411’s Strikeforce – Shamrock vs. Diaz Report 04.11.09

Posted by Larry Csonka on 04.12.2009

Nick Diaz defeated the legend of Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith throws another Hail Mary to defeat Benji Radach in a tremendous fight, Brett Rogers knocked out Ron "Abongo" Humphrey, Gilbert Melendez defeated Rodrigo Damm to become the Interim Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and much more! Check out 411’s complete Strikeforce – Shamrock vs. Diaz Report for all the details!


Strikeforce – Shamrock vs. Diaz!

-Live from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California!

-Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Pat Militech are the announcers.

-Gina Carano is in attendance along with Tito Ortiz, Andre Arlovski, Alistair Overeem, Babalu Sobral, Jake Shields, Cung Le and Robbie Lawler.

-Jimmy Lennon Jr. is the cage announcer for the evening.

Heavyweight Bout - Ron "Abongo" Humphrey (5-0) vs. Brett Rogers (9-0):

ROUND ONE: Rogers has an 8 ½ inch reach advantage. Herb Dean is the official. Here we go! They touch and Humphrey is aggressive early, leg kicks connect, misses and grabs the cage to stay up. Head kick by Humphrey as they clinch now, to the cage they go and they separate. Jab by Rogers, leg kick by Humphrey and hey dance. Humphrey rushes Rogers to the cage, Humphrey tries a single leg, rushes him to the cage again, Rogers opens up with good shots to Humphrey and they separate. Combo traded by both, Rogers connects with a solid combo, to the cage, knees by Humphrey, then by Rogers. They separate, a nee drops Rogers, slip really, back up and to the cage they go. BIG knee by Rogers, they separate and a right catches Humphrey. Humphrey is hurt, lands a knee and they clinch again. Another knee by Rogers and he gets warned for grabbing the hair of Humphrey. Body shot by Rogers, and he gets warned again for grabbing the hair. One more time and he loses a point. Combo by Rogers, a knee follows and more knees follow. He grabs the hair again and loses a point after lighting up Humphrey with a knee and a follow up combo. Humphrey takes time, and we're back to action. They go to the cage, Humphrey grabs the trunks now and gets no warning. They battle around the cage, trade a bit in the dirty boxing way and the round ends.

SCORECARD:: 9-9 due to Rogers losing a point.

ROUND TWO: Round two begins, Rogers attacks and takes it to the cage. Knees by Rogers, Humphrey looks for a single leg, knee by Rogers breaks that up. Clinch and Rogers unloads on Humphrey, to the cage and Rogers is just landing at will right now. Knees by Rogers, more knees and Humphrey is still up! Humphrey is so rocked and as Humphrey goes down in a bloody mess, the fight is stopped.

THE RESULT: Brett Rogers via RD2 (1:38) TKO

Rogers talks with Gus about losing the point. He has been working the clinch, and the hair kept getting caught in his fingers. He puts over his opponent, and that's all.

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-Rogers landed 73 of 113 total strikes, including 23 connected knee strikes.

-Mickey Rourke and Kevin Randleman are in attendance.


-We get a video package for Hitomi Akano vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.

150lbs Catchweight - Hitomi Akano (14-5) vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (6-1):

ROUND ONE: Josh Rosenthal is the official. And here we go. They come out, leg kick by Akano, but Santos unloads and then tosses Akano to the cage. Santos keeps throwing great strikes and takes Akano down to the mat with a slam/German suplex. Akano almost had an arm bar, pulls guard now and Santos works strikes while Akano tries to hold her close. Santos postures up, ground and pound and Akano with an up kick to back her off. To the feet, Santos stalks her and Akano throws a kick, caught, rights by Santos and takes Akano down. Santos backs off, Akano to her feet and she is backing off. Jab by Santos, she tries to pull guard but Santos backs off. To the feet, slip by Santos on a right, kicks by Akano but a left hook by Santos backs her off as the round ends.

SCORECARD:: 10-9 easily for Santos.

ROUND TWO: Santos overpowered Akano in round one easily. Round two begins and leg kicks by Akano. Santos presses forward, lands a good combo, Akano shoots, stuffed and Santos refuses to go to the ground with her. Akano misses a body kick, good jab by Akano, but Santos is unloading with clean strikes. Akano tries to back off, shoots, they clinch and knees by Santos. Akano tried a jumping arm bar, stopped and to the ground they go. Santos in the high guard of Akano, good wrist control by Santos as Akano just holds on. Sweet rights and lefts from Santos. Some hammer fists follow, Santos has her against the cage, keeps landing good strikes and now has side control as the round ends.

SCORECARD:: 20-18 for Santos, again, easily.

ROUND THREE: Round three begins, leg kick by Santos. Akano slips, and wants to roll into a leg lock, but nothing. Santos begins to kill her after a knee and numerous strikes and that is all.

THE RESULT: Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos via RD3 (0:35) KO

They show Gina after the fight. Cyborg was 61 of 104 in total striking. Gus is with Santos, and he brings up the weight issue. She says she had a "woman" problem and also says it will never happen again. Regarding facing Gina Carano, Santos says that she wants to be the best female fighter ever, and if Carano is in her way, she will take her down.

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-Gilbert Melendez prepares backstage.

-We get a preview for June 6th, where Robbie Lawler will face off with Jake Shields.

-We get a video package for Benji Radach vs. Scott Smith.

Middleweight Bout - Benji Radach (19-4) vs. Scott Smith (16-5-1):

ROUND ONE: Herb Dean is the official. And here we go as they come out, good right by Radach, they dance, jab by Radach. Another and a straight right lands. Smith stalks Radach a bit, right again by Radach, body kick by Smith. Snapping jabs by Radach, combo by Radach, high kick checked by Radach and then gets a jab again. Leg kick by Smith, both miss rights, leg kick by Smith again. They get a bit wild, leg kick by Smith and then a combo. Hook and then an uppercut by Radach. Body shot by Smith. Leg kick and a combo by Radach. Good jab by Smith, straight right by Radach lands and Smith fires back and hurts Radach! He starts to unload, Radach fires back off the cage and he caught Smith and he is down! Back up and a straight right by Radach. Jabs continue to land, right hook by Radach and a left hook lands. Smith was rocked there, they trade jabs, Radach shoots and to the cage they go. Takedown by Radach. Body shots follow, Radach controls and postures up and starts landing hard ground and pound shots as the round ends.

SCORECARD:: AWESOME round! 10-9 for Radach.

ROUND TWO: Round two begins and Smith is aggressive to start, to the cage they go and Radach with knees. They work around the cage, Smith looks for a trip but nothing yet. They separate, jabs by both, Radach's jab is better. Leg kick by Smith, but a good hook by Radach. Straight right by Radach, and then a jab. Straight right by Radach connects again as Smith is way too stationary. Radach rocks Smith, Smith tries to shoot, fails and Radach unloads with a good combo. Smith is just holding on right now, Radach almost had a guillotine, and Smith is bleeding badly as he holds onto the left leg of Radach. To the feet, body shots by Radach as the blood is dripping from Smith. They get separated, jabs by Radach, another, body shot and then back to the jab. Smith with a jab but eats a right. Overhand right by Radach and then back to the jab as the round ends.

SCORECARD:: 20-18 for Radach.

ROUND THREE: Smith was examined in between rounds, and he is ok to go. They touch and round three is underway. Jabs by Radach as Smith looks for leg kicks. Straight right by Radach, and back to the snapping jab by Radach. Smith looks for a guillotine, but Radach slams him and escapes! Radach is busted open now as he looks for a guillotine. Body shots now by Radach, working the LIVER, thanks Bas. Knees to the body by Radach and they get separated, that was bullshit. They trade center cage, Smith with a great combo, high kick checked and a good jab. Radach is backing up, Smith landing well, they circle and Radach misses with a combo. Double jab by Radach, Smith unloads and DROPS RADACH and THAT IS ALL! Holy shit! That was a Hail Mary if there ever was one.

Awesome fight.

Radach dominated with 98 of 171 strikes, and was 2 for 3 in takedowns. He was dominating the fight until that Hail Mary.

THE RESULT: Scott Smith via RD3 (3:24) KO

Gus is with Smith, and he says that there were three times where he thought he had lost the fight, and he pulled it out of his ass for his kids. Smith thanks his sponsors and says he hurt his knee badly in the fight.

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-Pat Militech breaks down the Gilbert Melendez vs. Rodrigo Damm fight.

Interim Strikeforce Lightweight Title Bout: Gilbert Melendez (14-2) vs. Rodrigo Damm (8-2):

ROUND ONE: And here we go, scheduled for five rounds. They touch and Melendez looking for the jab early. Double jab by Melendez, Melendez catches a body kick and takes Damm down. Into the guard and Melendez up and then slams Damm down with shoulder strikes against the cage. Good body shots by Melendez, Damm looks for an omoplata, back fists by Melendez who continues to land good strikes from the guard. Great right by Melendez, he is controlling easily right now and keeping Damm against the cage. Hammer fists by Melendez now, Melendez working to the half guard and is landing a ton of shots on Damm with sweet ground and pound. Melendez continues to control from the half guard, Damm tries to push him off but Melendez is content to stay in the guard and land combinations to the body and the head as well as some knees. More hard body shots by Melendez, this is almost embarrassing as Damm cannot do anything. Hammer fists by Melendez, good rights, Damm tries to kick him off and the round ends.

SCORECARD:: 10-8, Melendez destroyed him with constant punishment.

ROUND TWO: Round two begins and they circle, throw some feel out shots and Damm misses a body kick. Melendez shoots, sprawl by Damm and he escapes the takedown. Melendez gets Damm down, tries to get his back, Damm turns, and to the feet they go. Melendez got caught on a takedown attempt and has swelling under his right eye. Leg kicks by Damm, but Melendez ROCKS him with a right and follows up and the fight is STOPPED!

Damm is out in the cage. They are trying to check on him and he has no clue where he is as he is struggling with the referee and medical personnel.

THE RESULT: Gilbert Melendez via RD2 (2:02) KO

Melendez landed 71 of 91 strikes. Domination.

Melendez is now the new Interim Strikeforce Lightweight Champion. Melendez says the crowd is great, and says in the 2nd round he caught a thumb to the eye, but he stepped it up and knocked him out. He walks us through the replay of the KO. Melendez says that Josh Thompson is the TRUE champion, but he is better than he used to be and wants the rematch.

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-Live crowd is a bit over 14,000.

-Ranallo interviews Cung Le about he new movie. He is just trying to represent the best he can. He discusses movies and fighting, and what he likes about them. They show video of Le's victory over Shamrock last March. Le discusses the main event, and refuses to call a victor, but is surprised that Shamrock is back already. Le says the new Strikeforce is packed with talent, and he hasn't thought about his next opponent.

-May 15th will see the debut of ShoMMA: Strikeforce Challengers.

179lbs Catchweight Bout - Nick Diaz (18-7-1) vs. Frank Shamrock (23-9-2):

ROUND ONE: BIG JOHN MCCARTHY is the official! Let's get it on! Leg kick by Shamrock, Diaz with kicks as well. Shamrock misses a kick, then connects with the leg kick. Combo by Shamrock, Shamrock tries to work into the reach advantage, Shamrock pulls Diaz down and Diaz gets side control. Both guys throwing and landing now, Diaz back into guard and then back to side control. Diaz works for the left arm, posts on the hip but Shamrock with a great reversal, out and lands some good shots as he escapes. Diaz paws at Shamrock, right jab lands and then an uppercut by Shamrock. Body punch and kick by Shamrock, jabs by Diaz, short right by Shamrock. Body kick by Shamrock, leg kick by Diaz and Shamrock circles and tries to get inside. Body kick by Shamrock, caught and Diaz jumps on him, into side control again. Shoulder strikes by Diaz, gets mount and Shamrock holds on. Shamrock works to the cage, Diaz landing but not hard, Shamrock working and escapes again as the round ends

SCORECARD:: 10-9 Diaz.

ROUND TWO: Round two begins and Shamrock tries to get inside again, leg kick and Diaz talks shit. Good jab by Diaz, and the crowd is hot for Diaz. Shamrock is having trouble getting inside, as when he does, he keeps getting tagged. Diaz is constantly connecting, but not hurting him right now. Shamrock circles, jabs by Diaz who is fighting smartly. Looping right by Shamrock lands. Shamrock is bleeding from the nose, and continues having issues getting in to hit Diaz. Leg kick by Diaz, combo by Diaz and a straight left. He has Shamrock against the fence, lands some kicks, and then begs Shamrock to hit him. Diaz lands some elbows and another combo. Body shot by Diaz, Shamrock is down, ground and pound by Diaz and Shamrock is covering up, but it is finally stopped.

Diaz after the fight helps Shamrock up, raises his hand, and hugs him in a rare show of class from Diaz.

THE RESULT: Nick Diaz via RD2 (3:57) KO

Diaz landed 129 of 297 strikes.

Gus is with Nick Diaz, and Diaz says he got that back for his boy. He just opened a school, teaching Caesar Gracie Ju Jitzu, where you can learn to kick ass. He thanks Melendez and Shields for helping him prepare. The key was to put it down. He has a lot of respect for Frank Shamrock, it's hard to hate him.

Shamrock comes in and says he did a great job, they bow and then hug. Gus speaks with Frank, and he says he gives all credit to Nick Diaz. Nick kicked his ass tonight, he admits that. He says he did have rib problems, but Nick just put it on him and was the better man tonight. Gus asks what is next for him, and Frank says he will keep coming back to his arena and representing the sport.

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-Mauro Ranallo says that there is 15,200 in attendance tonight.

-They hype the June 6th Lawler vs. Shields event.

-Gus Johnson, Mauro Ranallo and Pat Militech wrap up the show, discussing Diaz's big victory as well as the exciting card.

-End Scene…