Jesse Taylor

(Del Rosario vs. Cash. Props: mixedmartialartvideos.com. More fights after the jump.)

From last night's show at the SaveMart Center in Fresno, California...

MAIN CARD
- Billy Evangelista def. Jorge Gurgel via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
- Shane del Rosario def. Brandon Cash via submission (omoplata), 2:57 of round 1
- Luke Rockhold def. Jesse Taylor via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:42 of round 1
- Merrit Warren def. Ousmane Thomas Diagne via submission (heel hook), 3:49 of round 1
- Zoila Frausto def. Elisha Helsper via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

PRELIMINARY CARD
- Ben Holscher def. Johnny Goh via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
- Casey Olson def. Chris Culley via TKO, 2:32 of round 1
- Cole Escovedo def. Maurice Eazel via TKO, 1:47 of round 1
- Rico Altamirano def. Alex Trevino via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

(Photo courtesy of this set on MMA Junkie.)

"Fedor vs. Rogers" may be getting all the attention lately, but it's just one of three events that Strikeforce is putting on this month. The first one goes down tonight at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, when undefeated AKA prospect Billy Evangelista (9-0) takes on UFC vet Jorge Gurgel (13-5), who's coming off his exciting decision win over Conor Heun at the June 19th Challengers show. Elsewhere on the card, Jesse "JT Mongo" Taylor tries to rebound from his loss to Jay Hieron at "Carano vs. Cyborg" when he takes on 5-1 up-and-comer Luke Rockhold, while Brandon Cash and Shane Del Rosario put their undefeated records on the line in a heavyweight tilt. Plus: Warrior Princess vs. Knuckles, and Cole Escovedo continues his comeback. Showtime will broadcast the main card of "Strikeforce Challengers: Evangelista vs. Gurgel" at 11 p.m. ET/PT. The full lineup and weigh-in results are after the jump...

("Hug me or I'll kill your entire family.")

According to an MMA Junkie report, Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos may not be available to defend her 145-pound title at Strikeforce's November 7th "Fedor vs. Rogers" event because of an injury, apparently suffered during her participation in the 2009 ADCC tournament in Barcelona. Said her manager, Richard Wilner: "It's unlikely that Cris will be fighting on [Nov. 7] but still possible. I'm awaiting her return from Spain to get her assessed by a doctor here. Out of respect to Strikeforce, CBS and Cris' potential opponent, we alerted them to this issue early so as not to interfere with pre-production, preparation, etc." When Santos does make her return, her first opponent is expected to be Dutch submission specialist Marloes Coenen. In other Strikeforce news...

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

Well this is interesting. The WEC convinced die-hard MMA fan Shaquille O'Neal to cut a promo for their Cerrone vs. Henderson show on September 2nd. "They're lucky I'm a heavyweight," Shaq says. Still, would it have killed you to knock over a cardboard cutout of Cowboy? In a related story, O'Neal's upcoming ABC series Shaq Vs. will be hosted by the UFC's own Mike Goldberg.

(Zaromskis vs. High. Props to MMA Linker.)

We should have known there would be trouble after Hayato "Mach" Sakurai needed seven and a half extra hours to make weight for today's DREAM's welterweight GP finals. The tournament favorite might have been fighting through exhaustion when he met Marius Zaromskis in the semis, in a bout marked by wild striking exchanges. Sakurai absorbed the more damaging blows, and the fight was halted about four minutes in so that doctors could check on a spurting gash under Mach's left eye. When it was finally restarted after a long break, Zaromskis measured up Sakurai then threw a high left kick that put his lights out. A few more punches on the ground, and it was game over.

On the other side of the bracket, Jason High scored an upset of his own, handing jiu-jitsu juggernaut Andre Galvao his first MMA loss in a very close decision fight; one judge gave it to Galvao for his submission attempts in the first round, while the other two saw it for High due to his superior striking in the second. But the thrill of victory wouldn't last long for High, as Zaromskis scored another head kick knockout — this time with the right leg — in their finals match.

In non-tournament action, Shinya Aoki outpointed Vitor Ribeiro in a disappointingly dull 15-minute bout, Dong Sik Yoon had to quit just a minute into his fight against Jesse Taylor after suffering a foot injury, and Paulo Filho survived a brutal striking assault from Melvin Manhoef and won the fight via armbar in what might be the leading contender for comeback fight of 2009. Complete results and more DREAM.10 fight videos are after the jump.