MITSUHIRO ISHIDA TO REPLACE INJURED JOSH THOMSON AND WILL FIGHT GILBERT MELENDEZ ON STRIKEFORCE: “CARANO VS. CYBORG”, SATURDAY, AUG. 15, AT HP PAV ...

MITSUHIRO ISHIDA TO REPLACE INJURED JOSH THOMSON AND WILL FIGHT GILBERT MELENDEZ ON STRIKEFORCE: “CARANO VS. CYBORG”, SATURDAY, AUG. 15, AT HP PAVILION IN SAN JOSE, CALIF.

Historic STRIKEFORCE Event Will Now Include Rematch Between Ishida and Melendez for Melendez’ Interim Lightweight Belt After Thomson Unable to Get Medical Clearance to Fight

SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 30, 2009) – It looks like Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez will get his rematch with Japanese wrestling expert Mitsuhiro Ishida a little sooner than he expected.

STRIKEFORCE announced on Thursday that Ishida will replace the injured Josh “The Punk” Thomson, owner of the STRIKEFORCE lightweight belt who was unable to get medical clearance for an injured leg. Ishida and Melendez will battle for Melendez’ interim lightweight title on the Saturday, Aug. 15, “Carano vs. Cyborg” show at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

SHOWTIME will televise the bouts during a telecast that will begin at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).

San Francisco’s Melendez (15-2) lost a unanimous decision to Ishida (18-5-1) in Saitama, Japan, on Dec. 31, 2007, for the first loss of his career.

In his last fight on STRIKEFORCE, Ishida submitted Justin Wilcox in the first round at “Strikeforce at the Mansion II” on Sept. 20, 2008. After four wins in five fights, Ishida recently suffered a TKO loss to Mizuto Hirota at a May Shooto event.

Tickets start at $30 and are available at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070), all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and the official STRIKEFORCE website (www.strikeforce.com).

The undefeated Carano (7-0) and her top rival, Cyborg (7-1), are slated to battle five, 5-minute rounds in the first-ever fight for the STRIKEFORCE Women’s 145-Pound World Title. The matchup also represents the first women’s main event on a major MMA fight card.

About Strikeforce

Strikeforce 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.

About Showtime Networks Inc.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

Source: Strikeforce