Mixed Martial Arts history was made last evening in California as decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Fabricio Werdum became the first man to hand the greatest fighter of our time Fedor Emelianenko the first true defeat of his professional fighting career.

Also in action from San Jose during “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum” was Strikeforce 145 lb. Female Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, who dished out a beating to Jan “Cuddles” Finney that she will not soon forget, along with former middleweight champ Cung Le who evened the score with Scott Smith in the highly anticipated rematch between the two with a vicious second round TKO.

A selection of photos from the event are available below courtesy of Strikeforce and Esther Lin (click to enlarge):

The man widely considered to be the greatest fighter of our time, Fedor Emelianenko, was handed the first legitimate defeat of his professional fighting career this evening in San Jose as decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Fabricio Werdum made mixed martial arts history in California, submitting the feared Russian heavyweight with vice-like armbar/triangle choke early into the very first round.

Emelianenko looked to have Werdum in a world of trouble in the opening moments of round one during “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Rogers“, battering the Brazilian with a series of big left hooks that dropped the submission specialist to the canvas. Fedor’s fatal mistake came when he followed the decorated grappler to the ground looking for the ground and pound finish. After escaping an initial armbar attempt, Emelianenko’s willingness to momentarily play his cards on the canvas with Werdum quickly left him vulnerable to the bout ending armbar/triangle choke conversion just 1:09 into the contest.

True to form, and expressionless Emelianenko seemed unaffected by the suprising loss at the hands of the fellow PRIDE veteran when asked what he was thinking immediately following his first true professional defeat as a mixed martial artist, stating, “Really, nothing, because the one that doesn’t fall doesn’t get up.”

Cung Le managed to avenge the sole defeat of his career in his hometwon of San Jose as the decorated San Shou practitioner showed a tremendous amount of patience while mercillesly picking apart Scott Smith over the course of one and a half rounds striking on his way to the second round TKO victory. A perfectly timed spinning heel kick to the ribs from Le lit the fuse and a few unanswered strikes to the battered Smith on the canvas sealed the deal.

Also on the card was Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos defending her 145 female title against a game but outmatched Jan “Cuddles” Finney. Cyborg beat Finney about the cage for the duration of the two rounds contested between the two, eventually swarming her battered and bruised opponent in the second round with a series of punches which were capitalized by a brutal fight finishing knee to the chin.

A full list of results from the event are below:

Bobby Stack def. Derrick Burnsed via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

Yancey Medeiros def. Gareth Joseph via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:19

Bret Bergmark def. Vagner Rocha via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)

Chris Cope def. Ron Keslar via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:32

Josh Thomson def. Pat Healy via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:27

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos def. Jan Finney via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:56

Cung Le def. Scott Smith via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:46

Fabricio Werdum def. Fedor Emelianenko via submission (armbar/triangle) – Round 1, 1:09

Once again it’s on and FiveOuncesofPain.com will be here all evening to make sure you are kept up to date with all of the latest live results and happenings from “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum“.

The event will be taking place from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California while airing live on Showtime.

Headlining the card will be a heavyweight showdown between Fedor Emelianeniko and Fabricio Werdum, while Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will be putting her 145 pound female title on the line against Jan “Cuddles” Finney in the co-headliner of the evening.

A full set of live results from the event are listed below:

Bobby Stack def. Derrick Burnsed via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

Yancey Medeiros def. Gareth Joseph via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:19

Bret Bergmark def. Vagner Rocha via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)

Chris Cope def. Ron Keslar via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:32

Josh Thomson def. Pat Healy via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:27

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos def. Jan Finney via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:56

Cung Le def. Scott Smith via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:46

Fabricio Werdum def. Fedor Emelianenko via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:09

The greatest fighter of our time Fedor Emelianenko is all set to return to action this evening from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California as king of the heavyweights will be facing off with the always dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Fabricio Werdum in the main event of “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum“.

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will be putting her Strikeforce 135 pound female title on the line in the co-headliner of the evening when the heavy handed Brazilian takes on considerable underdog Jan “Cuddles” Finney.

Check out a selection of photos from the event courtesy of Strikeforce and Esther Lin (click to enlarge):

“Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum” is official for the HP Pavilion in San Jose on Saturday evening as all fighters hits the scales successfully this evening in California.

The man widely considered to be the best fighter on the planet Fedor Emelianenko will be facing off with dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Fabricio Werdum in the main event of the evening, while Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will be attempting to convert Jan “Cuddles” Finney into her latest title defense victim the the co-headliner.

Also slated for the card is a guaranteed slugest between Cung Le and Scott Smith in a middleweight rematch that had to happen.

A full list of weigh-in results from “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum” are below:

Fedor Emelianenko (229) vs. Fabricio Werdum (238.5)

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (144.5) vs. Jan Finney (143.5)

Cung Le (184.75) vs. Scott Smith (184.75)

Pat Healy (155.25) vs. Josh Thomson (155.25)

Chris Cope (175) vs. Ron Keslar (173.75)

Bret Bergmark (168.75) vs. Vagner Rocha (171)

Gareth Joseph (185.25) vs. Yancey Medeiros (184.25)

Derrick Burnsed (155.6) vs. Bobby Stack (154.5)

Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum has few of the makings of a classic. From top to bottom there is very little to capture the imagination in this card. Fedor Emelianenko is obviously the main attraction but it takes two to make a fight interesting and there is little in the record of FabricioWerdum, who has lost four out of his last 11 fights, to suggest he is going to unduly trouble ‘The Last Emperor’.

Fedor has shown an increasing tendency to take punishment in his recent victories but it would be a major surprise if the most dominant heavyweight on the planet were to fail where the likes of Andrei Arlovski and Junior Dos Santos have succeeded.

Fedor’s retirement is rumoured to be imminent and Alistair Overeem is the only remaining credible opponent not contracted to the UFC. Overeem is riding an eight fight win streak and, unlike Werdum, has earned his shot at Fedor. The sooner Strikeforce matches these two heavyweights together the better. Although Fedor will be a strong favourite against Overeem this should at least be a competitive fight whereas the bookmakers think that Fedor will have no difficulty in dispensing of the challenge of Werdum and I am inclined to agree with them.

There are many MMA fans who feel that any card featuring Fedor is worth a watch but those that have grown disillusioned with the Russian since his refusal to sign with the UFC are unlikely to tune in purely on the strength of the remainder of the card.

The co-main event features a women’s world title match between Jan “Cuddles” Finney and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. If you thought the main event looked a bit one sided check out the odds for this fight, you could get 15/1 on Finney to win.

Finney may have won her last four fights but prior to that she had lost seven out of her previous nine. Cyborg may have lost her first ever MMA fight but she went on to win the next nine deposing the previously unbeaten Gina Carano in the process. I suspect Finney is going to be on the wrong side of a bad beating and I personally am not particularly interested in seeing it happen.

Scott Smith vs. Cung Le II is one the few redeeming fights on this card. Le was dominating Smith in their first meeting until Smith somehow scored a surprise knock out in the third and final round. Le had been out of action for over 18 months and could have been excused a little ring rust going into this fight. He is unlikely to make the same mistake twice and will be looking finish Smith as soon as possible to avoid being on the wrong end of another unlikely comeback.

I think that Le is one of the most talented mixed martial artists on the planet but unfortunately he came into the sport a little too late to leave a truly indelible impression on it. Wrestlers might be able to continue fighting MMA at an elite level into their 40s but wrestling is very much strength based and strength is the last thing to desert an aging fighter.

Cung Le is primarily a stand up fighter and his game is far more reliant on speed. Aged 38, and with his acting commitments seemingly taking precedent over his fight career, I suspect Le’s MMA career will soon be coming to a premature end. I still think he has plenty to offer Strikeforce and I expect him to redeem the only loss of his career against Smith.

Former lightweight champion Josh Thomson will be looking to get his career back on track against Pat Healy after losing his title to Gilbert Melendez late last year. Getting past Healy will be no easy task, he is a hugely experienced veteran who holds wins over Carlos Condit, Paul Daley and Dan Hardy. Healy was a late replacement but he is riding a three fight win streak and will be looking to put himself firmly in the title picture with a win over Thomson.

“Strikeforce: Los Angeles” was not on paper a particularly promising card but still provided more than its fair share of entertainment. Perhaps the latest installment of the Strikeforce series will also prove to be greater than the sum of its parts but given the sort of matchmaking on offer, I seriously doubt it.

On Jan 30, Adrian Larsen held a free unsanctioned raw bench press competition to help raise money for the family of Army Sgt. Josh Lengstrof. Lengstrof was killed in the line of duty on January 4, 2010. The event raised over $1,000 for the family and included a free stay at a hotel and a free package at a day spa.

With Herschel Walker's (0-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) mixed martial arts debut a
little more than two weeks away, the former football star is doing
everything he can to help promote the event.

Walker continues the efforts today with three separate appearances on the ESPN family of networks.

The 47-year-old Walker will use the appearances to promote his Jan. 30 bout with a
much-younger Greg Nagy (1-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) on the Showtime-broadcast main
card of "Strikeforce: Miami" on Jan. 30 in Sunrise, Fla.

Braulio Estima is coming to Burton, MI to do a Two day seminar.

Session 1 is Jan 22nd 8-10pm
Session 2 is Jan 23rd 12-2pm

Sessions are $125 each or $200 for both. Private lessons are available.

4168 S. Saginaw
Burton, MI 48529
MAP

More information on the official site.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers University is mourning the loss of former RU wrestler Jim McLean, who passed away on Sunday, Jan. 20, after a snowboarding accident in Breckenridge, Colo. McLean was a four-year letterwinner and a team captain at Rutgers from 1994-98. He ranks tied for 14th place on Rutgers' all-time career wins list with 87. McLean received the RU wrestling scholar-athlete award in 1995-96 and the Wilfred-Cann Award for the most inspirational athlete in 1995.

Former Rutgers wrestling coach John Sacchi remembers McLean as "the kind of kid that you'd say, 'That's how I want my son to grow up.' He was a wonderful person, everybody liked him."

McLean was working at the University of Kansas Hospital as an assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. Although he had only been there for eight months he was asked to head up an expansion of the hospital's spine program. He is survived by his parents, Jim and Jackie McLean, and his brother Justin McLean.

Wakes will be held at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25, at the Gallaway & Crane Funeral Home in Basking Ridge, N.J. Funeral services will be at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26, at St. James Church, 184 S. Finley Ave., Basking Ridge, N.J.

For more information or stories about Jim:
Jim McLean