THOMSON-MELENDEZ CHAMPIONSHIP REMATCH

THOMSON-MELENDEZ CHAMPIONSHIP  REMATCH 
SET FOR  APRIL 11TH
STRIKEFORCE Lightweight Title Fight  Precedes Shamrock vs. Diaz Main Event; 
Live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m.  ET/PT)
From the HP Pavilion in San Jose,  Calif.   

NEW YORK (Feb. 27,  2009)—Strikeforce World  Lightweight Champion Josh “The
Punk”  Thomson (16-2) and top challenger “El Nino” Gilbert Melendez (14-2)
will  revisit their classic, five-round battle when they collide in a rematch
for the  coveted 155-pound title at Strikeforce:  “Shamrock vs. Diaz” mixed
martial arts (MMA) event at San Jose, California’s HP Pavilion on Saturday, April
11th live on  SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on  the West Coast).
The championship bout will be the  30-year-old Thomson’s first defense of the
Strikeforce (MMA) belt and an  opportunity to extend his win streak to nine
consecutive fights.   
In their first encounter, a fight  that many critics hailed as “Fight of the
Year,” Thomson continually beat  Melendez to the punch en route to earning the
unanimous decision win at the HP  Pavilion on June 27, 2008.  With the 
victory, Thomson regained his footing amongst the world’s top-10 competitors in 
the sport’s 155-pound division.   
The showdown between Thomson and  Melendez, former training partners who hail
from neighboring cities in  California’s Bay Area, had been brewing for
months as both fighters continued to  climb the ranks in the division.   
The defeat marked Melendez’s first  in the Strikeforce cage.  The 26 
year-old had previously been on fire, winning all four of his Strikeforce  starts,
including a meeting with Japan’s Tetsuji Kato in the main event of the 
first-ever MMA affair at the world-famous Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills,  Calif.,
on September 29, 2007.   
On April 11, Melendez gets his  chance at redemption.   
Ironically, Thomson’s sole defeat in  Strikeforce competition came at the
hands of Clay “The Carpenter” Guida, the former  junior collegiate wrestling
star and first Strikeforce lightweight champion in  history.  Previously,
Melendez had  dominated Guida with superior striking to capture the Strikeforce title
at the  HP Pavilion on June 9, 2006.
The event represents the dawn of a  new age for Strikeforce as it will be the
first one under its new television  agreement with Showtime Networks Inc. 
The live telecast will feature up to five fights including a thrilling  main
event between three-time world  champion and MMA legend Frank  Shamrock (24-9-1)
and fellow knockout artist Nick Diaz (18-7, 1 NC) contested at a  catch weight
of 179 pounds.   
Middleweight (185-pound limit)  sluggers Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (16-5,
1 NC) and Benji “Razor”  Radach (19-4) will also meet in a featured contest.
 
Tickets for “Shamrock vs. Diaz,”  priced from $30, are available for
purchase at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster
locations (408-998-TIXS), Ticketmaster  online (_www.ticketmaster.com_
(http://www.ticketmaster.com/) ), and Strikeforce’s official website
(_www.strikeforce.com_ (http://www.strikeforce.com/) ). 
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.”   
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®.