XxX_DEATH_XxX

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- [Only registered users can see links. ] certainly picked the opportune night to fight up to the potential that most within the sport knew he possessed.
Shoulder surgery, the rehabilitation, a staph infection and the loss of his father over a year ago seemed to stack themselves firmly against the San Jose fighter. If you bought into Thomson's pre-fight chatter, you might have thought the 29-year-old was bracing himself for inevitable defeat against Strikeforce lightweight champion and top-10 ranked [Only registered users can see links. ]. Dave Mandel/Sherdog
Josh Thomson, left, used a variety of kicks to offset Gilbert Melendez's attack.


But in front of a crowd of 7,488 spectators inside the HP Pavilion, any hesitation that may have haunted Thomson (15-2, 1 NC) was absent as he cruised to a shutout unanimous decision and the Strikeforce crown. The American Kickboxing Academy product established his confidence with Melendez early on, pulling the former Pride star's legs out from underneath him with a clean double-leg takedown. Melendez (14-2) squirmed to his feet, as he would on every occasion he was taken down, but Thomson was there to meet him and he was ready. Thomson utilized effective lateral movement to thwart many of Melendez's trademark looping hooks and circled to the outside continuously to keep Melendez on the move. What power punches did get through landed hard, but Thomson took his punishment with pride, grinning a handful of times when a fist found his chin. Peppering Melendez with a persistent left body kick, Thomson later added knees, uppercuts and front push kicks to his onslaught as Melendez continued to push forward. By the final round, Melendez's mouth hung open as he was labored by a formidable pace. Knowing he was behind on the cards, Melendez hunted down the punch he so desperately needed to hold onto the belt he'd protected for two years. but the opportunity never came. Instead, Melendez dropped his second fight in three bouts. Melendez's manager, [Only registered users can see links. ], said his client felt sluggish and that he believed a change in routine following the 26-year-old's December loss to Japanese spark plug [Only registered users can see links. ] at Yarennoka hadn't taken well to the usually aggressive enforcer. While losses to [Only registered users can see links. ] and [Only registered users can see links. ] overshadowed his victories over standouts like [Only registered users can see links. ] and [Only registered users can see links. ], Thomson's victory over Melendez certainly buoys him into top-10 territory. "I always perform when there's a big fight on the line," said Thomson, a 3-1 underdog Friday night. "It's the guys that aren't supposed to beat me that I obviously have a harder time with. I think anytime that you put somebody that's tougher in front of somebody else, they rise to the occasion. That's the sign of a true fighter." Strikeforce promoter Scott Coker said the event had been created to showcase Melendez and Thomson, and no other fight on the card quite lived up to the main event's bravado. Southworth finds redemption

Light heavyweight champion [Only registered users can see links. ] (9-5, 1 NC) vindicated a November 2007 loss to [Only registered users can see links. ] (20-11) with a tedious unanimous decision over five rounds to retain his championship status. The pair's first encounter lasted only 52 seconds into the second round after Ruiz busted the 38-year-old open with an alleged headbutt. In their second go, Southworth controlled much of the action with numerous takedowns over the entire 25 minutes. Both men engaged little on their feet, which disconcerted the hungry San Jose crowd, and the bout's pace slowed considerably as the minutes wore on. Still, Southworth, who believed his indiscretions on "The Ultimate Fighter" still plague fans' perception of him, had his moments early on with armbar and kimura attempts. Evangelista pounds out win over Phan

Sprightly underdog [Only registered users can see links. ] (14-5) certainly won over the fans, but couldn't get past the judges' scorecards, dropping a split decision loss to Fresno favorite [Only registered users can see links. ] (7-0) in a lightweight offering. Phan's 5-foot-6 frame, which seems better suited for the 145-pound division, caused him problems early on as Evangelista muscled him to the cage and wrangled Phan to the ground. Phan remained pinned under Evangelista and his ground-and-pound barrage nearly the entire round. Phan fared worlds better in the second set, finding rhythm and range with a jab-straight combination that connected a few times. Evangelista stole recovery time with a takedown attempt, then took it back upstairs once his cobwebs had cleared. Landing a clean takedown, Evangelista then corralled Phan on to his back. Phan delivered a spirited Round 3 by swinging for the fences, then nailed Evangelista with a knee that sent his mouthpiece flying. However, Evangelista's takedowns snapped much of the momentum the smaller fighter built. Evangelista earned 29-28 marks from judges Marcos Rosales and Abe Belardo. Nelson "Doc" Hamilton believed Phan was the victor with a 29-28 score. Tate decisions Maxwell

[Only registered users can see links. ] (2-1) stifled [Only registered users can see links. ]'s prized female student [Only registered users can see links. ] (2-3) with a takedown at the top of the first and second rounds, then hopped to mount just as comfortably. In the first, Maxwell utilized her longer bottom limbs to trap Tate's head and stall an armbar attempt off until the final seconds. Though it appeared Maxwell had tapped from the hold, the women continued into the second round, where again Maxwell scissored Tate's head from the bottom to stave off defeat. Tate relinquished mount to free herself. In the third round, Maxwell halted Tate's charge at the fence, while the Washington fighter continuously dropped levels to try and drag Maxwell down. After a restart, Maxwell stuffed the second shot and took Tate's back. The San Jose product could not find a finish, clearing the way for Tate to take home a deserved 29-28 unanimous decision.