(Compared to some of the things he’s experienced in boxing, Jeff Lacy (right) is excited to work with a serious, sober professional like Nick Diaz.)

Credit Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy, his camp and promoter for continuing to act like this proposed boxing match with Nick Diaz is a done deal, even though our suspicion is that Diaz and Cesar Gracie are just using Lacy and Co. to turn up the heat on Zuffa, LLC. Don’t get us wrong, we totally believe that Diaz is down to fight the former super middleweight champion … but likely only if the UFC can’t or won’t make a bout with Georges St. Pierre happen in the near future. Whatever the case, Lacy and his people are getting a nice publicity rub off this.

Case-in-point, Lacy got himself invited on ESPN 1100 in Las Vegas with Steve Cofield this week, where he sounded pretty dumbfounded that Diaz would want to “step into his ring,” but said he was totally willing to take advantage of the situation. In fairness, Lacy was actually somewhat complementary of MMA, saying he’s become a big fan, but then went on to compare the striking in our sport to glorified Toughman competitions. Lacy’s quotes are after the jump.

(“Must…not…show…joy.” Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas.)

Nick Diaz came one step closer to his grumpy transition toward a boxing career today, as a press release was distributed claiming that Jeff Lacy has officially signed to box Diaz this fall. A former IBF super-middleweight champion, Lacy was one of the guys who Gary Shaw dismissed as an irrelevant opponent for Diaz, but when you have a 1-0 record in boxing (as Diaz does), beggars can’t be choosers. In fact, Diaz is just as irrelevant an opponent for Lacy when you think about it, but whatever.

No date or venue has been named yet, although the event will be titled “Breaking History.” (Good. As long as we have the important stuff locked down, everything else should fall into place on its own.) Said promoter Don Chargin in the press release: “This is a very dangerous fight for both men. Not only is this fight dangerous but stylistically it is very intriguing. I expected more resistance from fight fans and media in regards to this match-up but it’s amazing as to the hundreds of calls and e-mails I’ve received from fans on both sides wanting to see this match-up take place. I’ve received more than a few inquiries from some other very high-profile boxers that want to step up and fight Nick. Its been a real whirlwind…

(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHubTV.com)

Fight Hub TV’s Marcos Villegas caught up with Gary Shaw over the weekend and spoke to the former head of EliteXC about Nick Diaz’s boxing aspirations and why Kimbo Slice’s boxing debut never happened.

(How many muppets must die for Jason Miller to dress in the manner to which he’s become accustomed? Pic: ESPN)

Truly spoken like a dude who’s used to being asked to leave. Some pretty classic quotes out on Tuesday from fighter, television host and all-purpose awesome dude Jason “Mayhem” Miller re: recent reports that Strikeforce literally couldn’t find him a fight during the last year of his contract because he’d become persona non grata at both Showtime and parent network CBS. Turns out, though he knew he was in hot water after his participation in the April, 2010 Nashville brawl, nobody at any of the above corporate entities bothered to inform Mayhem that he was no longer welcome on the two television stations and – therefore – damaged goods for Strikeforce. Instead, they just put him on the shelf to rot.

“I asked, and guess what? Nobody would tell me,” Miller told MMA Fighting. “This is a political environment. Nobody’s going to tell you. They’re just going to be cowards about it. That’s the way of the world. Nobody’s going to tell the crazy ultimate fighter guy to his face, ‘Hey, screw you.’ They’re not going to do that.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/GroundandPoundTV1)

Nick Diaz was interviewed Saturday night by a vampire following a disappointing 0-3 showing by his Team Cesar Gracie teammates at UFC 129 in Toronto.

When asked by the sunlight-fearing interviewer if a bout with Georges St-Pierre is on the horizon since his training partner Jake Shields lost to the UFC 170-pound kingpin over the weekend, the Strikeforce welterweight champ didn’t beat around the bush.

“I didn’t know if they’d be talking about [a fight between me and Georges] or what, but you should let me get in there with that guy, you know? They had him in there with my partner and look what happened. to him. What do you think’s gonna happen if they put him in there with me? I don’t know. I’d like to start gettin’ paid up here,” Nick says. “I’d like to get that fight or I’d like to make somethin’ happen here — somethin’ different, somethin’ big, you know? I’m tired of the same thing over and over again. It’s gettin’ old. This is gettin’ old for me. That’s just how I feel.”

(“What, that bright light? It shines down on us from heaven. Come see how it feels, Scott. Nice, right?”)

Despite everybody’s continued claims that things have never been better inside Strikeforce, we know the UFC has already taken over the company’s relations with the media and begun poaching its biggest stars. Now, it seems UFC executives are also neck deep in Strikeforce’s business, reportedly working (at least for the time being) to make sure the smaller fight promotion’s top remaining draws are happy. That’s the word out of Toronto on Thursday, where multiple reports say Dana White will meet with Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz after UFC 129 and that co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta is already seeing to the task of making the proposed superfight between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson become a reality.

First and foremost, White seems understandably concerned with Diaz’s apparent designs on bolting MMA for boxing. As quickly as plans to have the Stockton bad boy fight Fernando Vargas fell apart a couple weeks back, new reports surfaced saying former super middleweight champion Jeff Lacy might be interested. Perhaps most interestingly, White said this week Diaz’s contract actually does allow for such foolishness – which is another good example of why UFC people need to be up in SF’s business – but he’s obviously not crazy about the idea.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/ZPsBackUp)

If you missed it, UFC Primetime was back last night with another episode featuring UFC 129 main event fighters Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields.

The show focused more closely on the training regimens of both fighters and included snippets of GSP’s new gymnastics workout. I was hoping to there would be more of Shields sparring with Nick Diaz as he was in the gym helping the welterweight challenger prepare when they shot the footage of him training  with Gilbert Melendez featured on the show last night, but the Strikeforce welterweight champ has an aversion  to being on camera. There’s a rumor going around that he blasted “The Most Excited Interviewer in the World” for putting up training footage with the interviews he did with Shields a few weeks back and forced him to take the videos down.

All in all it was another decent episode, but the series would be much better without the tired cliches. It’s getting a little bit nauseating hearing how, “Shields will get the best Georges St-Pierre on April 30,” “GSP has never faced a grappler like Jake,” or “This is the toughest opponent of my career.” It seems that we hear the same thing from both camps before every fight.

It would be more entertaining to hear one of them say, “He sucks. Fighting him is almost a waste of my time. I’ve hardly trained because it’s going to be so easy. I’m going to beat him quickly so I can get a head start at pulling tail at the after party.”

Check out part two after the jump.

(“Don’t be scared, homie.”)

By Matthew Kaplowitz

Honor. Respect. Discipline. These are the keys to being a good sport. Whether your arm is raised in victory or your head is hung low in defeat, a good fighter maintains his decorum in every situation. Unless you’re a jerk.

Every major sport has an athlete with a temporary lapse in judgment that causes them to do something they will regret later, and MMA is no different. In this sport, two people are locked in a cage and expected to beat one another until the other can take no more, so it only makes sense that some of these would spill out into a second fight if not for a hefty security team. That brings us to the top ten post-fight brawls, where the action keeps going after the bell and turns into one giant debacle that ruins the rest of the night! Don’t take your mouthpiece out or unwrap your gloves just yet, we are just getting started!

(Man, I can’t wait until Diaz lays into Larry Merchant for being an instigating little bitch.)

Nick Diaz‘s quest to leave MMA for boxing because his life is a living hell has already hit a minor speed-bump. Though Diaz’s trainer/manager Cesar Gracie revealed that they’d already “signed on the dotted line” for a match against veteran pugilist Fernando Vargas, Gracie updated his story yesterday evening, telling MMAJunkie that Vargas is a no-go:

“We were talking about Vargas, but the thing is, I just came under some information that Vargas apparently has some kind of medical issue where he’s not able to pass the test any more, and he could be retiring. Vargas was very interested, but unfortunately, if he can’t pass the test, he can’t pass the test.”

The Gracie camp is now trying to set up a match with Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy, a 33-year-old former IBF super middleweight champion who has lost three out of his last four outings. Meanwhile, boxing promoter Lou DiBella is jockeying for a match between Diaz and Sergio Martinez, the Ring World Middleweight Champion who’s considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Like Diaz, Martinez has more talent than credible opponents at the moment — but it’s hard to imagine that fight being sanctioned anywhere outside of Poland.

(“My suit? No, it’s not Mr. Big and Tall, it’s Brooks Brothers. I got a Zuffa corporate card now.”)

The California State Athletic Commission today revealed the salaries from last weekend’s Diaz vs. Daly event in Stockton, and for the most part the fighters from the card were pretty well compensated.

The top money-earner of the night was welterweight champ Nick Diaz who netted $175,000 for his beatdown of Paul Daley. For his effort, Daley took home $65,000. Tied for second place in the night’s salary rankings are Strikeforce lightweight kingpin Gilbert Melendez and former light heavyweight champ Gegard Mousasi who both took home $150,000 for their efforts. The disparity between the take-home pay of Melendez and Mousasi’s opponents was interesting. Tatsuya Kawajiri picked up $97,612.50 for eating a handful of Melendez’s “hellbows” while Keith Jardine made just $25,000 for taking Mousasi the distance.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/HDNetFights)

In an interview he did this week with Kenny Rice from HDNet’s Inside MMA, Nick Diaz’s longtime trainer and manager Cesar Gracie says that the next time the scrappy Stockton California fighter competes, it will be in a boxing ring against Fernando Vargas.

“I’d love Vargas to get in there with him. Fernando Vargas. I know they’ve contacted him and he’s very interested. We’ve actually signed on the dotted line for that fight ourselves and we’re waiting on him now,” Diaz revealed in the clip from the interview that aird Friday. “It’s on already. We’ve already signed for it. We’re looking at September or October for something like that. We’re just waiting on their camp now.”

(A few more fights and Melendez will finally realize his dream of owning matching gloves. Pic: ESPN)

In the weeks since the UFC seized control of Strikeforce, there has understandably been a ton of talk about the potential for cross-promotional superfights. Even as honchos from both companies hold firm that it these dream fights won’t happen right away, the fanboy in all of us can’t help but titter a bit over the thought of Overeem vs. Velasquez, Diaz vs. St. Pierre or Fedor vs. Couture. Fine, maybe that last one would’ve been better had it gone down back in the ’70s, but you see our point. With apologies to the abovementioned dudes however, in the wake of last weekend’s “Diaz vs. Daley” show we can’t help but feel the most valuable commodity the UFC acquired with Strikeforce may well be Gilbert Melendez.

And we mean, like, right now. Immediately. As long as we can all agree that Strikeforce is just beginning its trudge toward the slow, painful death of the dinosaur, dodo and WEC (which we do, right?) there is simply no reason to confine Melendez to a terminally ill roster where he is essentially the only legitimate lightweight. Especially when the UFC lightweight division – arguably the best, most competitive weight class on the planet – has so many current problems. Problems that the abrupt addition of Melendez might solve right away. We explain, after the jump …

(I’m just saying, it’s a little ironic to wear a ‘Fight for Japan’ patch on your shorts while you’re personally contributing to the agony of Japanese people. Props: MMAFighting.com)

It might be a while before we get to see cross-promotional fights between UFC and Strikeforce talent. But what’s the harm in a little theoretical speculation? For this installment of the Armchair Matchmaker, we decided to pair up Saturday’s winners and losers with the UFC fighters they should face next, if that sort of thing was possible. And even if it’s a completely meaningless exercise, it’s still more interesting than talking about Diaz vs. Woodley and Melendez vs. the winner of Wilcox/Masvidal. (Ugh, reality. So tedious.) Let’s get started…

Nick Diaz: I know Georges St. Pierre is the obvious answer, but then I think about GSP out-wrestling Nick for five rounds and the dream-fight becomes a lot less dreamy. I’d actually be more interested in seeing Diaz try to avenge his 2005 decision loss to Diego Sanchez, another fighter who puts on a thrilling show every time he steps into a cage. Diaz has probably not forgotten his beef with Sanchez, and Diego has actually suggested that the two settle their rivalry as opposing coaches on TUF. Cosigned, homey.

Dana White’s long-held opinion of Nick Diaz goes something like this: He’s a talented kid, but he won’t be welcome back in the UFC until he learns how to “play the game.” Just before Diaz’s first-round TKO victory over Paul Daley on Saturday, White spoke to Ariel Helwani in more detail about Strikeforce’s anti-social welterweight champion (discussion starts at the 3:24 mark, translation via FightOpinion):

“When I listen to Nick Diaz talk, you know, this kid’s talented, he’s well-rounded, I like his attitude and the way that he carries himself…to a point. He always crosses the line every time he gets out there and talks publicly and…he can be such a big star. This kid could be a big star if he would just calm down a little bit and not so be so angry with everybody. I mean, seriously, who the fuck wants to beat up Ariel Helwani, man? Other than other reporters, who wants to beat up Ariel Helwani? Nick has this talent and he talks about the big money and all the other things. He can make this big money. He can do that. He can be that guy. He could fight GSP. He could have all these opportunities. He’s got to tone it down a little bit, you know, and I don’t think that many people out there would disagree with me and I’m not asking Nick Diaz not to be Nick Diaz. I like Nick Diaz. I like the way he is and it’s part of the appeal of him, you know. But you gotta tone it down just a little bit…if we could get Nick to a point where he doesn’t cross the line and he doesn’t get so crazy all the time, he could be a big star. People like him. And people dislike him, too. That’s not a bad thing.”

To this, we would ask: Tone what down, exactly? It’s been three years since the last time Diaz let weed affect his MMA career, and one year since the last time he participated in an in-cage brawl on national television; he’s actually been on his best behavior for a long damn time. Is a tense interview with Ariel Helwani really evidence that the UFC can’t work with one of the most talented fighters in the world? Can’t we just let Nick be Nick? And then you see Diaz’s post-fight interview with Helwani, and you’re like, “oh, right.” See what we mean after the jump…

It’s just as well. Frankly “011-44-115″ is harder to remember than “209″ (Pic: Strikeforce.com)

The first major Strikeforce event under the Zuffa/Forza banner delivered a full night of action and first round stoppages, with a little of the obligatory ‘Majority Draw’ bullshit mixed in for good measure. While it was a typical Strikeforce show from top to bottom, the UFC hardly tried to keep a low profile at the event. Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta were both in attendance, the cage floor advertised the upcoming GSP-Shields fight, and talk of cross-promotional bouts peppered the event from the commentator booth to the stupid text polls. Maybe it’s just us, but there are far more important issues to vote on.

After years of watching Nick Diaz win the stand-up battle against “better strikers”, is it now time for us all to admit that he is the better striker? In true Diaz fashion, he did exactly what he said he would do and exactly what the media and fans alike discouraged- stand up with a dangerous striker. Like a successful version of Jorge Gurgel, Diaz has built his mystique and fanbase upon his refusal to utilize his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and his unquenchable thirst to punch dudes in the face. While victorious once again, that doesn’t mean he dominated the fight. Daley’s power was a known commodity headed into this bout, which made the both the risk and the reward to stand and bang with him all the greater for Diaz. The two exchanged heavily throughout the one-round fight, and twice “Semtex” dropped Diaz to the floor in what looked like the beginning of the end for the pride of Stockton.

For the most part, last night’s weigh-ins were uneventful. By all accounts the proceedings went more smoothly with Zuffa steering the ship, and Scott Coker did his best Dana impression by injecting himself into the face-offs. California State Athletic Commission rules state that if a fighter elects to first weigh in wearing his fight trunks, he may not later remove them to assist in making weight. Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez and Welterweight challenger Paul Daley opted to play it safe and weigh in behind a towel on their first attempt. Both were successful.

Beyond silencing his haters and exorcizing his weigh-in demons, Daley may have scored another small victory. The lead up to this bout was by all standards tame. The brash “Semtex” bit his tongue, saying that he tried to start a war of words early on but decided he was wasting his effort when Diaz didn’t take the bait. Diaz’s interviews, always an interesting dichotomy between repressed emotions and stream of consciousness, focused more on how little he was paid than his upcoming bout. The cool-headed courtesy ended last night with the face-off, where Daley’s jawing brought the 209 out of Diaz and may have increased his chances at walking away with the belt.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MMAWeekly)

- The 5 Most Obnoxious Child Stars of All Time (TheRugged)

- Why Miss New Jersey hates me (RangerUp)

- Paul Daley’s manager says win or lose Semtex will stay with Strikeforce for at least 5 more fights (LowKick)

- TUF Times: The 10 Most Bizarre Moments from the Ultimate Fighter (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- BJ Penn explains shoulder injury that forced him out of UFC 132 (MMAMania)

- Jeff Buckley biopic in the works (ScreenJunkies)

- THIS is how you announce a basketball game (TuVez)

- Daley open to UFC return but he isn’t going to seek out White (CageWriter)

-The ultimate bachelor party guide (MadeMan)

- Bjorn Rebney explains how MTV2 will counter-program the UFC’s counter-programming (FightOpinion)

- Jacob Tucker rocks the NCAA dunk competition (TheScoresReport)

- How to write a Nickelback song (HolyTaco)

(Props: MMAFighting.com)

Nick Diaz is a man of contradictions. He’s a BJJ black belt who usually prefers to keep the fight standing and throw hundreds of punches. He’s a chronic weed smoker who’s somehow motivated enough to compete in triathlons when he’s not competing in mixed martial arts. And he clearly hates doing interviews, yet his interviews are comedy gold, 100% of the time. Case in point: His latest run-in with Ariel Helwani, which follows the classic three-part Nick Diaz interview format:

1) Show blatant hostility toward the interviewer. Usually that just means looking the other direction while answering questions and giving short, mumbled responses for the first couple of minutes. And he does that here, obviously, but the tension is especially high in this one. “I wasn’t gonna do this interview but they told me I had to,” Nick says as an opener, before laying into Ariel personally. “I feel like you instigate fights quite a bit…that’s your job, but where I come from, y’know, people like that get slapped.” Ariel tries to get the proceedings back on track, saying something about mutual respect, and Nick says “it’s all good, I see how you are.” Great. Only seven minutes to go.

(Pic: Tapology)

It’s hard to even know what to think about Paul Daley anymore. Given what we understand about the current MMA landscape, the ’60s radical in us wants to pump our fist and shout out a Hopper-esque “Right on, man!” every time Daley goes on record saying he’s not going to “kiss ass” for the UFC empire. Then again, Daley himself is so thoroughly detestable that it’s also hard not to hope Nick Diaz takes him down and chokes him out in like 45 seconds this weekend during their Strikeforce welterweight title match. Then, if Diaz, Daley, Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre and BJ Penn joined hands in the cage, sang “We Shall Overcome” and announced they were filing a joint antitrust suit against Zuffa, LLC, well, that’d be about perfect … as long as one of them didn’t try to steal a bunch of beer from a riverboat casino later that night … but anyways …

Of the five betting websites we perused this morning, only one – Bookmaker.com – is offering lines on all four of Strikeforce’s scheduled televised bouts as well as a couple from the undercard. Most electronic bookies are steadfastly avoiding Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine, likely because they don’t want to be complicit in Jardine’s untimely demise. Not Bookmaker though, those brave motherfuckers are posting odds on that fight and somehow still allowing prop bets on the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix. A guy can still get Fab Werdum to win it all at +550 over there, if you’re interested. In order to stay focused on the here and now however, after the jump are the lines for Saturday night’s “Diaz vs. Daley” show courtesy Bookmaker, plus our picks.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/MrTitoSilva)

- 15 sexy movie characters in pigtails (ScreenJunkies)

- Chuck Liddell goes to court to fight for sole custody of 12-year-old son (TMZ)

- AskMen launches a better smelling site (AskMen)

- Favorite women of March (Guyism)

- WrestleMania 27 preview (TheRugged)

- MLB baseball preview (Bullz-Eye)

- Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez say they’d never fight a teammate (MMAJunkie)

- What beats a machete and a crossbow? A machete-firing crossbow (DoubleViking)

- Pat Curran ready to unleash a surprise on Eddie Alvarez (MMAFighting)

- Lyrical poet Vanilla Ice cast in ‘I Hate You Dad’ (ScreenJunkies)

- Apple, RIM and 30 other cell phone manufacturers sued for copyright infringement (CNet)

- Police brutality at Mexico-Venuzuela friendly game (TuVez)

(“Business as usual,” should include putting on the best fights Zuffa can.)

Since Zuffa announced two weeks ago that it had purchased its closest competitor, Strikeforce, MMA fans and analysts have been clamoring for dream bouts that seemed impossible when the organizations were owned by two different companies.

Although UFC president Dana White has repeated the same three words since the news broke, “Business as usual,” and reports have emerged stating that there won’t likely be any cross-over bouts until Strikeforce’s current fighter contracts run out and they can be locked into new deals with the UFC, that doesn’t stop the inner fanboys in us from licking our chops over some of the fights we want to see happen in the Octagon (or Hexagon).

Check out our list of 20 intriguing post-Zuffa Strikeforce purchase fights we’d get behind.

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

Fans have been clamoring for the UFC to announce the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 14 since the featherweight/bantamweight season was announced earlier this month. Many would argue that after Urijah Faber’s dominant performance over Eddie Wineland in his UFC debut, it’s a foregone conclusion that he will face off against arch-rival and current UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. Others have suggested recently that it would be a missed opportunity if Zuffa drafts anyone other than newly crowned UFC light-heavyweight champ Jon “Bones” Jones and “Suga” Rashad Evans. Those are both excellent choices, but that’s not what we really want to see, now is it?

The best matchup is one in which the built-in marketing would compel the most casual of fans to tune in to Spike on Wednesday nights. Ever since Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller uttered the fateful words “Where’s my rematch, buddy?” to Cesar Gracie fighter Jake Shields on live television (as Gus Johnson so infamously reminded us), you can’t mention him and not automatically think of Nick Diaz. The Stockton native repping the 209 essentially jumped the Bully Beatdown host in what many consider the largest black mark on our sport. It didn’t stop there either.

Countless interviews and appearances over the past year have prompted the same question: “When are you two going to settle this in the cage and fight?” Add in a few YouTube videos on top of an epic custom t-shirt and you have yourself a nice little beef. Wait, there’s more! I would be remiss if I forgot to remind you of the time Diaz hurled a water bottle at Miller’s head backstage at a Strikeforce event. The aforementioned is all prelude that demands a culmination in the cage.

Well, it’s on a poster now, so I guess this fight’s really happening. But if you ask me, the old “U.S. vs. U.K.” opposing-flags angle is a little tired. I’d rather focus on what Nick Diaz and Paul Daley have in common. They’re both perpetually grumpy, for one thing. And they both do some of their best fighting after the last bell. (Who can forget Daley’s Josh Koscheck sucker-punch incident, or the Nashville brawl, or the Joe Riggs hospital fight?)

Unfortunately, one of the names on the poster — lightweight title contender Tatsuya Kawajiri — might have to drop out of the event, due to the current devastation in Japan. According to an MMAJunkie report, Jorge Masvidal and KJ Noons have been asked to stand by as replacements in case Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki are unable to compete. Masvidal and Noons were originally slated to face each other on the “Diaz vs. Daley” card, which goes down April 9th card in San Diego; now we could be seeing Melendez vs. Masvidal and Noons vs. Lyle Beerbohm. We’ll let you know when things are official.

Related: Following destruction in Japan, Akiyama pulls out of bout at UFC 128

“Konichiwa, bitches!”

There are a lot of things we’ve come to know about Dana White over the years. He loves his Pink Berry. He relieves stress by pulling mediocre pranks on his subordinates. He’s an astute, cut throat businessman. And he holds a grudge like a mother fucker. It’s these last two traits that we’ll be examining at this time. With the UFC’s latest acquisition, Dana is in the position of working directly with many of the folks he’s either banned from the UFC or burned bridges with when attempts to work with them didn’t pan out. Aside from the recent legal quandary surrounding Roy Nelson’s employment, Zuffa has proven through aggressive litigation and hard ball negotiation that they know their way around a contract. This makes it very likely that Dana will do just as he says in honoring all current Strikeforce related contracts.

But virtually all contracts come to an end at some point, and when Strikeforce’s agreements reach their expiration date it’s a whole new ballgame. Some Strikeforce staples, such as open, non-exclusive contracts and event co-promotion are sure to disappear. The same is certain for many of the organization’s familiar faces, both in front of the camera and in the cage. Despite Dana’s vindictive nature, he didn’t get where he is today by letting hard feelings get in the way of good business. Let’s take a closer look at who’s on the chopping block when the legal obligations dissolve and Dana is wielding the axe.

*Disclaimer: If you are at all squeamish or faint at the sight of blood, don’t click the video below.

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Drfrankstile)

Besides hindering your breathing and making you look like a stereotypical MMA fighter, having your nose broken several times also makes it way more likely that the injury will reoccur. With this in mind, Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni headed to the plastic surgeon responsible for belt-sanding down the sharp brow bones of Marcus Davis and Nick Diaz to see about getting his problematic proboscis taken care of.

(Lightweights, man. Can’t live with them, can’t unnecessarily pad your record without them. Pic: Heavy)

One way or another, the welterweight division will look dramatically different come the end of UFC 129. Either Mike Goldberg will be screaming about how “the Jake Shields era has begun in the UFC” while the Skrap Pack carries him around the cage on their shoulders, or GSP will be standing in line at the all-you-can eat pasta bar wondering how he’s ever going to pack on enough pounds to look like a credible middleweight. No matter what, the landscape will be changed.

Either that, or GSP will just blow through Shields like Tank Abbott through a 4-pack of Budweiser Cheladas and decide he wants to stay at welterweight (and just keep beating up the Thiago Alveses, Jon Fitches and Josh Koschecks of the world) until his RushFit stock options mature enough to put him on Easy Street. To us at least, the first option is starting to sound more and more acceptable each day. In spite of that impending shakeup, we present to you our picks for the top five welterweights in MMA. These lists will only be current for the next 60 days or so, so get them while they’re hot …

(Chris Tuchscherer)

From Fedor Emelianenko to Dwayne Lewis, gruesome eye injuries are so hot right now in MMA. So we thought we’d make them the subject of our latest photo tribute. Because it’s all fun and games until…you know. Lots more after the jump.

(Marcus Davis)

(Will Strikeforce pull off this tournament?)

Strikeforce announced today via press release that its planned April 9 event which was supposed to play host to the remainder of the opening round bouts of its heavyweight grand prix tournament will be put on hold until the summer. According to the promotion’s CEO, Scott Coker, they ran out of time to properly promote the event.

“Strikeforce is coming off a record presale and impressive attendance for the kickoff of the Grand Prix at IZOD Center in New Jersey that also drew a record viewership on SHOWTIME for live MMA,” said STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker. “To build on the tremendous momentum from New Jersey we needed the proper time to promote an event of this magnitude, which is why we have decided to continue the Tournament on June 18 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, a venue that has been identified as one of the premier sports and entertainment venues in the U.S.”

So let me get this straight. Strikeforce wanted to build on the tremendous momentum created by the success of its first grand prix quarter final event, so it decided it would be best to delay the second event by two months? Seems like a logical way to keep the momentum going.

("Guess who can afford a new car now motherfuckers?")

The California State Athletic Commission released the salary, attendance and live gate figures today for last weekend’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg event that was held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose Saturday night.

Topping the list of money earners for the event was Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz who made $150,000 followed by middleweight champ Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza who earned $85,000. The pair took home a combined $235,000 — more than half of the disclosed $463,500 payroll for the show, whose live gate amounted to $533,214.50.

Attendance for the show topped off at 9,059, with 8,817 of those being paid attendees and 231 who received comped tickets from the promotion.

("Hey, I thought you guys said you would call me if you were gonna do anything tonight." PicProps: Fighters Only)

Well, this is only going to fuel more speculation about you know what. As Strikeforce moves to finalize its March 5 card in Columbus (tickets go on sale tomorrow, y’all), the recently postponed rubber match between Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Tim Kennedy has been scrapped entirely, at least for the immediate future. Instead, Kennedy will fight Luke Rockhold, the company announced on Monday via press release. That’s at least some compensation for an already pissed off Kennedy, who went public recently with a list of fighters he said had turned down bouts with him and his complaints that Strikeforce was leaving him to die on the vine from sheer inactivity.

No reason for the change was given, though MMA Junkie quotes PR spokesperson Mike Afromowitz saying (in fairly typical Strikeforce fashion) that “the matchup had never been signed in the first place.” In any case, it appears to complete a four-fight card for the cleverly named “Strikeforce: Columbus,” and essentially leaves Miller without a date. Interesting (but probably coincidence) that this switch goes down less than 48 hours after middleweight champion Jacare Souza successfully defended his crown against Robbie Lawler and longtime Miller crush object Nick Diaz stretched Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos to retain his welterweight belt. Wild speculation, anyone?