Le Pushes Shamrock to the Breaking Point
Fickett wins, Melendez defends
Drew Fickett (Pictures) secured his June 14 EliteXC
welterweight title opportunity versus Jake Shields (Pictures) with an early submission over
South Korean Jae Suk Lim
(Pictures) (9-4).
Booked when their original opponents, Jake Shields (Pictures) and Nick Diaz (Pictures), fell off Saturday's card because of injury and issues with the state athletic commission respectively, Fickett secured an arm-in guillotine choke as Lim attempted to scoop up the 28-year-old Arizonan and dump him to the canvas.
Adjusting the choke and squeezing as Lim, 28, gingerly fell to his
knees, Fickett, now 32-5, cemented his place against Shields in
Honolulu.
"I came out here to fight and I stepped up," Fickett said. "I wanted to fight Jake, but I will get my chance to do that."
Fighting out of San Francisco, Melendez enjoyed the support of a partisan crowd, which cheered while the ranked 155-pounder connected with right-hand leads and unrelenting ground-and-pound.
"I thought I had him at the end of the first round, but he was saved by the bell,'' Melendez said. "Another five seconds and it would have been over."
Bloodied and battered, Lemley, a 29-year-old fighting out New London, Iowa, took consecutive right hands to start his campaign in the second. Had Melendez (14-1) wanted, he could have kept it on the feet against his undersized late-replacement opponent.
An injury to Josh Thomson (Pictures) had prevented one matchup for Melendez. Another contest against Jorge Masvidal (Pictures) was close to being booked, but again injury ended hope of that potentially exciting bout. In stepped Lemley (11-7), who hung tough before Melendez, 25, upped the pressure and ended it at 2:18 of round two.
Wayne Cole (Pictures), 37, surprised the San Jose crowd, including Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, who watched from cage-side, with a fast armbar submission over Mike Kyle (Pictures).
The heavyweights moved to the canvas in the opening seconds. Working from the top, Cole (11-6) attacked the 27-year-old Kyle's left arm. Swinging his legs over to lock in an armbar, Cole forced Kyle (9-7-1) to tap at the 42-second mark.
Behind a crisp jab and accurate right hand, Joey Villasenor (Pictures) put away Ryan Jensen (Pictures) at 4:45 of round one.
A late replacement for Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, who was knocked off the card when he failed to secure a visa into the United States, Jensen (11-4) was put on the canvas early. Slow to work in the guard, Villasenor picked up the pace as the middleweight contest returned to the feet.
A short left hook dropped Jensen. The 30-year-old middleweight from Omaha, Neb., responded well, firing strikes as he moved Villasenor (25-6) around the cage. However, two jabs and a straight right from the 32-year-old Albuquerque, N.M., resident abruptly ended Jensen's evening.
Transported to a local hospital after complaining of limited peripheral vision, Jensen checked out fine.
Undercard Bouts
Veteran welterweight Tiki Ghosn (Pictures) ended a four-fight skid with a unanimous decision (30-27 and 29-28 twice) over local fan favorite Luke Stewart (Pictures).
Ghosn (10-7) fended off Stewart's numerous takedown attempts while picking his spots on the feet. Though Stewart, now 5-1, cut Ghosn in the second, he failed to bring the bout to the ground long enough to implement his Brazilian jiu-jitsu game.
Darren Uyenoyama (Pictures) (4-1) used an early takedown to control and finish Anthony Figueroa (Pictures) (4-2) by guillotine choke at 1:27 of round one.
Jesse Jones finished an overmatched Jesse Gillespie (Pictures) (1-1) with repeated blows to the head from back control. The finish, just 35 seconds following the opening bell, moved Jones' record to 2-0.
All 18 fighters on the card tested negative for drugs of abuse, said California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Armando Garcia.
Marlon Sims (Pictures) was defeated by KO at 0:39 of third period by Billy Evangelista (Pictures) in the bill's final bout.
Booked when their original opponents, Jake Shields (Pictures) and Nick Diaz (Pictures), fell off Saturday's card because of injury and issues with the state athletic commission respectively, Fickett secured an arm-in guillotine choke as Lim attempted to scoop up the 28-year-old Arizonan and dump him to the canvas.
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"I came out here to fight and I stepped up," Fickett said. "I wanted to fight Jake, but I will get my chance to do that."
Gilbert Melendez
(Pictures) retained his Strikeforce
lightweight title with a dominant second-round stoppage of Gabe Lemley (Pictures).
Fighting out of San Francisco, Melendez enjoyed the support of a partisan crowd, which cheered while the ranked 155-pounder connected with right-hand leads and unrelenting ground-and-pound.
"I thought I had him at the end of the first round, but he was saved by the bell,'' Melendez said. "Another five seconds and it would have been over."
Bloodied and battered, Lemley, a 29-year-old fighting out New London, Iowa, took consecutive right hands to start his campaign in the second. Had Melendez (14-1) wanted, he could have kept it on the feet against his undersized late-replacement opponent.
An injury to Josh Thomson (Pictures) had prevented one matchup for Melendez. Another contest against Jorge Masvidal (Pictures) was close to being booked, but again injury ended hope of that potentially exciting bout. In stepped Lemley (11-7), who hung tough before Melendez, 25, upped the pressure and ended it at 2:18 of round two.
Wayne Cole (Pictures), 37, surprised the San Jose crowd, including Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, who watched from cage-side, with a fast armbar submission over Mike Kyle (Pictures).
The heavyweights moved to the canvas in the opening seconds. Working from the top, Cole (11-6) attacked the 27-year-old Kyle's left arm. Swinging his legs over to lock in an armbar, Cole forced Kyle (9-7-1) to tap at the 42-second mark.
Behind a crisp jab and accurate right hand, Joey Villasenor (Pictures) put away Ryan Jensen (Pictures) at 4:45 of round one.
A late replacement for Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, who was knocked off the card when he failed to secure a visa into the United States, Jensen (11-4) was put on the canvas early. Slow to work in the guard, Villasenor picked up the pace as the middleweight contest returned to the feet.
A short left hook dropped Jensen. The 30-year-old middleweight from Omaha, Neb., responded well, firing strikes as he moved Villasenor (25-6) around the cage. However, two jabs and a straight right from the 32-year-old Albuquerque, N.M., resident abruptly ended Jensen's evening.
Transported to a local hospital after complaining of limited peripheral vision, Jensen checked out fine.
Undercard Bouts
Veteran welterweight Tiki Ghosn (Pictures) ended a four-fight skid with a unanimous decision (30-27 and 29-28 twice) over local fan favorite Luke Stewart (Pictures).
Ghosn (10-7) fended off Stewart's numerous takedown attempts while picking his spots on the feet. Though Stewart, now 5-1, cut Ghosn in the second, he failed to bring the bout to the ground long enough to implement his Brazilian jiu-jitsu game.
Darren Uyenoyama (Pictures) (4-1) used an early takedown to control and finish Anthony Figueroa (Pictures) (4-2) by guillotine choke at 1:27 of round one.
Jesse Jones finished an overmatched Jesse Gillespie (Pictures) (1-1) with repeated blows to the head from back control. The finish, just 35 seconds following the opening bell, moved Jones' record to 2-0.
All 18 fighters on the card tested negative for drugs of abuse, said California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Armando Garcia.
Marlon Sims (Pictures) was defeated by KO at 0:39 of third period by Billy Evangelista (Pictures) in the bill's final bout.
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