gave Evangelista all three rounds. Successful (yet desperate) takedowns notwithstanding, Evangelista did not deserve it; hopefully he’ll make up for it by sending the jiu-jitsu black belt a fruit basket or assortment of Hickory Farms cured meats on Hanukah.

One person who clearly deserved his win was heavyweight up-and-comer Shane del Rosario, who got dropped by a hellacious knuckle sandwich in the opening seconds of his bout against Brandon Cash but weathered the ensuing storm of blows (and it quite literally rained leather) to swivel out from underneath and sneak on an omoplata. Cash tapped out at almost the three-minute mark. Is del Rosario the heaviest fighter to ever win via omoplata in an MMA bout? He could very well be. But regardless, he impressed.

Also impressive was West Coast submission specialist Luke Rockhold. Taking on the more experienced UFC and TUF veteran Jesse Taylor, Rockhold found himself defending takedowns early and in danger when Taylor almost took his back. But a reversal to a scramble and Rockhold was suddenly back-mounted on Taylor, working for a choke. The tap out came just over three-and-a-half minutes in.

Merrit Warren took a ride courtesy of a Thomas Diagne takedown and wound up on the bottom for the majority of their lightweight match-up, but that seemed to suit Warren fine. Seizing the opportunity when Diagne stood above him, Warren slid into a heelhook attempt, and when Diagne refused to acknowledge the danger Warren cinched it on and twisted. The official time of submission was 3:49 of the first round.

In the lone women’s match-up of the night, Zoila Frausto edged ahead of Elisha Helsper on the scorecards, but their inexperience – and the inexperience of the referee – showed. Engaging in a tentative kickboxing bout, Frausto picked her shots and bloodied her foe in the second round, and when Helsper was finally successful in getting her down, the referee inexplicably stood them up (to Frausto’s advantage). Frausto took the unanimous decision when time ran out. It’s unclear at this time what the referee got for helping her.