Strikeforce Challenger results: Billy Evangelista defeats Jorge Gurgel, Rockhold chokes Taylor

November 6, 9:59 PMMixed Martial Arts ExaminerEddie Graveline

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Billy Evangelista won a tough one against UFC veteran Jorge Gurgel (photo: Sherdog)

After a solid under card that featured several local fighters from central California, the Strikeforce Challenger Series main card got underway. There was a lot of anticipation for the main event inside Fresno, California's Save Mart Center, but there were plenty of exciting fights leading up to it as well. 

Bantamweight Women--Zoila Frausto vs. Elisha Helsper: Both of these ladies came into this fight with 1-0 records. Obviously, only one could leave undefeated and the crowd was hoping that it would be Frausto, who lives and trains in Fresno. After striking out of range for the first couple of minutes, Frausto started to turn it up, landing her usual bevy of leg kicks and some solid strikes. Helsper answered, but I had Frausto winning the first round. Frausto was throwing more combinations than Helsper in the second round and the fight became easier to score. One high kick opened a cut around Helsper's left eye and Frausto also landed several other strikes. She was using the Muay Thai clinch effectively when close, which helped negate what looked like a reach disadvantage. Helsper got a take down in the third round, but did absolutely nothing with it and they were stood back up by the referee. Every time Frausto landed something the crowd would crank up the volume. She continued to use the clinch and even got a take down of her own before time ran out. Frausto won via unanimous decision. 

Lightweights--Merritt Warren vs. Thomas Diagne: It can be fun to watch a fight where you don't know much about either fighter and I'll admit that I was in that position with this one. With both guys coming from kickboxing backgrounds, I was expecting a stand-up battle, but Diagne threw convention out the window when he took Warren down in the first round. Even more impressive was the fact that both looked like they knew what they were doing down there. After being on the wrong end of some ground-and-pound, Warren secured a heel hook that forced Diagne to tap out. Warren improved to 5-2 while Diagne fell to 1-1. 

Middleweights--Luke Rockhold vs. Jesse Taylor: By now, everybody knows Jesse Taylor's M.O. He shoots, gets top position and tries to ground out everyone he faces. That's not to say he isn't good at it, but it's a little one dimensional to work at the upper levels of the sport. Even so, he's got very good hips and controls very well once he has top position. Rockhold is an up-and-comer out of the American Kickboxing Academy. He's been impressive while building a 5-1 record and had won his previous three fights via rear naked choke. He's a pretty good wrestler too, so I thought there was a chance they would stand and trade strikes, at least in the early going. I was wrong. Taylor shot immediately and although Rockhold defended well, he eventually went down. Rockhold weathered the storm, reversed and got Taylor's back. I couldn't believe it, but he did it again. He caught Jesse Taylor with a rear naked choke, making it four wins in a row by the same method. 

Heavyweights--Brandon Cash vs. Shane Del Rosario: Brandon Cash "Money" (5-0) was another local fighter, but he was facing a tough challenge in the undefeated Shane Del Rosario (8-0). Both of these guys earned most of their wins by KO, so it seemed like there was a good chance someone was going down hard. Aside from handing the other guy his first loss, whoever came out on top of this would be sending a message to the rest of the Strikeforce heavyweight division. I knew Cash had power, but the right he caught Del Rosario with just seconds into the fight was incredible. So was the fact that Del Rosario didn't go completely out. Cash went straight to dominating on the ground, achieving dominant positions and continuing to land heavy strikes. Del Rosario started threatening with submission attempts, looking for arm bars and triangles. Cash wasn't respectful enough, possibly thinking he still had him hurt, but got caught with an oma plata and was forced to tap. The fight turned on a dime and what looked like certain victory for Cash turned into total triumph for Del Rosario. He showed incredible heart and an even better chin. 

Lightweights--Jorge Gurgel vs. Billy Evangelista: After seeing Cash go down, the in-house crowd put all of their hope in Evangelista to finish the night with a win. I'm sure he was putting even more pressure on himself since his last fight, which took place in the same building in May, ended with a controversial disqualification that was later changed to a "No Decision." Evangelista had a lot of work in front of him, though, because Jorge Gurgel is a very dangerous fighter. Fans who only watch the UFC may think of him as a punch line, but Gurgel brings it every fight and will make any opponent who takes him lightly pay. Gurgel's ground game is well respected, but he tends to want to strike and make an exciting fight for the fans. That had to be what Evangelista was hoping for, because striking is his forte as well. As usual, Gurgel started fast, but Evangelista got his feet moving and started punishing the inside of Gurgel's left knee with kicks. He ended the round with a take down and some quick strikes on the ground. It was Gurgel's wild abandon against Evangelista's calculating strategy in the second. Evangelista was getting the better of the stand-up, in my opinion, before taking Gurgel down against the cage and beating on him some more. The third round was shaping up to be a ripper and it didn't disappoint. It was mostly fast paced striking until Evangelista capped it with another late take down. Gurgel put on an exciting fight, but I felt that Evangelista landed way more strikes, controlled the action and exhibited an actual strategy beyond swinging his arms as many times as possible. The judges must have felt the same, because they awarded him an unanimous decision.