Dude I’ve been looking forward to this fight more than most in recent months. I’m also hoping Nick Diaz kicks that ass jiu-jitsu style to defend his Sensei.

Alistair Overeem in the audience. Wasn’t he just in the UFC audience earlier this year?

Brett Rogers vs. Abongo Humphrey to start the show off.
Round one is going pretty good until Herb Dean stops to warn Brett Rogers about grabbing Humphrey’s dreadlocks. I say bullshit. Humphrey was in a thai clinch, and Rogers just about can’t help but get a palm full of hair when he’s clinching. Herb Dean took a point away from Rogers. Crappy call, imo.

Kevin Randleman in the house, hugging it out with Mickey Rourke.

Round two sees Brett Rogers crush Abongo Humphreys with knees before referee Herb Dean stops the fight, giving Brett Rogers a TKO victory, and he remains undefeated.

Hitoni Akano vs. Cris Cyborg
Cyborg kicked Hitoni Akanos ass for 2.5 rounds before getting a TKO victory in round 3.

Benji Radach vs. Scott Smith
Someone is getting knocked out in this fight. It’s over now, and Scott Smith was getting his ass kicked for most of the fight, and landed a gnarly right hand to comeback and win by knockout over Benji Radach…LOL @ Smith thanking mis masseuse Tom Atencio at the post-fight interview.

Gilbert Melendez vs. Rodrigo Damm
I’d like to see Rodrigo Damm win this. But he didn’t. Gilbert Melendez got the KO victory in round 2. Rodrigo Damm got KTFO. Melendez is now the interim lightweight champion.

Nick Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock
One thing you can be sure of, is that Nick Diaz will give a middle finger at some point tonight. Round one was good, I score it in Diaz’ favor. He got the fight to the ground and controlled it, even gaining mount and throwing down some punches at the end of the round.

Nick Diaz TOTALLY dominated round 2 and got a TKO victory after making Shamrock’s face a bloody mess and dropping him to the mat against the canvas, where Shamrock didn’t defend himself and the referee had to stop the fight. Diaz immediately offered his hand to help Shamrock off the mat. Contrary to what I said previously, I haven’t seen Diaz give anybody the bird yet.

Entering the fight as a 2-1 underdog didn’t bother Josh Thompson. He even wore a mouthpiece that said “CHAMP” to the fight. It was a decisive victory for Thompson, as he controlled all 5 rounds of the championship fight. Josh Thompson totally controlled the fight, especially the striking. Watchers saw no sign of  Thompson’s past shoulder injury. The results from the event are:

Josh Thompson defeats Gilbert Melendez by decision, 5
Billy Evangelista defeats Nam Phan by decision, 3
Bobby Southworth defeats Anthony Ruiz by decision, 3
Eric Lawson defeats Jesse Gillespie by submission (RNC), 1
Miesha Tate defeats Elaina Maxwell by decision, 3
Jeremiah Metcalf defeats Raymond Daniels by submission (RNC), 2
Chris Cariaso defeats Anthony Figueroa by submission (RNC), 2
Bobby Stack defeats Jose Palacios by decision, 3
Brian Caraway defeats Alvin Cacdac by submission (RNC), 1
Cyrillo Padhillo defeats Jesse Jones by decision, 3
Jorge Interiano defeats Travis Johnson by TKO (doctor stoppage), 2
Alexandre Trevino defeats Eric Jacob by submission (armbar), 1

UNDEFEATED KICKBOXING PHENOM TO MAKE MMA DEBUT AT “MELENDEZ VS. THOMSON”

Former World Combat League superstar already touted as the next Cung Le

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Following a spectacular, undefeated run in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League, 28-year-old kickboxing superstar, Raymond “The Real Deal” Daniels (0-0), will make his long-awaited mixed martial arts (MMA) debut when he takes on Jeremiah Metcalf (8-4) in a middleweight (185 lb. limit) battle at Strikeforce’s “Melendez vs. Thomson” mega-card at HP Pavilion on Friday.

Already being hailed as the second coming of Strikeforce World Middleweight Champion, Cung Le, Daniels, recognized as the number one Sport Karate fighter in the world, holds a 6th degree black belt in Kenpo and Shotokan Karate as well as a 5th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He packs a thrilling, dynamic fighting style that is strikingly similar to Le, also a guru of traditional martial arts.

“I’m going to give MMA fans something that they’ve never seen before,” said Daniels, a resident of Long Beach, California. “I want to become the greatest fighter of all time. Anybody that steps in front of me is just gonna be on my next highlight reel, an obstacle that’s standing in my path to greatness.”

The career path of Daniels, thus far, mimics that of Le, who crossed over to the world of mixed martial arts in 2006 after running to a perfect 16-0 record in the sport of professional kickboxing. Despite the parallels that can be drawn to the Strikeforce world middleweight champion, though, Daniels is quick to point out that he is his own man and is determined to carve out a unique legacy in the martial arts fight world.

“I don’t try to be the next anybody,” said Daniels. “I look to be greater than Cung and surpass anyone who’s been considered at the top of their game. I try to live up to who I am and I expect great things from myself.”

It was at the young age of five that Daniels became inspired by his father, Frank, a seasoned martial artist and Sport Karate competitor, to study Kenpo and, later, to test his skills against other Karate players. From Ireland to Australia, Switzerland, Hungary, and Germany, he has since traveled the world to face and defeat top-ranked opponents.

Daniels joined the ranks of the WCL in 2006 and amassed a record of 18-0 over the course of three seasons with the league’s Los Angeles Stars team. Earlier this month, he captained his squad to a season championship.

“I still haven’t had any challenges or anything like that so I decided to come over to MMA and see how good I really am.”

Daniels’ opponent, Metcalf, brings to the cage a three-fight win streak. He is a product of Modesto, California’s AAA Academy of Kickboxing, the training center that spawned 2003 K-1 North America tournament champion, Carter Williams.

Tickets for “Melendez vs. Thomson,” priced from $30, are on sale at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (408-998-TIXS), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and on Strikeforce’s official website (www.Strikeforceusa.net).

Strikeforce World Lightweight (155 lb. limit) Champion, Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (14-1), will defend his crown against number one contender and Bay Area arch-rival, Josh “The Punk” Thomson (14-2), in the main event of Friday’s Strikeforce affair.

In another championship showdown, Bobby Southworth (8-5) will put his Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight (205 lb. limit) title on the line in a rematch with Anthony “El Toro” Ruiz (20-10). Ruiz was declared the winner of their initial meeting on November 16, 2007 after a cut Southworth had sustained during the fight prompted the ringside physician to order a stoppage at the :52 mark of the second round.

Joe “Diesel” Riggs (27-10) will battle rising star Luke Stewart (5-1) in a 178 lb. limit catch weight fight. Stewart was originally slated to face “Mr. International” Shonie Carter. A hand injury, however, forced Carter to withdraw from the contest last week.

Lightweight (155 lb. limit) Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stud Nam Phan (14-4) will attempt to hand knockout artist Billy Evangelista (6-0) the first loss of his career.

Making the fifth start of her professional mixed martial arts career, Cung Le female protégé, Elaina “Beef” Maxwell (2-2), will take on Miesha Tate (1-1).

HP Pavilion doors will open at 6 PM for “Melendez vs. Thomson” and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6:30 PM. The live HDNet telecast of the event will start at 7:30 PM PST/10:30 PM EST and the main card will commence at 8 PM.

About Strikeforce:
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” Since then, it has co-produced the first SHOWTIME PPV mixed martial arts event in history with its world championship “Shamrock vs. Baroni” card on June 22, 2007.