EliteXC/Strikeforce Results
by Robert Sargent
Following a number of last-minute changes, the EliteXC/Strikeforce event in San Jose turned out quite well in the end, and the night concluded with Cung Le capturing the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship from Frank Shamrock.
Despite last-minute changes to the card, the crowd was heavily into the fights, and booed only at the mention of the California State Athletic Commission and Armando Garcia.
Strikeforce Middleweight Championship
Cung Le vs "The Legend" Frank Shamrock
Staying true to his word, Shamrock engaged in a kickboxing match with Le, rather than taking the fight to the ground, but wound up paying dearly, as a high kick late in the third round broke Shamrock's arm and left him unable to continue.Le opened up with kicks early on, then twisted to escape a brief clinch from Shamrock. Shamrock began kicking to the body of Le, while Le countered with punches and his usual unorthodoxed front and crescent kicks. Le landed a pair of kicks to the head of Shamrock, while Shamrock threw weak kicks to Le's legs. Le missed with a spinning back fist attempt, which led to Shamrock rushing in and landing a knee that split Le's lip open. Shamrock landed a good punching combination near the end of the round, but it was a round solidly dominated by Le. Shamrock's verbal taunting and facial expressions seemed to have little effect.
A kick from Le early in the second round knocked Shamrock's mouthpiece out, which led to more smiling from the veteran. Le continued to land punches while Shamrock went back to body kicks, which left a large welt on Le's left side. As Le punished Shamrock with punches and occasional front kicks, the damage began to show on Shamrock's face, but this led only to more taunting from Shamrock. After an exchange of low kicks, Le sent Shamrock back with a body kick and a right hook, then landed a series of kicks to the body before the end of the round. Another solid round for Le.
Le opened up round three with dozens of kicks and punches, with the smile fading from Shamrock's face. Following a series of kick-punch combos, Le drilled Shamrock with a spinning back fist and then knocked him down with a kick to the leg. Shamrock, appearing to be all business, started to rally and landed a hard punch and a pair of quick combinations, and Le was staggered. More punches from Shamrock left Le up against the cage, but Le fought back with punches of his own, then landed a hard high kick, which Shamrock blocked with his arm. Le finished the round with more punches.
At the conclusion of round three, Shamrock collapsed to the ground in his corner, in obvious pain, and it was revealed the one of the high kicks from Le had broken Shamrock's arm. Shamrock was unable to continue, leaving Le as the victor.
Winner: Cung Le by TKO (Broken Arm) at 5:00 of round three. He improves to 6-0-0 and is the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.
Drew "The Master" Fickett vs "The Korean Ice Pick" Jae Suk Lim
Lim, the reigning Spirit MC Middleweight Champion, never had a chance to display his talents to the North American audience, as an early choke from Fickett quickly ended the fight.Although both fighters weighed in at 170 pounds, Fickett was clearly the much larger fighter and used his size advantage well. He clinched almost immediately, then exchanged a few punches with Lim, but nothing that hurt either fighter. Lim clinched and executed a very impressive sweep takedown, but Fickett immediately rolled and reversed position. As Lim moved to get back to his feet, Fickett locked in a guillotine choke, which eventually forced Lim to submit.
Winner: Drew Fickett by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:14 of round one. He improves to 33-5-0.
Strikeforce Lightweight Championship
Gilbert "El Niņo" Melendez vs Gabe Lemley
Although Lemley displayed an active guard, this fight was all Melendez, as he battered his overmatched opponent from start to finish.Lemley came out striking, and landed a couple of good punches, but Melendez rocked Lemley with a hard right. As Lemley tried to recover, Melendez went for a takedown and worked from Lemley's guard. Lemley went for triangle and omoplata attempts, but Melendez shrugged them off and passed to side-control. After landing some punches from the top, Melendez stood up and dropped a hard right to the face of Lemley. Melendez continued to land flurries of punches from Lemley's guard for the remainder of the round, leaving Lemley's face a battered mess. Clear-cut round for Melendez.
Melendez landed a hard right early in round two, then scored another takedown. For the next two minutes, Melendez rained down punches to the face of Lemley, eventually forcing Lemley to roll to his side. After Melendez landed a series of unanswered punches, the fight was stopped and Melendez retained his title.
Winner: Gilbert Melendez by TKO (Punches) at 2:18 of round two. He improves to 14-1-0 and remains Strikeforce Lightweight Champion.
Wayne Cole vs Mike "MAK" Kyle
Kyle made his return to fighting after a two-year layoff following a suspension after he repeatedly punched a downed fighter who was being attended to at WEC 20. Unfortunately for him, he was quickly submitted in the first round.Cole used a clinch to take Kyle to the ground, where he quickly passed to side-control. Cole stood up and grabbed hold of Kyle's left arm, then dropped down into an armbar. Kyle briefly tried to fight it off before tapping out.
Winner: Wayne Cole by Submission (Armbar) at 0:45 of round one. He improves to 11-6-0.
"Smokin'" Joe Villasenor vs Ryan Jensen
UFC veteran Jensen took this fight on extremely short notice, but wound up losing for the third time in a row, following a devastating right hook late in the first round.After an early striking exchange, Villasenor took the fight to the ground, but was unable to do anything from Jensen's guard. Villasenor landed a few weak strikes from the top, but nothing effective and the fight eventually went back to the feet. Villasenor landed a knee that cut Jensen, then rocked Jensen badly with a hard left. Jensen ducked the follow-up punches, however, and came back with three flurries of his own, which had Villasenor on the defensive. Villasenor then landed a few quick jabs and a huge haymaker right that knocked Jensen out cold.
Winner: Joe Villasenor by KO (Punch) at 4:45 of round one. He improves to 25-6-0.
Undercard Fights:
UFC veteran Tiki Ghosn defeated Luke Stewart by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 10-7-0.Darren Uyenoyama defeated Anthony Figueroa by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:27 of round one. He improves to 4-1-0.
Jesse Jones defeated Jesse Gillespie by TKO (Strikes) at 0:35 of round one. He improves to 2-0-0.
Billy Evangelista defeated Marlon Sims by KO (Strikes) at 0:39 of round three. He improves to 6-0-0.
While the card did not turn out as it had originally been planned to, EliteXC and Strikeforce did put on a solid event, especially given that two of their biggest stars - Jake Shields and Nick Diaz - could not participate.
