Igor Gracie wins, TUF alum Stevens loses on Strikeforce undercard
East Rutherford, NJ, United States (AHN Sports) – Igor Gracie earned a win on the undercard of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva, Saturday night in East Rutherford, NJ, while a The Ultimate Fighter alum was not as lucky.
Gracie overwhelmed John Salgado, choking him out with an arm triangle in the second round.
After clinching against the cage and eating a knee from Salgado, Gracie got an impressive lift and slam takedown. He quickly moved to back control and caught Salgado in a rear naked choke.
Gracie was not able to sink in the hold, however, and Salgado survived the round. In the second, Gracie quickly scored a takedown and moved to full mount. He sunk in the arm triangle, and Salgado slipped into unconsciousness before he could tap.
The referee stopped the bout at 3:04 of the second round. Gracie moved to 3-2 with his second career submission. Salgado fell to 4-5-1.
The last bout of the HD Net-televised undercard featured a former contestant from The Ultimate Fighter Season 12.
Marc Stevens continued his tailspin following since being chosen first overall by Team Koscheck in the recently completed season. Stevens lost twice on the show, both to guillotine chokes.
In his first bout since the show, Stevens failed to make weight, coming in a pound and a half heavy for his scheduled 155-pound tilt with John Cholish.
The struggle to drop weight seemed to sap Stevens’ energy, as he appeared slow and sluggish throughout the bout.
Cholish took Stevens down and caught him in an early guillotine. Stevens was able to slip out of the hold, however, avoiding a third straight quick tap out to the same hold.
Cholish landed a series of solid right hands on the downed Stevens. When Stevens was able to battle to his feet, Cholish followed with several knees out of a Muay Thai clinch, then took Stevens down again.
In the second round, Cholish again scored a takedown, but he was unable to do damage from top position. The referee stood the fighters up, and Stevens managed to get his only takedown of the fight.
Cholish appeared to be waiting to spring a trap, however, and quickly ended the fight with a knee bar. Stevens tapped at 3:57 of the second round and fell to 12-6. It was his first loss (the losses on the show don’t count on his official record) since November, 2008, and the first time he’s been stopped since a year before that.
Cholish won his sixth straight since a loss in his pro debut. He got his third career submission victory.
In earlier bouts, fan favorite Sam Oropeza got a victory over Don Carlo-Clauss by verbal tap out in the first round. After a brief feeling-out, Oropeza attempted a head kick that Carlo-Clauss ducked under and shot for a takedown.
Oropeza sprawled nearly into a split and managed to get Carlo-Clauss’ back. He battered Carlo-Clauss with hammer fists until getting the stoppage at 4:10 of the first round. Oropeza moved to 5-1 with his fourth stoppage in the first round. Carlo-Clauss fell to 6-4 and has lost three of his last five.
Josh LaBerge got a doctor’s stoppage over Anthony Leone after one round.
Leone shot in for a takedown, and LaBerge met him with a vicious knee that appeared to break Leone’s nose. To Leone’s credit, he was able to finish the takedown, but the doctor refused to let the fight continue after the end of the first. Leone fell to 8-3 with his second straight loss. LaBerge’s third knockout moved him to 8-4. He is riding a six bout winning streak.
Jason McLean got a unanimous decision victory over journeyman Kevin Roddy in the opening bout. After an uneventful first round, McLean got a left-hand knockdown in the second, then suffered several minutes of ground and pound and rear-naked choke attempts from Roddy in the third.
All three judges gave McLean the first round, giving him a 29-28 win on all cards. AHN’s unofficial scorecard had it in the opposite direction.
Roddy has lost four of five, and his record stands at 11-12-1. McLean improved to 6-3.
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