STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS 9: ROSARIO VS MAHE was held Friday July 23, 2010 at the Comcast Arena in Everett, Washington, and aired live on Showtime. A controversial fight card order featured Sarah Kaufman defending her Strikeforce Women's 135-Pound Championship against Roxanne Modafferi in the co-main event spot, underneath a non-title male bout between heavyweight prospects Shane Del Rosario and Lolohea Mahe.
In the main event, Shane Del Rosario beat up James Bond villain Lolohea Mahe for the majority of the first round before finishing him with knees and punches. Del Rosario improved his record to a perfect 10-0 with an impressive victory over the Kendall Grove-trained Mahe. A Bobby Lashley-Del Rosario fight has been proposed before, and hopefully will eventually happen.
Sarah Kaufman struggled in the first round against Roxanne Modafferi's wrestling, but came back to win the second round with strikes. Kaufman finished the second stanza with an impressive flurry of punches. In the third round, Modafferi was going for an armbar and Kaufman picked her up into the air and powerbombed her into oblivion. Modafferi got KTFO and Kaufman calmly walked away the defending champ. In her post-fight interview, Kaufman called out Strikeforce for not properly promoting her and the Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Championship.
Bobby Voelker won a controversial split decision over Cory Devela. The MMAmadman Scorecard had the fight 29-28 Devela, who used wrestling and submission grappling to dominate the fight, and announcers Pat Miletich and Stephen "The Fight Professor" Quadros both thought Devela won, but it was Voelker who 2 judges believed had won, so he got the official nod.
Mike "MAK" Kyle continued his MMA rebirth with a submission win over Ron "Abongo" Humphrey in the second round of their light heavyweight contest. Kyle is quickly becoming a serious contender in Strikeforce's 205-pound division.
In the opening fight of the night, Caros Fodor, who at one point was named on screen as
Fedor, dominated Cung Le protégé Thomas Diagne. Fodor used his suffocating style to grind Diagne up against the fence and neutralize his flashy
Sanshou offense. Diagne got off some impressive shots here and there and displayed some incredible submission defense, but lost an obvious across the board 30-27 decision to Fodor, who is ready for a step-up in competition in the Strikeforce 155-pound division.
STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS 9: ROSARIO VS MAHE
Shane Del Rosario (10-0) won by TKO over Lolohea Mahe (4-2)
[3:48] - Round 1 - knees and punches
{Women's Welterweight Championship}
Sarah Kaufman (12-0) won by KO over Roxanne Modafferi (15-6)
[14:45] - 4:45 Round 3 - slam
Bobby Voelker (22-8) won by SD over Cory Devela (9-5)
[15:00] - 3 Rounds - (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Mike Kyle (17-7) won by SUB over Abongo Humphrey (7-2)
[8:28] - 3:28 Round 2 - rear-naked choke
Caros Fodor (6-2) won by UD over Thomas Diagne (1-2)
[15:00] - 3 Rounds - (30-27 all)
Complete MMA win-loss records with total fight time in brackets.
UD = Unanimous | SD = Split Decision | SUB = Submission
*The undercard of this event featured 8 amateur bouts
MADMAN AWARDS
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT:
Sarah Kaufman vs.
Roxanne Modafferi
KO OF THE NIGHT:
Sarah Kaufman (slam) over Roxanne Modafferi
SUB OF THE NIGHT:
Mike Kyle (rear-naked choke) over Abongo Humphrey
QUICKEST WIN:
Shane Del Rosario over Lolohea Mahe in 228 seconds
BIGGEST WINNER:)
Sarah Kaufman
BIGGEST LOSER:(
Lolohea Mahe
UPDATED STRIKEFORCE RECORDS
Strikeforce fights ONLY. Rankings according to
Madman Top 25 Fighter Rankings.
Shane Del Rosario (5-0)
Sarah Kaufman (4-0) #2 Ranked Women's Pound-for-Pound
Bobby Voelker (2-1)
Mike Kyle (2-2-1)
Caros Fodor (1-0)
Abongo Humphrey (1-2)
Thomas Diagne (1-2)
Cory Devela (1-3)
Lolohea Mahe (0-2)
Roxanne Modafferi (0-2) #5 Ranked Women's Pound-for-Pound
