Saturday night Metal Mulisha Fighter K.J. Noons took on Jorge Gurgel in their matchup Strikeforce fight in Houston Texas. At the end of the first round, Noons began picking apart Gurgel and landed a clean two-punch straight and hook combo!

With ten seconds left, Noons came after Gurgel and attempted to knock him out with a head kick but missed. Gurgel began throwing back bombs as K.J. avoided all his throws. As the bell rang, Noons connected a solid left hook that floored Gurgel and he barley made it back to his corner!

In the beginning of the second round Noons was at it again landing a right and left hook combo that put Gurgel back on the floor. Noons thought the fight was over and looked at the referee, waiting for the official call.

Gurgel started to get back up and with no official call from the referee Noons was throwing some hammer fists. As Gurgel got up, Noons finished him off with a knee to the face right as the referee pulled him back. Noons was by far the better fighter during this event and is ready for a win and a potential rematch against Nick Diaz!

Check out the Highend fight shorts and the rest of the Metal Mulisha Fight Team gear in our online store! All orders come with a free Metal Mulisha stickerpack and $5 flat ground shipping!

Cruz won his Bantamweight title in March with a second-round TKO of prior champion Brian Bowles. Undefeated since dropping weight to 135 pounds three years ago, Cruz is more ready than ever to hang onto that belt and keep it out of the hands of Benavidez!

Do not forget to tune into this event live on Versus August 18th at 9pm and check out the Dominick’s signature tee “The Dominator” and the rest of our Metal Mulisha Fight Gear!

Undefeated heavyweight Metal Mulisha prospect Shane Del Rosario (9-0) will attempt to extend his unblemished streak when he faces fellow heavy Lolohea Mahe (4-1-1) in the main event of a STRIKEFORCE Challengers Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight card at Comcast Arena at Everett, live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT Tonight on Friday, July 23!

Renato “Babalu” Sobral defeated Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision after three hard-fought rounds in the Strikeforce “Los Angeles” main event on Wednesday at the Nokia Theater!

Babalu gave Lawler a hard right kick to the left side of Lawler’s ribcage leaving a visible welt. The impact could be heard throughout the venue, and it clearly pissed off the former EliteXC champion.

Lawler tried to position Babalu in striking distance but Babalu kept his distance and made every strike count! Lawler hit Babalu with a quick jab to the cut above his left eye. Babalu wiped the blood away and followed Lawler’s jab with a knee to his face.

The fight carried all the way into the third with both fighters going back and forth jab for jab, and Babalu threw some kicks that did make some serious contact with Lawler. The Nokia Center spectators screamed and cheered “Babalu…Babalu” as the final 3rd round ended.

The scores were 29-28 across the board, with a unanimous decision victory for Renato “Babalu” Sobral! Babalu called out a rematch with two-time Olympian Dan Henderson, a man who defeated him a decade ago in Japan. “It would be an honor to fight him again,” Sobral said.

New Metal Mulisha Fighter K.J. Noons outboxed and outbrawled Conor Heun to win his Strikeforce debut with a well-deserved and hard-fought split decision.

Within minutes of the fight Noons took on a blow from Heun, which broke his rib. That did not stop Noons as he pushed threw and landed more solid blows over the next 10 minutes with hooks and uppercuts.

Heun tried mixing punches with head kicks and knees, but Noons checked many of the kicks and followed back with solid blows! Noons fight went to decision as he took the win with a score of 29-28! Congratulations to both fighters! Check out the Metal Mulisha MMA photogallery of this fight!

Download (QuickTime 15.1MB)

The countdown has already started and only days away Renato “Babalu” Sobral is more ready than ever to take on this Los Angele’s Strikeforce fight against Lawler. Babalu only recently become available for the slot. Initially, he was one of three Strikeforce fighters expected to participate in the canceled DREAM-14 fight.

The tournament was recently nixed while Strikeforce setup this new match. Babalu is 35-8 with 23 wins by stoppage. He is a grappler first with a sick jiu-jitsu game, and his striking is always getting better and better.

Metal Mulisha took a visit up his training facility to catch up with him before the fight. Babalu has his mind and focus on only one thing, taking out Lawler for the win.

The physical condition and mindset of Babalu is more powerful than ever… Lawler cannot go to the ground… Babalu will turn him into a pretzel…fast! Make sure to check out the full fight training photo-gallery and the video which can only be seen at metalmulisha.com!

*The event will be televised live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast)

*Tickets are on sale at STAPLES Center box office, all Ticketmaster locations (800) 745-3000, Ticketmaster online and STRIKEFORCE’S official website.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 15 at 5 p.m. PT
WHERE: The Conga Room,
800 West Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90015-1360 – (213) 745-0162

Mark “The Bear” Smith
RIP: December 24th, 1973 – May 14th, 2010

Mulisha family member Mark Smith, passed away Friday May 14th, 2010, at his home in Maui, Wailuku, Hawaii. Mark started training in 1996 at Beverly Hills Ju-Jitsu, and received his Purple Belt from Sensei Marcus Vinicius. The Bear trained with Bas Ruten in 1999, which led him to hold the UAGF Heavyweight Belt and also hold the UK Cagewars Heavyweight. Since moving to Hawaii Mark put together a team of top fighters on the islands who call themselves the Maui Mulisha.

Mark became a close friend, MMA Trainer and bodyguard of Brian Deegan in 1996. After training with Deegan, Jeremy Lusk, Ronnie Faisst and other Mulisha Members, The Bear, became a part of the Mulisha Family.

Mark said, “My quest in life is to be the best I can be if its fighting, coaching, body guarding or just giving back all the knowledge I’ve picked up throughout all my years of experience in life! Being true to your family and friends and not being a poser or fall over, but trying to be a lender is what I truly believe is a must in life!”

The Bear continued to train and coach his friends on the Mulisha team as he also changed his life on July 3rd 2008. Mark was saved and devoted his life to god with the help of his new Pastor and good friend TJ. Mark said, “It was a great feeling, it was like a million pounds of bullshit just fell off my back.”

Deegan said “Mark Smith was one of my best friends. I had so many good times with his like when he trained me to win the LA sx. One of a few guys who really made me laugh and always looked out for everyone! Ill miss him. My prayers to his family and friends. I was with Mark when he got saved so ill see him in Heaven…RIP ”

After visiting Mark’s MySpace page we have one of Mark’s last quotes from his Heroes Section: “The big man upstairs “GOD”, My MOM, And my sister Tammy always look down at me from Heaven, “I sure miss her”!!! Jeremy Lusk Word is Bond my little Brother!! Even that I was older than you your words meant so much 2 me!!!!! I miss u Lusk hold it down up there In Gods Hands!!!!!”

This tragedy and loss will never be forgotten. Mark will always be in our hearts now and forever. RIP BEAR watch over the rest of us as you will always be in our thoughts and prayers.

Here is a video of The Bear training up Deegan and Lusk .

On April 17th 2010 Metal Mulisha Strikeforce Lightweight Champion of the World Gilbert “EL Nino” Melendez will take on Shinya Aoki. We meet up with Gilbert at his San Fransisco training facility to get his take on the upcoming fight and get a inside look of his everyday life while preparing for such an event. Check out the video and lifestyle photo gallery of Gilbert Training.

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