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Frank Shamrock: Nick Diaz kicked my ass Posted: 12 Apr 2009 02:01 AM PDT Props: ESPN.com Quoteworthy: “I give everything to Nick Diaz. I knew he was a dangerous opponent. Nick kicked my a– tonight; there’s no two ways about it. Nick was just the better man. He hit me in the guts, and that was about all the juice I had. I doubled over, and he put a whoopin’ on me. This is my hometown; this is my arena. I’m 36. I’m still going. I’ll be back here. Don’t even worry about it. There’s always tomorrow.” -Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock (23-10-2) comments on his main event bout with Nick Diaz at the Strikeforce event that took place on April 11 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. Shamrock — who defeated Diaz' mentor Cesar Gracie in just 21 seconds back in 2006 – found himself on the other end of the whoopin’ for a change. Diaz was dominant from start to finish and left the usually insolent Shamrock both humbled and respectful after the show. What’s left now for the 36-year old Shammy going forward? Time will tell…

MMA Quick Quote: Technical aspect of Nick Diaz win made coach happy Posted: 12 Apr 2009 01:59 AM PDT I’ve got to be able to put my faith in the technical aspect of this, not just the stronger fighter, or the luck. I heard my coach tell me to put some body punches in there too. I threw one body shot and I felt it sink in. I set it up again and I heard him make that noise, but he’s tough. He can take those punches to the head all day. I don’t especially like getting punched myself so I didn’t go swinging wild out there — that wouldn’t make my coach happy. – A technical Nick Diaz talks to Sherdog.com about his brilliant performance over mixed martial arts legend Frank Shamrock in their catchweight bout of 179-pounds at the Strikeforce event on April 11. Diaz was too much for the aging veteran, using his reach and constant pressure to crumble the elder statesman in the second round of the main event at ‘Shamrock vs. Diaz” from the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California.

Strikeforce: ‘Shamrock vs Diaz’ recap and final thoughts Posted: 12 Apr 2009 12:23 AM PDT The new-look Strikeforce made its live debut tonight with “Shamrock vs. Diaz” on the premium cable network Showtime from its favorite stomping grounds, the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.  The event marked the dawn of a new era for the promotion following the purchase of select ProElite assets earlier this year. Here’s how it all went down. In the main event, the Cesar Gracie-trained jiu-jitsu black belt Nick Diaz avenged his mentor’s knockout loss to Frank Shamrock by defeating “The Legend” with a second round technical knockout via strikes. There was plenty of smack talk leading up to and during the fight. Diaz taunted Shamrock throughout the entire affair, talking to him and waving his hands in the air. But afterwards a suddenly classy and respectful Diaz helped his beaten foe to his feet, even raising his hand in admiration. Diaz had moved up in weight to take this bout at a catchweight of 179 pounds, but he clearly had the size advantage inside the cage. In the end, it was the length and reach advantage that Shamrock had no answer for. After such a dominating performance (and the fact that Cung Le only fights once every two years), Nick Diaz may now be the new face of Strikeforce after usurping the throne from the aging Shamrock. In the evening’s first contest, former EliteXC heavyweight standout Brett Rogers remained undefeated with a second round technical knockout win over BET’s “Iron Ring” reality contestant Ron Humphrey in a fairly one-sided beatdown. “The Grim” was taken past the first round for the first time in his career by a resilient Humphrey, but he still might have registered his most impressive performance to date as a professional fighter. Instead of his usual all out power style, Rogers showed a technical side to his striking that we haven’t seen from him before. And his takedown defense was solid as well. Clearly the time away from action (and all those spare tires at Sam’s Club) have done him some good. He’s a very dangerous heavyweight for Strikeforce. Perhaps a match with Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, who was in attendance, is on the horizon? Up next was the lone female fight on the card. Brazilian powerhouse Cristiane Santos, who came into the fight well over the 145 pound weight limit, dominated her Japanese opponent. “Cyborg” ended up scoring a third round knockout victory over a very tough, yet outmatched Hitomi Akano. Gina Carano was cage side and getting plenty of camera time as well. Strikeforce did a nice job with the foreshadowing — hopefully we’re not too far off from our chance to finally see those two get it on (so to speak). Scott Smith was part of a show-stealing fight once again as he and Benji Radach engaged in an all out war in which both fighters seemed to be on the edge of defeat more than once. In the end it was “Hands of Steel,” more than likely behind on the scorecards going into the final round, who finally brought an end to the epic battle by knocking “Razor” out with a late overhand right. It was truly a fight for the ages. Rodrigo Damm stepped in for an injured lightweight champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson on less than two weeks notice to face ex-champ Gilbert Melendez — and  found out why that’s usually not such a good idea. The replacement fighter spent the majority of the first round on his back, eating violent strikes to the head and body and it wasn’t long into the second round before he was overwhelmed by a storming “El Nino.” The Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt was crowned the interim Strikeforce lightweight champion with the win, but he was having none of that, making sure after the match that everyone knew Josh Thomson was still the real champ. Here are the full results for Strikeforce: “Shamrock vs. Diaz”: Main Card: Nick Diaz defeats Frank Shamrock via technical knockout (strikes) at 3:57 of round two Gilbert Melendez defeats Rodrigo Damm via knockout (punch) at 2:02 of round two Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith defeats Benji "Razor" Radach via knockout (punch) at 3:24 of round three Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos defeats Hitomi Akano via knockout (strikes) at 0:35 of round three Brett "The Grim" Rogers defeats Ron "Abongo" Humphrey via technical knockout (strikes) at 1:38 of round two Under Card: Luke Rockhold via Buck Meredith via submission (side choke) at 4:07 of round one Eric Lawson defeats Waylon Kennel via technical knockout (strikes) at 4:54 of round one Raul Castillo defeats Brandon Michaels via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:45 of round one James Terry defeats Zak Bucia via unanimous decision Shingo Kohara defeats Jeremy Tavares via knockout (knee) at 0:04 of round two Up next for the San Jose-based organization is a trip to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 6 for an absolute blockbuster of an event featuring a middleweight match up between former EliteXC champions Jake Shields and “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler. In the meantime, the promotion will roll out it’s “Challenger Series” on Showtime at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., on May 15. Hawaiian Mike Aina will challenge undefeated five fight Strikeforce veteran Billy Evangelista in the main event. Kim Couture will also be in action against Miesha Tate.

Strikeforce results and winners for ‘Shamrock vs Diaz’ LIVE tonight! Posted: 11 Apr 2009 03:59 PM PDT Click the banner above or right here for up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of Strikeforce: “Shamrock vs. Diaz.” Quick results of the prelim fights are flowing RIGHT NOW and LIVE blow-by-blow, round-by-round coverage of the main card action will start at 10 p.m. ET with the Showtime telecast. If you're going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main “Shamrock vs. Diaz” results post and not this one.

UFC Quick Quote: Rich Franklin wants to train with Wanderlei Silva after their date in Deutschland Posted: 11 Apr 2009 07:35 AM PDT "He had invited me to train at his gym in Las Vegas before this fight had been scheduled. I have enormous respect for Wanderlei Silva … I'm always in Vegas and intend to train at his academy after this fight. We're great fighters but UFC wanted to make this fight …. [Silva] is very strong, fast and has knockout power in his hands. Everything I know it's going to be a big fight. He has victories over Rampage in PRIDE and Jardine in UFC. He's still hazardous as he was in PRIDE and is still exciting in action. I'm training my clinch, training hard to avoid his Muay Thai clinch. I'm training wrestling and jiu jitsu as well and the rest of the aspects I have trained as I usually do to face other fighters." – Get the snorkels ready! Former middleweight champion Rich Franklin reveals (via Fighters Only Magazine) his intentions to train alongside Wanderlei Silva after the pair collide in a 195-pound catchweight bout during the UFC 99: “The Comeback” main event from the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, on June 13. Both fighters are in must win situations. Who ya got? Check out what it’s like to train with “The Axe Murderer” after the jump.

Thiago Alves video on UFC 100 fight against Georges St. Pierre, Brazilian girls and more Posted: 11 Apr 2009 06:45 AM PDT

UFC 100 tickets sell out in record time for July 11 event at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Posted: 11 Apr 2009 06:37 AM PDT UFC 100 tickets for "Lesnar vs. Mir 2" — slated for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 11 — are set to go on sale TODAY (Saturday, April 11) to the general public at 10 a.m. PT. There’s just one very big problem: The promotion announced that tickets for the historic pay-per-view (PPV) event, which marks a major milestone in its more than 15 years of existence, SOLD OUT in just two days. That’s right, UFC Fight Club members and newsletter subscribers apparently gobbled up the stubs in two exclusive presales that led up to today. It’s a new ticket-selling record, according to the promotion. Here’s a snip from company president Dana White: “I started hearing about UFC 100 around UFC 90. I am blown away by how excited fans were for this event. So I made sure to stack this card with the greatest fights and greatest fighters in the world, and keep ticket prices consistent with our other big events. Once again, our fans responded with a record sellout. This is another great milestone for the UFC, and July 11 is going to be an amazing event.” The good news? UFC 100 tickets can be purchased through StubHub.com (Note: StubHub often has seats available even if the event is "sold out"). It will also be available to watch on pay-per-view (PPV) at 10 p.m. ET on fight night. UFC 100 features two major title fights: Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir will tangle to declare an undisputed division champion and Georges St. Pierre will once again defend his 170-pound strap against number one contender, Thiago Alves. In addition, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) TUF 9 coaches, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping, are slated to meet and determine who earns the right to challenge the reigning middleweight champion later in 2009. To check out the latest fight card and rumors for the show click here. Be sure to stay dialed in to MMAmania.com for all the UFC 100 coverage you can shake a stick at.

Bellator II results from Mohegan Sun April 10; Reis rolls, Good is good Posted: 11 Apr 2009 06:11 AM PDT Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator) last night continued its blistering 12-week pace, staging its second-ever show from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. Bellator II featured more first round match ups from the featherweight (145 pounds), lightweight (155 pounds) and welterweight (170 pounds) tournaments. The main event showcased featherweight sensation, Wilson Reis, taking on Mexican fighter Henry Martinez for the right to advance to the division semifinals. It wasn’t pretty, but the Brazilian was able to advance to the second round of the tournament with a dominating performance that earned him the win in all three judges eyes when the fight ended at the conclusion of 15 minutes of regulation. Here’s a snip from Reis: “It was a tough fight. I was able to control the fight so I’m excited. It was a little slow in the first round but I think I picked it up after that. It was a difficult kind of fight because I was the one trying to do all the fighting. I am excited to move on. I have to keep working. I haven’t fought in seven months but now I’m ready to fight again tomorrow. I’m ready. I feel good.” Here are the complete Bellator II results: Featherweight Tournament Bout (first round 145-pound bout): Wilson Reis defeats Henry Martinez via unanimous decision Lightweight Tournament Bout (first round 155-pound bout): Eric Reynolds defeats Thomas Schulte via technical knockout (strikes) in round one Welterweight Tournament Bouts (first round 170-pound bouts): Lyman Good defeats Hector Urbina via submission (rear naked choke) in round two Omar de la Cruz defeats Victor Meza via unanimous decision Jorge "The Naked Man" Ortiz defeats Aaron Romero via unanimous decision Non-Tournament Bouts: 170 lbs.: Jesse Juarez defeats Mikey Gomez via technical knockout (strikes) in round one 170 lbs.: Matt "Weapon X" Makowksi defeats Aaron Tregear via unanimous decision 135 lbs.: Jimmie Rivera defeats Willie Gates via submission (triangle choke) in round three 155 lbs.: Josh Laberge defeats Chris Simmons via unanimous decision Next week Bellator III will feature the long awaited debut on U.S. soil for the Cuban-born Judoka, Hector Lombard, who has made a name for himself fighting in Japan and on the Australian circuit. He’ll lock horns with Virgil Lozano in one of four first round match ups from the middleweight tournament, which will be featured on the card at the Lloyn Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The first round of the welterweight tourney will also come to a close during the third show for the promotion as former UFC champion Dave Menne takes on Norman Paraisy in the fourth and final 170-pound first round bout. To catch up on all the latest from Bellator click here. For Bellator I results from last weekend click here. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for the latest news, notes and results surrounding Bellator.

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