Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni

Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni was a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by Strikeforce and EliteXC. The event took place on Friday, June 22, 2007 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The main card aired on pay-per-view, with the undercard streamed live on ProElite.com. The PPV event was rebroadcast on the Showtime premium cable channel on June 30, 2007.

Controversy

• Frank Shamrock was criticized for pushing an unconscious Phil Baroni off him using his leg rather than allowing the referee to pull Phil off Frank. In a post-fight interview question regarding the incident, Shamrock stated that "[Phil] was heavy on top of me... he was squishing the life out of me... he was laying on my leg and on my chest... that's it. And I thought it looked better on camera..
• Fighter Carter Williams was found by the CSAC to have tested positive for cocaine. He was fined $1,000 and suspended through Dec. 19, 2007.
• Fighter Phil Baroni tested positive for Boldenone and Stanozolol steroid Metabolites according to the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). He was fined $2,500 and suspended for a year in the state of California. Baroni denied taking any banned substances, and appealed the decision. On October 31, 2007 Baroni's suspension was reduced to 6 months.

Results

PPV Results

Winner	Loser	Method	Round	Time
Frank Shamrock	Phil Baroni	TKO (Rear Naked Choke)++	2	4:00
Cung Le	Tony Fryklund	TKO (Strikes)	3	0:25
Josh Thomson	Nick Gonzalez	Rear Naked Choke	1	1:42
Murilo Rua	Joey Villasenor	TKO (Strikes)	2	1:05
Paul Buentello	Carter Williams	TKO (Strikes)	2	0:10
Edson Berto	Victor Valenzuela+	Submission (Heel Hook)	1	0:47
Paul Daley	Duane Ludwig	TKO (Strikes)	2	0:42

+Valenzuela's original opponent Charles Bennett was arrested one week prior to the show for parole violations

++Rather than submitting due to the chokehold, Phil Baroni was rendered unconscious, and the fight was stopped accordingly.

With their victories, Frank Shamrock and Murilo Rua were crowned the Strikeforce and EliteXC middleweight champions, respectively.

Undercard Results (Streamed Live)

Winner	Loser	Method	Round	Time
Mike Pyle	Aaron Wetherspoon	Unanimous Decision	3	5:00
Luke Stewart	Jason Von Flue	TKO (Strikes)	3	2:17
Rex Richards	Ray Seraille	TKO (Strikes)	1	0:35
Chris Cariaso	Anthony Figueroa	Unanimous Decision	3	5:00
Seth Kleinbeck	Sam Spengler	TKO (Strikes)	2	2:55

Unaired Bout

Winner	Loser	Method	Round	Time
Nik Theotiko	Nikk Covert	KO	1	1:13

Purses

Notable fighter payouts included:

Fighter	Fight Earnings	Notes
Frank Shamrock	$200,000
Phil Baroni	$100,000
Cung Le	$45,000
Murilo Rua	$50,000	Includes $25K win bonus
Paul Buentello	$50,000	Includes $25K win bonus

External links

• Strikeforce Official website
• Official EliteXC website

See also

• List of EliteXC events

References