Brick City Boxing

Historic STRIKEFORCE Event Will Include the Eagerly Awaited Grudge Rematch
Between Lightweight Champ Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez and Much, Much More

SAN JOSE, Calif. (June 15, 2009) – Tickets for Strikeforce: “Carano vs. Cyborg,” the mixed martial arts (MMA) mega fight card that will be highlighted by the long-awaited showdown between superstar Gina Carano and Brazilian brawler and powerhouse Cris Cyborg at HP Pavilion on Saturday, Aug. 15, are officially on sale.

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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 most-desired matchup in the history of women’s MMA is also one that is undeniably the most dangerous assignment to date for a pair regarded as the preeminent female fighters in the world.

Carano, who will be trained for this fight by MMA legend Randy “The Natural” Couture, has achieved larger than life status over the course of the last year. In a Yahoo! online poll that named the “Top 10 Influential Women of 2008,” the 27 year-old Las Vegas resident ranked fifth, placing ahead of First Lady Michelle Obama and famed journalists Katie Couric and Barbara Walters. Carano has also been featured in the pages of Maxim and profiled by ESPN’s newsmagazine show E:60.

Confident of ruining Carano’s eagerly awaited return to the cage is the rugged 23-year-old Cyborg, who has been known to devastate foes with brute strength and has been calling out Carano for several months. Cyborg, along with her husband and fellow Strikeforce competitor Evangelista Cyborg, is a member of Brazil’s famed fight squad, Chute Boxe.

In the Aug.15 semi-main, Josh “The Punk” Thomson (16-2), of San Jose, will put his STRIKEFORCE lightweight belt and eight-fight winning streak on the line against current interim titleholder, Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (15-2), of San Francisco. Thomson won a decision to dethrone Melendez on June 27, 2008.

SHOWTIME will televise the two world title fights and up to three more bouts during a telecast that will begin at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).

A formal announcement regarding the other SHOWTIME fights, the non-televised undercard bouts and additional live event information will be made soon.

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®.