One fight camp. One fight card. Four American Kickboxing Academy fighters … sorta.

While Paul Buentello (Pictures), Josh Thomson (Pictures), and Cung Le (Pictures) represent the San Jose, Calif. fight factory this Friday when Strikeforce and EliteXC team up for a Showtime pay-per-view event from the HP Pavilion, there are questions if Phil Baroni (Pictures), who has been notably absent from the prominent gym, will do the same.

"I'm not sure what that status is," said Bob Cook, one of several MMA trainers in the gym, regarding whether or not AKA will be in Baroni's corner.

Resident ground specialist Dave Camarillo offered stronger words about Baroni's affiliation leading up to his main event showdown with Frank Shamrock (Pictures): "I don't even care about that fight."

While the "New York Bad Ass" resides in AKA limbo, other fighters are firmly entrenched in the gym's lifestyle: train hard and fight hard.

AKA garners respect for its striking honed by ISKA kickboxing champion Javier Mendez; judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu refined by black belt Dave Camarillo; the mind of "Crazy" Bob Cook packaged with the training of Lynn Schutz; and the efforts of some of mixed martial arts' top athletes.

As fight night draws near, Thomson and Buentello train lightly: "The Punk" shadowboxes and takes shots inside the gym's all-purpose ring; "The Headhunter" punches a heavy bag, bare-knuckle.

With the Strikeforce pair (Le splits time between his gym, Cung Le (Pictures) Martial Arts, and AKA) excused from intensive sparring, Schutz, AKA's head MMA trainer, pushes any warm body in the gym -- including Camarillo and Cook -- through a series of combination-based workouts.

Schutz's voice takes on the soft tone of a tenured educator, yet each word commands frenetic action. Offensive and defensive drills are spliced with interval exercises. Thomson and Buentello rejoin their teammates for a grappling session in the world of Camarillo's Guerilla jiu-jitsu.

"AKA is my home," said Buentello, joined by his young daughter after grueling drills on the mats. The premiere training he receives ensures him it is his "destiny to be here."

Morale is surging.

No more evidence is needed than Mark Milor's return to sparring for the first time since open-heart surgery. Buentello accidentally punches him in the chest. Milor is fine. They keep on exchanging.

"As a team, we've been winning a lot. If we didn't win this one [Jon Fitch (Pictures) versus Roan Carneiro (Pictures)], we'd still be strong as an academy," said a sweat-drenched Camarillo, who also helps prepare mixed martial artists such as Gilbert Melendez (Pictures), Mike Swick (Pictures), Cain Velasquez (Pictures), Bobby Southworth (Pictures) and Josh Koscheck (Pictures).

As he gathers sparring equipment, Cook muses about June 22: three fights, three wins.

"Crazy" Bob believes Le's opponent, Tony Fryklund (Pictures), "is no one to take lightly." He asserts Le has "been working hard on the ground" and will "keep it in the area where he's experienced."

On Thomson versus Nick Gonzalez (Pictures), Cook doesn't hesitate: "Josh will outclass him on the ground."

The fight trainer, a UFC veteran, transforms into a fight fan when he discusses Buentello's bout with K-1 veteran Carter Williams (Pictures).

"Paul's fight is gonna be a knockdown, drag-out war," said Cook. "It's who gets to whose chin first. It will be the most explosive fight of the night."

Thomson vocalizes his priorities -- echoed by Buentello -- as "putting on a good show and winning," which in Strikeforce's pressurized situation is integral.

Buentello, Thomson, and Le are all over Strikeforce promotional posters, even appearing on the side of Bay Area buses. Meanwhile, New Mexico's Joey Villasenor (Pictures), who signed to fight for the EliteXC middleweight title, does not appear on any poster.

AKA fighters are clearly the faces of fight night in San Jose, and for the first time, Strikeforce -- a homegrown promotion -- will reach the masses on pay-per-view.

For Buentello and Thomson that means a return to the widespread viewership they enjoyed during respective UFC stints while at the same time maintaining their home crowd advantage. Extremely popular in the area's sizeable Vietnamese community, Le will make his first appearance in front of a national MMA audience.

Strikeforce opens up ample opportunities for San Jose-based fighters, and Camarillo believes it is a right step in fulfilling his main concern of "getting these fighters paid what they deserve." Non-exclusive contracts permit them to fight for whatever company they'd like.

"I'd love to fight any of the top guys," said Thomson, sitting casually against ring ropes. "I'm friends with Sean Sherk (Pictures); he's a nice guy, but this is business."

Buentello, who wants a rematch with former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (Pictures), added: " I am a hired gun to fight. I'll fight wherever they take care of me."

Thomson, who with AKA's blessing briefly trained for Friday's bout at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, relishes the benefits of fighting in his hometown.

"There are maybe two or three people [the San Jose crowd] stands on their feet for, and that's me and Cung Le (Pictures)," said Thomson, staying true to his nickname as he rocked blonde skunk spots in his hair, complete with a tint of purple.

"As with any fight, every fight you're going into is the most important fight of your life," concluded Cook.

For AKA, those fights take place June 22 in San Jose, a classic stage with new spotlights.