MMA RETURNS TO CBS; SHIELDS UPSETS HENDERSON TO RETAIN STRIKEFORCE TITLE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 18, 2010) – Saturday night marked MMA’s return to primetime on CBS featuring a STRIKEFORCE World Championship Tripleheader. The event aired live on the CBS Television Network at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Attendance at the Breakstone Arena was 8,196.

Jake Shields (21-4-1) of San Francisco, Calif., retained his STRIKEFORCE World Middleweight title with a unanimous five-round decision over Dan Henderson (25-8) of Temecula, Calif.  Scored: 49-45, 49-46 and 48-45.

“King Mo’’ Lawal (7-0), of Carlsbad, Calif., by way of Murfreesboro, Tenn., captured the STRIKEFORCE Light Heavyweight  championship with a unanimous five-round decision over defending titlist Gegard Mousasi (28-3-1) of Leiden, Netherlands. Scored: 49-45 three times.

STRIKEFORCE World Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez (18-2) of San Francisco via Santa Ana, Calif., retained his belt with a unanimous five-round decision over  DREAM 155-pound champion Shinya Aoki (23-5, 1 NC) of Tokyo, Japan. Scored: 50-45 three times.

Other results:

“Mayhem” Miller (23-7), California, TKO 1 (strikes, 3:09) over Tim Stout (12-9), Newnan, Georgia.

Ovince Saint Preaux (5-4), Knoxville, Tenn., TKO 1 (strikes, 0:47) over Chris Hawk (3-4), Memphis.

Cale Yarbrough (7-1), Atlanta, Georgia, TKO 2 (strikes) over Josh Schockman (6-3), Nashville.

Zach Underwood (6-2), Nashville, unanimous decision over Hunter Worsham (1-2), Nashville.

Dustin Ortiz (2-0), Nashville, submitted (rear-naked choke) Justin Pennington (0-1), Nashville, 4:27 of first round.

Cody Floyd (4-0), Nashville, KO 3 (strikes) over Thomas Campbell (3-1), Nashville

PHOTOS – Esther Lin/Strikeforce