SAN JOSE– In a bruising battle of Bay Area rivals, undefeated Cung Le broke the right arm of defending champion Frank Shamrock en route to capturing the Strikeforce middleweight title with a thrilling, give-and-take, crowd-pleasing third-round TKO Saturday on SHOWTIME.
The long-awaited, eagerly anticipated mixed martial arts event, presented by EliteXC and Strikeforce, attracted an enthusiastic, well-behaved crowd of 16,326 at the HP Pavilion that produced a gate of more than $1 million. Those in attendance included EliteXC standouts Kimbo Slice, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz and Phil Baroni.
The fight card aired on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).
Gilbert Melendez (14-1) of San Francisco successfully defended his Strikeforce lightweight belt with a second-round knockout over hard-trying but outclassed Gabe Lemley (11-7) of New London, Iowa, in a second world title match on a five-bout telecast.
All Photos: TOM CASINO/EliteXC
In a fantastic third round to an exceptionally exciting, give-and-take slugfest Saturday on SHOWTIME, Cung Le delivers the kick that may have broken Frank Shamrock's arm, gets rocked by a Shamrock punch and delivers the finishing kick.
Le captured the Strikeforce middleweight title when defending champion Shamrock could not continue after the third round. The EliteXC-Strikeforce event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., was witnessed by an enthusiastic crowd of 16,326, that produced a gate of more than $1 million.
In a rousing slugffest, Joey Villasenor knocked out Ryan Jensen in the opening bout on SHOWTIME.
The Le-Shamrock, Melendez-Lemley fights were scheduled for five, 5-minute rounds. The others were slated for three, 5-minute rounds.
Gilbert Melendez retained his Strikeforce lightweight title with a second-round knockout over Gabe Lemley.
In other televised scraps, Drew Fickett (32-5) of Tucson, Ariz., earned a shot at the vacant EliteXC welterweight crown against Jake Shields by submitting Korea’s Jae Suk Lim (9-4) in the first round; super heavyweight Wayne Cole (11-6) of Oklahoma City, Okla., submitted (armbar) Mike Kyle (9-6-1) of San Jose in the first round and EliteXC standout Joey Villasenor (25-6) of Albuquerque, N.M., knocked out Ryan Jensen (11-4) of Omaha, Neb., in the first round.
Drew Fickett submitted Jae Suk Lim in the first to earn a shot at the vacant EliteXC welterweight title against Jake Shields June 14 on SHOWTIME.
Wayne Cole submitted Mike Kyle in the first round.
In the top non-televised fight, Tiki Ghosn (10-7) of Huntington Beach, Calif., registered an upset three-round decision over previously undefeated welter Luke Stewart (5-1) of San Francisco by the scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice. In other non-televised action, Jesse Jones (2-0) of Redwood City, Calif., scored a 0:35, first-round TKO (strikes) over Jesse Gillespie (1-1) of San Jose; Darren Uyenoyama (4-1) of San Francisco submitted Anthony Figueroa (4-2) of Gilroy, Calif., at 1:27 of the first round; and Billy Evangelista (6-0) of Fresno knocked out Marlon Sims (3-2) of San Jose at 3:39 of the third round.
“This was a great night for MMA and everybody involved with MMA,’’ EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw said. “Cung Le beat The Man. The respect he and Frank showed for each other was most impressive. Both athletes showed they not only are tremendous athletes but exceptional sportsmen.
“Drew Fickett was very impressive and I can’t wait to see his fight against Jake Shields June 14 on SHOWTIME. Wayne Cole won’t be training out of his garage in Oklahoma anymore. Joey Villasenor always puts on a great show. Gilbert Melendez did what he had to do.
“There are a lot of great fighters in a lot of MMA organizations, and we saw a lot of them tonight. These are the kinds of shows I am very proud to be a part of.
Le (6-0) was ahead by the scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice after three completed rounds.
“This was my toughest fight,’’ said Le, who was born in Vietnam, but fled the war-torn country as a baby in his mother’s arms in 1975 and immigrated to the United States where his family settled in San Jose. “I am proud to be Strikeforce champion. Tonight was a great night for MMA in general.’’
Both fighters were bleeding by the end of the first round, with blood coming from the lip of Le and a cut under Shamrock’s left eye. A taunting Shamrock ended the stanza by putting his hands to the side of his head as if to say “it is time for you to go to sleep.’’
Le wasn’t distracted by Shamrock’s antics, however, and knocked out his mouthpiece after an exchange of punches at the beginning of the second round. Later in the session, Shamrock made one of his few attempts to take Le to the ground, but Le always managed to escape.
Early in the third, after landing two powerful kicks to Shamrock’s head, Le connected with a sweeping leg kick that sent Shamrock to the canvas. Shamrock recovered and landed a huge right hand that hurt and dazed Le and followed with an onslaught of punches.
But Le retaliated with a barrage of kicks and licks of his own. Both fighters were bloodied and bruised after the three rounds.
“Frank is a legend, but I had a better night tonight,’’ Le said. ‘This was not easy. Frank surprised me by keeping his word to fight standing up and he kept coming at me. He hit me with some good punches and rocked me a few times. I saw some stars, but this was my chance to become a world champion and I pushed through it.
“I kept aiming for his wrist with my kicks because I knew I could hurt him there. I knew he was hurt when he started blocking my kicks with just one hand. But he has so much heart, I expected him to fight with a broken arm.
“I want to thank my fans for supporting and for accepting me. I did my best and brought my heart to the cage tonight. This is an unbelievable feeling.
“I have come a long way from Vietnam to become a world champion.’’
Before he was taken to a nearby hospital for surgery for what the California State Athletic Commission described as a fracture of the distal ulna (wrist fracture), Shamrock (24-9-1) said, “Cung Le broke my right arm with a kick.
“I kept trying to fight through it, but it was tough. He fought really hard tonight. He is a true champion.’’
Fickett, who has recorded submission victories in 21 of his 32 wins, required all of 1:14 to take Lim to the ground and tap him out.
“I came out here to fight and I stepped up,” Fickett said. “I wanted to fight (the injured) Jake (Shields), but I will get my chance to do that. I was just trying to choke Lim out on the ground, but he lifted me up and I was able to get a better hold around his neck.
"Once he fell back to the ground it was over. He had to tap out.”
Melendez dominated Lemley before the referee halted the one-sided proceedings at 2:18 of the second.
“I thought I had him at the end of the first round, but he was saved by the bell,’’ Melendez said. “Another five seconds and it would have been over.
“He was definitely a tough guy but these are the kinds of wins you need to get to prove to people you are among the very best in your weight class. I would love to unify the titles.
“I’d be glad to fight the winner of the KJ Noons-Yves Edwards fight (Noons defends his EliteXC lightweight belt against Edwards June 14 in Honolulu on SHOWTIME).’’
In the quickest fight of an action-packed night, Cole submitted Kyle (armbar) at 0:42 of the first.
“This was by far the biggest victory of my career, but no way I expected it to end that quickly. To win this kind of fight that quickly on SHOWTIME is a tremendous boost to me and my career.
“I was told that my weakness was I didn’t use my wrestling skills, so I wanted to take him down and show everyone what I have. I love to fight, but I try to get out of there as quickly as I can.’’
If the swift victory came as a surprise to Cole, it is going to be a total shock to his mother.
“My mom doesn’t even know I am doing MMA and I have been doing it three years,’’ said Cole moments before calling her. “She thought I was boxing. My seven sisters all knew what I was up to, but they didn’t tell her either.
“I am sure my mom will be proud of me, but she won’t be too happy with any of us that no one told her what was going on.’’
In perhaps the best knockout of the evening, Villasenor stopped Jensen with a series of powerful combinations followed by a punishing right hook.
“I was trying to find my range with him and the jabs were just trying to set something up,’’ said Villasenor after a short but rousing slugfest that featured numerous exchanges ended. “He caught me with some shots, but then I really connected with that right hook.
“I worked hard for this fight. He is a great competitor, but I really came out swinging. I want to thank EliteXC for giving me this opportunity and everyone back home who helps me train.
“I am willing to fight whoever they put in front of me.’’
Renowned play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo called the shots on Saturday's telecast with former wrestling superstar, Bill Goldberg, and "The Fight Professor," Stephen Quadros, serving as color analysts. The executive producer was David Dinkins, Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.
Saturday’s card will re-air as follows:
DAY CHANNEL
Monday, March 31, 8 p.m. ET/PT SHO EXTREME
Tuesday, April 1, 10 p.m. ET/PT SHO TOO
Wednesday, April 2, 10:45 p.m. ET/PT SHOWTIME
Fighter pages for televised bouts: Shamrock (http://frankshamrock.proelite.com), Le (http:/cungle.proelite.com), Melendez (http:/gilbertmelendez.proelite.com), Fickett (http:/drewfickett.proelite.com), Lim (http://jaesuklim.proelite.com), Kyle (http://mikekyle.proelite.com), Cole (http://waynecole.proelite.com), Villasenor (http://joeyvillasenor.proelite.com), Jensen (http://ryanjensen.proelite.com)
Fighter pages for non-televised bouts: Jones (http://jessejones.proelite.com), Gillespie (http://jessegillespie.proelite.com), Uyenoyama (http://darrenuyenoyama.proelite.com), Ghosn (http://tikighosn.proelite.com), Stewart (http://lukestewart.proelite.com).
MMA returns to SHOWTIME next Saturday, April 5, when promising light heavyweights, undefeated Jared Hamman (9-0) of San Bernardino, Calif., and once-beaten Poia Suganuma (8-1) of Hilo, Hawaii, collide in the main event of a six-bout telecast on ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series.
The card, which will also feature the return of Fabricio Camoes and two women’s fights, will air at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast) from Table Mountain Casino at Friant, Calif.
Tickets, priced at $50, $60, $70 and $80, are available at the Main Casino Cage at Table Mountain Casino and online at www.tmcasino.com/tickets.html. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. First live fight is at 5:30 p.m. PT.
EliteXC and CBS will make history when they bring MMA to network television in primetime on Saturday, May 31.
Incredibly popular Kimbo Slice will face an opponent to be announced in the main event. “Ruthless’’ Robbie Lawler will defend his EliteXC middleweight belt against Scott “Hands Of Steel” Smith in the co-feature. The remainder of the card will be announced in the near future.
The June 14 EliteXC card on SHOWTIME will be highlighted by two world title fights: Noons defends against Edwards and Shields and Fickett will square off for the vacant EliteXC welterweight title. An outstanding fight card also will include a fight between talented, world-class Nick Diaz and Mushin Corbbrey.
For more information on EliteXC and other MMA-related stories, including bios, video-on-demand, photos, stats, Fantasy Fight Game TM and more, please visit ProElite.com and EliteXC.com. For information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video, photo galleries and complete telecast information, please visit http://www.SHO.com/Sports.
About ProElite:
ProElite Inc. [PELE.PK] delivers the most exciting entertainment experience in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA) with live arena-based entertainment events, cable television programming on Showtime Networks and community-driven interactive broadband entertainment via the Internet. ProElite embraces MMA with the highest levels of honor, integrity, discipline and self-esteem all the while remaining inclusive for fighters, fans and schools. ProElite’s live fight division, EliteXC, delivers spectacular live MMA fight events that showcase the world’s top fighters [elitexc.com]. ProElite’s interactive business, ProElite.com, capitalizes on the growing popularity of the sport of mixed martial arts by building a community of MMA enthusiasts. In addition to streaming the most exciting live fights to the web, ProElite expands the fan base of the sport by providing a comprehensive set of online social networking tools for fans, fighters and organizations. ProElite.com – Empowering the Fight Community TM
About Strikeforce:
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” Since then, it has co-produced the first SHOWTIME PPV mixed martial arts event in history with its world championship “Shamrock vs. Baroni” card on June 22nd of this year followed by the first-ever mixed martial arts event at the world-famous Playboy Mansion on September 29th.
About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL® XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL® ON DEMAND. SNI is also an owner and manager of SUNDANCE CHANNEL®, a venture of NBC Universal, Robert Redford and SNI. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.
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