Strikeforce Tate vs. Rousey Results: Josh Thomson Smothers K.J. Noons

K.J. Noons came into Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey bout with Josh Thomson, hoping to parlay a victory into either a title shot or a trip to the UFC. He likely achieved neither at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. But every time Noons got his game going on the feet, where he was getting the better of Thomson, “The Punk” took Noons to the mat and smothered him… quite literally.

Once he got Noons to the mat, Thomson did little offensively, other than to hold Noons down and try to wear him out. Although he controlled the majority of the fight and won a unanimous decision, Thomson wasn’t proud of his performance.

“It was (expletive). How else do you explain it was (expletive)?” He declared after the fight.

“I tried something different because I was always getting hurt,” said Thomson after gathering himself, trying to explain why he mostly fought for position instead of going all out for a finish.

“I got staph twice during camp, so my conditioning wasn’t there, so it was (expletive).”

The question now is what is next for Thomson. The Strikeforce lightweight ranks are thin on contenders at the moment, so it is possible that he’s headed to a third showdown with champion Gilbert Melendez.

If that happens, Thompson promised he’d be in better shape for the fight.

“I’m gonna make sure that I whip Gilbert’s ass!”

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