Fighters Only

Issue 013

May 2006

March 10^th, 2006, HP Pavilion, San Jose, California

By Brad Doerges, Photographs by Dave Mandel

The highly anticipated match-up between Frank Shamrock and Cesar Gracie would be the fight to headline the first legalised mixed martial arts event to take place in the state of California. The event titled Strikeforce by the promotional company SVE, had a record-breaking sell-out crowd of 18,265, who gathered to see a fight two years in the making, one that many MMA fans predicted would never happen.

When the fighters came out the crowd was electric- I hadn’t felt this much electricity since Tito Ortiz took on Chuck Liddell. The two local fighters had the crowd seemingly split down the middle, with fans from both sides rooting for their respective camps. But only 21 seconds after the most anticipated MMA fight since Fedor vs Cro-Cop started, it was over. Gracie lay crumpled on the mat, white towel on the cage floor, with the ref stopping the fight. “I hit him right in the temple with the overhand right of death. I totally stepped in on it” stated Shamrock. “I’ve never hit anyone that hard before.”

Gracie, who’s promoted 14-0 record was suspect, surprisingly came out looking to stand with the former UFC middleweight champ. Gracie fired off a flatfooted stiff jab before Shamrock took advantage of Gracie’s poor footwork and landed a hard looping right that put Gracie down to a knee. Shamrock quickly dispensed with his wounded foe by pushing Gracie over and landing a few punches from standing mount, forcing the ref to stop the fight. Although the fight was officially ruled a knockout, John Hackleman (Chuck Liddell’s Instructor) threw in the towel simultaneously as the ref stopped the fight. “He told me if he got hurt to throw it in so I did,” said Hackleman.

After the fight 33-year-old Shamrock seemed optimistic about his future in the sport of MMA. “I wanna fight Sakuraba and I will fight him wherever. I’m currently the most popular, most powerful free agent in the business, and I’m gonna keep that up for a while.”

Le is a knockout in his MMA debut

Strikeforce once again made history when undefeated world champion San Shou fighter (a form of Chinese kickboxing that features wrestling type throws and takedowns) Cung Le made his MMA debut against opponent Mike Altman. The popular Vietnamese fighter came out looking to please the crowd by throwing several spectacular high kicks and spinning back kicks. Although the fight resembled more of a kickboxing match than an MMA fight, the crowd roared as Le landed a right high kick squarely to Altman’s head. Backing Altman near the fence, Le landed a spinning back kick to Altman’s midsection, sending him back into the cage. Rebounding off the cage like a pro wrestler Altman set himself up perfectly for Le’s right cross that sent Mike down to the mat like a felled tree. Although Le’s knockout was impressive, many fans (such as myself) are still waiting for Le’s true MMA debut.

Clayton pulls off an amazing upset

What started off as the most exciting fight of the night also ended up being the most impressive, as Clayton Guida took on UFC and Pride veteran Josh “the Hollywood Punk” Thomson for the ISKA Strikeforce Lightweight champion title. The relentless Guida outwrestled Thompson throughout the fight, repeatedly putting him on his back and unleashing an impressive non-stop ground and pound attack.

Early in the fight Thompson seemed to be doing well from his back, firing numerous armbars, triangles and up-kicks at Guida, but later in the fight he seemed to become frustrated at their ineffectiveness. The only scare that Guida had was in the third, when Thompson countered one of Claytons double leg takedowns with a guillotine. The American Kickboxing Academy fighter squeezed with all his might, but Guida was able to turn his chin and eventually escape. “It didn’t bother me- it looked probably worse than it was” stated Guida. He would have won every round, but referee Herb Dean deducted a point in the 3^rd when Guida used his fingers to rake a cut that Thompson sustained in the 1st. “I’m ready to fight 5 more rounds. I think he underestimated me, I think he was using me as a warm up for Gomi which is a mistake.”