The 28-year-old Woodley, a two-time All-American NCAA wrestler for the University of Missouri and St. Louis native, stuck to his game plan, pressing Saffiedine with repeated takedown attempts set up by aggressive strikes.  Saffiedine’s balance and takedown defense were strong as expected, however,

Woodley neutralized Saffiedine’s stand-up game, pressing Saffiedine against the fence and striking whenever possible.  Woodley’s ground game was superior for the most part as he remained in dominant position for much of the three round encounter.

“I did well,” said Woodley.  “He’s got some power and some pop.  I think I kept the pressure on him and got some strikes in there.  For me, it was about getting out of his range and getting in there when I could.  I think I did a good job tonight.”

Former University of Tennessee star linebacker Ovince Saint Preux (10-4) continued his recent surge, earning a unanimous decision over road warrior “Abongo” Humphrey (7-3) of Atlanta.  His start made the 27-year-old Saint Preux, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, the first fighter in history to compete in three consecutive STRIKEFORCE events.

“I knew I had to win the third round to get this fight.  He’s definitely a tough opponent,” said Saint Preux, a winner of seven straight bouts.

Saint Preux came out on fire in the opening round of action, mounting Humphrey three times while working aggressively on the ground.  In the second stanza, Humphrey scored a knee strike that stunned his opponent and Saint Preux countered with a flurry that hurt Humphrey, but was still unable to finish the fight.

Looking somewhat fatigued in the third, Saint Preux fought off Humphrey well enough to win the round and earn the nod from all three judges.

Two-time United States Olympic wrestling team member Daniel Cormier (7-0) extended his perfect record by dominating a far more experienced Devin Cole (18-9-1) for three consecutive rounds.

It was the first time in his MMA career that the 31-year-old Cormier, who competed five times in 2010, was taken the distance of a fight.  He displayed increased versatility in the cage, including a much improved kickboxing game, throughout the matchup.

Cormier was able to take Cole down repeatedly during the contest and control his opponent, but never able to finish Cole.

“He did an incredible job.  He can take a shot.  I landed some pretty decent shots on him,” said Cormier after the bout.  “I want to continue to improve and make my way up the ladder.”

Twenty-two year old Amanda Nunes (6-1) of Patterson, New Jersey by way of Brazil stunned the crowd by decimating fellow prospect Julia Budd (1-1) just 14 seconds into the first round of their meeting.

Both Nunes and Budd who hails from Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada, came out swinging from the outset of the first round, but it was Nunes who landed the first big shot – a straight left hand, which put Budd flat on her back.

Nunes immediately pounced on her downed opponent, raining down on Budd with hammer fists until the referee stepped in and halted the action.  The stoppage was Nunes’ sixth consecutive win by way of KO.

United States Olympic Judo player Rhadi Ferguson (3-0) shined in his STRIKEFORCE debut against John Richard (3-2), submitting Richard with a heel hook in the second round (2:00) of their matchup.

Richard, a late replacement for Ferguson’s original opponent, Ion Cherdivara, scored a hard leg kick in the second round that staggered Ferguson and put him in noticeable pain.  After Richard charged forward, the fight went to the ground.

From his back, Ferguson looked for the submission, eventually working his way to the heel hook that forced Richard to tap out.  Despite the convincing result, Ferguson expressed disappointment with his performance after the fight, stressing his need to gain more experience in the cage.

“I get a D minus,” he said.  “I started my camp with a pulled groin and a pulled hamstring and John Richard was a tough opponent.  I’m a neo fighter in this sport – I’m young and humble.”

STRIKEFORCE returns to SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast) on Sat., Jan. 29 with a world championship doubleheader at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.  In the main event, Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz will put his title on the line for the second time against Evangelista Cyborg.  Middleweight Champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu submission wizard “Jacare” Souza will risk his belt against superstar knockout artist “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler.

In other SHOWTIME televised featured action on Jan. 29, football legend turned MMA upstart Herschel Walker will make his second start in the cage  against Scott Carson in a heavyweight bout and unbeaten Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Roger Gracie, the latest offering from MMA’s first family, will square off with former South African National Wrestling Champion Trevor Prangley.

On Sat., Feb. 12, the historic, eight-man single-elimination STRIKEFORCE World Grand Prix – Heavyweight Tournament will kick off live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast) from IZOD Center in E. Rutherford, New Jersey.  In one of two tournament bouts on the STRIKEFORCE and M-1 Global promoted card, the legendary Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko will face off with streaking powerhouse Antonio “Big Foot” Silva.  In the other tournament contest, former world champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski will face Russian Sambo master Sergei Kharitonov, the last fighter to defeat reigning STRIKEFORCE Heavyweight Champion, Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem.

Complete STRIKEFORCE Challengers Results:

Main Card:

Tyron Woodley def. Tarec Saffiedine via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Ovince Saint Preux def. “Abongo” Humphrey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Daniel Cormier def. Devin Cole via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Amanda Nunes def. Julia Budd via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, :14

Rhadi Ferguson def. John Richard via submission (heel hook) – Round 2, 2:00

Preliminary Card:

Thomas Campbell def. Jeremy Wallace via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 1, 1:26

John Salter def. Casey Huffman via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:59

Dustin Ortiz def. Matt Horning via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 2:10

Dustin West def. Daniel Schmitt via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, :09

Charles McTorry def. Krishaun Gilmore via submission (rear naked choke) – Round 2, 3:46

Chris Barnhizer def. Karl Willis via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:35

Jason Blackford def. Jeremy Boczulak via submission (heel hook) – Round 2, 1:54

Luke Sanders def. Josh Jarvis via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:15

Stoney Hale def. Gerric Hayes via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.”  In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.  In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network.  The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/STRIKEFORCE

The Rex Ryan era in New York has not even begun and he already has to deal with a little controversy. Calvin Pace, one of his starting linebackers, has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for using a banned substance, which has yet to be identified.

“Calvin Pace of the New York Jets has been suspended without pay for the team’s first four regular-season games of 2009 for violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances,” said an NFL spokesperson. “Pace’s suspension begins on Saturday, September 5. He is eligible to return to the Jets’ active roster on Monday, October 5 following the team’s October 4 game against the New Orleans Saints. Pace is eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games.”

Pace, who joined the Jets last year after signing as a free agent from Arizona, said in a statement, “This is a situation that resulted from an over-the-counter dietary supplement that contained a substance that I did not know violated the League’s policy. I am responsible for what I put into my body and I should have paid closer attention to the League’s guidelines. I regret that this has happened and apologize to my teammates, the entire Jets organization as well as the fans. Hopefully, this does not distract from our ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl.”

The Jets stated that they respected the league’s decision and look forward to Pace’s return once the suspension is served.

This may open the door for Vernon Gholston to get some quality playing time. After being selected sixth overall in the 2008 NFL Draft, he was a complete bust and fell into former head coach Eric Mangini’s doghouse. The second-year outside rushing linebacker, who already was getting a fresh start with Ryan, may benefit the most out of this.

The NFL has a long list of banned substances, which is in their “Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances.” If you have an hour or two to kill, here it is:

New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce can spin it any way he wants, but anyone that has watched him play in the past can clearly see that he was not himself in Sunday’s 20-14 loss to Philadelphia. Although the entire team had a lousy day, Pierce stood out for all the wrong reasons. Perhaps the most obvious example of that was on Brian Westbrook’s second touchdown on the day. After catching a third down pass from Donovan McNabb, the crafty running back easily outran Pierce – no shock – but when the linebacker appeared to pull up at the five yard line, Westbrook walked into the end zone untouched.

“Obviously everyone os going to use that as an excuse,” Pierce said, referring to the talk of distractions affecting the team’s play. “It’s not an excuse. The Philadelphia Eagles came ready to play and they more plays than the New York Giants today.”

Buy Steroids Online – http://www.steroid-club.com/Index.asp?RefId=39

While not totally inaccurate, Pierce did back some of that up by leading the team with 12 tackles during the game. It just didn’t seem like the same team out there and even though it is easy to point to the Burress situation as the reason, the Giants may have been overdue for a bad perfoemance.

Falling to 11-2, they dropped their first home game of the season. Maybe things are aligned right for them, though. Because the Dallas Cowboys lost in Pittsburgh, the Giants clinched the NFC East. That is clearly not a case of ‘backing in,’ and Big Blue still is being viewed as a favorite to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Making his weekly scheduled appearance on WFAN’s Mike Francesa radio show, New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce couldn’t talk about what the host really wanted him to due to legalities surrounding the Plaxico Burress shooting. Because Big Blue has been so successful on the field that even a big road win against a divisional foe has become boring news, the incident at the Latin Quarters nightclub is the headline.

What did come out today was that Pierce and running back Ahmad Bradshaw were the two teammates with Burress and his wife out partying in the wee hours early Friday morning and that after Burress accidentally shot himself in the right thigh, it was Pierce who took possession of the gun and stashed it “somewhere in Jersey.” The gun was subsequently turned over to the police after a warrant was obtained. To cover his ass, Pierce has hired an attorney.

During the WFAN interview, Pierce said that he is “his brother’s keeper” and will watch out for his teammates. You can take that any way you like, but even if you don’t read into it, Pierce sounds as if he would do anything – and apparently did – to help out Burress. That may also constitute lying, which now the investigating officers, District Attorney’s office and NFL needs to keep in mind.

If you’re going to take possession of an illegal firearm that is obviously operable and hide it, then you have become not only an accessory to Pierce’s crime, but have committed a crime yourself. Wasn’t Pierce admitting that he, too, was in possession of a gun in two separate states? From a legal and moral standpoint, this is not something that should just be fluffed off.

From what Pierce stated, he is not being charged criminally. Burress is the main problem here and should be the target of whoever is going after him – the DA’s office or the league. With a March 31 return date, Burress and Pierce have plenty of time to make up a story and a half.

Will the NFL wait until the criminal investigation reaches it’s nest stage before taking action against Burress, Pierce or both? Commissioner Roger Goodell has shown to rule with a heavy hand and should act swiftly in this matter. Suspensions for both are warranted.

It only gets worse. Just when you thought that Donovan McNabb was the only NFL player dumb enough to not know that a regular season game can end in a tie, a few of his teammates have come to their quarterback’s rescue. Running back Corell Buckhalter, wide receiver DeSean Jackson and linebacker Omar Gaither all admitted on Monday that they, too, were in the dark during the overtime period of yesterday’s 13-13 tie against the Cincinnati Bengals.

That makes three Eagles who believed that the teams would keep playing until someone scored, instead of the game ending in a draw after the extra session. The blame has to go square on the shoulders of Andy Reid, and the head coach told reporters, “I’ll take the responsibility for that.” But it isn’t as simple as that. Reid – who has been under fire due to the team’s lackluster 5-4-1 record – needs to explain how anyone wearing an NFL uniform could be as uninformed as that. The coaching staff either failed to do their job or the players are just plain stupid.

Conveniently, McNabb was not available on Monday for reporters to take him to task, which would have definitely been the case. Not only did he make a complete fool of himself by not knowing the OT tie rule, but played miserably by going 28-for-58 with three interceptions and a fumble. Those numbers are bad enough if the Eagles were playing a good team, but to do that against the one-win ‘Bungles’ only exasperates the situation.