New York (April
1, 2009)–A broken left leg sustained during a sparring session earlier today
has forced Strikeforce World Lightweight (155 lb. limit) Champion Josh “The
Punk” Thomson (16-2) to withdraw from his scheduled title defense against Gilbert
“El Nino” Melendez (14-2) at Strikeforce’s “Shamrock vs. Diaz” event at the
HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, April 11.
Strikeforce is searching for a
replacement fighter to face the top-ranked Melendez in the live SHOWTIME
televised event.
“I was sparring hard and I broke
my leg, above my ankle, during an exchange,” said the 30-year-old Thomson, who
was trading blows with fellow Strikeforce competitor Billy Evangelista when the
injury occurred. Thomson is scheduled to undergo surgery on Friday and is
expected to be out of action for two to three months.
“I’m very upset. All the
hard work was done and it was time to fight,” said the injured champ. “I
was looking forward to putting on a great show for the fans. All I can
say is that I’ll be back when I get healthy.”
Strikeforce “Shamrock vs. Diaz” will air
live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) on Saturday,
April 11.
Tickets for “Shamrock vs. Diaz,”
priced from $30, are available for purchase 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 Strikeforce’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).
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.” In May
2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of Strikeforce, partnered with
Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in
2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP
Pavilion at San Jose.
That really sucks, working hard to get to where he was and then having an accident that would stop him from doing so. Bummer.
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