A full gallery of pictures can be found here.

The Main Event Breakdown:

Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock, an icon in the sport of mixed martial arts, is a Pancrase veteran, former UFC champion, and the current Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. He sports a record of 24-8-1 and is currently 4-1 in his last five (which spans a series of 7 years.) He is known for his explosive submission game, study of biomechanics, superb conditioning, a constantly running, yet clever, mouth, and the occasional foul blow.

He weighed in at 186 pounds, and was required to make the 185 limit in a time span of thirty minutes.

Shamrock’s return to the sport against Cesar Gracie (0-1) left his critics questioning the intent of his comeback. Was Shamrock simply cashing in on his name? A subsequent match with Cesar’s relative, Renzo Gracie (13-6-1), left the critics questioning Shamrock’s technique. He had failed to dazzle his audience with a lackluster Disqualification loss to end a bout many felt he was losing. However, his critics were silenced (at least for a short season) when he dominated Phil Baroni (10-9) standing and then submitted the New York Bad Ass on the ground, in the second round, despite being plagued by injuries and unable to train for 3 weeks leading up to the bout.

Shamrock is coming into this bout apparently healthy. He has studied Cung Le’s game and has analyzed him. This will be a bout that tests all the aspects of Shamrock’s game.

Cung Le

Cung Le, a San Shou superstar and Bay Area standup fighting legend boasts a high school National Greco Roman wrestling championship, three bronze medals in the amateur San Shou world competition, a K-1 record of 3-0(1 KO) and an MMA record of 5-0(5 KO.) Cung is known for a style that is unique to the cage in which he utilizes a variety of spinning striking attacks, throws, and a ground game focused on dominant positioning. He has been brought along in the Strikeforce cage and fans have waited for him to take the next step up in competition.

He weighed in at 183 pounds.

Cung Le’s second bout, a match with Brian Warren (9-10), which he has called his toughest fight, was highly anticipated. He was caught early and his face took damage which impaired his breathing. He rallied hard to take a victory. His most spectacular performance to date came against Militech trained Tony Fryklund. Cung worked a variety of his trademark techniques and managed to stop the fight early in the third period. His most recent outing he demonstrated technical wrestling and some developing submission techniques.

The Prediction

Cung Le. Some may see this as a bold prediction, but I feel the fight will remain standing where Cung has the better credentials. Cung also has the wrestling technique to control where the fight is fought. As the underdog and smaller fighter Cung Le should earn the respect of the fans as he will look to stop Shamrock in the third round.

The Showtime Matches:

An unmotivated looking Drew Fickett (31-5) struggled in the process to make weight in his late appointed bout with Korean fighter Jae Suk Lim (9-3). At the time of this article, Fickett was three pounds away from the catch-weight of 172 pounds.

Gilbert Melendez (15-1) looks to defend his Lightweight title against the game Gabe Lemley (11-6). Lemley knows that Gilbert is a very tough opponent but is looking to score the upset.

In heavyweight action, UFC veteran Mike Kyle (9-5-1) is coming off a suspension to face Wayne Cole (10-6).

In middleweight action Joey Villasenor (24-6) has stated that Team Quest fighter “Ryan Jensen (11-3) is a tougher matchup for me than the original opponent.” Both fighters came in shape and looked ready to fight.

TUF Alumnus Marlon Sims (3-2) will be looking for a Strikeforce victory against the unsung Billy Evangelista (5-0) at 155 pounds.

The Undercard:

Tiki Ghosen (9-7) was nowhere to be found at the time of the weigh-ins, and the jiu-jitsu champion and local favorite Luke Stewart (5-0) took the scales and made the goal of 170 pounds.

The low bout of the evening will put Jesse Jones　(1-0) of Redwood City against Jesse Gillespie of San Jose.