· “Strikeforce Challengers: Austin” Results And Review

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 02/19 at 12:40 PM

San Jose, Calif. based organization Strikeforce held their second mixed martial arts event in the past six days with their Challenger series airing live Friday night on Showtime from the Cedar Park Center in Cedar Park, Tex. A five-bout televised card rounded out the event that was headlined by a lightweight tilt between Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm and Pat "Bam Bam" Healy.

The evening got underway explosively with a bout between David Douglas and and Nick Gonzalez. Douglas had a five inch height and six inch reach advantage over Gonzalez and took advantage early. Douglas dropped Gonzalez early and finished him off very quickly in the first round with a rear-naked choke, his first submission win of his career.

In the second bout, Ryan Larson and Erik Apple went to battle with Larson controlling the contest throughout. The fight was closely contested on the feet until about one minute into the first round. Larson then used superior grappling to control Apple throughout most of the rest of the round. Apple locked in a few leg lock attempts but nothing significant enough to swing the momentum in his favor. In the second round, Larson transitioned from mount to Apple's back and finally into a triangle choke that he set up from behind and earned the submission win.

In just his second professional mixed martial arts fight, Ryan Couture took to the cage to face fellow newcomer Lee Higgins. In a close opening round on the feet Couture showed improvement in his striking, switching from a traditional stance to southpaw. Once the fight hit the ground it was all Couture. Higgins was quite possibly saved by the bell as Couture worked on securing a D'arce choke when he ran out of time.

The second round showcased Couture's offensive grappling versus Higgin's defensive grappling after Couture dropped Higgins with a punch. Couture put Higgins in several bad spots, including a dangerous arm triangle choke, but Higgins was able to defend. The round ended with Couture locking in a body triangle to control Higgins body while he threw hammer fists and punches.

The opening minute of the third round saw Higgins and Couture clinched against the cage. Higgins reversed the position and tried taking Couture down unsuccessfully. Midway through the round, Couture secured a takedown and went right for Higgins back. He flattened Higgins out and worked for a rear-naked choke but Higgins worked out of the position. With a body triangle again, Couture attempted to secure the rear-naked choke and earned the submission win with just 20 seconds left in the fight.

In the co-featured bout Carlo Prater faced off with Bryan Travers in a fight held at a catchweight of 160 pounds. Less than 30 seconds into the fight Prater locked in a variant on the Anaconda choke and put Travers out earning a lightning fast submission win.

The main event of the night featured Lyle Beerbohm and Pat Healy. The opening round was closely contested. Each fighter traded clinch work and scrambling, and went back and forth. Beerbohm had a series of takedowns, as did Healy, with both fighters getting back to the feet.

The secound round began much the same way. Beerbohm went for a takedown that resulted in both fighters clinched against the fence for the better part of the first two minutes. Healy managed to lock in a brief submission attempt that Beerbohm worked out of. The action briefly returned to the feet, but with one minute left in the fight, Healy locked in an inverted triangle choke attempt, and with thirty seconds left in the round, he attempted a kimura. The round ended with neither submission attempt finishing the fight.

In a fight with little striking, the first minute and 15 seconds of the third round began with a kickboxing exchange. Pat Healy secured a takedown and a rear-naked choke attempt for about 30 seconds before Beerbohm escaped the hold and reversed position resulting in another scramble for position. With two minutes left in the bout, Beerbohm passed guard briefly before losing it. With a little more than a minute left in the fight, Healy again looked to work a choke attempt before Beerbohm worked again to reverse the position. The final thirty seconds resulted in a brief striking exchange before the concluding bell rang. Pat Healy earned a unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28.