Frank Shamrock became the first Strikeforce middleweight champion by submitting Phil "The New York Bad Ass" Baroni with a rear naked choke four minutes into the second round of the StrikeForce Elite Xtreme Combat: Shamrock vs. Baroni main event on Friday night in front of 10,375 at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

In other fights, Murilo "Ninja" Rua finished Joey Villasenor in two rounds to capture the vacant EliteXC middleweight crown, world San Shou kickboxing champion Cung Le extended his undefeated mixed martial arts record to 4-0 by stopping UFC veteran Tony "The Freak" Fryklund in the second round of their featured contest.

The Shamrock-Baroni meeting lived up to all its hype and anticipation as both fighters rushed out of the gates and attempted to draw first blood. Shamrock controlled the first round, bombing on his opponent with punches before dropping Baroni with a hard right hand.

Shamrock was penalized one point for striking Baroni to the back of the head with two right hands. After the fight resumed, Baroni shot in and took Shamrock to the mat. The fighters worked their way back to their feet and Shamrock quickly went to work with his hands, repeatedly scoring with his jab and right hand.

In the second round, Baroni retaliated, attacking Shamrock’s body with right hand punches. Baroni answered a one-two punch combination by shooting for a takedown, but Shamrock defended by sprawling. Shamrock took Baroni’s back and secured a rear naked choke. Refusing to tap, Baroni was choked into unconsciousness. The referee halted the fight and awarded the TKO victory and Strikeforce title to Shamrock.

In the first-ever EliteXC Middleweight championship, Murilo "Ninja" Rua exploded in the second round, unloading a flurry of punches and finally dropping Villasenor with a right hand counter. Rua rushed in and scored a handful of punches on his downed opponent before the referee stopped the fight at the 1:05 mark and declared Rua the winner and first-ever EliteXC 185-pound champion.

Like he did in his first three efforts in the cage, Cung Le quickly went to work with his arsenal of kicks before dropping Tony Fryklund with a right hand. Le was completely poised throughout the first round.

In the second stanza, Fryklund found his mark and began backing Le up with his own punch combinations. Le successfully fought him off and, in the opening seconds of the third round, went on the attack; his right kick to the body set up a right hand that dropped and finished Fryklund at the 25-second mark of the round.

In other action, former UFC heavyweight title challenger Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello continued his reign of terror over mixed martial arts’s heavyweight division by hammering former K-1 North America tournament champion Carter "The Beast" Williams. Buentello dominated the first round of the matchup and, at the start of the second, unloaded two quick uppercuts to Williams' chin that put Williams on his back and out of the fight.

Source: www.ocregister.com