Since Bob Sapp and Maurice Smith are two of the most popular fighters to come out of Washington, it's no wonder that they were chosen to headline Strikeforce At The Dome on Feb. 23 in Tacoma.
It's also no surprise that both were huge favorites heading into their fights. Tacoma fans anticipated wins for both of their home-state boys.
In town with the HDNet crew, MMA veteran Guy Metzger said he was looking forward to an exciting night of action.
"It's going to be interesting to see Bob Sapp fighting in mixed martial arts in America for the first time," he said. "I'm also interested to see Maurice Smith fight Rick Roufus, two world class kickboxers that have made the transition to MMA. It'll be a brutal match if it’s a kickboxing match with 4-ounce gloves. I expect to see a good night of fights."
As former training partners, both Sapp and Nortje knew exactly what to expect heading into the main event. As the taller fighter at 6 feet 11 inches, Nortje's strategy was to keep the fight standing, while Sapp, the heavier fighter at 356 pounds, made no secret about his intentions to drive his South African opponent into the fence and drag him to the mat.
"Jan is a big guy, so one thing that I have to do is get in close so he doesn't throw the big punches," Sapp said before the match. "From there, I can look for the ground and pound or maybe a submission."
Adorned with a feathered cape and backed by an enormous burst of flame and smoke, Sapp's entrance turned out to be a lot more impressive than his fight. From the opening bell, Nortje landed hard shots to Sapp's face as "The Beast" ran towards his opponent like an NFL lineman. Just 55 seconds into the match, Nortje landed a clean combination and Sapp fell to the canvas, unable to defend himself from more punishment. Immediately, the local fans turned on their hero, as cheers became boos inside the Tacoma Dome.
"I caught him with two stiff jabs and a nice solid left," Nortje said afterwards. "He buckled a bit and we clinched, pushed against the fence. I knew he was hurt. I got back to the center of the ring to give myself some space. I kept with the jab, and he was still buckling, so I landed another big one and he went down."
In the locker rooms later, Sapp said his poor performance was a result of an injury.
"Unfortunately, I pulled my hamstring training right before the fight, warming up," he explained. "It was a severe enough pull that I didn’t have any power, so I was fighting with one leg. That's why I couldn’t have any power to push him down. I just didn't have the power to come back and hit him hard. He was the underdog, but there's always a 'Buster' Douglas that arrives, so we’ve got to give it to Jan. He managed to get it done today."
For the second fight in his comeback to MMA, Smith, at 46 years old and weighing 235 pounds, specifically chose Roufus, who had previously beaten him in a kickboxing match five years earlier. Before the match, Smith dismissed the idea that he should take his 40-year-old, 207-pound opponent down and said he would go wherever the fight took him, even if it meant trading strikes with the world kickboxing champion again.
"It's a fight," he said. "I'm sure we'll end up in the clinch, and maybe on the ground or against the fence. Who knows? My focus is to win the fight."
Although Smith refused to talk strategy beforehand, he clearly had one come fight time, clinching with Roufus just moments after the opening bell. Tripping him to the mat, Smith passed Roufus' guard with ease and locked on an armbar submission from the mount, forcing Roufus to tap out.
"I knew where he was weak at and I figured striking-wise, he's risky for me," Smith said later. "It went the way I figured it would go. I thought it might be harder to get him down since he was training with Mike Van Arsdale, but it came out pretty easy."
Later, a dejected Roufus chalked the loss up as a learning experience and said that he never expected Smith to trade punches with him.
"When he came out, he was left-handed. I knew he wasn't going to," Roufus said. "After the fight, I spoke with him, and I said, 'I knew you weren’t going to stand.' And he said, 'I'm not stupid. You hurt me in 2003. I wasn't about to let that happen again.' It was a learning experience, but quite honestly, the weight advantage was a lot. I'm going to stay at 205 and fight guys at that weight."
At the prefight photo shoot, Riggs said that he'd taken the fight with Devela as a warm-up for another fight a month down the road.
The news didn't sit well with Cory, who said that he'd make Riggs pay for looking past him.
Devela wasted no time taking the fight to "Diesel" once the match was under way, tossing Riggs on his back early in the first round with a huge throw. The force of the slam was enough to badly injure Riggs' back, and paramedics came into the cage to take him out on a stretcher.
"I came out, watching for his hands," Devela said. "I hit him with a nice stomach kick to get in close. I threw him and started punching, but the throw tweaked out his back to the point where I didn't have to do any more. It was a big throw. He landed hard on it. I was just happy to come out here and fight."
A two-time national boxing champion, Healy had some quick punches for Masvidal and scored a knockdown in the first round of their 160-pound match. For a moment, it looked like Masvidal was out, but "Gamebred" recovered in impressive fashion to dominate the rest of the fight, both standing and on the ground.
"It was a good fight," Masvidal said backstage. "He was tougher than I expected. The guy had a good chin and a lot of heart, and he came in good shape. I'm upset I got caught with that right hand. I barely get hit and then boom! I get hit, but I won so I'm happy.
"I thought at one point I'd be able to stop him," Masvidal continued. "But my conditioning wasn't there this time. I'm going to push it a lot more next time. I kicked his butt, but I would've rather had the stoppage. I'd like to thank God, first and foremost, for this victory, as well as my mother, my father and my team, American Top Team, Young Tigers Foundation and South Miami Sports Performance. And a big thank you to everyone who helped me get here. I wouldn't be s*** without them."
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