Le breaks Frank Shamrock's arm, wins his belt
by BRIAN KNAPP, The Fight Network
When Shamrock was deemed unfit to continue at the end of Round 3, Le was awarded the emotional victory and with it perhaps some respect from a mixed martial arts world that seemed reluctant to embrace him as one of its own.
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It marked the first time in more than 11 years that Shamrock (24-9-1, 2-1 Strikeforce) had been stopped. Not since Yuki Kondo kicked him out of the ring at a Pancrase show in September 1996 had the former UFC middleweight champion been unable to finish a fight.
An unusually humble Shamrock — his broken limb held by a makeshift sling — complimented Le on his performance afterward. He may regret the decision to stand with the San Shou master in the morning.
"Cung Le broke my right arm," Shamrock said. "I could feel the bones clicking together. Anyone who says Cung Le doesn't know submissions ... he put one on my arm."
After an evenly matched Round 1, Le slowly seized command of the action. He jarred Shamrock with a right hand in the second round and christened the third with a dazzling leg sweep that left the startled champion on his backside. Shamrock, to his credit, rallied late in the stanza, but Le smothered any thought of a potential comeback when he slammed his leg into Shamrock's wrist.
The wounded champion winced in pain as he backpedaled and then crumpled to his knees once the round ended.
"Every time I kicked, I kicked through him," Le said. "He caught me with some hard punches and rocked me a few times. I saw some stars. It was not easy."
Le (6-0, 6-0 Strikeforce) remains unbeaten and, even at age 35, looks like a potential centerpiece for the Strikeforce promotion. He, too, was taken aback by Shamrock's willingness to stand and exchange.
"I guess he did keep his word," Le said. "It was just my night. I was the better man tonight. I did my best, fought with my heart and left everything in the cage."
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| A humbled Frank Shamrock used a makeshift sling after the fight. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press) |
While Shamrock surrendered his crown, Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez had no trouble retaining his.
Melendez (14-1, 4-0 Strikeforce) battered Gabe Lemley with swift takedowns and brutal ground-and-pound. Responding well to his first career loss, Melendez slammed punches and hammer fists into the downed Lemley's face, blackening both the Miletich Fighting System's protege's eyes.
The finish came 2:18 into Round 2, as Melendez scored with a takedown and blistered his opponent with a series of unanswered blows.
"It's easy to have a goal to be No. 1," Melendez said. "Once you're on top, you have to stay on top."
In welterweight action, UFC veteran Drew Fickett cinched a first-round guillotine choke on South Korean Jae Suk Lim and coaxed a tap-out from the Spirit Martial Challenge titleholder in a little more than a minute.
A polished kickboxer, Lim (9-4, 1-1 EXC) was out of his element once the fight hit the ground. Fickett (33-5, 1-0 EXC) now has 21 submissions to his credit and will likely face Jake Shields for the vacant EliteXC welterweight championship in June.
Shields, on a nine-fight winning streak, withdrew from Saturday's show with a back injury.
"It's unfortunate Jake got hurt," Fickett said, "but we're going to fight."
Elsewhere, former EliteXC middleweight title contender Joey Villasenor knocked out Team Quest's Ryan Jensen (11-4, 0-1 Strikeforce) with a crisp overhand right 4:45 into Round 1. Based out of Jackson's Submission Fighting, Villasenor (25-6, 3-1 EXC) has won back-to-back fights since his technical knockout loss to Murilo "Ninja" Rua in June.
"I worked hard for this fight," said Villasenor, who saw his first scheduled opponent, Joe Riggs, and his replacement, Evangelista Santos, back out of the event.
"I don't want to take anything away from him, but he was totally the opposite of what I was training for, and it kind of stressed me out."
Meanwhile, Wayne Cole needed just 42 seconds to submit the American Kickboxing Academy's Mike Kyle (9-7-1, 0-1-1 Strikeforce) with an opening-round armbar. A two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, Cole (11-6, 1-0 EXC) scored with a quick takedown, worked to side mount and positioned himself for the finish.
"I wanted to get him down," Cole said. "I try to get out of here as quick as I can. Once I got [the armbar], I had it pretty tight."
Lightweight Billy Evangelista (6-0, 2-0 Strikeforce), bantamweight Darren Uyenoyama (4-1, 2-0 Strikeforce) and welterweights Tiki Ghosn (10-7, 1-0 Strikeforce) and Jesse Jones (2-0, 2-0 Strikeforce) were all victorious in preliminary bouts.
Full results
Strikeforce/EliteXC
Saturday, March 29
HP Pavilion
San Jose, Calif.
Strikeforce Middleweight Championship
Cung Le def. Frank Shamrock — TKO (arm injury) 5:00 R3
Strikeforce Lightweight Championship
Gilbert Melendez def. Gabe Lemley — TKO (referee stoppage, strikes) 2:18 R2
Drew Fickett def. Jae Suk Lim — tap out (guillotine choke) 1:14 R1
Wayne Cole def. Mike Kyle — tap out (armbar) 0:42 R1
Joey Villasenor def. Ryan Jensen — KO (punch) 4:45 R1
Billy Evangelista def. Marlon Sims — KO (punch) 0:39 R3
Tiki Ghosn def. Luke Stewart — unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Darren Uyenoyama def. Anthony Figueroa — tap out (guillotine choke) 1:27 R1
Jesse Jones def. Jesse Gillespie — TKO (referee stoppage, strikes) 0:35 R1
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