'Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine' results: Legere wrestles way to win over Spang

Welterweight Ricky Legere successfully handled his opponent's height and reach advantage and continually put Swedish gymnast Chris Spang on his back.

The ground-oriented game plan ultimately led Legere to a unanimous-decision victory.

The preliminary-card fight was part of "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine" and aired on Showtime Extreme.

It took place at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and preceded the night's Showtime-televised main card.

Legere scored an early slam-takedown, though Spang remained active off his back. Legere controlled the action during a sustained ground fight and landed some decent shots from the top. Spang returned to his feet in the finale minute of the round and nearly cinched a guillotine choke after pulling guard, but it wasn't enough to win the round.

In the second round, Legere absorbed a vicious leaping knee but scored a takedown in the process. Once on the mat, he delivered a steady stream of punches. With two minutes remaining, referee Kim Winslow called for a standup, but Spang soon was slammed back to the canvas, where he spent the remainder of the round.

Spang unloaded some heavy punches and kicks in the first 90 seconds of the final round, but Legere soon scored another takedown. Spang delivered elbows from below and desperately tried to get to his feet, but Legere's relentless and controlling top game presented constant problems. Spang finally escaped late in the fight and threatened with what appeared to be a deep rear-naked choke, but Legere survived and close out the round with punches from the mount position.

In the end, all three judges scored the fight 29-28.

"I didn’t come out quite like I wanted to, but once I started putting things together, I was able to implement my game," Legere said. "I wanted to exploit his weakness on the ground, and I was able to do that. Big thanks to 'Mayhem' Miller and Mark Munoz for getting me ready on short notice."

Legere (14-4 MMA, 1-0 SF), a longtime KOTC fighter, now owns four straight wins. Spang (4-1 MMA, 1-1 SF) suffers his first career loss.

Up-to-the-fight results include:
Ricky Legere def. Chris Spang via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Estevan Payan def. Alonzo Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) For the latest on "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine," check out the MMA Events section of MMAjunkie.com.

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