Billy Evangelista Beats Jorge Gurgel at Strikeforce Challengers

Billy Evangelista beat Jorge Gurgel by unanimous decision in the main event of the Strikeforce Challengers Series event in Fresno Friday night, running his professional MMA record to 10-0.

Gurgel is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt who's much better on the ground than he is on his feet, but he has a tendency to stand and trade with his opponents even when that's not the right strategy for him to win the fight. That's what he did in the early going against Evangelista, trading punches with him despite the fact that Evangelista has better hands. The fight didn't go to the ground until the final seconds of the first round, when Evangelista took Gurgel down.

In the second round Gurgel tried to get creative with his striking, swinging and missing on a spinning back fist before Evangelista took him down. At first Evangelista looked like he'd be able to put Gurgel in a lot of trouble with his ground and pound, but Gurgel managed to get back up and then rock Evangelista with a head kick. In the final moments of an exciting second round, Gurgel put Evangelista in a guillotine choke that Evangelista escaped just before the bell.

By the third round both men appeared tired, and they were a little slower in the stand up, with Gurgel doing most of the damage. With 30 seconds left Evangelista took Gurgel down, and although Gurgel tried to work the rubber guard, he wasn't able to get Evangelista into any kind of trouble. The judges scored it 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Evangelista.

"It was exactly what I expected from Jorge," Evangelista said afterward. "He's very aggressive."

One could also say that Gurgel is very sloppy: Until Gurgel starts relying on his strengths as a fighter, he's going to keep losing a lot of fights like this one. Gurgel, who described himself as "very embarrassed" by the loss, falls to 13-6.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-07-2009 @ 1:10AM

johnnynumber5 said...

Amazing fight ... we already knew Gurgel was an animal but it's true that Evangelista is the real deal. He probably isn't ready for a title shot yet (Thomson-Melendez winner) but the guy is damn near at that level. I'm enjoying the SF challengers series as some really good fighters have come out of it. Villasenior, Evangelista, Del Rosario, Rockhold amongst some other quality guys.

I don't have a problem with Evangelista winning the fight but how in the heck two judges could say he won all 3 rounds in beyond me. No way that Gurgel lost round 3 in my opinion and I though round 2 was a toss up. Each round was close and contested but I didn't have a problem with the decision either way even though I felt (and still feel) the fight was a draw. Great showing by both guys and these are just two more guys SF has in their growing stable of talent.

During the event Cung Le also announced that he was coming back to fight on December 19th card! Maybe we'll see him fight Scott Smith or Manhoef. Either would be a really exciting fight for fans.

11-07-2009 @ 1:11AM

Oh yeah ... I'm amped for Sengoku ... it's going to be one heck of a weekend of MMA.

11-07-2009 @ 1:55AM

piprocks666 said...

i thought gurgel should've gotten the decision. he gave him the black eye in the first, and huge gash in the third. billy's takedowns did nothing, and gurgel was the aggressor and made the most of the time for 3 rounds. aside from the decision, i thought it was a good night for strikeforce and i'm ready for cbs tomorrow night. i don't have hd net (gay). i like where mma is going now... i don't have to wait for whatever games ufc is gonna play to watch some mma anymore. sweet.

11-07-2009 @ 2:36AM

These Sengoku and Dream cards are so awesome. No 10 point must system (just whomever they feel won the fight overall) and they usually have like 10-12 fights on every event. I actually prefer the ring to the cage personally. I think it's better for viewing ... I've always thought the cage was gimmicky. Why the hell are they fighting in a cage anyway? What's next sharks, razor wire and an electrocuted fence?

11-07-2009 @ 11:55AM

neozoo said...

really nice night of fights.

johnny: agree with you on rosario, wow! what a shot he took and did you notice how close the ref was in stopping it. glad he didn't as you just knew once he did indeed "weather the storm", he would submit cash.
although as far as cung le goes, i'm not a fan as imo, he is all and i mean all hype, this isn't san shou. shamwow's game plan in his fight was macho and stupid.
it will be interesting to see who they hand pick to fight him.
as far as the ring vs cage....i'm a cage fan as the ring is best for stand up game. as the ring has too many problems for ground game...re-starts, ropes getting in the way, etc...just a personal preference when it comes to mma.

11-07-2009 @ 6:41PM

M13 said...

I totally agree with your assessment of the cage vs the ring Neo.

11-07-2009 @ 6:51PM

The event was very enjoyable. The main event was almost too damn close to call. I definitely don't think the fight should have gone in complete favor to Evangelista. I wouldn't argue if the fight turned out to be a draw at all as round 1, to me, wasn't a decisive round. Idk. Now for tonight! :)