Strikeforce: Evolution – Weigh Ins – Cung Le vs Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith – Josh “The Punk” Thomson vs Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez Also featuring Channing Tatum, Herschel Walker, Javier Mendez, & JV from WILD 94.9

Frank Shamrock

Cung Le with KNOXX video host Meredith Divita

He’s known as “The Punk.” And truth is Josh Thomson doesn’t much care for the nickname.

“I hate it,” he said. “Everybody would like a good name.”

Thomson wanted something classy, like “The Golden Boy.” But Oscar De La Hoya got there first, and nothing else seemed to fit.

“So, I’m stuck with ‘The Punk.’ “

Thomson takes that billing into his long-delayed rematch with Gilbert Melendez on the Strikeforce mixed-martial arts card Saturday at HP Pavilion. The lightweight title fight was postponed twice this year as Thomson dealt with leg injuries.

Well-spoken and clean-cut, Thomson doesn’t come across as a, well, punk. But it wasn’t always that way. By his own description he was a cocky guy who ran his mouth too much, swung his fists too quickly and found himself with an inside view of prison bars.

“If you had known me before, you probably wouldn’t have liked me, and I wouldn’t have cared what you thought, either,” said Thomson, 31, a San Jose native. “But that didn’t get me very far. I knew something had to change.”

Combat sports are filled with stories of redemption as wayward fighters find purpose, direction and maturity in the gym. Thomson makes no claim that MMA turned his life around. Rather, it was the people he encountered.

“He’s still a punk, trust me,” said one of them, American Kickboxing Academy head trainer Javier Mendez. “But now it’s not in a bad way. He’s just a regular punk.”

Half-Latino and half-Caucasian, Thomson saw himself as an outsider growing up on the East Side.

“The Mexicans hung with each other,” he said. “It was a little strange with me and the white kids. I didn’t fit in with the black kids. The gang stuff was pretty heavy, and kids were walking around in bandannas. So I was fighting probably once a week.”

A middle school principal got punched while breaking up one of his scuffles, landing Thomson in the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall. Afterward, Thomson went to live with his father in Idaho, where he attended high school and then wrestled one year for junior college powerhouse North Idaho College.

His coach, John Owen, remembers Thomson as a good wrestler whose dad worried about him.

“I liked Josh, but wrestling wasn’t a priority,” Owen said. “If you want to be a great musician, you have to pound on that piano. Josh just didn’t pound on that wrestling mat hard enough, because he had a lot of things going on in his life.”

MMA Web sites mention that Thomson also wrestled at Stanford. But then-Cardinal coach Chris Horpel has no recollection of him. Thomson said the school wasn’t for him, and he lasted only a few weeks.

But while Thomson wasn’t crazy about wrestling, he was showing a knack for the sport of cage fighting — as well as finding trouble.

Freedom lost

In 2000, Thomson was on an Idaho lake cruise with friends. One pal had a beef going with someone from another group. An alcohol-fueled brawl erupted, and Thomson choked another man so badly that he required CPR.

“Thank God there was a nurse there, or I’d probably still be in jail for murder,” Thomson said.

Charged with felony aggravated assault, he served about six months of a three-year sentence before being released for good behavior.

“It had always been ingrained in me the importance of being loyal to your family and friends,” Thomson said. “But I let loyalty go too far. It cost me my freedom. I decided that would never happen again.”

But when he began training at San Jose’s AKA gym, the 155-pound Thomson quickly was tagged “The Punk.”

“He would chirp all the time, getting into people’s business, and sometimes it would get physical,” Mendez said. “He didn’t care what size they were. There were times that I threatened to kick him out of the gym for good.”

Instead, Mendez and his wife took Thomson into their home. They were among those who urged him to think hard about how he dealt with people.

Meanwhile, Thomson was developing into a top-flight fighter and caught the wave of MMA’s growing mainstream acceptance. In 2008, Thomson won the Strikeforce lightweight title in a five-round decision against his friend Melendez.

“He has come a long way,” Mendez said.

‘Heart of gold’

The way Kris Crawford sees it, Thomson also is a perfect gentleman who has “a heart of gold.” She founded a group called Knock Out Dog Fighting, and Thomson, who owns a bulldog, accompanied her to the same juvenile hall where he once was incarcerated.

“Josh told the kids, ‘I used to be here, and look what I’ve been able to do with my life,’ ” Crawford said. “They can relate to him, because he’s been there and done that. The only reason he does this is because he wants to make a difference.”

What Thomson (16-2) wants now is to fight. It has been 14 months since he was last in the cage. The first scheduled rematch with Melendez (16-2) in April was postponed when Thomson broke his left fibula just above the ankle. An August bout was put on hold when Thomson broke the bone in a different place. But now, with a plate and eight screws in the leg, Thomson finally is healthy.

Although their friendship has been strained by the rivalry, Thomson has nothing but praise for Melendez. But in the gym, Thomson still knows how to yap.

“He hasn’t fought in awhile, so he’s starting to be a little punk again,” joked Jon Fitch, a UFC fighter who also trains at the AKA facility. “He needs to fight, because that levels him out.”

But Thomson also has learned when not to throw down. Earlier this year, two men, fortified with liquid courage, goaded Thomson as he was leaving a pizza parlor.

“They were chasing me around, and I was actually running from them,” Thomson said. “How embarrassing was that for me? But I wouldn’t fight.”

Nowadays, he saves that for the cage.

The first UFC gym opened last week so KNOXX and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson decided to take a trip to Concord, CA to check out the facility!

Wow!! We were quite amazed with what this gym offered…. For more information check out their website at http://www.ufcgyms.com/

They said their goal is to open ATLEAST 150 UFC Gyms worldwide within the next 5 years!!

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson will also be training at this UFC gym with trainers, Jimmy Greninger and Allan Maravilla, for his morning training sessions while continuing his training with Cung Le and Josh Thomson at Universal Strength Headquarters in the evening.

Rumble workin those ropes!

The plates on their free weights have the UFC Gym logos on them!!

Strikeforce light weight champion, Josh “The Punk” Thomson came out to support the KNOXX party

DJ AJAX

Fighters get down too!!

Import model and Go Go dancer, Jeri Lee

Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson will face interim champion Gilbert Melendez in a five-round rematch at Strikeforce “Evolution” on Dec. 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

The bout, which will unify the promotion’s two lightweight titles, had been twice scheduled and cancelled due to injuries sustained by Thomson in 2009.

Thomson’s shutout decision over Melendez in June 2008 is considered one of the high points of the San Jose fighter’s career.

As a 3-to-1 underdog, the American Kickboxing Academy product established confidence with the Pride Bushido star early, and actively used lateral movement to keep Melendez at bay throughout the 25 minutes. The loss marked only the second in the highly touted Melendez’s career, and solidified what many suspected of the Thomson’s potential in the lightweight division.

In his last performance in September 2008, Thomson, 31, made quick work out of an overmatched Ashe Bowman in a non-title bout, cutting down the Lion’s Den prospect in only 74 seconds at Strikeforce’s second event at the Playboy Mansion.

Melendez earned the interim title with a second-round technical knockout of Rodrigo Damm in April 2009. The voracious 27-year-old wrestler defended the title in August when he demolished Mitsuhiro Ishida with strikes inside three rounds. Melendez also holds key victories over standouts Clay Guida and Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Thomson-Melendez II joins a previously announced roster that includes a main-event middleweight bout between Cung Le and Scott Smith, as well as the promotional debut of Muhammed Lawal against Mike Whitehead at heavyweight.

Strikeforce “Evolution” will be broadcast live on Showtime.

From/De: EA

EA SPORTS MMA to Feature STRIKEFORCE as a Premier League

New World-Class Fighters and Commentary Team Also Announced

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that STRIKEFORCE, a world-class mixed martial arts fight promotion, will be featured as a premier league in the upcoming EA SPORTS™ MMA video game. In addition, Brett Rogers and Jake Shields, both of whom will be competing in the STRIKEFORCE and M-1 Global co-promoted fight on November 7 (broadcasted live by CBS), join the EA SPORTS MMA roster of fighters.

With this partnership, the STRIKEFORCE cage and the league’s commentary team of Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo, as well as ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., will be incorporated into the game. Legendary mixed martial arts referee “Big John” McCarthy will preside over the in-ring action and bring his in-depth knowledge of the sport to help deliver a truly authentic MMA experience.

“We are honored that EA SPORTS has selected STRIKEFORCE to serve as a premier league in its forthcoming MMA title,” said STRIKEFORCE President Scott Coker. “EA SPORTS has long been recognized by gamers as a highly innovative, ground breaking provider of sports gaming entertainment. We are confident that EA SPORTS MMA will function as a great ambassador for STRIKEFORCE’s fighters and effectively promote our sport to a new audience as well as to longtime fight fans.”

“We are very excited to be working with STRIKEFORCE and feature them as a premier league in our game,” said Executive Producer Dale Jackson. “They have a wealth of mixed martial arts expertise, put on great shows and have a great stable of top-notch fighters. Together we look forward to growing the sport and delivering an immersive interactive gaming experience.”

Tomorrow night’s STRIKEFORCE fight, to be broadcast on national network television by CBS, will undoubtedly be one of the most watched mixed martial arts fights in history. EA SPORTS MMA fighter roster will feature four of the main card’s fighters, including Fedor Emelianenko, Brett Rogers, Jake Shields and Jason Miller.

Brett Rogers is preparing for the biggest fight of his career as he gets set to take on Fedor Emelianenko tomorrow night. A 6’5”, 265 pound heavyweight, Brett is currently undefeated and holds a record of 10-0-0. In his last fight, he knocked out Andrei Arlovski in just 22 seconds in the first round of action.

Jake Shields, a native Californian, will be taking on Jason “Mayhem” Miller for the STRIKEFORCE middleweight title. This 5’11”, 170 pound fighter, holds a current record of 23-4-1 and comes into tomorrow night’s middleweight title bout with a 12-fight winning streak. He is also the first and last Elite XC Welterweight champion and holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Also slated to appear on the fighter roster for EA SPORTS MMA are STRIKEFORCE stars Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. Miller and Lawal were announced via a video last month during their visit to the development studio.

EA SPORTS MMA will feature the most authentic, intense and broad mixed martial arts experience to date – complete with a vast array of top fighters and fighting styles from around the world. EA SPORTS MMA will be available on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system in 2010.

For more information about EA SPORTS MMA, visit www.easportsmma.com or follow the game on Twitter at www.twitter.com/easportsmma and Facebook at www.facebook.com/easportsmma.

EA SPORTS™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA Mobile™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. John Madden, NFL, NBA, FIFA, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, Tiger Woods and PGA TOUR are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson have verbally agreed to fight each other at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas.

Koscheck announced Tuesday on his Twitter account that he would be fighting Nov. 21 in Las Vegas in a co-main event fight.

“I got some big fight news for me,” he wrote. “I am fighting Nov 21 in Vegas. Co main event!!! Haha it’s on baby!!!!”

Following Brock Lesnar’s withdrawal from his title defense against Shane Carwin, the scheduled UFC 106 co-main event, Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin, became the main event. Reports surfaced later that the UFC was looking to bolster the card with a new co-main, and that now appears to be the case with Koscheck-Johnson.

Koscheck stopped Frank Trigg at UFC 103 in September to rebound from an upset loss to Paulo Thiago in February. Sherdog.com’s No. 5-ranked welterweight, he has 11 UFC wins and four losses. Johnson, 8-2, has won three straight in the Octagon. Most recently he stopped Yoshiyuki Yoshida on Oct. 24.

Source

Este es uno de una serie de vídeos que acaba de lanzar CBS para la promoción de la pelea del “Emperador” vs “La muerte” este 7 de noviembre en Stikeforce: “Fedor vs. Rogers”. En el vídeo podemos escuchar opiniones como la de, Randy Couture, Frank Trigg y Frank Shamrock confirmando que desde hace 6 años y hasta el día de hoy Fedor Emelianenko es el mejor peleador y toda una leyenda en la historia de las Artes Marciales Mixtas.

Con colaboración del compañero DEIFURIA.

KNOXX’s Josh “The Punk” Thomson along with Mike Swick and Bobby Southworth are currently in at Fort Huachuca to support our United States Army by going there to give some MMA Seminars and also do some Meet and Greet appearances. KNOXX and Oak Grove Technologies will be giving away these special limited edition shirts to our troops at Fort Huachuca.

Fort Huachuca is a United States Army installation under the command of the United States Army Installation Management Command. It is located in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona, about 15 miles north of the border with Mexico. Sierra Vista, which annexed the fort in 1971, is located south and east of the post, and Huachuca City, is to the north and east. Its major tenants are the Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM)/9th Army Signal Command and the United States Army Intelligence Center.

Cung Le plays the character, Manh, and Eddie Rouse plays the character, Leland

Jake Shields and Anthony Johnson

As you can see, Anthony Johnson doesn’t really like drinking beer