Strikeforce: Melendez Vs. Thomson Recap and Notes

I was in San Jose last Friday night for a great night of fights held by the MMA organization, Strikeforce. There were 12 fights in total, and the main event was between Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez and Josh "The Punk" Thomson in a battle of lightweights.

Thomson won the fight to become the Strikeforce World Lightweight champion. Here are my news and notes from San Jose.

* Alexander Trivino looked impressive in a prelim fight winning by armbar in 37 seconds. Trivino trains out of Frank Shamrock's school in San Jose.
* The announced crowd in the HP Pavilion was 7,488.
* Strike Force middleweight champion Cung Le was there cornering his students. All three of his fighters lost.
* It was a better night for the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) camp as Thomson, Billy Evangelista, and Bobby Southworth all won.
* Southworth defended his light heavyweight title against Anthony Ruiz. Southworth won the fight by decision but the fight was one of the worst fights I ever witnessed. This fight was almost as bad as Southworth's fight against Vernon White a few years ago.
* Miesha Tate defeated Elaina "Beef" Maxwell by decision in the only women's fight of the evening.
* Nam Phan lost by decision to Evangelista but Phan clearly dominated the last two rounds. He got robbed.
* Melendez lost to Thomson as all three judges scored the fight 50-45 in favor of Thomson. Melendez said he would like a rematch.
* Southworth said that he wants to fight bigger name fighters since that means bigger paydays.
* Southworth said he had a tough training camp as he had three bruised ribs and strep throat.
* I had hoped that Miesha Tate would be in the press conference but she was not there.
* Thomson said he hurt his foot from kicking Melendez's elbow time after time.
* "The Punk" also said he trained his ass off and that he quit drinking in January, and dedicated himself to training.
* He has three fights left on his Strikeforce contract and would like to fight anyone in the Top ten.
* Wants to fight Takanori Gomi
* Did not feel any pressure since he was such a heavy underdog.
* Was having lots of fun and was smiling and laughing with the crowd between each rounds.
* Had a staph infection and was sick and on antibiotics for the last three weeks.
* Credited Javier Mendez (AKA trainer) and Josh Koscheck (training partner) for the win.