Sobral went in and clinched.  Southworth grabbed Sobral’s leg and managed to wrestle him to the mat.  Southworth in his guard, Sobral climbed up Southworth’s back in a triangle attempt, but Southworth stood up out of it.  They clinched at the fence, each fighter trying some knees and punches, until referee “Big” John McCarthy separated them.

“Babalu” crowded Southworth at the cage and threw a huge left elbow into Southworth’s face, causing sweat to fly.  The referee called a time out as blood started dripping out of Southworth’s right eyebrow with ten seconds left in the round, but allowed him to continue.

Despite a strong finish by Southworth in the final seconds, with the crowd cheering so loud no one heard the horn, the referee called the fight after the first round.

All fighters made weigh and, despite a delayed start and “Diesel” Joe Riggs’s (28-11) displeasure at having to strip, everything went smoothly.

Riggs was not the only one who had to strip further than his ginch; the California State Athletic Commission requested that each fighter have only one crack at the scale, resulting in several weigh-ins behind towels.

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-4) looked cut.  He told Fighters.com Thursday afternoon that he had hired a new strength and conditioning coach.

“Everybody’s been commenting on how my physique looks and how I’ve been performing.  So we’ll see how I perform tomorrow night,” Southworth said.

Join Fighters.com Friday night for the live results.

The weights were as follows:

Terry Martin (18-5) 186 lbs v “Hands of Steel” Scott Smith (13-6) 185.5 lbs

“Babalu” Renato Sobral (29-8) 204 lbs v Bobby Southworth (9-4) 204 lbs

Yves Edwards (34-14-1) 164 lbs v “Bang” Duane Ludwig (17-8) 163 lbs

“Diesel” Joe Riggs (28-11) 170.5 lbs v Luke Stewart (5-1) 170.5 lbs

Nik Theotikos (5-0) 185 lbs vs Luke Rockhold (2-1) 185.5 lbs

Brian Schwartz (0-1) 175 lbs v Lemont Davis (1-2) 173 lbs

Josh Neal (4-3) 184 lbs v Kurt Osiander (2-1) 185 lbs

Cyrillo Padilha (1-1) 156 lbs v Bobby Stack (2-1) 155 lbs

Tony Johnson (0-1) 184 lbs v Eric Lawson (1-0) 185 lbs

Brad Royster (1-1) 134 lbs v Darren Uyenoyama (4-1) 136 lbs

Jose Palacios (1-1) 145 lbs v Alvin Cacdac (3-4) 143 lbs

Adam Steel (1-0) 168 lbs v Zakary Bucia (1-0) 168 lbs

Two title fights, between Strikeforce Lightweight Champion “The Punk” Josh Thomson (14-2-1) and Yves Edwards (34-14-1) and between Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-4) and “Babalu” Renato Sobral (29-8), will headline the event.

Also featured is a welterweight bout between “Diesel” Joe Riggs (28-10) and Luke Stewart (4-1).

The rest of the card includes:

Lemont Davis (1-2) versus Brian Schwartz (0-1) at 175 lbs
Brad Royster (1-1) versus Darren Uyenoyama (4-1) at 135 lbs
Tony Johnson (0-1) versus Eric Lawson (2-2) at 185 lbs
Alvin Cacdac (3-4) versus Jose Palacios (1-1) at  145 lbs
Bobby Stack (2-1) versus Cyrillo Padilha (1-1) at 155 lbs
Zakary Bucia (0-1) versus Jaime Rodriguez (0-0) at 155 lbs
Kurt Osiander (2-0) versus Raul Castillo (2-0) at 185 lbs
Nik Theotikos (5-0) versus Luke Rockhold (2-1) at 185 lbs

Strikeforce Lightweight Champion “Punk” Josh Thomson (16-2) will also defend his title versus an opponent yet to be named.

Before his last “W” over “Archer” Ashe Bowman (9-5) in Beverly Hills, north of Los Angeles, 20 September, Thomson expressed interest in fighting “Endless Fighter” Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1).  After the fight, Thomson also hoped to defend his title from Fighters.com’s fourth-ranked lightweight and DREAM champ “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (19-7-1).

After knocking off former Strikeforce champ “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez (14-2) in San Jose 27 June, Thomson has been desperate for an opponent who’d help him crack the top ten.

Southworth versus “Babalu” was originally scheduled for the 20 September card at the Playboy Mansion, but both fighters pulled up lame and spent the night chasing bunnies into the grotto (I assume).

Southworth defended his title from “El Toro” Anthony Ruiz (21-12) by UD in San Jose 27 June, then asked Strikeforce for the match-up versus Sobral.

Sobral won a UD over Mike Whitehead (22-6) in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, 19 July.

Also on the card, “Diesel” Joe Riggs (28-11) will return to welterweight to fight Luke Stewart (6-1).

In a brief return to middleweight, Riggs was TKO’d by ninth-ranked Kazuo Misaki (21-8-2) in Beverly Hills, while Stewart tapped Jesse Juarez (6-5) in an armbar on the undercard.

Clips of a reunion special filmed recently at the UFC Training Center in Las Vegas will air throughout the marathon.

TUF 1 cast members involved in the reunion are Fighters.com’s Light Heavyweight Champion and current UFC champion Forrest Griffin (16-4), Chris Leben (18-4), “American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar (11-4), Josh Koscheck (11-2), “Rock” Nathan Quarry (10-2), “KenFlo” Kenny Florian (10-3), “Nightmare” Diego Sanchez (19-2), Bobby Southworth (9-5), and “Quick” Mike Swick (12-2).

The reunion special will be hosted by Joe Rogan, and UFC President Dana White will also be on hand to discuss the impact the show has had on the UFC and on the sport of mixed martial arts.

After defending his title from “El Toro” Anthony Ruiz (21-11) in a five-round unanimous decision in San Jose 27 June, the 38-year old champion told a post-fight press conference, “I’m getting on in years.  I’d like to fight some bigger names.”

Southworth then indicated his desire to fight “Babalu”.

“Babalu” won a three-round unanimous decision over Mike Whitehead (21-6) in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, 19 July and called out “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-6-1) after the “W”.

“That is my dream fight,” Sobral told the post-fight press conference about a match-up with Ortiz.

Affliction, one of Sobral’s promoters, has yet to announced a rumoured deal with Ortiz.

Of Southworth and hist belt, Sobral said, “He is the protector and I am the hunter.  I want to be the new Strikeforce world champion.”

Southworth spoke about where he’s come from and where he’s going, the prospect of landing bigger fights, and the crowd’s reaction to his victory.

AKA is home gym to Fighters.com’s top welterweight contenderJon Fitch(17-2), fourth-ranked “Kos” Josh Koscheck (10-2), lightweight “Punk” Josh Thomson (14-2), UFC heavyweights “Hungarian Nightmare” Christian Wellisch (8-4) and Cain Velasquez (3-0), Affliction heavyweight “Headhunter” Paul Buentello (25-10), and other professional fighters.

The two-hour session was led by drill sergeant  Koscheck, who instructed fighters in wrestling drills.

(Koscheck and Fitch requested not to be photographed; but, Fitch gave Fighters.com a video interview after he trained.)

Thomson donned a rubber suit and shook his money maker around the mat to drop five-and-a-half pounds to make the 155-pound limit he successfully reached later at the Strikeforce weigh-ins.

Former Bodog and UFC middleweight Trevor Prangley(17-5) must’ve weighed a solid 220-pounds and rolled most of the session with Velasquez.

Buentello stepped into the ring to work on his boxing in preparation for his 19 July fight with ninth-ranked heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3).

Buentello tightened his combos and sured-up his “D” with AKA’s boxing coach.

Velasquez was the most intense fighter at AKA.  His mouth stayed shut, his gaze forward, and he took instruction from the vets while rolling with Prangley and Wellisch.

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (8-5) shadow boxed in preparation for his Friday title defense versus “El Toro” Anthony Ruiz (20-10).

Wellisch grappled frantically with both Buentello and Velasquez, twisting the fellow heavyweights into his repertoire of submissions.

Thompson has been Strikeforce’s top contender at 155-pounds for awhile.  Last September “The Punk” TKO’d Adam Lynn (11-8) in front of Hef’ and the bunnies at the Playboy Mansion.

Melendez mopped up an over-matched Gabe Lemley (11-7) in March after losing his first professional fight last December to “Endless Fighter” Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1).

MMA Junkie reports Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (8-5) will defend his title versus Anthony Ruiz (20-10) on the same card.