Strikeforce/elite Xc: March 29, 2008
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motawa
New member
diddydidit
New member
i highly doubt it,
SAN JOSE, Calif. – A crowd of 16,326 fans filled the HP Pavilion to witness what was the biggest fight in San Jose’s short mixed martial arts history. Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock headlined against San Shou stylist Cung Le in the latest EliteXC-Strikeforce co-promotion in what was billed as the “Battle of San Jose.”
Le started off with his patented kicks, keeping Shamrock at bay. Shamrock tried to get the fight to the ground, but was unable to impose his will. Le continued to land his kicks, while Shamrock worked the jab to get inside. It was an evenly matched first round with crowd cheering at any burst of action.
The second went much better for the challenger; he began to find his groove with kicks and mixed in some solid punch combinations. Shamrock was unsuccessful in his lone attempt to take the fight to the ground. Le continued to gain confidence, working Shamrock over with kicks. A worried look struck the champion as the round ended.
With momentum on his side in the third round, Le went on with his assault of kicks and punches, Shamrock continuing to grow more disconcerted. As the round continued, Le began to tire and Shamrock saw his chance to pounce. Shamrock landed a stinging punch and that hurt Le, who was at this point was tired. Shamrock went in for the kill, hurting Le with punches and landing the occasional knee to the head. Somehow Le survived the onslaught and returned fire with a high kick that rocked Shamrock, Le continued with a barrage of punches and one last high kick as the round ended.
Shamrock fell in pain and it was determined that he could no longer continue because of a possible broken arm, which resulted from the first high kick. The crowd exploded into cheer as Le’s corner ran in to celebrate with the new Strikeforce middleweight champion. Le will now be known as the “King of San Jose,” putting himself on the MMA map.
A late injury postponed Drew Fickett’s chances of becoming the EliteXC welterweight champion, but he still took care of business against Jae Suk Lim, who was also left without an opponent at the last minute. The two fighters traded shots on feet as the action quickly hit the ground and after a quick scramble ended with Fickett on his back. Not wasting any time, Fickett quickly locked on a guillotine choke and Lim stood up trying to escape, but was soon back on the ground forced to tap at 1:14 of the first round.
Fickett will now move on to meet Jake Shields on June 14 for the EliteXC welterweight championship in Hawaii.
Coming off his first career loss, Gilbert Melendez rebounded with a dominating performance over the outgunned Midwest fighter Gabe Lemley. Melendez was making his first defense of the Strikeforce lightweight championship and he made it look easy. From the onset, Melendez hurt Lemley with stinging punches and picking him up and slamming him to the ground. The rest of the round followed the same formula of Melendez landing heavy leather and keeping Lemley on the defensive.
The same formula continued in the second round. This time Melendez turned on the heat and battered the overmatched Lemley with strikes until the referee stopped the punishment at 2:18.
In heavyweight action, former NCAA All-American wrestler Wayne Cole made short work of UFC veteran Mike Kyle. Kyle was making his return to action after a lengthy suspension kept him out of action for the last two years. Cole wasted no time in getting a takedown, quickly trying to maneuver into mount, but was denied by Kyle. Cole once again tried for the mount, but instead switched over to an armbar that forced Kyle to tap at just 42 seconds of the opening round.
Although he faced several changes in opponent leading up to the fight, Joey Villasenor kept his cool and took care of business against UFC veteran Ryan Jensen. Both fighters were fairly cautious to begin the fight, neither engaging until Villasenor scored a takedown. Not much action transpired on the ground and they were stood back up. This is where the action got heated; Villasenor landed a huge hook that hurt Jensen, but was unable to follow up. They began to trade with Jensen getting the better of the exchanges, hurting Villasenor with crisp punch combinations. Just as it seemed to go in Jensen’s favor, Villasenor landed a huge left hook that put him out at 4:45 of the first round.
Tiki Ghosn got back on the winning track with a hard fought decision victory over Luke Stewart. Ghosn was able to thwart many of Stewart’s attempts to get the fight on the ground and punished him on the feet with punch combinations and knees in the clinch. On the rare occasion that the fight hit the ground, Ghosn was on top and in control. The judges rendered their verdict a unanimous decision with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
-Cung Le def. Frank Shamrock by TKO (Severely Damaged Arm) at 5:00, R3
-Drew Fickett def. Jae Suk Lim by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:14, R1
-Gilbert Melendez def. Gabe Lemley by TKO at 2:18, R2
-Wayne Cole def. Mike Kyle by Submission (Armbar) at 0:42, R1
-Joey Villasenor def. Ryan Jensen by KO at 4:45, R1
-Billy Evangelista def. Marlon Sims by KO at 0:39, R3
-Tiki Ghosn def. Luke Stewart by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Darren Uyenoyama def. Anthony Figueroa by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:27, R1
-Jesse Jones def. Jesse Gillespie by TKO at 0:35, R1
Le started off with his patented kicks, keeping Shamrock at bay. Shamrock tried to get the fight to the ground, but was unable to impose his will. Le continued to land his kicks, while Shamrock worked the jab to get inside. It was an evenly matched first round with crowd cheering at any burst of action.
The second went much better for the challenger; he began to find his groove with kicks and mixed in some solid punch combinations. Shamrock was unsuccessful in his lone attempt to take the fight to the ground. Le continued to gain confidence, working Shamrock over with kicks. A worried look struck the champion as the round ended.
With momentum on his side in the third round, Le went on with his assault of kicks and punches, Shamrock continuing to grow more disconcerted. As the round continued, Le began to tire and Shamrock saw his chance to pounce. Shamrock landed a stinging punch and that hurt Le, who was at this point was tired. Shamrock went in for the kill, hurting Le with punches and landing the occasional knee to the head. Somehow Le survived the onslaught and returned fire with a high kick that rocked Shamrock, Le continued with a barrage of punches and one last high kick as the round ended.
Shamrock fell in pain and it was determined that he could no longer continue because of a possible broken arm, which resulted from the first high kick. The crowd exploded into cheer as Le’s corner ran in to celebrate with the new Strikeforce middleweight champion. Le will now be known as the “King of San Jose,” putting himself on the MMA map.
A late injury postponed Drew Fickett’s chances of becoming the EliteXC welterweight champion, but he still took care of business against Jae Suk Lim, who was also left without an opponent at the last minute. The two fighters traded shots on feet as the action quickly hit the ground and after a quick scramble ended with Fickett on his back. Not wasting any time, Fickett quickly locked on a guillotine choke and Lim stood up trying to escape, but was soon back on the ground forced to tap at 1:14 of the first round.
Fickett will now move on to meet Jake Shields on June 14 for the EliteXC welterweight championship in Hawaii.
Coming off his first career loss, Gilbert Melendez rebounded with a dominating performance over the outgunned Midwest fighter Gabe Lemley. Melendez was making his first defense of the Strikeforce lightweight championship and he made it look easy. From the onset, Melendez hurt Lemley with stinging punches and picking him up and slamming him to the ground. The rest of the round followed the same formula of Melendez landing heavy leather and keeping Lemley on the defensive.
The same formula continued in the second round. This time Melendez turned on the heat and battered the overmatched Lemley with strikes until the referee stopped the punishment at 2:18.
In heavyweight action, former NCAA All-American wrestler Wayne Cole made short work of UFC veteran Mike Kyle. Kyle was making his return to action after a lengthy suspension kept him out of action for the last two years. Cole wasted no time in getting a takedown, quickly trying to maneuver into mount, but was denied by Kyle. Cole once again tried for the mount, but instead switched over to an armbar that forced Kyle to tap at just 42 seconds of the opening round.
Although he faced several changes in opponent leading up to the fight, Joey Villasenor kept his cool and took care of business against UFC veteran Ryan Jensen. Both fighters were fairly cautious to begin the fight, neither engaging until Villasenor scored a takedown. Not much action transpired on the ground and they were stood back up. This is where the action got heated; Villasenor landed a huge hook that hurt Jensen, but was unable to follow up. They began to trade with Jensen getting the better of the exchanges, hurting Villasenor with crisp punch combinations. Just as it seemed to go in Jensen’s favor, Villasenor landed a huge left hook that put him out at 4:45 of the first round.
Tiki Ghosn got back on the winning track with a hard fought decision victory over Luke Stewart. Ghosn was able to thwart many of Stewart’s attempts to get the fight on the ground and punished him on the feet with punch combinations and knees in the clinch. On the rare occasion that the fight hit the ground, Ghosn was on top and in control. The judges rendered their verdict a unanimous decision with scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
-Cung Le def. Frank Shamrock by TKO (Severely Damaged Arm) at 5:00, R3
-Drew Fickett def. Jae Suk Lim by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:14, R1
-Gilbert Melendez def. Gabe Lemley by TKO at 2:18, R2
-Wayne Cole def. Mike Kyle by Submission (Armbar) at 0:42, R1
-Joey Villasenor def. Ryan Jensen by KO at 4:45, R1
-Billy Evangelista def. Marlon Sims by KO at 0:39, R3
-Tiki Ghosn def. Luke Stewart by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Darren Uyenoyama def. Anthony Figueroa by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:27, R1
-Jesse Jones def. Jesse Gillespie by TKO at 0:35, R1
BigDaddy68
New member
If frank wasn't so stubborn, he would have dominated Le. He stuck to his word and stayed on his feet, miuns the 1 and a half take down attempts. I think that Le said he should have stopped in the first, because thats when he thought something broke in franks arm.
ManOfMuscle
Death Dealer
Pretty sure Fickett was drunk for that fight.
aznymadness
New member
No, Drew wasnt drunk he is just intense. I have know drew for a long time and that is just how he is, that is why he is a blast to hang out with. He has this saying knightrider that he picked up, and all it means is intensity. While he was trainging in Jupiter fl, I went down to see him and his corner man james. We made a bet on the ncaa tournimet and on the arizona wildcats since we are both from tucson. The bet was 5 u call its. What that is, is that the winner can anytime tell the loser to do a push up and he has to do it. Of course I won the bet and I told his corner man James to call the u call it for me sometime durning the fight. He did during the interview, explaining why he did one push up. Just thought that you guys would like to know the reason for 1 push up
aznymadness
New member
No shit jayc it is the truth I promise. Drew is a man of his word