Event Title: StrikeForce: Shamrock vs Le
Event Date: 29 March 2008
Event Venue: Pavilion
Event Location: San Jose
Date submitted: 02 April 2008
Submitted by: Mario Ortega Jr
MMA phenom Cung Le won the battle of former sparring mates and San Jose transplants, scoring a third-round TKO over MMA legend Frank Shamrock to capture the Strikeforce Middleweight title in front of a raucous crowd of 16,326 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
The much quicker Le, 183, controlled the fight from the outset, picking Shamrock apart from the outside with kicks and punches. Shamrock, 185, stayed true to his pre-fight word, staying on his feet, fighting Le’s fight. In the first, Le kept Shamrock on the outside with his quick feet and hands. The veteran Shamrock was the one who looked tense, while his opponent looked comfortable from the beginning. Shamrock only awakened after Le missed a kick, landing a few solid shots near the end of the round.
Round two looked much the same as the first, with Le controlling the action in the stand-up position, and the much slower Shamrock looking his 35 years of age. Le, who is also 35, kept Shamrock where he could not hurt him the majority of the bout. Le dominated the first four minutes of the third round, much as he did the first two, even sending Shamrock to the ground with a kick. The next fifty seconds completely belonged to Shamrock who finally got close enough to land some telling punches, the first of which being a straight right hand that seemed to bother Le. The momentum quickly turned back in Le’s favor, as he landed a kick to Shamrock’s arm. Shamrock retreated in pain, with Le following to land another kick, this time to Shamrock’s head as the round came to a close. At the end of the round, the ring physician ordered a stop to the bout, as Shamrock may have suffered a broken arm.
While the bout had its share of excitement, it was apparent from the beginning this was a fight between friends with a great deal of respect for one another. Often times when one of them would land a good shot, the other would nod in approval and they would end up touching gloves.
Drew Fickett of Tucson, Arizona scored a quick first-round submission victory over reigning Spirit MC Middleweight Champion Jae Sok Lim of Korea. Fickett locked in a guillotine choke on Kim, who tapped out at 1:14 of the opening round.
Lim was a late addition to face Fickett after original opponent Nick Diaz of Stockton, California, was ruled out by the California State Athletic Commission earlier in the week. The commission’s decision on Diaz caused a great deal of controversy heading into Saturday. It was reported that Armando Garcia forced the removal of Diaz from the card due to his medicals’ late arrival in to the commission. The reason was publicly disputed by promoter Gary Shaw, who said other fighters’ medicals were accepted after Diaz’ were sent in.
Speculation is that Diaz was ruled out for declaring his medicinal use of marijuana, despite not testing positive for the drug. Diaz holds a first-round TKO victory over Fickett.
Gilbert Melendez of San Francisco, California completely dominated Gabriel Lemley of New London, Iowa, scoring a second-round knockout at 2:18 in defense of his Strikeforce Lightweight title. Melendez, 154 ½, took Lemley to the ground early in the first and kept him there for the entire round, reigning down punches while Lemley tried to block and grab as much as possible. Towards the end of the round it looked as if the referee would have to stop it, but Lemley made it to the bell. Melendez took Lemley back to the ground early in the second, and this time the referee did stop it after a series of unanswered punched landed to the head of the Iowa native.
Wayne Cole of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma improved with a quick armbar submission of local favorite Mike Kyle, 225 of San Jose, California at just 42 seconds of the opening round. For Cole, 209, it marks the most impressive victory of his MMA career.
Joey Villasenor, 185, of Albuquerque, New Mexico scored a devastating first-round knockout of Ryan Jensen, 186, of Omaha, Nebraska at 4:45 of the first round. Jensen tried competing with Villasenor at his own game – boxing. It was a mistake in strategy as Villasenor was a regional amateur boxing champion with a record as an amateur boxer. When they stood up late in the round, Villasenor lined Jensen up with his jab and landed a straight right hand that had Jensen out before he hit the ground. Villasenor improves with the win.
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