SHAMROCK VS. LE FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

Posted on | March 28, 2008 | No Comments

FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

FOR LONG-AWAITED SHAMROCK-CUNG LE FIGHT

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, AT HP PAVILION

The 10 fighters who will appear on SHOWTIME Saturday pose Thursday. They are (left-to-right): Melendez, Lim, Le, Fickett, Joey Villasenor, Wayne Cole, Mike Kyle, Ryan Jensen, Lemley and Shamrock.

Cung Le (left), EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw and Frank Shamrock pose after Thursday’s final press conference at the HP Pavilion at San Jose, Calif. The legendary Shamrock risks his Strikeforce middleweight title against the unbeaten Le in the main event Saturday at the HP Pavilion. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. PT; the first prelim is at 5 o’clock.

Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (left) and challenger Gabe Lemley square off after the press conference.

In a terrific welterweight fight on Saturday, Jae Suk Lim (left) meets Drew Fickett.

Shamrock-Le, Saturday, March 29 at The HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

One of Five Fights on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast)

Bay Area rivals Frank Shamrock (23-8-1) and undefeated Cung Le (21-0), will finally face off in the cage when Shamrock defends his Strikeforce world middleweight (185-pound limit) championship against Le in the main event of an eagerly anticipated EliteXC-Strikeforce co-promoted mixed martial arts extravaganza Saturday, March 29, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

In another Strikeforce world title fight, defending lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (9-1) of San Francisco, Calif., will risk his 170-pound belt against Gabe Lemley (11-6) of New London, Iowa.

Tickets for “Shamrock vs. Cung Le,” priced from $30, are on sale at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070), all Ticketmaster locations (408-998-TIXS), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), EliteXC’s official website (www.ProElite.com) and Strikeforce’s official website (www.Strikeforceusa.net). Doors open at 4:30 p.m. PT. First live fight is at 5 o’clock.

In addition to the aforementioned world title scraps, three more bouts will be televised live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast): in an EliteXC welterweight elimination fight, Drew Fickett (31-5) of Tucson, Ariz., meets Korea’s Jae Suk Lim (9-3), Mike Kyle (9-5-1) of San Jose clashes with Wayne Cole (10-6) of Oklahoma City, Okla., in a super heavyweight battle and EliteXC standout Joey “Dream Smasher” Villasenor (24-6) of Albuquerque, N.M., will thrown down with Ryan Jensen (11-3) of Omaha, Neb., in a middleweight scrap.

Non-televised bout include: Jesse Jones (1-0) of Redwood City, Calif., vs. Jesse Gillespie (1-0) of San Jose at 170 pounds; Darren Uyenoyama (3-1) of San Francisco vs. Anthony Figueroa (4-1) of Gilroy, Calif., at 135 pounds; and Tiki Ghosn (9-7) of Huntington Beach, Calif., vs. Luke Stewart (5-0) of San Francisco at 170 pounds.

Fans can watch pre- and post-fight interviews at ProElite.com. Fighter pages below.

Here is what the fighters from the SHOWTIME televised portion of the evening had to say about Saturday’s fights at Thursday’s press conference:

FRANK SHAMROCK:

“I have been training hard to beat up Cung Le. This is a dream come true to fight a guy like this in my hometown.

“I was doing MMA when there were no weight classes, no rounds, no athletic commission, no TV and no money. Now I am fighting on SHOWTIME in one of the biggest MMA fights of the year.

“In my 11 years I have never been knocked out, submitted, choked out and never lost a championship match. That is what I am all about.

“If Cung Le can achieve what others like Phil Baroni and Tito Ortiz failed to do, then he is truly the man to beat.

“I am going to come out ready to brawl and explode on Saturday night.”

CUNG LE:

“I feel blessed and honored to be part of this big event. I want to thank Frank for giving me a shot at the title. I am really looking forward to it.

“This is a huge opportunity to fight a guy like Frank, and I am ready to rock and roll.”

DREW FICKETT:

“I want to thank Jae Suk Lim for taking this fight. He took it knowing I will be a little heavier than Nick (Diaz, Lim’s original opponent), so that shows his spirit and that he is ready to fight.

“I want to fight and I want to fight the best. I understand Jake (Shields, his original opponent who pulled out with a back injury) got injured, and I was looking forward to fighting him.

“Jae is an equally talented opponent just as Jake is. I cannot look past him and I am ready to take him on.

“I know that he came all the way over from Korea to win. That means that he is coming hard and will do anything to win on Saturday. I will be ready for his best.”

JAE SUK LIM:

“I wanted to fight Nick Diaz (his original opponent who was not allowed to fight for medical issues), but he has some problems. I wanted to retire him, but next time I will get the chance to do that.

“I want to thank Drew (Fickett) for taking this fight on short notice. He is a tough opponent and it will be a good fight.

“I promise that you will see how strong the Korean fighters are on Saturday night.”

GILBERT MELENDEZ:

“I want to thank Gabe (Lemley) for stepping up and taking this fight. I respect that.

“I am looking forward to putting on a good show for all the fans on Saturday.

“I am pretty bummed Nick (Diaz) and Jake (Shields) aren’t on the card anymore. I train hard with those guys and it would have been great to fight on the same night as them.

“On Saturday I am going to fight hard to bring home the championship belt again. I want to win for my two friends and for my gym.”

GABE LEMLEY:

“I took this fight on short notice, about three weeks, but I am ready.

“My first impression of Gilbert (Melendez) was that this is not a good idea because he is such a great fighter.

“But I have nothing to lose if I want to stay in the game for a long time. I am kind of a fan of Gilbert, so I want to thank him for taking this fight. This is huge for me.”

MIKE KYLE:

“I’m looking to show you guys a good, clean fight on Saturday.

“I have been looking forward to getting my career back on track for a while. This is the first time I have fought for a year and a half because of a suspension, so I am ready to get it on.”

WAYNE COLE:

“Anytime you get to come out on national television is a huge opportunity, especially for a guy from the country like me.

“This is a big quest for me. I’m going to put on a great show on Saturday.

“Fighting on national television and in California is a big deal for me. My opponent has fought in a lot of amazing places that I would like to have a chance to.

“If I come out with a win, it could change my life.”

JOEY VILLASENOR:

“My opponent got changed this week, but it doesn’t matter. I trained really hard for whoever they put in the cage with me.

“I think (Ryan) Jensen is a tougher opponent than the two guys I trained for.

“I am actually a little bit nervous, but I think it brings out the best in me. Sweaty palms and I’m ready to go.”

RYAN JENSEN:

“I want to thank everyone for the opportunity to fight. I also took this fight on short notice, but I was training prior to this for four solid weeks.

“I’m ready and looking to come out with a bang.”

Fighter pages for televised bouts: Shamrock (http://frankshamrock.proelite.com), Le (http:/cungle.proelite.com), Melendez (http:/gilbertmelendez.proelite.com), Fickett (http:/drewfickett.proelite.com), Lim (http://jaesuklim.proelite.com), Kyle (http://mikekyle.proelite.com), Cole (http://waynecole.proelite.com), Villasenor (http://joeyvillasenor.proelite.com), Jensen (http://ryanjensen.proelite.com)

Fighter pages for non-televised bouts: Jones (http://jessejones.proelite.com), Gillespie (http://jessegillespie.proelite.com), Uyenoyama (http://darrenuyenoyama.proelite.com), Ghosn (http://tikighosn.proelite.com), Stewart (http://lukestewart.proelite.com).