Wayne Cole

Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le was a mixed martial arts event co-promoted by Strikeforce and EliteXC. The event took place on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The main card aired live on the Showtime premium cable channel. The event originally featured the anticipated Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson, but it was called off because Thomson injured himself training. Nick Diaz was also scheduled to fight but was pulled from the card due to undisclosed reasons. Referees assigned for the event were Mario Yamasaki, Herb Dean and Jon Schorle.

EliteXC: Return of The King was a mixed martial arts event promoted by EliteXC that took place on Saturday, June 14, 2008 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Oahu, Hawaii. The main card aired live on Showtime. The Welterweight title bout of Jake Shields vs. Drew Fickett was removed from the original card when Fickett sustained an injury. The event drew an estimated 350,000 viewers on Showtime. Nick Diaz showed up for his 160 pound lightweight fight at 169 pounds which lead to it becoming a catchweight bout.