(Cung Le as Tekken’s Marshall Law.  The costume is spot on, but that set is really half-ass.)

Strikeforce returns to the cage this Saturday night, as does MMA’s prodigal actor, Cung Le.  We’ll be liveblogging the whole thing, so don’t forget to stop on by and make your obnoxious voice heard.  Meanhwhile, let’s look at some betting lines.  To do your own research on how the fighters stack up against one another, check out the official website here.

Odds today come from BestFightOdds.com:

Cung Le (-315) vs. Scott Smith (+300)
Josh Thomson (-115) vs. Gilbert Melendez (+105)
Matt Lindland (+240) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (-249)
“King Mo” Lawal (-425) vs. Mike Whitehead (+405)

The breakdown…

- There are only two reasons to believe that Scott Smith might pull off an upset: 1) Cung Le has too much ring rust thanks to his Hollywood dalliances, and 2) “Hands of Stone” is always a threat to land one big punch and end your night. If either or both of those sound like the kind of thing you want to invest in, go right ahead, but prepare to be disappointed. Unless the film industry has managed to turn Cung Le into Pauly Shore with remarkable speed, he’s got this.

- If it’s significant ring rust you’re looking for, take a gander at Josh Thomson. He hasn’t fought since September of 2008, and in the interim he’s struggled with injuries that made training almost impossible at times. That’s what’s keeping this line so close, and for good reason. I’m picking Melendez, but I’m treading lightly.

- As for the two other underdogs on the televised portion of Saturday night’s card, it’s hard for me not to take a chance on old school humorless bad-ass Matt Lindland. True, his last fight against Vitor Belfort went even worse than his political campaign, but style-wise he could present problems for Jacare. The way to beat Lindland is to keep him at a distance with your striking and stay off the mat. Jacare won’t be able to do that, and he’ll lose a decision.

- And Mike Whitehead? Forget about it. He’s a stepping stone for King Mo. But it ought to be a fun beating to watch.

Official Cage Potato Parlay: Le + Melendez + Lawal. What? I’ll pick Lindland, but I don’t feel strongly enough about it to put him in my parlay. A sure thing he most certainly is not.