SAN JOSE, Calif. - Cung Le dethroned Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock on Saturday night, winning the 185-pound belt when the veteran Shamrock could not answer the bell for the fourth round of an exciting fight.
Shamrock was unable to continue because of an arm injury, thanks to Le's constant offence that included an array of kicks and punches.
"Cung Le broke my right arm with a kick, I could feel the bones clicking," Shamrock, his arm in a sling, said afterwards in the cage. "I kept on trying to fight through it.
"Anyone who says Cung Le doesn't know submissions, he put one on my arm tonight. He's the better man, he's the champion, man, he took me out. He's a good man."
Said Le: "You are a legend, you are the greatest fighter. It was just my night, I was the better man tonight."
Shamrock did not have any answers for the flashy Le at the joint EliteXC-Strikeforce mixed martial arts card at the HP Pavilion.
Shamrock, who has the better ground game, lived up to his pre-fight promise by standing with Le in the first round and paid an early price, taking a blow to the head after a failed takedown. Le scored more with his standup as the round wore on although Shamrock connected with some body kicks. A spinning back kick that went awry landed Le on his back but he got back up quickly.
The gamesmanship matched the action with Shamrock gesturing at Le as the fight wore on.
Shamrock lost his mouthpiece early in the second round. And when he was tripped, he gestured to Le to join him on the ground but was rebuffed. Le then got Shamrock's attention with a right to the head.
Le (6-0) hurt Shamrock again with a high kick in the third round and then reached into his martial arts bag of tricks, connecting with a spinning back fist and taking him down with a leg sweep. Shamrock rallied late in the third, hurting the challenger with a blow to the head. Le had to clinch but survived and finished the round on the offence, rocking Shamrock with kicks to the head.
They took a toll.
Shamrock (24-9-1) had to be helped to his stool as the round ended and could not continue. As Le's corner celebrated, Shamrock lay on his back.
Shamrock, 35, is a mixed martial arts warhorse who was the UFC's first light-heavyweight champion. He won the UFC title in December 1997 and defended it four times before retiring in November 1999 after beating Ortiz. He has fought rarely since, venturing out once in 2000, 2003 and 2006 and twice in 2007, most recently last June when he submitted Phil Baroni.
Still apart from a disqualification loss to Renzo Gracie in February 2007, for illegal strikes to the head, Shamrock had not lost since 1997.
Le, also 35, is a former star practitioner of the Chinese martial arts of Sanshou (think kickboxing with throws). He moved to MMA two years ago after an unbeaten kickboxing career and quickly ran up a 5-0 record that included wins over "The Ultimate Fighter" alumni Sam Morgan and Jason Von Flue and veteran Tony (the Freak) Fryklund.
Born in Vietnam, Le left the country when he was almost three thanks to a grandfather who was chief of police. The family was airlifted out under gunfire three days before the fall of Saigon.
"This is the greatest feeling. This is a dream come true. Coming from Vietnam under gunfire and now world champion. I love it," Le said.
Shamrock, the younger adoptive brother to UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock, and Le have a history. Both live in San Jose and the two used to be sparring partners.
Earlier Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert (El Nino) Melendez retained his 155-pound title with a convincing second-round stoppage of Gabe Lemley.
Melendez took Lemley down quickly and did damage at the edge of the fence, punishing him with a flurry of blows as the round ended. Lemley came out swinging in the second round but got the worst of it and was taken down again. Melendez got side control and punched away at Lemley until referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the punishment at 2:18.
Lemley was game but outgunned.
Melendez was coming off his lone loss, a decision at the hands of Pride veteran Mitsuhiro Ishidai in December.
"I'm refocused, I'm motivated," Melendez said after the win.
In middleweight action, Joey Villasenor (25-6) knocked out Ryan Jensen (11-4) with a hammer-like right to the chin at 4:45 of the first round. Villasenor, a former Pride fighter, controlled the fight, taking Jensen down and flooring him with a left before ending Jensen's night with a one-punch KO set up by two left jabs.
The win was the second in a row for Villasenor, who has had an up-and-down career of late. He went 3-3 in his previous six fights with losses to Murilo (Ninja) Rua, Robbie Lawler and Ryo Chonan.
Jensen, coming off UFC submission losses to Demian Maia and Thales Leites, took the fight on less than a week's notice after Brazilian Evangelista (Cyborg) Santos was unable to fight because of visa issues.
Wayne Cole (11-6) made short work of San Jose light-heavyweight Mike (Mak) Kyle (9-7-1), ending it via armbar after just 42 seconds. Cole took Kyle down via a trip early on, got side control, stepped over and grabbed an arm.
The fight card was not without its problems. Apart from the Santos visa problem, Jake Shields had to withdraw from his welterweight title bout with former UFC fighter Drew Fickett (32-5) because of a back injury. And Nick Diaz was denied a licence to fight by the California State Athletic Commission.
Their opponents faced off instead with Fickett taking on South Korea's Jae Suk Lim (9-4). Fickett won via guillotine choke at 1:14 of the first round.
Shields and Fickett are expected to meet June 14 for the Strikeforce 170-pound title in Hawaii.
News Source: The Canadian Press
