Strikeforce Fight Card Results: Shane Del Rosario Submits Lavar Johnson

Nick CaronFeb 12, 2011

The heavyweight fight between Shane Del Rosario and Lavar Johnson is perhaps the most important undercard fight on this card.

Many may remember Johnson; his triumphant story of having come back from a gunshot wound suffered in an attack that killed his cousin. The scar on his belly is very prominent and reminds us all of the tough road this man has had back to the cage.

Neither fighter has gone the distance in their MMA careers, with Del Rosario sporting a perfect 10-0 record and Johnson with his own impressive record of 15-3.

The fight was on as both men walked to the center of the cage. Both men threw a bit back and forth with neither really landing more than weak, grazing shots.

Del Rosario knew that his best chance of winning this fight would be to avoid the big shot from the very strong Johnson so he attempted to take the fight to the ground early by shooting in. Johnson avoided the takedown, but Del Rosario closed the distance pinning getting him up against the cage.

Neither man landed much from this position, but they switched back and forth with each man having his back against the cage before Johnson eventually tripped Del Rosario and brought him to the ground.

Johnson wasn’t able to do much with it, though, and Del Rosario was able to scramble back to his feet where the two men began to exchange punches.

Del Rosario got the advantage when he pushed Johnson against the cage again and finally secured a single-leg takedown, quickly securing side control when they got to the ground.

As if this position wasn’t bad enough, Del Rosario made things even worse for Johnson when he easily secured the mount. From there, the former Muay Thai kickboxer clobbered his over-matched opponent, hammering him with big shots from the top, even trapping one of his arms with a knee at one point.

Johnson survived the flurry and was still intelligently defending himself but that didn’t last long as Del Rosario slapped on an arm bar and secured the submission victory just seconds after that at 4:31 in the first round.

Result: Shane Del Rosario defeats Lavar Johnson by submission, round one.