Josh 'Punk' Thomson breaks leg again; now targets Dec. 19 rematch

Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh "The Punk" Thomson has been quite unlucky this year.

Two weeks after a fractured leg forced the California State Athletic Commission to remove him from a highly anticipated rematch with interim champion Gilbert Melendez, Thomson re-broke the limb in practice.

"I was really just playing around, just working on my technique, and this kid, this little blue belt, grabbed a leglock I was wearing a gi and I couldn't slide my leg out," Thomson told MMAWeekly. "He just bellied out on the leglock in the standing position and you just heard the bone go crunch. The hairline fracture turned into an actual break."

Thomson first broke his leg above the ankle in April as he prepared to face Melendez at Shamrock vs. Diaz. The two waged a five-round war last June, with Thomson emerging as the undisputed champion.

Thomson will get x-rays taken next week to determine the injury's stage of healing.

"All I've been doing it hitting mitts and the bag, and doing the bike and Precor," said Thomson. "Trying to stay in shape, doing what I can," he said.

Initially, Thomson felt he would be ready for the CBS network debut of Strikeforce Nov. 7 in Chicago, but decided to err on the side of caution.

He has not forgotten about the rematch, and says a yet-unannounced Strikeforce card planned for Dec. 19 on Showtime is a possibility.

"I want to get this whole interim title thing dissolved," he said. "I want all the complications of, who's the camp and who's not the champ...I mean, everyone knows that I am, but I've been inactive for a year and he deserves what he's been given, but it's time to put it all to a close.

"I'd rather fight him my first fight back and I can move on with my career and he can move on with his."