NICK DIAZ DOMINATES FRANK SHAMROCK,
 GILBERT MELENDEZ WINS INTERIM STRIKEFORCE BELT,
 SMITH, ROGERS, CYBORG ALSO VICTORIOUS

Mixed martial arts made a smashing return to premium network television Saturday with a scintillating fight card that featured heaps of strikes, kicks, drama, unbelievable comebacks and a brilliant, poised, victorious performance by Nick Diaz

Photo: Tom Casino/Strikeforce

In a dominant outing in which he was in control throughout, Diaz (19-7, 1 NC) of Stockton, Calif., made good on his vow, and impressively knocked out legendary MMA pioneer and local favorite Frank Shamrock before an enthusiastic crowd of 15,211 at HP Pavilion.

A Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Diaz took apart Shamrock with seeming ease. He whipped Shamrock on the ground and at the veteran’s game – on the feet. The fight was stopped at 3:57 of the second round with Diaz reigning punches with both hands on a fallen, helpless Shamrock.

At times, Diaz seemed to be toying, even mocking Shamrock. Twice, Diaz, who was moving up to compete at a catch-weight 179 pounds, took side-control, a dominant position, but Shamrock fought his way out on both occasions.

 Shamrock (24-9-2), however, could not get inside Diaz’ long reach and wound up getting pummeled. How bad a night was it for the hometown favorite? Shamrock may not have even won the battle of introductions in a fight in his hometown.

Shamrock will be back, though, he says, and so, of course, will Diaz.

In other televised fights, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez captured the interim Strikeforce lightweight championship with a second-round knockout over Rodrigo Damm, Scott Smith rallied from the brink of defeat to register a stunning third-round knockout over Benji Radach in a brutal battle of determined, heavy-handed middleweights, Cris “Cyborg” Santos knocked out Hitomi Akano in the third round of a women’s match and Brett Rogers scored a crowd-pleasing second-round TKO over  “Abongo” Humphrey in a hard-fought matchup of unbeaten heavyweights

Photo credits: Matt De La Rosa of PROMMA. More pics here

 

 

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Three-time world champion and mixed martial arts (MMA)
legend, Frank Shamrock (24-9-1), welcomed the media to his new Shamrock Martial Arts Academy in San Jose during an open workout on Wednesday, March 18, three and a half weeks before his highly anticipated showdown with bitter rival Nick Diaz (18-7, 1 NC).

The former Strikeforce and UFC world middleweight champion, who has been referred to as “the closest thing that mixed martial arts has to Muhammad Ali,” wooed the press with his western boxing regimen and, soon after, with his magnetic personality, while fielding a host of questions.

Shamrock and Diaz haven’t masked their resentment for one another during the last several weeks while preparing for their matchup at San Jose ’s HP Pavilion, the same arena where Shamrock knocked out Diaz’s trainer, Cesar Gracie, in 21 seconds on March 10, 2006.

The two fighters exchanged multiple barbs during the kickoff press conference held by SHOWTIME and Strikeforce at Avalon Hollywood in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 12^th.

The bout represents the first appearance of 2009 for both fighters.  The 36-year-old Shamrock is looking to regain his footing amongst the sport’s best after suffering a broken arm in his championship bout with undefeated Cung Le on March 29, 2008.

Diaz is aiming for his fourth consecutive victory, following a flawless run in 2008.  The 25-year-old Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt, who hails from Stockton , Calif., stopped all three of his opponents last year.

Diaz and former Strikeforce lightweight champion, Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (14-2), will host a joint media day at Fairtex Muay Thai Fitness in San Francisco next Friday, March 27, at 1 p.m.

The 26-year-old Melendez will look to reclaim his title from Josh “The Punk” Thomson (16-2),
the man who seized it from him last year, in a five-round title fight on the April 11^th card.

Strikeforce “Shamrock vs. Diaz” will air live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) on Saturday, April 11.

Tickets for “Shamrock vs. Diaz,” priced from $30, are available for purchase at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (408-998-TIXS), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and Strikeforce’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).