Ovince St. Preux showed that he's one of Strikeforce's best up-and-coming young fighters, and Benji Radach showed that he wasn't ready for a tough fight on short notice, as St. Preux dominated Radach and won an easy unanimous decision on Saturday night.
The fight was booked just this week, and Radach -- who hadn't fought in more than a year and a half -- looked unprepared. St. Preux, who fought just two weeks ago, was rarin' to go and swinging hard.
After they first stalemated against the cage in the early going, there was a brutal exchange of strikes that ended up with St. Preux leveling Radach with a head kick, then getting on top of Radach on the ground. Radach gave up his back and seemed to be hurt on the ground, and St. Preux bashed him with punch after punch after punch. Many referees would have stopped the fight as St. Preux dominated Radach, but this ref let the fight go on, and Radach managed to survive a clear 10-8 first round.
At the start of the second St. Preux exploded, knocked Radach down and got Radach's back on the ground once again. After a couple minutes of St. Preux controlling Radach on the ground the crowd started to boo, as it wasn't much of a fight: It was just a one-sided beatdown. The second round easily could have been a 10-8 round as well.
At the start of the third Radach knew he needed a knockout and threw a flurry of punches, but it took just a moment before St. Preux was on top of Radach and Radach was turtled on the ground once again. Midway through the round the referee made the surprising decision to stand them up even though St. Preux was in a dominant position, and Radach threw a hard combination of punches once the fight got back to the feet. But Radach was clearly exhausted and couldn't keep it up.
The judges scored it 30-27, 30-26 and 30-25 for St. Preux, improving his record to 9-4. Radach falls to 21-6.
The fight was booked just this week, and Radach -- who hadn't fought in more than a year and a half -- looked unprepared. St. Preux, who fought just two weeks ago, was rarin' to go and swinging hard.
After they first stalemated against the cage in the early going, there was a brutal exchange of strikes that ended up with St. Preux leveling Radach with a head kick, then getting on top of Radach on the ground. Radach gave up his back and seemed to be hurt on the ground, and St. Preux bashed him with punch after punch after punch. Many referees would have stopped the fight as St. Preux dominated Radach, but this ref let the fight go on, and Radach managed to survive a clear 10-8 first round.
At the start of the second St. Preux exploded, knocked Radach down and got Radach's back on the ground once again. After a couple minutes of St. Preux controlling Radach on the ground the crowd started to boo, as it wasn't much of a fight: It was just a one-sided beatdown. The second round easily could have been a 10-8 round as well.
At the start of the third Radach knew he needed a knockout and threw a flurry of punches, but it took just a moment before St. Preux was on top of Radach and Radach was turtled on the ground once again. Midway through the round the referee made the surprising decision to stand them up even though St. Preux was in a dominant position, and Radach threw a hard combination of punches once the fight got back to the feet. But Radach was clearly exhausted and couldn't keep it up.
The judges scored it 30-27, 30-26 and 30-25 for St. Preux, improving his record to 9-4. Radach falls to 21-6.
Get the latest gear
