EliteXC/Strikeforce; mixed martial arts spectacular at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., made weight

The 18 fighters who will compete on tomorrow's/Saturday's huge EliteXC-Strikeforce mixed martial arts spectacular at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., made weight Friday at the HP Pavilion. Doors open Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT. First fight is at 5 o'clock. Tickets are available.

All Photos: TOM CASINO/EliteXC

Frank Shamrock (left) defends his Strikeforce middleweight title against Cung Le in a highly-anticipated matchup of Bay Area rivals in the main event of a five-fight telecast on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).


Gilbert Melendez (left) risks his Strikeforce lightweight belt against Gabe Lemley.

Drew Fickett (left) faces Jae Suk Lim in a compelling matchup at 172 pounds.

Wayne Cole (left) and Mike Kyle collide in an important fight for both athletes.

EliteXC standout Joey Villasenor meets Ryan Jensen in the SHOWTIME telecast's opening bout.
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Cung Le: I Am A Fighter‏

Check out the latest video from SHOWTIME - Cung Le: I Am a Fighter - on the premium network's website. (Direct link to the Shamrock vs. Le event page below.) Along with Goldberg Toe-To-Toe and SHO Shorts, I Am a Fighter is yet another viral video series created to bring MMA fans closer to their favorite fighters than ever before.

And don't forget SHOWTIME Cage Cam goes live on Saturday night during the main event (approximately 10:15 pm ET). Visit www.SHO.com during the telecast to go inside the cage with two of the world's most explosive and talented fighters.

http://www.sho.com/site/sports/ShamrockVSLe.do
Showtime Networks Inc.

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SecondsOut Radio: Joseph Agbeko, Richard Schaefer‏

SecondsOut Radio: Joseph Agbeko, Richard Schaefer On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman speakswith Joseph Agbeko, the IBF bantamweight champion, and Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. Joseph "King Kong" Agbeko (25-1, 22 KOs) was not widely known to the boxing world before his title fight Sept. 29, 2007, with then-IBF bantamweight champion Luis Perez. Most of his fights had been in Africa against opponents who were now here near being world-ranked. But that did not stop Agbeko from pulling the upset and dethroning the veteran Perez with a seventh-round TKO. We discussed with Joseph Agbeko his background as a fighter and his plans for his next fight. We also recently spoke with Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, at the kick off news conference to announce the April 19 fight between two champions, light heavyweight king Bernard Hopkins and super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe. We spoke with him about this fight, and also about the plans of Golden Boy Promotions to enter the worlds of soccer (football) and mixed martial arts. Also, we discuss the narrow view of much of the boxing media towards combat sports, their failure to understand other real combat sports such as mixed martial arts and wrestling, and their fawning over the staged pro "wrestling" spectacle, which has left so many of its participants prematurely dead. It is free to listen to SecondsOut Radio, but you must register togain access to it. Just click here, http://www.secondsout.com/radio/,and listen, learn, and enjoy. Thanks, Eddie Goldman No Holds Barred bloghttp://nhbnews.blogspot.com/ No Holds Barred podcasthttp://nhbnews.podomatic.com/ The Boxing Standardhttp://boxingstandard.com/ No Holds Barred on MySpacehttp://www.myspace.com/nhbnewsboxing, entertainment, fight sports, film, literary arts, mixed martial arts, nightlife, politics, special events,