Thousands of fans in the HP Pavilion crowd sat in relative
silence for the better part of three Strikeforce extravaganza
fights Friday night until an announcer introduced the first fighter
from San Jose.
Thousands of fans in the HP Pavilion crowd sat in relative silence for the better part of three Strikeforce extravaganza fights Friday night until an announcer introduced the first fighter from San Jose.
Standing five-feet-four-inches and weighing 132 pounds, Anthony “AntDawg” Figueroa entered the ring to a chorus of cheers and fireworks, hailed as the hometown hero.
There’s just one problem with this. Figueroa is a Gilroy native.
“Yeah, I’m from Gilroy,” Figueroa said after winning a split-decision over Pete Sabala in three rounds. “They got it mixed up. It’s all good, though. We’re all from the South Bay.”
What was better than good was Figueroa’s (4-1, 1 KO) striking ability.
After exchanging glancing blows upright and on the mat, Figueroa delivered a left uppercut that sent Sabala (2-5) crumbling to the floor. Balling into a tight crouch, Sabala was able to resist being finished off by grabbing onto Figueroa’s legs to close out the round. The pair shook hands at the horn signaling the end of the first round, as if recognizing they had finally started the show and given fans a fight worth watching.
The second round provided Figueroa another opportunity to show his hand skills, as he caught Sabala with a right hook that again sent the San Bernardino-based brawler to the floor.
Staving off a final blow, Sabala was able to show his wrestling skills shortly after when he converted a grapple into a fireman’s carry, leading to a WWE-style suplex. The move drew a roar from the crowd, but didn’t faze Figueroa.
“It might have looked good, but it didn’t hurt,” he said.
The third and final five-minute round featured the shot of the fight, when Figueroa struck Sabala in the mid-section with an unseen knee. Stumbling backwards, Sabala gasped for air before dropping to the floor. Meanwhile, Figueroa pounced, firing shots to the kidneys and sides of the head.
The final horn sounded as the two leaned against one another, Figueroa’s opponent stuck in a headlock.
Three judges scored the bout 30-27 Figueroa, 29-28 Sabala and 29-28 Figueroa.
“I was trying to finish (him) – got a little tired though,” Figueroa said. “He pushed me pretty good. I got tired and any time you get tired, you know it was a good fight.”
Asked to grade his performance, Figueroa was clearly focused on the end-result.
“I got the win so I give myself a W,” he said.
The Strikeforce card featured 13 bouts total, with several being stopped short due to cuts or injury.
Kickboxing legend Cung Le, who Figueroa has been training with recently, taught Sam Morgan a lesson in the main event, beating him to the punch consistently in three rounds before a kick to the stomach with 3:01 remaining left Morgan balled up on the floor. The San Jose local improved his mixed-martial arts record to 5-0 with the victory.
Alistair Overeem defeated crowd-favorite Paul Buentello in the second round of the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Championship by sending a knee rippling through Buentello’s rib cage. Overeem was leading 10-8 all on judges’ scorecards following the first round.
The first knockout of the night came in the first of two tournament bouts, with the winners of those fights facing each other just two hours later before the main event.
Jorge Santiago delivered a flying knee to the face of Sean Salmons to send his opponent to the canvas, before following up with a punch to the head. The referee quickly jumped into stop the fight and Salmons was later taken out of the ring on a stretcher.
Santiago then faced Trevor Prangley later in the evening after Prangley advanced past Falaniko Vitale, who was forced to bow out after being poked in the eye 2:14 into the second round.
Santiago downed the South African Prangley 2:31 into the first round to become the tournament winner, when he followed knees to the stomach and head with a punch to the face while cradling Prangley’s skull with his other hand.
