November 20, 2006; New York, NY….Co-hosted by former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight king, Frank Shamrock, a 30-minute, magazine-format television show previewing Friday, December 8th’s Strikeforce “Triple Threat” world championship mixed martial arts fight card, will premiere on Fox Sports Network (FSN) Bay Area Wednesday at 6:30 PM Pacific Standard Time.
Strikeforce Maximum MMA will see Shamrock and co-host Brian Webber examine seven of the twelve professional bouts being presented by BodogFIGHT at San Jose, California’s HP Pavilion, including Strikeforce’s first-ever light heavyweight (205 lb. limit) championship fight between The Ultimate Fighter veteran, Bobby Southworth, and hard-hitting road warrior, Vernon “Tiger” White.
The program will also feature segments spotlighting several of the event’s featured combatants, including undefeated world kickboxing champion and mixed martial arts contender, Cung Le, and former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star, Daniel Puder. Le will attempt to extend his perfect mixed martial arts record to 3-0 and his overall martial arts fight record to 19-0 when he faces Jason “Live Wire” Von Flue during “Triple Threat” while the 24-year-old Puder will square off with fellow unbeaten young gun, Mike Cook.
The inspiring, underdog story of 32-year-old heavyweight contender, Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello, will be chronicled during the show as will the troubled childhood that helped mold 28-year-old Josh “The Punk” Thomson into one of the sport’s most complete stars. Thomson will do battle with 23-year-old rising star, Nam Phan.
Executive producer, Sean Maddison, ventured to Las Vegas, Nevada to provide coverage of Gina Carano, who will make history on December 8th when she faces off with Elaina Maxwell during the first women’s mixed martial arts bout in Strikeforce history.
FSN Bay Area will re-air Strikeforce Maximum MMA on Saturday, November 25th at 10 AM; Friday, December 1st at 7 PM; and Thursday, December 7th at 6:30 PM.
Tickets for Strikeforce “Triple Threat” are on sale at Ticketmaster (408-998-TIXS) and Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) as well as at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070). Tickets are priced at $200.00, $150.00, $100.00, $75.00, $50.00, and $40.00, and $30.00.
FSN Bay Area reaches more than 4 million households in Northern California and Northern Nevada. FSN Bay Area’s programming includes Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants baseball, Golden State Warriors basketball, San Jose Sharks hockey, San Jose Saber Cats football, and San Jose Stealth lacrosse, CMI: The Chris Myers Interview, In Focus On FSN, The Best Damn Sports Show Period, and The FSN Final Score. FSN Bay Area is owned and managed by Rainbow Sports Networks. Visit www.fsnbayarea.com for more information.
The Strikeforce mixed martial arts event is being produced by Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment (SVS&E, www.svse.net), a leading producer of major sporting and entertainment events and the exclusive producer of such events for San Jose, California’s largest entertainment venue, HP Pavilion. SVS&E’s many properties include “Fight Night at the Tank” professional boxing; the National Hockey League’s San Jose Sharks; and the annual ATP men’s professional tennis “SAP Open” event.
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion that, on Friday, March 10th, 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 18,265 fans, the largest-ever attendance at a mixed martial arts fight card held in North America.