Masvidal let it be known early in the bout with Noons that he wasn’t afraid to stand and trade with the noted boxer, as he opened a cut on Noons’ forehead that bloodied the former champion late in the first frame. Masvidal nearly finished Noons before the first bell, and he finished out a first round that could have been scored 10-8. In the second round, Masvidal showed his ever-improving wrestling game by repeatedly taking Noons to the ground at will, winning the second stanza in nearly as dominant a fashion as he won the first. The third round was more of the same, with Masvidal proving that he was the better man on the night, as he took the bout via unanimous decision.

“I felt great last night.  KJ is a tough guy but he had nothing on me,” said Gamebred.  “I ready for the title shot.  I proved that last night and I hope Strikeforce and Zuffa agree.”

With the win, Masvidal now has his sights set on Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, who has been begging for worthy contenders. An elite striker who now possesses an adept ground game, “Gamebred” proved that he is exactly that contender that the champion is looking for. Melendez has said that he is looking to the UFC for elite competition, but Masvidal wants him to know that there are plenty of fighters in Strikeforce willing to take his title, including the native Cuban himself.

“Masvidal brought his game to another level,” said his manager, Tina Vidal. “He is focused in a way I have never seen him before and he brought his A-game last night. What a fight!”

About ML Management Group

ML Management Group was founded by a group of business executives and entrepreneurs to provide talent management specifically to the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) industry.  ML Management Group takes a comprehensive approach to MMA management, providing our clientele with a holistic approach and professional business environment for them to manage and further their careers, financial interests, and personal life objectives.

Photo Courtesy of Strikeforce & ML Management

“STRIKEFORCE is my home, they’ve always been like family to me and I’m looking forward to continuing my career with them,” said the talented, exciting, 5-foot-9, 27-year-old protégé of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master Cesar Gracie and Muay Thai legend Jongsanan Fairtex.  “There are a lot of great fights out there for me – lots of challenges. I can’t wait to get back into the cage, do my thing and show the world that I’m still at the top of my game.’’

Universally recognized as one of the top 155-pounders in the world, Melendez has won four in a row and five of six.

Melendez of San Francisco, by way of Santa Ana, Calif., last fought on April 17, 2010, retaining the STRIKEFORCE belt with a dominant, lopsided five-round decision over Japanese superstar Shinya Aoki in Nashville, Tenn., live on The CBS Television Network.

The impressive, one-sided triumph over the highly regarded Aoki came in Melendez’ first title defense since he regained the  STRIKEFORCE crown with a hard-earned, hard-fought unanimous five- round decision over the fighter that had dethroned him, Josh Thomson, on Dec. 19, 2009, at HP Pavilion San Jose, Calif.

Melendez, who turned pro on Oct. 18, 2002, and won his initial 13 starts, owns other notable victories over MMA standouts Aoki, Clay Guida<http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Clay-Guida-8184> andTatsuya Kawajiri<http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Tatsuya-Kawajiri-1326>. Melendez captured the STRIKEFORCE interim lightweight belt with a second-round knockout (punches) over Rodrigo Damm on April 11, 2009, in San Jose.

“I’m healthy again and excited about fighting again real soon,’’ the personable, charismatic Melendez said. “It doesn’t matter who I fight. I just want to get back in there and rip.’’

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com<http://www.strikeforce.com/>) 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, sanctioned by ISKA, 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 (MMA) 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.  In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network.  The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.

Source: Mike Afromowitz/Strikeforce

Noons’ STRIKEFORCE debut will be his first MMA start since June 14, 2008 when he reeled off his third consecutive win in the cage by demolishing Yves Edwards with a series of punches and elbows just 48 seconds into their meeting at Honolulu, Hawaii’s Neil S. Blaisdell Arena.

Following the victory over Edwards, Noons began a hiatus from MMA in order to pursue his professional boxing career.  He has since been victorious in four of five appearances in the squared circle, bringing his overall boxing record to 12-2 (6 KO’s).

“I’m super excited to be a part of STRIKEFORCE and I’m looking forward to putting on great fights,” said Noons, who will celebrate his 27th birthday on Monday, December 7.  “I’ve always wanted to come back, but I wanted to box for a little while in order to polish my boxing skills.  Now, I’m ready to jump back into the picture in MMA.”

To date, Noons most memorable stand in MMA was his meeting with dangerous striker and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Nick Diaz.  In the first round of action, Noons opened a cut below Diaz’s right eyebrow with a hard knee strike to the head after Diaz shot in for a takedown and, soon after, dropped Diaz with a straight counter right hand.

After round one came to an end, the ringside doctor ordered a stoppage to the fight due to two cuts Diaz had sustained on his forehead.  Noons was declared the winner of the fight by TKO.

Noons, who fights out of San Diego, California, also boasts a 13-1 (10 KO’s) record in kickboxing competition.

“I feel a lot more confident with my game – my striking and everything else,” said Noons.  “I feel like I’m a more complete fighter now and I’m ready to fight whoever STRIKEFORCE puts in front of me.”

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com <http://www.strikeforce.com/> ) 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.

Source: Mike Afromowitz/StrikeForce

A special pre-sale ticket purchase opportunity will take place for “STRIKEFORCE Insider” e-newsletter subscribers (http://strikeforce.com/insider.html) beginning at 10:00 AM, ET Monday, Dec. 7, and ending at 10 PM, ET on Thursday, Dec. 10.  “STRIKEFORCE Insiders” will receive a special e-newsletter Friday, Dec. 4 with the pre-sale code. Tickets officially go on-sale next Friday, Dec. 11 at the BankAtlantic Center ticket office as well as online at www.Ticketmaster.com <http://www.ticketmaster.com/>   or by phone at (800)745-3000.

Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner and two-time Pro Bowl competitor, will face an opponent to be announced in one of as many as five live, SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) televised bouts on the STRIKEFORCE card.

The 6 foot 1 inch, 220 pound former running back, who already holds a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and boasts additional training in the combat disciplines of Muay Thai and Kenpo, recently entered a 12 week MMA training camp at San Jose, California’s American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), which plays home to a host of the world’s greatest fighters, including STRIKEFORCE Lightweight Champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson and undefeated middleweight superstar Cung Le.

Walker, a 1999 College Hall of Fame inductee who was also selected to Sports Illustrated’s NCAA All-Century Team that year, has never been one to shy away from the road less traveled. Following his junior year at the University of Georgia where he had set the NCAA freshman rushing record en route to an undefeated season and Sugar Bowl championship victory over Notre Dame, Walker, a born-again Christian, astonished the sports world by withdrawing from school to play professional ball in the newly formed United States Football League (USFL) rather than wait to enter the NFL draft after the graduation of his collegiate class, a rule maintained by the world’s largest professional football league at the time.

While the vast majority of football players typically follow an intensive weight room regimen, Walker relied on bodyweight exercise, conditioning, and calisthenics while maintaining very little body fat. Walker was eventually drafted in 1985 by The Dallas Cowboys and established himself as a premiere running back in the league.  In 1986, he was the driving force behind a historic trade that sent in to The Minnesota Vikings in exchange for five players and six draft picks.

In 12 NFL seasons with four different teams, he became the only player to gain 4,000 yards three different ways – rushing, receiving, and kickoff returns.  He is one of six players to exceed 60 touchdowns rushing and 20 touchdowns receiving and is the only player in NFL history to register a 90 plus yard reception, a 90 plus yard run, and a 90 plus yard kickoff return, all in one season (1994).

Off the gridiron, Walker has achieved a handful of feats, including a seventh place finish in the 1992 Winter Olympics two-man bobsled competition.  Now 47 years of age, the native of Wrightsville, Georgia will look to conquer a whole new world.

Diaz will make his first start since he submitted hard-hitting Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith with a rear naked choke in the third round (1:41) of their STRIKEFORCE:  Lawler vs. Shields matchup at St. Louis, Missouri’s Scottrade Center on June 6, 2009.  The 26 year old Diaz, a native of Stockton, California, will put a five fight win streak on the line.

Cyborg made history on August 15, 2009 when the 24-year-old native of Brazil stopped superstar Gina Carano with a punishing barrage of strikes in the first round (4:59) of their meeting to become the first-ever STRIKEFORCE women’s champion.  The long-awaited showdown between Carano and Cyborg also marked the first women’s main event in the history of any major MMA promotion.

Doors at BankAtlantic Center open at 7 p.m.  The first non-televised, preliminary card fight will begin at 8 p.m.

STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on the premium cable television network.  The promotion made its live, primetime debut on CBS with the “Fedor vs. Rogers” mega-fight that it co-promoted with M-1 Global on Saturday, November 7 and generated 5.46 million viewers for the main event between the world’s number one heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, and superstar Brett “The Grim” Rogers.

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com <http://www.strikeforce.com/> ) 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.

Photo: Esther Lin/STRIKEFORCE

Source: Mike Afromowitz, STRIKEFORCE

“He’s (Braga) a tough guy.  His record [16-1] speaks for itself.  I expect a tough fight, but I’ve been training harder than ever and I’m confident in my ability.  I’m ready,” said Crane.

Recognized as one of the world’s top jiu-jitsu players, Crane sports a decorated list of accomplishments, having been a three-time Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Champion, as well as owning a gold medal in the black belt division from the 2002 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Braga, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holder, will be looking to get back on the winning track after suffering his first professional loss (round 2 – guillotine choke) at the hands of former TUF participant Gabe Ruediger this past August.  Prior to the loss, Braga had reeled-off a string of 16 straight victories dating back to 1994.

Crane sports an impressive record as well (12-4) and is well tested, having fought battles in the Ultimate Fighting Championship against the likes of Roger Huerta and Kurt Pellegrino.  He is also a former lightweight champion for both the King of the Cage and Ring of Fire fight promotions.

In addition to training and fighting professionally, Crane continues to instruct students at his Encino-based Legacy Mixed Martial Arts Academy, which he owns and operates alongside world-class jiu-jitsu instructor Romulo Barral.

Fight of Your Life Communications is the brainchild of Phil Lanides.  Growing up in church, Phil learned a tremendous amount about music, networking, promotion, and the importance of effective communications. At the age of 18, his official journey into the world of communications began at KNTV-11, the local NBC affiliate in the Silicon Valley. After 5 years of learning the media business, Phil took the next step, joining a PR and marketing firm specializing in the technology industry. From there, he worked with a theatre PR and marketing firm. After conversations with several important people in his life, along with much research and introspection, Phil combined his passion for music, sports, the church, and God into one endeavor, and started Fight of Your Life Communications.
For additional information, please visit www.fightofyourlife.com.

The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner and two-time Pro Bowl competitor will begin a 12 week training camp next month at San Jose, California’s American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), which plays home to a host of the world’s greatest fighters, including STRIKEFORCE Lightweight Champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson.  The 6 foot 1 inch, 220 pound former running back, who already holds a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and boasts additional training in the combat disciplines of Muay Thai and Kenpo, will be trained by AKA co-owner and head trainer Bob Cook.

“I’ve been training for several years.  I would play college football games on Saturday and then compete in martial arts tournaments on Sunday after church I’m now looking forward to opening up another chapter in my life and to competing in MMA,” said Walker, who recently  was a contestant on the second hit season of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice reality series on NBC.

“I flew to LA last month to watch Herschel train and was surprised to see his advanced wrestling and striking abilities,” said STRIKEFORCE Founder and CEO Scott Coker, a martial arts promoter of over 25 years.  “He’s got work ahead of him, but he’s committed to training at one of the most notable gyms in the sport of MMA so it will be very interesting to watch him progress.”

Walker, a 1999 College Hall of Fame inductee who was also selected to Sports Illustrated’s NCAA All-Century Team that year, has never been one to shy away from the road less traveled.

Following his junior year at the University of Georgia where he had set the NCAA freshman rushing record en route to an undefeated season and Sugar Bowl championship victory over Notre Dame, Walker, a born-again Christian, astonished the sports world by withdrawing from school to play professional ball in the newly formed United States Football League (USFL) rather than wait to enter the NFL draft after the graduation of his collegiate class, a rule maintained by the world’s largest professional football league at the time.

While the vast majority of football players typically follow an intensive weight room regimen, Walker relied on bodyweight exercise, conditioning, and calisthenics while maintaining very little body fat.

Walker was eventually drafted in 1985 by The Dallas Cowboys and established himself as a premiere running back in the league.  In 1986, he was the driving force behind a historic trade that sent in to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for five players and six draft picks.

In 12 NFL seasons with four different teams, he became the only player to gain 4,000 yards three different ways – rushing, receiving, and kickoff returns.  He is one of six players to exceed 60 touchdowns rushing and 20 touchdowns receiving and is the only player in NFL history to register a 90 plus yard reception, a 90 plus yard run, and a 90 plus yard kickoff return, all in one season (1994).

Off the gridiron, Walker has achieved a handful of feats, including a seventh place finish in the 1992 Winter Olympics two-man bobsled competition.  He also nearly made the Olympic sprint relay team. Now 47 years of age, Walker, a native of Wrightsville, Georgia, will look to conquer a whole new world.  It is a challenge he is extremely optimistic about.

“I will go in there and test myself against any 20 year old,” said Walker.  “I know there will be naysayers and I’m fine with that.  I want to prove to people who sit on a couch and don’t do anything but criticize other people that, if you’re a true athlete or martial artist, you’re not old until you can’t get up and walk around anymore.  MMA fighters are said to be some of the best athletes in the world, my plan at the age of 47 is to show the world I am still one of the best athletes as well”

STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on the premium cable television network.  Last week, STRIKEFORCE announced that it would make its live, primetime debut on CBS with its “Fedor vs. Rogers” mega-fight that it will co-promote with M-1 Global on Saturday, November 7.

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) 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.