The Strikeforce: ‘Destruction’ event took place this past Friday night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. 8,152 mixed martial arts fans witnessed the elbow that Renato "Babalu" Sobral placed on Bobby Southworth’s forehead and eyelid, which ended the fight in the first round.
The bout started out pretty well for the hometown favorite as Southworth quickly outwrestled the Brazilian against the cage numerous times and even took Babalu to the mat. However, Babalu managed to strike Southworth a few times as they wrestled each other against the cage fence. In one instance, the Brazilian caught Southworth with a devastating elbow to the forehead, which quickly opened him up in two separate places—a cut on his eyelid and another on the lower part of his forehead, near his eye. Blood gushed out of Southworth’s wounds, which forced referee "Big" John McCarthy to have it checked out by doctors with 10 seconds remaining in the first round. Doctors allowed the fight to continue, but once the round ended, Southworth was inspected a second time. The fight was ruled in favor of Babalu as the hometown fighter simply could not go on.
Babalu was awarded the Strikeforce light heavyweight title for the very first time. When asked if he’d give Southworth a rematch fight, Babalu replied "anytime, anywhere…When I threw the elbow, I felt it was hard…My elbow still hurts, I could feel the blood on me…I’m thankful to be the champion. (Southworth) was a true champion in the
light heavyweight division in Strikeforce. I’m here now, though. It’s
my belt. Come and take it.”
The former UFC fighter Terry Martin took on former EliteXC contender Scott Smith as part of the main event. A fight that was expected to be a 3-round stand-up brawl, turned out to be an easy 24-second knockout in favor of Smith. Martin came out strong as he came storming toward Smith in a goal to quickly knock him out. However, Smith swayed back in order to avoid the wild punches and then capitalized with a quick hook to the jaw that put Martin to sleep. Smith discussed his thoughts on the quick knockout win, “I told myself I wasn’t going to throw a left, but then the fight started and it was left hook, right straight…I knew this fight wasn’t going to go long…I don’t know. I stepped in there and as soon as we engaged. I just felt it, man. I knew this fight was going to end soon."
Here are the complete results for the Strikeforce: ‘Destruction’ event:
Main Fight Card (televised):
- Scott Smith defeated Terry Martin via TKO strikes at 0:24 in Round 1
- Renato "Babalu" Sobral defeated Bobby Southworth via TKO cut (Doctor Stoppage) at 5:00 in Round 1
- Duane Ludwig defeats Yves Edwards via a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Joe Riggs defeats Luke Stewart via TKO strikes at 2:05 in Round 2
- Kim Couture defeats Lina Kvokov via TKO strikes at 1:44 in Round 1
- Darren Uyenoyama defeats Brad Royster via a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Fight Card (non-televised):
- Brian Schwartz def. Lamont Davis via TKO strikes at 2:22 in Round 3
- Eric Lawsen defeats Tony Johnson via a rear-naked choke submission at 1:28 in Round 1
- Alvin Cacdac defeats Jose Palacios via a rear-naked choke submission at 3:10 in Round 2
- Bobby Stack defeats Cyrillo Padilha via a unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Zakary Bucia defeats Adam Steele via a guillotine-choke submission at 0:35 in Round 1 in, 0:35
- Kurt Osiander defeats Josh Neal via TKO strikes at 2:16 in Round 1
- Luke Rockhold defeats Nik Theotikos via a rear-naked choke submission at 3:06 in Round 1
