My Friends Article on StrikeForce Challengers 10

Hometown fighter Joe "Diesel" Riggs forced Louis Taylor to submit in the third round of the main event, Miesha Tate won the inaugural Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Tournament Championship bout, and Ryan Couture - son of MMA legend Randy Couture - won his pro debut in front of a near-sellout crowd Friday night at Dodge Theatre in Strikeforce's Challengers event.

The fights marked the first such event held in Arizona by a national MMA organization.


Riggs' victory was a popular one with the crowd, which periodically broke into chants of "Diesel, Diesel!" throughout the fight. The bout capped a successful night for Arizona fighters, which produced five of seven winners on the undercard.

Photos from the event

Tate received similar treatment from the crowd in the Welterweight Tournament final, in which she defeated Japan's Hitomi Akano by unanimous decision. Tate defeated Finland's Maiju Kujala earlier in the night, and Akona bested Brazil's Carina Damm en route to the tournament final.

The victory earned Tate a rematch against Strikeforce Welterweight champion Sarah Kaufman, provided Kaufman defends her title against Marloes Coenen this year. Tate lost to Kaufman in May 2009.

Couture's debut was a quick one, as he forced his opponent, Lucas Stark, to submit with a triangle choke hold early into the first round. The lightweight bout also was the pro debut for Stark, who is from Chandler.

Couture said he felt pressure to live up to his last name entering the ring but was surprised by how quickly he won the fight.

"I thought if we hit the ground, I'd catch him eventually, but I didn't expect it to come that quick," he said.

The Strikeforce event was the first of its kind in Arizona since Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a bill allowing unified MMA rules in the state in May 2008. Strikeforce Director of Business Operations Andrew Ebel said the organization hopes to continue to build a presence in the Phoenix market.

"I don't think it's a guinea pig," Ebel said when asked if the event's success would determine Strikeforce's future in the state. "I think it's a good first step. Hopefully we'll just build on this, and hopefully we'll get to an arena show here."



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/articles/2010/08/13/20100813joe-diesel-riggs-strikeforce-challengers.html#ixzz0wcU5xNJq

Good to hear Joe still winning fights.

agfree he told me he got a pretty good interview in with Ryan Couture that didnt make the press and he would email it to me

Cool. Wonder if Randy was there?

not sure hey tim here ya go

http://blackburnman04.yolasite.com/

Ur the man Bird.

damn it got shut down

Mine didnt

Its in a foriegn language though LOL.

timthebim wrote:

Cool. Wonder if Randy was there?

He was...they had a brief interview with him before the main event

KingsOwn19 wrote:

timthebim wrote:

Cool. Wonder if Randy was there?

He was...they had a brief interview with him before the main event

Figured he would be there.