Jorge Gurgel's been involved some of the best donnybrooks in recent memory. Tonight in Las Vegas, he tried a more measured approach but it backfired against a more precise striker in Joe Duarte. Duarte got the nod from all three judges, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, on his way to unanimous decision in the main of Strikeforce Challengers 18 in Las Vegas at the Palms Casino Resort.
Duarte (10-2) was expected to explode onto the scene back in 2008, but caught a bad draw on Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter" when he met Phillipe Nover in the round of 16 at lightweight. Nover, who eventually stormed to the finals of TUF 8, beat Duarte via choke and dumped him from the show. Twenty-five at the time, Duarte went back to work and rebuilt his reputation. Tonight, was a nice coming out party on Showtime in his Strikeforce debut.
Gurgel, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, decided to engage in a standup battle. Duarte took a few minutes to loosen up, but once he did he busted up Gurgel's face behind a solid jab. His counters with the right hook and uppercuts hurt Gurgel. Duarte also scored four takedowns in the fight to score with the judges.
Gurgel is 14-8 and 2-3 with Strikeforce. An alum of TUF 2, Gurgel also fought seven times for the UFC.
Healy has to work for win No. 27
At Thursdays weigh-in, Pat Healy looked like a giant standing in front of Eric Wisely. Most in attendance were expecting Healy, with 43 pro fights under his belt to manhandle his opponent, but that's not what Wisely had in mind. Healy won via unanimous decision, but Wisely made him work every step of the way.
For Healy it was his second straight win and he's now 7-2 at lightweight. The 28-year-old has turned the corner after toiling for a longtime at welterweight against a tough slate of opponents. His experienced came through tonight against Wisely, who was in constant motion the entire fight.
Healy used his size to get the fight to the ground in all three rounds. Once he got on top, he had massive trouble settling Wisely into a manageable position. In the first, Wisely threated with an armbar and Healy never really got off. The next round was Healy's best as he finally got to side control. In the final round, it was much of the same and Wisely fought hard from his back. Wisely is truly a featherweight, but he did enough against a big lightweight to warrant another shot with Zuffa.
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