(Who’s in the mood for a popularity contest based on the most superficial criteria possible?)

The big dance begins today, ladies and gentlemen. Our quest to crown 2011′s Hottest Woman in MMA kicks off after the jump with the first half of the round-of-16, plus a bonus vote to determine the Wild Card spot in Pool B. (We won’t ruin the surprise, but let’s just say that one of the competitors has an adorable South African accent, one of them is occasionally referred to as “the beautiful” by Mike Goldberg, and one has a cartoonishly huge ass.)

Here’s what to do: With the help of the photographic aids we’ve provided below, cast your vote for your favorite lady in each of the five polls; hit that ”next page” link when you’re done with each one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section, and be sure to come back on Friday to decide the other half of the Grand Prix round-of-16.

Note: If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser, or switch to one that doesn’t suck. And please forgive the janky formatting on pages 2 and 4; not sure what’s up with that. Now let’s go to work…

(This man could well be a millionaire by now. How does that make you feel? Pic: Combat Lifestyle)

For anyone still holding onto lingering questions about why Dan Henderson opted to sign with Strikeforce over the UFC in late 2009 or why the company fast-forwarded him into a second title shot on Saturday with a promotional record of just 1-1, here’s pretty much everything you need to know: According to numbers released on Monday by the Ohio State Athletic Commission, Henderson earned a $250,000 flat fee (read: no win bonus needed) for knocking out Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante to claim the Strikeforce light heavyweight title.

Those of you scoring at home will note that’s a full $60,500 more than all 19 other fighters on the card COMBINED. It also equals each of the official salaries he earned for knocking out Michael Bisping (minus his “KO of the Night” bonus) at the gala UFC 100 and for a decision over Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88, though both those totals included $150,000 win bonuses. Once you consider that he’s making the same money just for showing up in Strikeforce as he was to show up and win in the UFC, that much publicized contract decision must have been kind of a no-brainer for Henderson.

(Security guard is mildly amused by Coenen’s standing-guillotine.)

An interesting conspiracy theory from Saturday night’s women’s welterweight title bout between champion Marloes Coenen and challenger Liz Carmouche was that Carmouche actually tapped out to Coenen’s tight standing guillotine in the second round.

We decided to give the video a second look and we took the liberty of making an animated gif of the sub attempt. It’s a moot point since Coenen was able to secure a fight-ending triangle in the fourth round to retain the strap, but had Carmouche won, Team Golden Glory may have had a decent case for an appeal.

Check out the gif after the jump and decide for yourself whether or not “Gorilla” pulled a Sonnen.

(“Dudes, *tell* me you just saw that!” Props: Esther Lin/Strikeforce)

Add the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Championship to the list of MMA’s Great Curses. When Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante fell victim to Dan Henderson‘s mythical “H-Bomb” right hand last night in Columbus, he became the fourth-consecutive Strikeforce LHW champ to lose the belt without making a single successful defense. (Quick refresher: Babalu Sobral lost it to Gegard Mousasi, who lost it to King Mo, who lost it to Feijao, who lost it Hendo.)

Time will tell if Dan Henderson suffers the same fate. In the meantime, the decorated vet’s arrival as champion helps bolster the 205′ers as a marquee division in Strikeforce. Besides Dan and all the former champions previously mentioned, SF’s light-heavyweight roster now includes guys like Roger Gracie, Mike Kyle, Rhadi Ferguson — tell Fedor Emelianenko to drop 20 pounds, and you’ve got the makings of another great World Grand Prix, especially if their heavyweight tournament continues to run into delays.

(“I’m not doing a fist pose.”)

Well it’s time for another Strikeforce liveblog. I spent the last two hours on my roof in the pouring rain trying to get my satellite dish set up at my new house and I’m in no mood for witty banter, so let’s get to this biotch.

Spoilers are after the jump, yo.

(“I think we women really have to unite, keep coming up with really good fights and also be feminine outside of the ring as well.”)

We had the opportunity this week on The Bum Rush Radio Show to speak with Strikeforce welterweight champion Marloes Coenen who is set to take on Liz Carmouche at  Saturday night’s Feijao vs. Henderson event in Columbus, Ohio. As always, Marloes was an articulate class act, demonstrating why, besides her in-cage prowess, Strikeforce holds her in such high regard as a person, a fighter and a champion.

In the brief conversation we had with the Golden Glory-trained fighter, Coenen touched on a number of topics including original opponent Meisha Tate’s injury and miraculous recovery, representing Women’s MMA with class, finishing fights, her relationship with her Golden Glory trainers and teammates and much more.

Check out what Coenen had to say after the jump.

It’s Friday and there’s another episode of The Bum Rush Radio Show hot of the presses for you to enjoy (or begrudgingly listen to while angrily shaking your fist at your computer) to help ease you into the weekend.

(Hopefully Amanda doesn’t make Gina reconsider this whole fighting thing like Cyborg did)

If you think Strikeforce is going to give Gina Carano an easy return bout. think again.

According to Tatame, the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion will take on Amanda Nunes when the promotion returns to Texas June 18 for an event anchored by a light heavyweight bout between Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and a yet-to-be-named opponent and the two remaining opening-round heavyweight grand prix bouts between Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett versus Brett Rogers. The news was revealed to the Brazilian MMA news website by Nunes’ manager, who said they are currently in talks with Strikeforce for the bout.

The bout will mark the first fight in close to two years for Carano, who took a break from competition to focus on her burgeoning acting career. She stars as the lead in Steven Soderbergh’s “Haywire,” which opens April 22.

Nunes (6-1) is a tough fighter known for her knockout power, having finished each of her last six opponents by TKO or KO.

(You win again, knee brace fetishists. Pic: Fight! Magazine)

Those of you who were waiting to see how many outfits Miesha Tate would bring to Strikeforce: Columbus on March 5 are going to be very disappointed by this news. Unfortunately, Tate is out of her scheduled 135-pound title match with Marloes Coenen after injuring her knee in training, the promotion announced via press release on Wednesday. Instead, undefeated prospect Liz Carmouche will step in as Coenen’s first championship challenger on just 11 days notice.

The injury undoes what was shaping up as a compelling bout between two of Strikeforce’s more popular female fighters. It also renders essentially moot the careful groundwork laid by the one-night welterweight tournament Tate won in August of last year to claim No. 1 contender status. On the bright side, this story will momentarily distract us from the rumored postponement of the company’s next round of heavyweight GP quarterfinal bouts. Win some, lose some, we guess.

EPISODE 9: BUSINESS AS USUAL from THE REEM on Vimeo.

The Reem Episode 9 is here and the latest segment does not disappoint.

The latest edition of the web-based Alistair Overeem mini documentary opens with Marloes Coenen receiving a hero’s welcome as she returns home to Holland for the first time since she won the Strikeforce women’s 135-pound title.

"I’m very proud, first of all. I know how hard she worked. She’s very dedicated. I knew she had it in her because she’s really strong and she’s really technical," Alistair explains. "Overall I’m very proud. Our Marloes. Our Marloes Coenen."

Golden Glory seems to be one of the tightest knit teams in MMA. It’s nice to see them giving their teammates the support that they do.

The episode also sees "The Demolition Man" attend the Glory MMA and kickboxing event to support his GG mates and beating the shit out of training with a group of friends from across Europe.

(Where’s a loaded musket when you need one? Props: Fighters Only)

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…

– Josh Koscheck, Georges St-Pierre Get UFC 124 Hype Officially Underway at Press Conference in Montreal (MMA Fighting)

– Diaz, Thomson Top 211K Fighter Payroll For Diaz vs. Noons II (Heavy.com/MMA)

– SB Nation Exclusive: UFC 120′s Mike Pyle Reflects on His Career in MMA (Watch Kalib Run)

– Why Dan Hardy vs Carlos Condit Should Be the Headline Fight at UFC 120 (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Joseph Benavidez vs. Wagnney Fabiano Booked for WEC 52 (Versus MMA Beat)

- Nick Diaz: How Do These Guys Expect to Beat Me? [VIDEO](FightMagazine)

– Comeback "Gracie Style": Exclusive interview with Daniel Gracie (LowKick)

– Antonio Silva vs. Valentijn Overeem Official For Strikeforce ‘Henderson vs. Babalu’ (MMA Convert)

– Classic Fight: Royler Gracie vs. Genki Sudo @ K-1 MMA Romanex 2004 (MMA Scraps)

– Marloes Coenen Gets a Hero’s Welcome in Amsterdam (MiddleEasy)

(Anybody can do a punchface. That’s kid stuff. PicProps: Strikeforce)

That’s about as good as Strikeforce can do it, right there. America’s bridesmaid MMA promotion – typically cited for ineptness more than greatness – put on its best show in some time on Saturday night in San Jose. Nick Diaz and KJ Noons slogged through an exciting, if a bit repetitive, five-round main event that left Noons with a broken jaw and hand and Diaz bloodied, but still clinging to his welterweight title. The homies even looked like true homies after the final horn, hugging it out at the center of the cage. Meanwhile, Marloes Coenen appeared tall and capable in taking the women’s 135-pound belt off Sarah Kaufman, while Josh Thomson slipped by JZ Cavalcante, but once again proved that his main, main thing is making declarative statements and calling fools out.

Did the quality of the broadcast still leave a lot to be desired? Sure, Jim Ross, it always does. But at this point we’re focusing on the positives. Like the bitch mom from “American Beauty” we feel like grabbing Strikeforce by its rosy cheeks this morning and announcing: “You didn’t even screw up once!” Now on to the particulars.

The icy glares of Nick Diaz and KJ Noons that have been haunting the top of our homepage all day should serve as a firm reminder — Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II goes down tomorrow night on Showtime, starting at 10 p.m. Be sure to come back tomorrow for round-by-round results in our liveblog. In the meantime, check out the final thoughts from a few of the main card players in these clips from strikeforcefilms.

Above: Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman discuss their 135-pound title scrap. 135 is an unfamiliar weight class for Coenen, but she’s had no problem with the cut, and as you can see during the face-off at the end, she’ll be carrying a serious height advantage.

After the jump: KJ Noons talks about his own trip to a new weight class, and his appreciation of Diaz’s style. Nick Diaz gives him props for taking the rematch, and suggests that he might not have been motivated in their first fight, due to Noons’s lack of name-value. ("I’d rather fight Fedor, y’know?") Then, some genius reporter asks Nick if he’s going to jump ship to the UFC, with Scott Coker sitting right next to him. Ouch. Also, Tyron Woodley breaks down his matchup with Andre Galvao and talks about his development in the sport.

(They may be in for a shock to learn that horse meat isn’t available in Cali.)

CagePotato.com was informed last night by the head of Team Golden Glory, Bas Boon, that the revered Dutch fight camp will be opening up a satellite location in Huntington Beach,  California, likely by the end of the year.

According to Boon, the gym will be run by Carlo Dekkers, the brother of retired Golden Glory champion kickboxer and current trainer, Ramon Dekkers and it will act as the base for training camps of team members who will be fighting in North America similar to the one they set up in Pattaya, Thailand for fighters readying to compete in Asia. 

Boon says that several of Golden Glory’s revered trainers like Cor Hemmers and himself and star fighters such as Alistair Overeem, Semmy Schilt, Sergei Kharitonov, Siyar Bahadurzada and Marloes Coenen will make the California facility a regular destination, adding that the team will also be recruiting American fighters through the gym. 

A date for the gym’s opening has not been set, but Boon said it will likely be announced soon when the logistics are finalized.

("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.

(Coenen vs. Yoko Takahashi I, 5/3/01)

After looking at the incredibly uneven betting odds on the "Cyborg" Santos-Marloes Coenen Strikeforce women’s lightweight title bout, we couldn’t help but wonder whether Coenen is walking into certain doom on Saturday night.  Since she’s fought mostly in Europe and Japan, we haven’t gotten the chance to see many of her fights until now (except this one), but come on, she can’t be that outmatched against "Cyborg," can she? 

In the interest of at least attempting to know what we’re talking about, we did a little research on Coenen.  What we learned is that her stand-up is decent, though not without some defensive holes, and she really knows her way around an armbar.  Seriously.  The fight you see above was Coenen’s fifth professional bout, and one of three meetings with Takahashi.  She won them all in the first round (two by armbar, one by TKO) and the fights only got more lopsided as Coenen improved over the years. 

What’s interesting is that Santos also fought Takahashi at EliteXC: Heat in 2008, where "Cyborg" won a decision.  So that’s got to be an encouraging sign, right?  Coenen totally owned a fighter who took Santos the distance.  Right?  Guys?

More of Coenen’s fights are after the jump, including her second meeting with Takahashi, her loss to Erin Toughill, and a video of what appears to be Coenen abusing some poor girl from the local middle school.  Seems more and more like either Coenen gets Santos to the mat early and submits her, or else she gets her lovely facial features rearranged.

(Props: Showtime via MiddleEasy)

It took their lazy asses two full months, but Strikeforce has finally released the video of Marloes Coenen‘s rematch with Roxanne Modafferi, which was part of the unaired preliminary card at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers. Though Modafferi was able to grind out a split-decision victory when she first fought Coenen in the finals of an eight-woman K-Grace tournament in May 2007, their last meeting was a 65-second pwnage by Marloes, who used razor-sharp striking to drop Modafferi before methodically setting up an armbar. With her Strikeforce debut an unqualified success and her reputation growing in the States, the good-lookin’ Golden Glory product will now challenge for Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos‘s 145-pound belt on January 30th. Any predictions?

("I’m gettin’ too calm and emotionless for this shit." Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

— Though it was initially rumored that Fedor Emelianenko could be out-of-action for 4-6 months due to a jacked-up left thumb he suffered in the first round of his fight against Brett Rogers, his condition has been upgraded. Sherdog reports that the Last Emperor underwent surgery yesterday to fix his injury, and will have a half-cast removed in just 4-6 weeks:

— Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos is expected to make her first Strikeforce title defense against Marloes Coenen on January 30th in Miami, according to MMA Weekly. Santos was originally slated to compete on last Saturday’s "Fedor vs. Rogers" card, but her return was pushed back after she suffered an injury during the 2009 ADCC‘s in September.

Interview With MMA Fighter Marloes Coenen – Watch more Funny Videos

Two days after we were introduced to the new-hotness that is Marloes Coenen, I had the opportunity to be charmed by her in person. The Golden Glory veteran’s domination of Roxanne Modafferi at Fedor vs. Rogers secured her shot at Cris Cyborg‘s 145-pound Strikeforce title, though Coenen was pretty much the last to find out. In the above quickie-interview, Coenen discusses how she matches up with Cyborg, and her eerily focused demeanor before a fight. (You kind of had to be there — hopefully the video will emerge at some point.) Will Marloes be able to exploit her grappling advantage over Cristiane Santos when they meet up in January?

Interview With Scott Coker After Fedor vs. Rogers – Watch more Funny Videos

Following the Fedor vs. Rogers press conference on Saturday night (more on that later), I was one of several MMA scribblers to corner Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker for a family-style follow-up interview. Some highlights are above: Coker revealed that Marloes Coenen will be the next challenger to Cris Cyborg‘s 145-pound women’s title, threatened that he would be Strikeforce’s heavyweight champion if Alistair Overeem continues his shucking and ducking, and gave his generally positive analysis of Strikeforce’s first CBS show. Regarding his rivalry with the UFC, Coker says "Every day when I wake up, I’m thinking about what Strikeforce needs to do, not what somebody else needs to do, or another company’s doing" — which seems a lot more pleasant than Dana White’s morning routine. More viddys to come…

…and Brett Rogers can appreciate an attractive woman. Photo courtesy of the Strikeforce Fedor vs. Rogers: Press Conference Pics set on CombatLifestyle. A few more good ones after the jump.

Want to know how pumped up Roxanne Modafferi is about fighting on Saturday night’s Strikeforce event in Chicago?  She’s so jazzed that she’s even excited about meeting Fanhouse’s Ariel Helwani.  Can you believe it?  In all fairness, she does seem to be pretty excitable in general, almost to the point of being what a twelve-year-old might label a "spazz."  But damned if seeing someone so excited about her fight doesn’t make you legitimately excited about it too.  This childlike enthusiasm of hers is actually a very effective self-promotional tool.  Who knows what Marloes Coenen is up to right now, but she’s not posting videos of herself breathlessly describing video games, so eff her, right?

Modafferi’s chances of having her fight make the CBS broadcast seem pretty decent considering that "The Last Gypsy" probably won’t need very long to put away Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, and between them Antonio Silva and Fabricio Werdum only have a handful of fights that have gone the distance.  We sure hope she gets on TV, although you can’t help but worry that the excitement might be too much for her.  If she gets that worked up about talking to Helwani, an appearance on CBS might make her head explode.

For those of you unfamiliar with Modafferi’s work, a video primer is after the jump.