(I’ve got some bad news — Joe *is* the show’s token hot chick. / Photo by Esther Lin)

Spike TV has just released the full cast list for Fight Master: Bellator MMA, the upcoming reality show in which 32 fighters compete under the direction of four well-known coaches — Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Greg Jackson, and Joe Warren — for a spot in an upcoming Bellator tournament. The inaugural welterweight season will premiere on Wednesday, June 19th at 10:00 PM, and features a few notable names among the lesser-known prospects. For instance…

Joe Riggs: By far the most experienced fighter in the field, Riggs has competed extensively for the UFC, WEC, and Strikeforce. His sole Bellator appearance in May 2011 resulted in a knockout loss to Bryan Baker. Riggs is currently on a five-fight win streak.

Marcus “Lelo” Aurelio: The Capoeira expert’s flashy kicks have resulted in some must-see knockouts. Six of Aurelio’s career wins have come within the first minute of the fight. However, his Bellator debut last November resulted in a decision loss against Chris Franck.

Chris Lozano: The “Cleveland Assassin” has competed in three different Bellator welterweight tournament seasons since 2011, but has been unable to progress past the semi-finals. In a way, this is like a Comeback season for him.

Andy Uhrich: Good to see you again, buddy!

Several of the other cast-members have also competed previously in Bellator, including Josh Quayhagen (who’s already gone 3-1 for the promotion), Darryl Cobb, Frank Carrillo, and Jason Norwood. Check out the full cast-list after the jump, and click here to watch a teaser video for the show featuring the coaches and fighters.

That’s the damnedest case of jock itch we’ve ever seen, Kendall. (Pic: ProElite.com)

As the crowds in Rio walked out of UFC 134 and headed for the Copacabana Club, MMA fans in Honolulu, Hawaiia made their way to the Neal S. Blaisdell Center to witness the rebirth of ProElite. Those who watched were treated to submissions and knockouts galore as not a single bout went the distance, but there was more at stake than mere wins and losses. Last night’s biggest fights weren’t waged for a fight purse or sponsorships, but for the value in a name.

ProElite has a name many hardcore fans recognize, but not for reasons the promotion would want. From their previous partnership with noted scumbags to the messy collapse of their first run, they return to the promotion game carrying a lot of baggage. They can distance themselves from previous debacles by doing one thing, and that’s putting on quality, scandal free events. Last night was a step in the right direction. ProElite needs to build, but build slowly.

A run down of the fights, and video of the the Reagan Penn fight, after the jump.

Interview with BJ Penn’s brother, Reagan, who makes his MMA debut tonight. Props: MMAHawaii.com.

Many readers are probably looking for something to do after UFC 134 tonight. Preferably something that will involve a local bar with good drink specials and attractive women. Well, we can’t help you there. But for those hardcore MMA fans among us who don’t have things like “social lives” or “friends” holding you back, Sherdog has you covered with a live stream of ProElite’s return.

The stream begins at 1 A.M. ET on Sunday morning, and no, you don’t have to pay for it.

Aside from the return of Andrei Arlovski against King of the Cage light-heavyweight Ray Lopez, the event also features a middleweight tilt between the recently axed Kendall Grove and Joe Riggs. Both fighters are riding two fight losing streaks into the cage tonight. Also on the card are 2009 NCAA D1 wrestling champion Mark Ellis, UFC veteran Drew McFedries and BJ Penn’s younger brother, Reagan Penn, who is making his MMA debut. Again, you don’t have to pay for it.

(Lee and Jordan Mein)

According to a Facebook post made by his father Lee, who is also his manager and trainer, Canadian welterweight standout Jordan “Young Gun” Mein has inked a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce and will likely compete on the promotion’s planned September card.

A native of Lethbridge, Alberta, Mein (22-7) has been fighting since he was 16 years old. He trains out of his father’s Canadian Martial Arts Centre – the gym responsible for also launching the careers of UFC veterans Jason Day and Jesse Bongfeldt.

Mein will be riding a five-fight win streak when he steps into the Strikeforce cage, including a decision nod over DREAM welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis in his last bout and wins over Joe Riggs and Josh Burkman. His last loss was a hard-fought decision to Jason High last August.

“No word yet on who startled the witch.”  (VidProps: Bellator)

Bellator action returned to Newkirk, Oklahoma, last night, and Byran Baker continued his campaign to steal the hearts and minds of pretty much everyone.  The welterweight final was the main event for the evening, matching up Olympic judoka Rick Hawn and Jay “The Brooklyn-Born Thoroughbred Long Islander” Hieron (still nothing on Horwich).  A bantamweight season five qualifier featuring Chase Beebe and Jose Vega was also on the menu, which illustrates the depth that Bellator is developing at 135.  Follow us in past the jump for spoilers, and before we forget – your mom said for you to call her.

(Tattoo advantage: Ford)

A welterweight bout between UFC vet Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Canadian prospect Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford has been submitted to the Ontario Athletic Commission for approval for MMA Live’s inaugural card May 19 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada.

(Oh man. 1:00-1:10 is just too much. Props: ix3623vault)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Manager: “Chael Sonnen’s Career is Far From Over” (5thRound. Welcome to the club, guys!)

– UFC to Announce Formal Intent to Bring Event to New York (MMA Fighting)

– MMA Hot List: Fights Booked, Careers Put on Hold (Versus MMA Beat)

– Watch Nam Phan’s Guide to Judging in MMA (MiddleEasy)

– Jacob Volkmann on Fox News. You Figure Out the Rest. (the all-new MMA-Scraps.com)

– Bellator Signs Top 50 Middleweight Joe Riggs (FightMagazine)

– Dan Henderson In Talks For Title Shot Against Rafael Feijao On March 5 (MMA Convert)

– Jon Jones: I Would Definitely Take a "Right Fight" at Heavyweight (LowKick)

– Chad Griggs Taking on Regional Prospect in Final Strikeforce Grand Prix Reserve Bout (Five Ounces of Pain)

– UFC And Strikeforce Situations Make Heavyweight The Division To Watch In 2011 (SBNation.com/MMA)

("So, what’s your dad do? He’s in risk management? That’s cool, I guess." PicProps: Strikeforce)

The most shocking fact to emerge from Strikeforce Challengers 10 on Friday? Joe Riggs and Ryan Couture are the same age. Actually, Couture is a month older. Yet while the fresh-faced Couture made his professional debut last night, Riggs – who is about as grizzled and world weary as a dude under 30 can possibly be – was taking part in bout No. 44 of his nine-year career. Luckily for both, they were fighting opponents brought in specifically to chum the waters.

If you had complicated feelings about Couture’s first-ever pro fight airing on national television, you weren’t alone. On one hand, nobody likes Jacob Dylan. On the other hand, it feels a little unseemly to harbor a grudge against a guy as apparently likeable as the younger Couture just because he won some kind of genetic MMA lottery. Luckily, Ryno solved our emotional torment for us in just a minute, 15 seconds last night, proving he belonged in the cage with a glossy smooth triangle choke victory over local boy Lucas Stark.

(Who’s the real draw tomorrow night? Photos courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce)

Joe Riggs on tomorrow night’s Strikeforce women’s tournament, as quoted in a Strikeforce press release sent out last night: “It’s great. They are always exciting. I saw Miesha (Tate) fight up in Minnesota when I was up there fighting last year and she’s very exciting…That tournament style is hard. I’ve done it and it’s no picnic. You come out with just an hour’s rest a little banged up and you feel injuries you didn’t even know you had during the fight. My hat’s off to them."

Joe Riggs on women’s MMA, as quoted in an SB Nation interview published yesterday: "I don’t know what that girl [Sarah Kaufman] is talking about. She’s lucky to even be on TV…As long as they don’t say things like they don’t want to be on the Challengers card and they want to be main events than they’re good. We’re the show. The men are what people are here to see."

(Welcome to Ouchtown, population: you, bro. Photo courtesy of Fight Magazine.)

Another weekend of fights yields another instant classic punch-face, this time courtesy of Jay Hieron’s left uppercut. The great thing about the punch-face is that no matter how tough or cool or seemingly unflappable a fighter is, everybody looks like they’re wishing they’d chosen a different career path in that one fleeting moment.

In this case, Joe Riggs seems to be regretting his decision not to become a court reporter. It’s a steady paycheck, reasonable hours, and if anyone happens to hit you in the face while you’re on the job, at least you can be assured that they’ll be immediately tackled by a bailiff. The down side of that job is it’s a lot tougher to convince your co-workers to call you Diesel. We make choices and we live with the consequences, I suppose.

("Nice flower-tattoo, cupcake. I just got a tattoo of the Virgin Mary being ripped apart by pitbulls, directly on my asshole." / Photo courtesy of Strikeforce. More pics are below, including one of an alarmingly fat Wes Sims.)

Tonight’s Strikeforce event at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida (aka "Miami") has such a fantastic mix of high-level MMA and can’t-look-away freak shows. On the top of the card you’ve got Nick Diaz battling for Strikeforce’s vacant welterweight title against head-kickin’ rising star Marius Zaromskis, while 145-pound lady-champ Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos makes her first belt defense against Dutch submission artist Marloes Coenen. On the other end of the card, 47-year-old former football star Herschel Walker will kick off his cage-fighting career against Greg Nagy, while Wes Sims — who owns the physique of a 47-year-old — will do his best to avoid getting squashed by pro-wrestler Bobby Lashley. And somewhere in-between, Robbie "Brawler" Lawler and Melvin "Man-Hoof" Manhoef will launch leather at each other until one of them can no longer intelligently defend himself. If you’re not excited for this card, then you probably don’t use words like "excited" in general. Live results from the Showtime broadcast will be piling up after the jump, starting at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest.

Update: Dubus22 wins the t-shirt! Please send your name, address, and size to feedback@cagepotato.com.

(Randy might want to ask for a DNA test before he puts this one through college.)

Apparently we aren’t the only ones who think it’s a damn shame that the welterweight scrap between Jay Hieron and Joe Riggs is being pushed to the untelevised undercard of Strikeforce: Miami.  The powers that be may not like the fight enough to push Herschel Walker-Greg Nagy or Bobby Lashley-Wes Sims off the Showtime broadcast, but they have arranged to air it live on the official EA Sports website at 9:05 pm EST on Saturday night, reports Sherdog.com. 

You have to admit, it’s an arrangement that works well for everyone.  EA Sports gets another chance to hype their forthcoming MMA video game, and Strikeforce can give a nod to the vets on this card without having to bump the less experienced but more famous fighters from the televised proceedings.  As long as the end result is the chance to see one more quality fight for free on Saturday night, we certainly aren’t complaining.

(Noons and Diaz on the same card again? Don’t be scared, homey…)

Though Marius Zaromskis line-jumped him for a Strikeforce welterweight title shot, Jay Hieron has made peace with the disappointment and is ready to move on with his career. "All good things come to those that wait," Hieron recently told MMA Junkie Radio. "Trust me, I’m going to make a statement in my next fight." If early reports are accurate, that statement could come against welterweight veteran Joe Riggs at Strikeforce: Miami (1/30), supporting the Diaz vs. Zaromskis headliner. Riggs was victorious in his last two Strikeforce appearances against Luke Stewart and Phil Baroni, and picked up a couple of wins last month in smaller promotions against two guys with losing records. Hieron is on a six-fight win streak, most recently scoring a unanimous decision against Jesse Taylor at Carano vs. Cyborg in August.

This month’s Strikeforce card is also expected to feature the MMA return of KJ Noons, best known for becoming EliteXC’s 160-pound champ after beating Nick Diaz via cut stoppage in November 2007 — then losing his belt when he refused a rematch. Noons hasn’t competed in MMA since his 48-second smoking of Yves Edwards in June ’08, after which he left the sport to take a few boxing matches. According to MMA Mania, his return fight will put him up against undefeated lightweight Billy Evangelista, who most recently won a decision over Jorge Gurgel at a Strikeforce Challengers event in November. If Noons can get past Evangelista, he’s a factor again. Will we eventually get to see a rematch between Noons and Diaz? Or at least another family vs. family post-fight brawl? Is there a statute of limitations on bitchassness?

(In light of this fight being moved from a ring to a cage, "Babalu" would now like to amend his statement about where Mousasi will be peeing.)

Good news, fight fans.  Attempts at salvaging the wreckage of the cursed S.S. Affliction have already resulted in the resurrection of one main card bout.  The scheduled fight between Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Gegard Mousasi has now officially been picked up by Strikeforce for their August 15 event in San Jose.  Strikeforce sent out a press release announcing the addition this afternoon, and confirming that Sobral’s Strikeforce light heavyweight championship will be on the line.  Naturally, this puppy has been added to the televised portion of the card, so the outlook just got a little brighter for Strikeforce despite some recent holes appearing in the lineup.

So there’s one good fight we’ll still get to see.  Now Strikeforce’s big question is what to do about Nick Diaz, who lost his scheduled opponent when Joe Riggs had to pull out.  At least two good welterweights just had their calendars free up when the Affliction cancelation left Jay Hieron and Paul “Semtex” Daley without a place to beat each other up.  Might one of them swoop in to try their luck against Diaz?  We’re expecting to hear something on that one soon, so don’t wander off…

("Side effects may include headache, dry mouth, constipation, and Huttism.")

Strikeforce’s monumental "Carano vs. Cyborg" card may have lost another title fight. Earlier this week, the scheduled heavyweight championship bout between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum went up in smoke due to Overeem’s infected hand. Now, it appears that the rematch between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs — which would have decided Strikeforce’s first welterweight champion — could be off as well. According to GracieFighter (via FiveOuncesofPain):

(Strikeforce’s coveted "Hater of the Year" title will also be up for grabs. Image courtesy of CageToday.)

Talk about making up for lost time. After a 12-month drought that gave us only one light-heavyweight championship match and an interim lightweight title scrap, Strikeforce has decided to just say "fuck it" and call every bout on their next card a title fight.

It has been confirmed that the upcoming grudge match between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs — originally slated for the undercard of the "Carano vs. Cyborg" show on August 15th — will now decide Strikeforce’s vacant welterweight title. The bout will join the lightweight title rematch between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez, the heavyweight championship battle between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, and the main event, in which Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg will go five rounds for Strikeforce’s first-ever 145-pound women’s title. So yes, three of these four title fights will be rematches. Deal with it.

(Photos courtesy of UFC.com.)

According to a new report on FiveOuncesofPain, a welterweight rematch between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs has been added to the undercard of Strikeforce’s "Carano vs. Cyborg" event (August 15th, San Jose). Due to the show’s main card featuring as many as three 25-minute matches — the historic headliner, the lightweight championship rematch between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez, and the still-unconfirmed heavyweight title fight between Alistair Overeem and Brett Rogers — Diaz vs. Riggs II may not make the televised Showtime broadcast.

The two fighters first met at UFC 57 in February 2006, where Riggs won a unanimous decision; infamously, they continued their fight later that night at a hospital. Bad Boy and Diesel were both successful at "Lawler vs. Shields" earlier this month, with Diaz choking out Scott Smith and Riggs outlasting Phil Baroni. Considering their tense history and shared love of trash-talk, this should be a great one. No other matches have been confirmed for "Carano vs. Cyborg" besides the ones mentioned above, though Roger Gracie and Erin Toughill are expected to participate.

(Props: MMA Scraps)

("Guys, you can get some of those cupcakes *after* we take this face-off picture, okay? Guys?" Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Hello, and welcome to a special "From Press Row" edition of the CagePotato liveblog. That’s right – I’m typing to you from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis tonight, not from my usual spot on my couch in Brooklyn. The good part? I’m about 25 feet from the cage and wedged between some of the brightest minds in MMA journalism. The bad part? Slamming beers, eating wings, and loudly showing bias towards my favorite fighters is frowned upon here, apparently. But we’re gonna try to have a good time anyway. Live round-by-round results are after the jump, starting at 9 p.m. CT. Hit that "read more" link and refresh the page every few minutes to get all the latest. Time to do work, son.

(Kevin Randleman is athletic *and* explosive! Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

All fighters successfully weighed in today for Saturday’s Strikeforce event, which will be held at the Scottrade Center and broadcast on Showtime. CageWriter passes along this little detail from the weigh-in:

Yeah, that sounds about right. The numbers are after the jump. Don’t forget to swing by tomorrow night starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT as we liveblog the televised card. Fire up, Potato Nation!

(Those are the Chinese characters for "best" and "eva." Photo courtesy of Strikeforce.)

The idea of a spiritually grounded Phil Baroni kind of freaks us out, to be honest. But the NYBA you knew as a young, brash, self-destructive middleweight is gone, and in his place is an older, wiser, fired-up welterweight who won’t quit until he’s a world champion. With his fight against Joe Riggs scheduled for the main card of Saturday’s Strikeforce show, we called Phil yesterday to chat about sex, steroids, destiny, being reborn at 170, and what he really wants to be remembered for…

***

CAGEPOTATO.COM: So I’ve been watching some of your recent interviews — do you really believe that not having sex helps your athletic performance? I thought that was just some bullshit myth.
PHIL BARONI: Yeah, I believe it. I know it to be a fact, man, especially when it comes to taking punches. You take punches better when you abstain from, ah…punching your own loads out.

How do you explain the science behind that?
Aw man, I’m not a scientist. It makes you fuckin’ mean, I’ll tell you that much. I’m lean and mean right now. It fuckin’ works. You don’t think so, then don’t do it — you’re not a fighter anyway, so who cares?

Don’t you think your wife’s needs should come before your job?

(My God, the animosity between these two. It’s like the entire room could burst into flames at any moment.)

MMA fans have a full dance-card this weekend, with Strikeforce putting on a stacked Showtime event on Saturday night (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), and the WEC following it up on Sunday night with a show on Versus headlined by featherweight champion Mike Brown’s second meeting with Urijah Faber (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). Be sure to come back here Saturday night for the Strikeforce liveblog — and get psyched for the whole shebang by reading the latest installment of the longest-running MMA argument on the Internet. Ben vs. Ben starts right now…

Brett Rogers says he wants to stand and bang with Andrei Arlovski on Saturday. That sounds like a horrible idea for "The Grimm," given that Arlovski is just as big and strong as he is but with much more technical striking. Does Rogers stand a chance with that strategy, or is he an unconscious man walking at this point?

BG: WTF? Is Rogers supposed to take Arlovski down and sub him out with his battle-tested Grimjitsu? I’m not trying to hate on Brett’s ground game, because none of us have actually seen it; he’s a brawler, and thus far he’s only had to face other brawlers. Arlovski, on the other hand, actually has some submission skills in his back pocket. So while we know that Rogers will be fighting an uphill battle on Saturday night, I’d say his odds decrease even further if the fight goes anywhere else besides stand-and-bangville.

Brett’s only shot is to stick to his bread-and-butter and swing those hamhocks. The fact that Arlovski’s hands are far more technical means that the Grimm will probably get picked apart. But Arlovski’s unreliable chin makes him vulnerable to what Rogers brings into the cage. That’s what makes this fight compelling for me: Brett Rogers definitely should not be able to beat Andrei Arlovski — but he just might.

BF: With regard to the submission skills in Arlovski’s back pocket, I hope your finger slipped and you really meant to type ‘submission skill.’ As in, his straight achilles lock. That’s all the dude’s got on the mat and he goes to it like it’s his signature killer move, so let’s not pretend that there any Arlovski-platas in the near future.

(Some say Goldberg had a legit sexual harassment claim after what happens in the 0:49 mark in this interview, but clearly he was asking for it walking in there dressed like that.)

The war of words between Strikeforce fighters Joe Riggs and Phil Baroni this week seemed to promise an interesting encounter on today’s media conference call to promote Saturday night’s Strikeforce event on Showtime.  The only problem is that Riggs failed to pick up a phone in time, so Baroni was left alone with Jake Shields and the notoriously tight-lipped Robbie Lawler to do all the talking.  Fortunately Baroni had prepared all his life for just such a moment.

Some highlights from the NYBA:

Well that sure didn’t take long.  Less than twenty-four hours after we posted Joe Riggs’ comments about Phil Baroni’s past and possibly present steroid use, Baroni has fired back hard in an interview with Cage Writer’s Steve Cofield.  The steroid accusations make Baroni so mad that he comes back after his shower to talk more shit on Riggs, making an issue out of “Diesel’s” own history with drug use after saying that Riggs "crossed the line."  Combine that with the uncomfortable sexual remarks peppered throughout this video, and Baroni admitting that even he doesn’t know where his rants are going sometimes, and you have yourself just another fun day inside Xtreme Couture.

After the jump, Kimbo Slice makes his first appearance on a Dana White vlog, and we suddenly look like some real prescient motherfuckers up in this piece.

(Baroni training at Xtreme Couture, looking ripped.)

Joe Riggs was expecting a fight with Jake Shields in Strikeforce this summer and didn’t take kindly to the news that he would be getting Phil Baroni instead, but talking with Riggs this afternoon he said his focus is now fully on Baroni, who he is expecting to be “pharmaceutically enhanced” when they meet in the Strikeforce cage on June 6.  While the “Diesel” stopped short of saying that Baroni was definitely on the juice, he did say that Baroni exhibits all the typical signs of a steroid user, from his physique to his performance on fight night.

“He always shows up in shape, looking shredded and puffed up, but I think he’ll be pharmaceutically enhanced, too.  Just because he doesn’t test positive for steroids doesn’t mean he’s not on them right now.”

(Still the best eva. Props: Genghis Con)

From a recent NerdSociety.com interview with the New York Bad Ass:

Hear that, nerds? Be more like this guy. You can read the rest of this illuminating interview here. Baroni takes on Joe Riggs at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields on June 6th.

(Riggs shows off his green "Diesel" tattoo, otherwise known as the call for eco-friendly transportation solutions that was a little ahead of its time.)

When Strikeforce decided to call off a bout between Jake Shields and Joe Riggs in favor of matching Shields up with Robbie Lawler, we were pretty pleased with the change.  Joe Riggs is not.  Not only does he seem to feel that he’s missing out on an opportunity to “expose” Shields and get himself back in the top ten, he tells Ariel Helwani at Versus.com that he’s also being straight-up dissed by Shields, and he is maaaaad.  As in, like, Dana White when you ask him about Affliction mad.  Check it:

“(Expletive) Jake Shields’ (expletive) (expletive),” Riggs said. “I have done enough in this sport to be (expletive) treated with a certain amount of respect, and to talk about me like I am a (expletive) Pat Smith or Tank Abbott…For one, I am like six years younger than that punk (expletive) (expletive). So, (expletive) him. People forget that I am (expletive) 25 [Ed. note: Really?  Just 25?  He’s right, I totally did forget that.  Is he sure he's not at least 32?]. (Expletive) that guy. I would really, really fight Jake Shields for free just to shut his mouth up.”

(Jake Shields, pictured here with his son Gilbert Melendez.)

Multiple sources have informed FiveOuncesofPain that a welterweight matchup between Jake Shields and Joe Riggs, which was slated to go down at Strikeforce’s "Shamrock vs. Diaz" event on April 11th, has been scrapped. Writes 5oz:

While he was the 170-pound champ of EliteXC, Shields had entertained the notion of going up in weight to challenge Robbie Lawler, due to the lack of challenges at welterweight. We thought the new bodies at Strikeforce would keep Shields entertained at 170 for a while longer, but it sounds like he’s more interested in big fights than welterweight tune-ups, and we respect that. Besides, weight classes are more of a suggestion than a rule at Strikeforce anyway.

Update, 5:30 p.m. ET: Shields vs. Lawler has officially been announced for Strikeforce’s May event, which will take place somewhere in Washington state. It will be a non-title fight, contested at middleweight.

In other Strikeforce news, former UFC heavyweight champ and PRIDE vet Kevin Randleman has reportedly signed a deal to return to MMA competition under the Strikeforce banner. Randleman last competed at Sengoku II last May, where he won a unanimous decision over Ryo Kawamura. Though "The Monster" was terrifying in hs prime, he has lost seven of his last ten fights. The date of his next match and his opponent have yet to be announced.

(Poster image courtesy of Frank Shamrock/Yardbarker)

Strikeforce’s first event in its new Showtime contract just picked up another big name. MMA Weekly has confirmed a report by AroundtheOctagon.com that said former EliteXC welterweight champ Jake Shields will be facing UFC/Strikeforce vet Joe Riggs at the April 11th card in San Jose. No, Riggs isn’t the kind of top ten opponent that Shields would ideally be fighting, but at least he’s competing again — which is pretty much how Shields and his father/manager Jack are viewing the situation. As the elder Shields told MMA Weekly:

That seems to leave open the possibility of Shields moving to the UFC when his current contract is completed, where he’d be able to test himself against the best 170-pounders in the world. The Cesar Gracie-trained fighter — who has won his last 11 fights, including victories over such highly regarded opponents as Paul Daley, Nick Thompson, Carlos Condit, and Yushin Okami — will also reportedly headline another Strikeforce event this summer, "against a well-known opponent."

Riggs has gone 2-2 in Strikeforce, most recently scoring a TKO over Luke Stewart at Strikeforce: Destruction last November. While in the UFC, he put together an equally-middling record of 4-4 — and infamously missed weight for a scheduled title fight against Matt Hughes in 2005 — but was able to collect victories against Nick Diaz and Chris Lytle.

(Props: NBCSports via BloodyElbow)

Saturday’s episode of Strikeforce on NBC presented a countdown of the league’s all-time greatest knockouts, including KOs from Cung Le, Frank Shamrock, Kazuo Misaki, Duane Ludwig, and Paul Buentello; part 1 is above, parts 2 and 3 are after the jump. Watch as Joe Riggs finds himself on the happy and unhappy ends of two featured bouts, Buentello gobbles up the #2 and #3 spots, and color-man Ken Shamrock uses the "sack of potatoes" knockout metaphor twice.