Duane Ludwig

Fight of the Day: Edwards vs. Ludwig

From Strikeforce’s “Destruction” event in November 2008, here’s longtime UFC fighter Yves Edwards taking on fellow seasoned veteran Duane Ludwig in a lightweight matchup.

Villasenor Edges Santos at “Challengers”

VILLASENOR DECISIONS CYBORG IN MAIN EVENT; GURGEL AND HEUN PROVIDE CROWD-PLEASING FIREWORKS; KENNEDY AND KAUFMAN EACH SCORE VICTORIES
KENT, Wash. – “Smokin” Joe Villasenor showed no signs of rust after a year away from the cage as he recorded a close split decision over Evangelista “Cyborg” in the main event of the sophomore edition of Strikeforce Challengers Friday night on Showtime before an enthusiastic crowd at the ShoWare Center.
In a gritty and tactical battle all the way to the end, Villasenor proved victorious winning on two of the three judges scorecards, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. “I haven’t fought in over a year and that’s a great fight to come back to,” Villasenor said afterwards. “A three-round war. I was really surprised by (Cyborg’s) countering. It turned into a great fight.”

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Strikeforce Destruction Weigh Ins

San Jose, CA. —Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (13-5) weighed in at 185 ½ lbs. and his opponent, Terry Martin (18-5), tipped the scales at 186 lbs. one day before their meeting at Strikeforce “Destruction,” the mixed martial arts mega-event at San Jose’s HP Pavilion.

Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight (205 lb. limit) Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) and his opponent, Renato “Babalu” Sobral (30-7), both registered in at 204 lbs.  Knockout artists and opponents Duane “Bang” Ludwig (17-8) and Yves Edwards (34-14-1) weighed in at 163 lbs. and 164 lbs, respectively.

The following are the official fighter weights from today’s weigh-ins at Hotel DeAnza:

Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith – 185.5 lbs. vs Terry Martin – 186 lbs.
Bobby Southworth – 204 lbs. vs Renato “Babalu” Sobral – 204 lbs.
Duane “Bang” Ludwig – 163 lbs. vs Yves Edwards – 164 lbs.
Kim “Sugar Free” Couture – 132 lbs. vs Lina Kvokov – 133 lbs.
Joe “Diesel” Riggs – 170.5 lbs. vs Luke Stewart – 170.5 lbs.
Brad Royster – 134 lbs. vs Darren “Bone Crusher” Uyenoyama – 136 lbs.
Nik Theotikos – 185.5 lbs. vs Luke Rockhold – 185.5 lbs.
Zakary Bucia – 169 lbs. vs Adam Steele – 168 lbs.
Alvin Cacdac – 143 lbs. vs Jose Palacios – 145 lbs.
Lemont Davis – 173 lbs. vs Brian Schwartz – 175 lbs.
Josh Neal – 184 lbs. vs Kurt “Rhino” Osiander – 185 lbs.
Bobby Stack – 155 lbs. vs Cyrillo Padilha – 156 lbs.
Tony Johnson – 184 lbs. vs Eric Lawson – 185 lbs.

HP Pavilion doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for Strikeforce “Destruction” and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6 p.m.  The main card will commence at 7:30 p.m.

The live HDNet telecast of Strikeforce “Destruction” will begin at 10 p.m. EST (7 p.m. PST).

Ludwig to Replace Thomson at Strikeforce

Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled title defense against Yves Edwards at Strikeforce’s upcoming “Destruction” event on November 21 due to injury reports Sports Illustrated’s Josh Gross.

Thomson suffered torn ligaments in his toe during his training for the bout and hoped that the injury would have healed in time for the fight. Duane “Bang” Ludwig has agreed to replace him on short notice. However the bout will now be a non-title fight affair and probably won’t take place at 155 lbs according to Ludwig.

“Coker called me about 10 minutes ago and asked if I wanted to take the fight and I said, ‘Sure.’ We’ve got to determine a weight to fight at because there’s no way I can make 155 (pounds) on such short notice, but I’m excited to get another fight in before the end of the year.”

No word as of yet concerning how long Thomson will be out of action. Despite each competing in a variety of bouts around the world at lightweight, this will be the first-ever meeting between Ludwig and Edwards. Ludwig recently avenged a prior loss to Sam Morgan by stopping the ‘TUF’ veteran with strikes at Strikeforce’s “Payback” event on October 3 while Edwards is coming off of a brutal first-round TKO loss to K.J. Noons at a June EliteXC event.

Fight Announcements: Baroni, Lil’ Nog & More

There were a few future bouts revealed over the weekend involving some pretty interesting participants. Let’s get right to them…

— Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has revealed that he is attempting to match Phil Baroni and Duane Ludwig together for a welterweight showdown that would take place at a yet-to-be-announced event early next year in either Denver or Seattle. Baroni remains undefeated since moving to 170 lbs., winning a decision over Olaf Alfonso in his last bout. Ludwig has struggled as of late, splitting his last four bouts, albeit against much better competition. (Paul Daley, Takanori Gomi)

— Manny Gamburyan has told MMA Weekly that he has agreed to take on fellow lightweight Thiago Tavares at UFC 94 on January 31 in Las Vegas. Bout agreements have not yet been sent out, but paperwork is expected to be taken care of over the next few days. “He’s a phenomenal fighter,” Gamburyan said when asked about Tavares. “I’m really happy I’m fighting him. With a good victory, that’s going to put me on top for sure.”

— World Victory Road has officially announced that former PRIDE standout Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has signed with the organization and will go up against Moise Rimbon at Sengoku VI on November 1 in Japan. Nogueira last fought in Affliction’s debut show on July 19, stopping Edwin Dewees in the first round. Rimbon, a Europe Top Team product, submitted K-1 kickboxer Peter Graham with a rear naked choke at Sengoku IV in August.

Ludwig Stops Morgan, Trigg Defeats Vitale at Strikeforce

BROOMFIELD, CO — Knockout artist Duane “Bang” Ludwig (17-8) capped off an electrifying night of Strikeforce mixed martial arts (MMA) action, scoring a first round TKO on Sam “The Squeeze” Morgan (19-12), in their highly-anticipated rematch at Broomfield, Colorado’s Broomfield Event Center on Friday, October 3rd.  Superstar Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg (18-6) controlled the action against Falaniko “Niko” Vitale (26-9) for three consecutive rounds to notch a unanimous judges’ decision victory.

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Fight of the Day: Tyson Griffin vs. Duane Ludwig

From Strikeforce’s “Revenge” event in June 2006, here’s Tyson Griffin taking on Duane Ludwig.

Strikeforce Headed to Denver in October

Strikeforce will venture outside of the state of California for the second time this year when they hold a show at the Broomfield Event Center in Denver, Colorado on October 3rd. “Payback” will feature a main event between local product Duane “Bang” Ludwig and “Ultimate Fighter” veteran Sam Morgan.

The organization officially announced the show in a press release today. Also advertised as competing at the event are UFC veterans Phil Baroni and Frank Trigg. However it’s interesting to note that Trigg has told Five Ounces of Pain that he won’t commit to any future fights until after his August 24th meeting with Makoto Takimoto at World Victory’ Road’s “Sengoku IV” show.

Both Ludwig and Morgan have been struggling as of late. Ludwig has lost two out of his last three bouts, most recently a TKO loss to Takanori Gomi in March, while Morgan has not fought since suffering a brutal first-round TKO loss to British welterweight sensation Paul Daley at a ShoXC event in January. The two originally fought at a Ring of Fire show in April 2005. Morgan knocked out Ludwig just 50 seconds into the fight.

MMA Weekly reports that longtime veteran Pete Spratt will also be competing on the card as well and that a deal regarding a live broadcast is “in the works, but nothing definite” according Strikeforce vice president Mike Afromowitz, who also stated that at the least, the show would be televised in parts in the future on Strikeforce’s weekly television show late Saturday nights on NBC.

Pang Tapped to Face Gomi at “Sengoku IV”

DEEP lightweight champion Sung Hwan Pang has been tapped to take on former PRIDE title holder Takanori Gomi at World Victory Road’s scheduled “Sengoku IV” show on August 24th in Japan. The promotion officially announced the bout earlier today.

Gomi returned to action after a year of inactivity in March, defeating Duane Ludwig due to a cut at the first-ever “Sengoku” event. His opponent, Pang, is a winner of his last five bouts. He most recently scored a first-round knockout of Kazunori Yokota at DEEP’s “35th Impact” show in May.

The organization also announced a quartet of fights that will take place as part of their inaugural lightweight grand prix tournament. The previously aforementioned Yokota will take on Bojan Kosednar, who was recently knocked out by Paul Daley two weeks ago. The three other bouts include IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz vs. Mizuto Hirota, PRIDE veteran Clay French vs. Satoru Kitaoka, and Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Rodrigo Damm. Ludwig was advertised for the tourney but will not compete due to prior commitments.

The current card for the event is as follows:

Takanori Gomi vs. Sung Hwan Pang
Frank Trigg vs. Makoto Takimoto
Peter Graham vs. Moise Rimbon
Ryan Schultz vs. Mizuto Hirota
Clay French vs. Satoru Kitaoka
Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Rodrigo Damm
Kazunori Yokota vs. Bojan Kosednar

Three Bouts Announced for Sengoku III

World Victory Road has announced three more bouts for their upcoming third “Sengoku” show on June 8th.

Japanese legend and former Olympic judoka Hidehiko Yoshida will headline the show, taking on former UFC heavyweight champion Maurice Smith in the main event. Yoshida was submitted by Josh Barnett at the inaugural “Sengoku” show in March. Smith scored a win over fellow former kickboxer Rick Roufus at a Strikeforce event in February.

Kazuo Misaki will return to action against World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Logan Clark, who has either been released from the WEC or is being lent to WVR officials for the show. Misaki was also victorious at the inaugural “Sengoku” show in March, submitting Siyar Bahadurzada. Clark last stopped Scott Harper with strikes in the first round in March as well.

Renowned grappler Marcio Cruz will fight for the first time in close to a year when he takes on PRIDE veteran Mu Bae Choi. Cruz last defeated Rafael Feijao at an IFL event last June while Choi most recently scored a huge upset over Gary Goodridge on March 30th, knocking out the longtime veteran in the second round.

Previously announced fights for the show include YAMMA Pit Fighting tournament champion Travis Wiuff vs. Japanese professional wrestler and PRIDE veteran Kazuyuki Fujita and BodogFight welterweight champion Nick Thompson vs. Chute Boxe product Michael Costa.

Also announced as participating at the event were Duane Ludwig, Fabio Silva, and Rodrigo Damm. Former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi is also rumored to be fighting at the show as well.

The current fight card for the event looks like this:

Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Maurice Smith
Kazuo Misaki vs. Logan Clark
Marcio Cruz vs. Mu Bae Choi
Travis Wiuff vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Nick Thompson vs. Michael Costa
Duane Ludwig vs. TBA
Fabio Silva vs. TBA
Rodrigo Damm vs. TBA