Knock Out Dog Fighting Champ Wins World Championship Title
June 27, 2008 - What was deemed to be a sure bet for one of the most exciting Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights of the year lived up to the hype as Josh "The Punk" Thomson beat Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez to win the Strikeforce World Lightweight Championship title Friday night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA. Thomson won the nationally televised "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson" event with a unanimous five-round decision by what the announcers were saying was an almost flawless fight by "The Punk".

Considered one of the most exciting fighters in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, Josh is a role model for millions of kids so he is helping us teach them that dog fighting is not a symbol of strength, power or greatness through our anti-dogfighting campaign "Knock Out Dog Fighting". Josh says it best in his Public Service Announcement (PSA), "Dog fighting is animal abuse, plain and simple. Real fighters stand up for what is right and protect those less able to do so. Show your strength and join me in Knocking Out Dog Fighting."

Jim Murphy, an MMA analyst writes in his blog after the fight, "World Lightweight Champion Thomson’s nickname is ‘The Punk’ but he’s anything but, as he’s done some public service announcement work lately against the barbaric abuse of dogs in dogfighting. He, along with some of the other Strikeforce fighters including World Middleweight Champion Cung Le, have teamed up with For Pits' Sake, Inc. and are doing PSAs and educational programs for ‘at-risk’ kids basically teaching them that real men don’t abuse animals. If that makes him a ‘punk’ we could use a lot more of them."

To see Josh "The Punk" Thomson's PSA and to learn more about the Knock Out Dog Fighting program, go to http://www.KnockOutDogFighting.org

 

Click HERE to read news article about the fight - 'The Punk' Overwhelms Melendez

Click HERE to watch video of the fight