The HP Pavilion in San Jose had a final attendance of 16,326 for the Strikeforce: “Shamrock vs. Cung Le” event.
Considering the stranglehold the UFC has on the casual MMA fan, that’s a pretty impressive number.
What was even more impressive was watching Cung Le rise to the occasion against an opponent that many thought was too skilled for the San Shou warrior.
Le is too green, Le has suspect conditioning, Le has no ground game.
Ladies and gentlemen, Le is the new Strikeforce middleweight champion.
Longtime fans will recall a similar scenario when a young, up-and-coming Ruskie named Fedor Emelianenko first challenged the PRIDE deity known as Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira.
I’m not saying that Le is the next Fedor, but to be 6-0 with 6 (T)KO’s is an awfully good start.
I’ve heard the conspiracy theories since the end of the fight, and to be perfectly honest, I’m not buying any of them.
I’m not naive enough to think that no sporting event is ever fixed, but anyone who understands the motives behind fixing an event understands this was neither the time nor the place.
Besides, I’ve been following Frank Shamrock long enough to know his ego would never allow him to roll over for anybody.
And speaking of ego, it may have cost Shammy the fight. He wasn’t a lame duck by any means, and his striking was probably as good as I’ve ever seen it.
The problem was that he couldn’t adjust to Le’s versatility in his kicks. There was no pattern. A lot of strikers are predictable. Low kick, straight right. High kick, spin.
Le was all over the map. He uses kicks like Anderson Silva uses punches. They were coming from so many different angles that Frank could only defend and that kept him from getting inside.
I kept waiting for Frank to go to the ground. But he promised to keep it standing, and I think in Frank’s eyes going to the ground would be admitting defeat. Conceding that Le is the superior striker may have been the only way for Shamrock to win.
Still, Frank is a warrior and he can take punishment. He was close to ending it in the third but Le found a way to answer. To me that gives a level of credibility to his championship.
This was not a flash KO, rather a three round war of attrition. From a striking perspective, it’s got my vote for fight of the year.
And of course there is also the other end of the spectrum. I’m speaking of the world’s greatest streetfighter. No not Kimbo Slice, the other legendary streetfighter named Marlon Sims.
Sims was KOed in the third round against Billy Evangelista. I don’t fault him for the loss, but he looked like a streetfighter in the process. In that I mean he looked like someone who was pulled off the streets and asked to fight.
Gilbert Melendez retained his lightweight title by mauling Gabe Lemley but truth be told I didn’t think “El Nino” looked as sharp as he has in the past. Like his loss at Yarennoka, he left himself open on more than one occasion and fought a little recklessly.
And speaking of reckless, did Gabe Lemley owe Herb Dean money? Lemley took a lot of punishment before getting rescued.
Unfortunately no one could rescue Ryan Jensen. He was tough on the ground but the replay showed him trading blows with his eyes closed in a state of perpetual flinching. Not a good strategy against a seasoned guy like Joey Villasenor.
At the post-fight press conference someone asked Wayne Cole what camp he was affiliated with to which Cole’s response was “My garage”. After the armbar he slapped on Mike Kyle, he should start shopping himself around.
The Drew Fickett that phoned it in at the weigh-ins was thankfully nowhere to be found at tonight’s show. In his place was the venerable “Master” we’re used to and the way he dispatched Lim was an indication that he’s got his sights set on Jake Shields for June 14.
And since we’re on the topic of the next Strikeforce event, can they please bring back the same dancers? Nothing like solid legs and a thick booty to get a stadium full of alpha males pounding on their chests (present company included).
Overall this was a solid event. I have never heard a crowd pop like they did for the main event. They love MMA in San Jose and when you pull in the kind of attendance Strikeforce did you can bet they’ll be back.
And so will I.
41 Comments »
Bring it on! Anderson Silva vs. Cung Le!
Silva would hurt him
Cung Le is fighting in the wrong weight class imo. He was smaller than Frank and most likely moved up to get to weigh in at 183
Anderson Silva is over 200 and is 4 inches taller. Cung Le might do well vs guys he outskills but vs a higher level of competition it’s a huge disadvantage to be that undersized. GSP fights at 170 and he walks around at like 190 and being 5′10 isn’t a disadvantage in that weight class, whereas the top three in 185 in the UFC, Anderson, Okami, Henderson are 6′2 and Henderson 6′1. Okami also walking around well over 200, Rich Franklin, 6′1 well over 200, etc
Thick legs!!!!
[quote comment="393865"]Thick legs!!!![/quote]
On chicks
lol, Jesse an alpha male.
Sounds like you had a better time than I did at my event in Gatineau, Quebec. David Loiseau looked impressive winning a one sided decision in the main event. But he did it in a half empty arena. I think everyone in the region blew their money on ufc 83, so we were lucky if there was a thousand people present. Hector Ramirez defeated Rob Mcdonald, and Nabil Khatib defeated Gideon Ray, all by decision.
Shamrock was clowning around too much in order to try to disguise the fact that he was being outstruck, but it was a war.
Yeah Elite XC girls>UFC ones imo by far, anyways great event loved it. Gots ta agree doh Cung Lee does seem like he is not to big, he probably should drop to 170 actually would make tons of sense because there is more competition there im sure. He could be the first to hold 2 strikeforce titles or something.
*note* I was really hopeing Shamrock was gonna test Cung’s ground game sadly didnt get to see that. So there still is some shit left to see where Cung stands exactly.
stop the speculation, people was 90% for Frank win. Now it’s time to respect Cung. Give him one year of ground training and he’ll be as good as anyone else
I was hoping frank would win but in the end it doesn’t matter cos it was a great fight, both dudes left it all in the cage and there could be a rematch in the future. Awesome fight.
[quote comment="393893"]I was hoping frank would win but in the end it doesn’t matter cos it was a great fight, both dudes left it all in the cage and there could be a rematch in the future. Awesome fight.[/quote]
I would expect one. It’d be another moneymaker for sure.
[quote comment="393884"]stop the speculation, people was 90% for Frank win. Now it’s time to respect Cung. Give him one year of ground training and he’ll be as good as anyone else[/quote]
Quadros was actually saying the Gung Le is the better wrestler on the ground, hence how well he did the few times he had to scramble and get away from the clinch. I was real curious after that was said in the middle of the second…I would like to see the rematch and with Frank fighting his style fight. I am not takng anything away from Cung, just would like to see Frank put more pressure for a ground fight…
[quote comment="393847"]Bring it on! Anderson Silva vs. Cung Le![/quote]
I knew I would read an idiotic post like this somewhere on this site this morning… too my surprise it was the 1st post.
I was extremely impressed with Le’s win, then again Shamrock had a terrible gameplan that matched up his weakness against Le’s strength.
i love watching le fight, he is a breath of fresh air. He looked small, I wonder if he could ever make the cut to 170 lb?
If Le were Bigger, an ideal match up would be:
Le vs. Machida (but Machida is way too big)
This would be very entertaining because it matches up 2 Elite fighters that incorporate the most Karate techniques in their arsenal. If they were the same size it would be interesting.
I am a big Cung Le fan, but please lets not all start out calling for Le vs. Silva…Never going to happen, anyway, Silva’s reach would pick him apart.
Still it was a great win for Cung Le. I think he makes for a much better champion then shamrock…anyday!
What a surprise? Marlon Simms got KO AGAIN! The problem with Marlon is he fights his best when its against 10 opponents at once (with no witnesses around) LOL. He isnt used to 1 on 1 combat. Next event they should have him fight 3 guys at once and then he will be able to showcase his true skills.
LMFAO!
Marlon Sims got knocked out, I am sadden by that event. At least he made it to the 3rd round..
Cung Le defeating Frank Shamrock makes me sad. I really wanted to see Frank Shamrock continue on his winning ways, calling out people, saying they use steroids ect… not when he does it, it is not as good because he does not have a championship belt.
Shamrock vs. Shamrock needs to happen since both lost.
For those of yo complaining that Kimbop hasnt faced anyone that could present him problems well I think they actually found Kimbo a decent mma opponent and by far his toughest test to date.
I hear that Kimbo opponent for the EliteXC CBS show will be Ron “H20″ Waterman.
If you aren’t familiar with the H20 man he will b e with out a doubt Kimbo’s stiffest test in mma. Ron is an amazing wrestler and a solid submission grappler. He is actually very simular to
Jeff Monson. Finally this match up should shed some light on how much Kimbo has evolved as an mma fighter.
Ron’s gameplan is simple: takedown Kimbo, ground n Pound, while looking for submissions. Classic match up of grappler vs. Striker. I will be very impressed if Kimbo can stuff his takedowns. I will be even more impressed if Kimbo gets put on his back and he survives submission attempts and finds his way back up to his feet.
Finally we will get a better idea of what Kimbo is made of. I am actually really looking forward to se how this fight unfolds.
[quote comment="394104"]Marlon Sims got knocked out, I am sadden by that event. At least he made it to the 3rd round..
Cung Le defeating Frank Shamrock makes me sad. I really wanted to see Frank Shamrock continue on his winning ways, calling out people, saying they use steroids ect… not when he does it, it is not as good because he does not have a championship belt.
Shamrock vs. Shamrock needs to happen since both lost.[/quote]
I doubt that Frank Shamrock is going to stop running his mouth after one loss. While Cung Le may have won, seeing the fight made me realize that Frank Shamrock really could have won if he was more aggressive in the grappling area. I’m a Cung Le fan myself, so I’m not nuthugging Shamrock or anything.
antonio noguera vs frank mir comin soon
A good possible match up for Cung Le that will be very exciting for the fans would be:
Cung Le vs. Ruthless Robbie Lawler or
Cung Le vs. Ninja
How about Cung Le vs. Baroni? anyone?
I hear Kimbo will fight Ron “H20″ waterman at the EliteXc CBS event.
[quote comment="394127"]For those of yo complaining that Kimbop hasnt faced anyone that could present him problems well I think they actually found Kimbo a decent mma opponent and by far his toughest test to date.
I hear that Kimbo opponent for the EliteXC CBS show will be Ron “H20″ Waterman.
If you aren’t familiar with the H20 man he will b e with out a doubt Kimbo’s stiffest test in mma. Ron is an amazing wrestler and a solid submission grappler. He is actually very simular to
Jeff Monson. Finally this match up should shed some light on how much Kimbo has evolved as an mma fighter.
Ron’s gameplan is simple: takedown Kimbo, ground n Pound, while looking for submissions. Classic match up of grappler vs. Striker. I will be very impressed if Kimbo can stuff his takedowns. I will be even more impressed if Kimbo gets put on his back and he survives submission attempts and finds his way back up to his feet.
Finally we will get a better idea of what Kimbo is made of. I am actually really looking forward to se how this fight unfolds.[/quote]
I’d love to see this fight.
Cung Le does look to be a bit small for the middleweight division. I think hes only in that division because of lack of competition at werlterweight. A great match would be GSP vs Le. Both really entertaining fighters and very versatile.
Silva vs Le would never work. The reach advantage would be too much for Le and he would be picked apart.
I actually think this fight (and the way Frank fought it) was a Win-Win for Shamrock. Everyone knows what a “smart” business man he is in the fact that he’s always looking to make as much money as possible through these fights. I do NOT think he threw the fight. He fought a hard fight and almost knocked Cung out at the end of the third round with a broken arm.
However, I think he knew that if he stood up with Cung the ENTIRE fight (and lost) it GUARANTEES a rematch with Cung where Shamrock promises to now test Cung’s ground-game and “bring it down to his turf”. This maximizes the fight hype and dollars made for their fights total. (And of course if he stood up and won then he can claim one of the “best in the world” at that point – therefore also maximizing his dollars for any next fights)
Everyone who saw the first fight is STILL 100% interested to see what would have happened if Frank had taken it to the ground.
[quote post="5579"]I hear Kimbo will fight Ron “H20″³ waterman at the EliteXc CBS event. [/quote]
link?
[quote comment="394177"]Cung Le does look to be a bit small for the middleweight division. I think hes only in that division because of lack of competition at werlterweight. A great match would be GSP vs Le. Both really entertaining fighters and very versatile.
Silva vs Le would never work. The reach advantage would be too much for Le and he would be picked apart.[/quote]
All this talk about cung le v.s silva or GSP is rather hilarious, he beat frank in a kick boxing match not an MMA match. And now hes ready for Anderson or GSP that would be an assasination by either ground and pound or RNC. im sure gary shaw paid Frank to stand up to give cung le the best chance of winning so he could set up the rematch on CBS later in the year, just like a boxing promoter already screwing up MMA now.
First things first I see one entry at the top mentioned Silva vs Cung. Cung does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as silva or most 185ers. His hands are worthless his front push kickes have no authority and if he went to welterweight. Trying to throw those same style kicks he would be taken down with blazzing speed via single leg. Yes his round house kicks are super but he throws alot of meaning less kicks. All those flashy kicks brings me back to the early mma when all these kung fu guys came in and it looked cool but never conected. Oh who ever wrote gsp walks at 190 is on crack he walks at 183.
I think that Cung Le is an entertaining (albeit one dimensional fighter) but to compare him to Anderson Silva is moronic. Shamrock never even tried to win the fight in the first two and a half rounds. He was concentrating on entertaining the fans and making the fight last. If he wanted to win, don’t you think he would of taken Le to the ground instead of letting him kick him repeatedly? Let’s get real here. He had numerous opportunities to be more aggressive and he let them go. As a matter of fact, I think that a part of Shamrock wanted Le to win since Shamrock could build up a rematch in San Jose and Shamrock has a financial interest in Strikeforce.
Can we get any videos from last night’s fights posted?
[quote comment="394180"]I actually think this fight (and the way Frank fought it) was a Win-Win for Shamrock. Everyone knows what a “smart” business man he is in the fact that he’s always looking to make as much money as possible through these fights. I do NOT think he threw the fight. He fought a hard fight and almost knocked Cung out at the end of the third round with a broken arm.
However, I think he knew that if he stood up with Cung the ENTIRE fight (and lost) it GUARANTEES a rematch with Cung where Shamrock promises to now test Cung’s ground-game and “bring it down to his turf”. This maximizes the fight hype and dollars made for their fights total. (And of course if he stood up and won then he can claim one of the “best in the world” at that point – therefore also maximizing his dollars for any next fights)
Everyone who saw the first fight is STILL 100% interested to see what would have happened if Frank had taken it to the ground.[/quote]
Excellent points. Shamrock was gaming the situation. Do we really want MMA to resemble some boxing situations in this regard?
Cung Le vs. Lawler= Awesome Fight.
Cung Le vs. Baroni= Cung Le vs. punching bag after 2 minutes.
Frank Shamrock is now hit the has been status! I think he needs to go over to Pride oh I am sorry Dream and fight lower level fighters over there
[quote comment="394300"]Frank Shamrock is now hit the has been status! I think he needs to go over to Pride oh I am sorry Dream and fight lower level fighters over there[/quote]
I wouldn’t say DREAM has lower level fighters. They have a lot of the best fighters in the world.
I was kind of hoping to see some kind of spinning back heel kick to finish the fight, but a broken arm works just as good.
[quote comment="394083"][quote comment="393847"]Bring it on! Anderson Silva vs. Cung Le![/quote]
I knew I would read an idiotic post like this somewhere on this site this morning… too my surprise it was the 1st post.
I was extremely impressed with Le’s win, then again Shamrock had a terrible gameplan that matched up his weakness against Le’s strength.
i love watching le fight, he is a breath of fresh air. He looked small, I wonder if he could ever make the cut to 170 lb?
If Le were Bigger, an ideal match up would be:
Le vs. Machida (but Machida is way too big)
This would be very entertaining because it matches up 2 Elite fighters that incorporate the most Karate techniques in their arsenal. If they were the same size it would be interesting.
I am a big Cung Le fan, but please lets not all start out calling for Le vs. Silva…Never going to happen, anyway, Silva’s reach would pick him apart.
Still it was a great win for Cung Le. I think he makes for a much better champion then shamrock…anyday!
What a surprise? Marlon Simms got KO AGAIN! The problem with Marlon is he fights his best when its against 10 opponents at once (with no witnesses around) LOL. He isnt used to 1 on 1 combat. Next event they should have him fight 3 guys at once and then he will be able to showcase his true skills.
LMFAO![/quote]
if this one got you annoyed, go back to the play by play comments and see about 20 people say the same thing. ya a little ridiculous.
and as far as marlon, well like you said he is always fighting a lot of people at once, so he is always watching his back for more people to jump in the cage and he got caught
great overall card! im glad we r slowly seeing some competition from another org. it only makes it that much better for us MMA fans!
shamrock will be back! shamrock is still a very good fighter in his own right. many great fighters around the world, they r not all in the UFC btw. comments like that makes us MMA fans sick. Learn to appreciate the sport for what it is, its not WWE, at least not yet LOL…
Is anyone as excited as i am to see a cung le fighter use alot of traditional karate and taekwondo leg kicks, and be effective with them at the same time? they are exciting to see and good pure martial arts kicks are not the norm anymore, so as a long time martial arts practioner, i am excited to see that hes efficient with them…
That fight kind of pissed me off. It seemed like a sparring match and the only goal was to make it go at least 3 rounds. They both connected with solid shots, but neither one of them tried to follow up and finish the fight. I really wanted to see Le go to the ground at least once! It’s total BS if they’re just trying to hype a second fight. Keep it MMA, don’t go the way of boxing and wresting just because Gary Shaw and Bill Goldberg are involved.
really great fight last night man does le has vicious kicks. overall card was good but short.
Please post some pics of these dancers. I watched the event on Showtime but I didn’t see them, and this makes me sad. I happen to be an affionado of strong legs and thicks booties on chicks. Thanks in advance.
Just a matter of time before Le gets put in his place. Mark my words.
good fight but not that impressed whith this Cung le dude, i think theres a list of guys that would school him.
[quote comment="394220"]First things first I see one entry at the top mentioned Silva vs Cung. Cung does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as silva or most 185ers. His hands are worthless his front push kickes have no authority and if he went to welterweight. Trying to throw those same style kicks he would be taken down with blazzing speed via single leg. Yes his round house kicks are super but he throws alot of meaning less kicks. All those flashy kicks brings me back to the early mma when all these kung fu guys came in and it looked cool but never conected. Oh who ever wrote gsp walks at 190 is on crack he walks at 183.[/quote]
Wow 7lbs out! That poster must be on drugs… come on man a bit harsh. Thats just one big protein dump
So Kimbo gets to fight another 40 ex-mma star?
Seriously?
EliteXC is such a pitiful joke of a promotion.
How about Slice vs Ricco? or Slice vs Antonio Silva?
Alan