By Jeff Davis / The Fresno Bee
Color the MMA Strikeforce Challenge main event Friday at the Save Mart
Center bright red -- as in bloody and body bruised.
Fresno's Billy
Evangelista and Jorge Gurgel of Cincinnati didn't spare the kicks and
punches in the main event.
Evangelista left the cage with a bloodied
face but with his unbeaten record intact after beating Gurgel's upper
body red in a unanimous three-round decision. Two judges scored it
30-27 and the other 29-28.
"If it had gone two more rounds, he might
have won," Evangelista (10-0) said after the 160-pound bout. "I worked
more on technique than conditioning for this one."
Evangelista, the
more accomplished boxer, made that work for him. After a tame first
round, the two picked it up in the second with Evangelista getting a
takedown.
The third round was a draw until Gurgel (13-6) tried a leg
sweep. Evangelista grabbed the leg, threw his opponent down and threw a
series of punches to seal the victory.