Last night’s ‘Battle for San Jose’ between Frank Shamrock and Cung Le can be simply described as one for the ages. Shamrock’s StrikeForce middleweight title was on the line as Cung Le, a San Shou expert from teh same city, was ready to prove he belonged in the same cage as the champ.
From the onset, Shamrock taunted Le with physcial gestures, mocking the challenger with a variety of charades implicating that he was going to be put to sleep. But Le stayed focused and delivered a variety of unorthodox kicks, punches and combinations that frustrated the champ.
It should be said that Shamrock was valiant in battle, even after sustaining an incredible amount of damage. With about 2:30 left in the third round, Le embarrassed Shamrock by catching his lazy front right kick and sweeping the champion up in the air while dumping him to the mat. Shamrock got up from the mat dejected, looked at his corner and quickly realized it was time to stop the mind games and to start fighting.
For the next minute, Shamrock waited for the perfect time to land a right hand, all the while taking punishment from Le. With 1:17 left in round three, Shamrock landed a stunning right hand that forced Le back to the cage. The next 30 seconds saw some of the most exciting stand-up exchanges seen in a cage in quite some time. Back and forth they went, with Shamrock winning the exchanges. Just when you thought Shamrock had turned the tide, cue Cung Le’s ’Beginning of the End’.
Shamrock, exhausted and with his hands down, left an incredible opening for Le to land a left high kick. The kick grazed Shamrock’s face, but provided what would end up being the winning strike of the match. It landed on the upper side of Shamrock’s right arm, breaking it in the process. With seven seconds left in the round, Le went in for the kill. Luckily for Shamrock, he was saved by the bell.
As he walked back to his corner, Shamrock fell to one knee and began explaining to his corner-men that something was wrong with his arm and he believed it was broken. The doctor made his way over to check on Shamrock, who eventually would not be able to answer the bell to begin the fourth round. At that moment, Cung Le became the new StrikeForce Middleweight Champion.
Cung Le is now an MMA star and thus, has a huge bulls eye on his back. Everyone will now want a piece of the humble champion and the inevitable references to Anderson Silva will begin shortly. Cung Le is a worthy champion but not on the calibr of an Anderson Silva yet. It will take time, but it should be noted that a match between both of these champions would be a symphony of offense; I would love to see it, but am not betting that it will happen anytime soon.
Here’s a look at the rest of the card:
*Cung Le wins the Strikeforce 185 lbs. championship
*Gilbert Melendez retains Strikeforce 155 lbs. championship
