(Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images for IFL)
9:03 pm: Big John McCarthy enters the octagon to handle referee duties and the first fighter Mike Whitehead is announced. His opponent will be former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman.
9:28 pm: For virtually two rounds the crowd grew wrestless with the activity inside the cage. Even Fedor had to be wondering if Randleman was the same man that dumped him on his head back in PRIDE.
It is quickly evident that both men have very poor cardio and a decision seems likely. That was until Randleman landed a huge overhand right on Whitehead's chin that dropped him early in the third round. The only problem was that Randleman couldn't finish him on the ground. He seemed to have backed off a little for no apparent reason. The third round ends and it will go to the judges. Whitehead wins a unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28.
For Whitehead this means another shot at a decent opponent in the future. Randleman, on the other hand, now has an uncertain future. At the age of 37 he may not have much more to give to the sport.
9:40 pm: Riggs and Baroni enter the octagon. Baroni is predictable wearing sunglasses and posing for the crowd on his way in. He then refuses to look Riggs in the eye during the staredown. This fight has no chance of going to a decision.
9:59 pm: Riggs landed some nice punches and flying knees basically at will against Baroni. "New York Bad Ass" is extremely tired throughout this fight. He is constantly leaving his hands down and walking away from exchanges. Late into the third round it looks like one clean punch from Riggs will end it. The horn sounds. Riggs wins a unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
During the post fight interview with Gus Johnson, Riggs reveals he feels he broke both of his hands during the fight. He also expresses interest in fighting Jake Shields in the future, which was a matchup that was originally planned by Strikeforce. If he indeed broke both of his hands, what a gutsy and phenomenal performance from Riggs.
Riggs has now run his Strikeforce record to 3 - 2, which isn't likely to result in a fight with Shields assuming he is also victorious tonight.
10:08 pm: Showtime has officially announced that an August 15th event will feature Gina Carano vs. Cyborg Santos, Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson, and Alistair Overeem against an opponent to be named later. His likely opponent will be the winner of Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers later in the evening.
10:25 pm: The crowd is chanting ... Diaz! Diaz! Diaz! Nick is landing a flurry of punches to the head of Smith in the second round. "Hands of Steel" is taking a lot of punishment but showing great toughness while continuing to stand in the pocket.
10:30 pm: Smith literally crawls to his stool after the second round. He looks like he might have a broken rib courtesy of a Diaz body shot from early. The third round is more of the same. Smith is showing incredible heart and still swinging wildly but Diaz is too much to handle. Diaz appears to have had played around enough. The fight goes to the ground and Smith is quickly submitted via rear naked choke. Diaz wins via submission in the third round.
It is almost inevitable now that Diaz will face the Shields/Lawler main event winner. This will crown an Interim Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. Once current Middleweight Champion Cung Le steps off a movie set and back into the cage he will defend against whoever winds up being the interim champ.
10:47 pm:
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