(This is when we’d normally tell you to keep your chin up, Keith, but that seems to be what got you here in the first place.) 

Perhaps this might not come as a shocking revelation to most of the Potato Nation, but Strikeforce is in some bad shape. Like, Bubba on the beaches of Vietnam kind of shape. Let’s put it this way, if we were gambling men, and someone were taking bets on its probable death, we’d bet everything we own on death.

What are we jawing on about? Well, the Nevada State Athletic Commission just released its figures for “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine” today, which took place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 7th, and the live gate for the event totaled LESS THAN HALF OF WHAT ROBBIE LAWLER WAS PAID TO FIGHT. As ridiculous as it may seem, Lawler did manage to knock out Aldan Amagov with the power of his testicles alone, so the somewhat exuberant compensation he received seems fair in this case. But boy does it not look good for Strikeforce.

Hauling in an abysmal 68,805 dollars, “Rockhold vs. Jardine” achieved a final attendance of just under 2000 (1992) with only 927 tickets sold. The other 1,065 tickets were comped, and 727 tickets remained unsold. The total fighter purse for this event was an even $566,000.

Victory, comrade!

Don’t worry- we didn’t forget about you. We were just a little busy yesterday. To demonstrate that your questions weren’t asked for no reason, we’ll jump right into answering them today. Unless, of course, you asked a question and we didn’t answer it. Then it was definitely asked for no reason. Oh well.

So let’s get started, shall we?

Kyle Gifford asks (via Facebook): Why haven’t you taken any questions from FB?

(Two words: Ipecac bitches! Video courtesy of Vimeo/Fightlinker)

- Hector Lombard: ‘Chael Sonnen is boring as f*ck (MMAJunkie)

- Chris Weiman’s one wish (WithLeather)

- Fowchart: what to do if there is no NBA season (Clutch.MTV)

-Eddie Alvarez on fear as motivation, facing unbeaten Chandler and Aoki possibility (MMAFighting)

- Machida details new camp for Jones bout (FightersOnly)

- The secret way to make sure you never get fired (AskMen)

- Wand talks pressure and training with ‘The Spider’ for Le fight (Tatame)

- Cpyotes using cell phones to get people across border (TuVez)

- Sonnen genuinely wishes Wand well Saturday night (ESPN)

- NFL’s hottest cheerleaders: Seattle Seahawks (Guyism)

- Sakurai-Chonnen rematch, bantamweight finals slated for DREAM NYE show (Sherdog)

- Strikeforce Challengers weigh-in vid (YouTube)

- Dexter re-upped for two more seasons (ScreenJunkies)

- FTW video: how to make awesome bacon appetizers (MadeMan)

- The 8 most exciting fighters on the UFC 139 undercard (BleacherReport)

- 25 math geek tattoos (HolyTaco)

- Elle Liberachi in lingerie is a good way to end the work week (Guyism)

- Dana White talks UFC 139, promises four exciting main card fights for UFC on Fox 2 (LowKick)

(One of the above people has no clue that Strikeforce Challengers even exists.) 

Depending on what kind of MMA fan you are, the Strikeforce Challengers series is either one of the many great ways to scout up and coming talent or one of the many open wounds that is bleeding Strikeforce to death. Regardless, Strikeforce Challengers 19 goes down tonight from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and features the likes of Ryan Couture, Jason “The Kansas City Bandit” High, and is headlined by a light heavyweight tilt between undefeated Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin and Nick “Leatherface” Rossborough. So if you determine whether or not to buy pay-per-views based on the originality of fighter’s nicknames, then this is the card for you.

(Barnett has his throat-slash. Roy Nelson has his belly-rub. Lorenz Larkin just stands there and poops in his diaper. Props: Strikeforce)

Tomorrow night, Strikeforce returns to the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington for one of the most compelling ‘Challengers’ events in recent memory. “Fodor vs. Terry” kicks off on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET, and features a pack of exciting prospects. Here’s a quick rundown of the five-fight main card, plus videos of some of their recent performances…

Caros Fodor (10-3) vs. James Terry (10-2)
Fodor is a Washington native who trains under Matt Hume at AMC Pankration. Eight of his ten victories have come by way of submission, but he was able to score his first stoppage-via-strikes in his last fight, battering a worn-out David Douglas until he earned a standing TKO in the third frame. He’s a perfect 3-0 in the Strikeforce organization, and will be looking to move another rung up the lightweight ladder against Cung Le protege James Terry, who has won his last three fights, two by first-round knockout.

(Caros Fodor’s TKO of David Douglas, 4/1/11)

(James Terry’s KO of Josh Thornburg, 4/1/11)

If you’re curious, this is how we look without a shirt. Just take our word for it. PicProps: FiveKnuckles

We had a bit of a “WTF?” moment as we perused the card for this weekend’s Strikeforce Challengers card, and not because we fell for “Fedor is on the card!!” again. No, we were a little confused to see that an intriguing welterweight matchup between world-tourist Jason High and KOTC-standout Quinn Mulhern was relegated to the preliminaries of a Challengers card, which is sort of like Cam Newton and A.J. Green playing catch in the parking lot outside a Kansas City Command game. (To our international readers: sorry, we hope you followed that.)

Well, someone obviously heard that we were confused. After middleweights Antwain Britt and Danillo Villefort both suffered injuries, their fight was scratched and High-Mulhern was promoted to the main card. We didn’t realize we had that much pull, but it’s good to know for future reference.

(“Well, maybe *you* can’t tell the difference between 18k gold and 14k gold…”)

Though he was slated to face Scott Lighty in a featured light-heavyweight matchup at this Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers event at the Stockton Arena in Sad City, Olympic gold-medalist judoka Satoshi Ishii has been forced to withdraw from the fight. Strikeforce announced this morning that due to the recent natural disasters in Japan, Ishii was unable to acquire a visa permitting him to leave his homeland in time for the event. Stepping in for him will be Lorenz Larkin, an undefeated knockout-artist who is currently 9-0 as a pro, following a 7-0 amateur career.

The Stockton Challengers show — headlined by a lightweight meeting between Justin Wilcox and Rodrigo Damm — would have been Ishii’s first MMA appearance in the United States. After losing his MMA debut in a decision to Hidehiko Yoshida on New Year’s Eve 2009, Ishii went 4-0 in 2010, with notable victories over Ikuhisa Minowa and Jerome Le Banner. Maybe when his visa issues are sorted out, a judoka vs. judoka bout between Ishii and fellow Strikeforce light-heavyweight Rhadi Ferguson is in order.

Say what you want about his fighting prowess, but his Tamdan McCrory impression is spot-on.

By Cage Potato Contributor Seth “Insert Pop Culture Reference” Falvo

Normally, we media types tend to be skeptical of these Strikeforce Challengers cards. However, tonight’s card in Cedar Park, Texas couldn’t possibly come at a better time. Aside from keeping itself in the minds of MMA fans, Strikeforce can begin to sell the fans on its non-Emelianenko fighters. This card provides two very interesting options.

The event is headlined by a lightweight scrap between Lyle Beerbohm and Pat Healy. Undefeated in his first sixteen fights, former meth addict turned professional fighter Lyle Beerbohm has a story that practically sells itself. The fact that he’s only gone the distance twice doesn’t hurt, either. His opponent, former Maximum Fighting Championship welterweight champion Pat Healy, most recently fought against Josh Thomson as an injury replacement for Lyle Beerbohm. Don’t sleep on Healy because of his 25-17 record; he has victories over Dan Hardy, Paul Daley, and Carlos Condit.

So you’re planning on watching the Strikeforce fights• this weekend, despite the fact that we here at CagePotato refuse to say anything nice about them, ever, upon pain of death? Well, there’s some decent fights on the lineup, and a double handful of undercard fighters that are hoping to make the broadcast. Among them, you’ll find middleweight Eric Lawson, a six-foot-something Californian who you may have seen on one of his six previous Strikeforce appearancesº. You may look at his 9-3 record and quickly dismiss him as small potatoes.

 But … maybe you run into the guy while you’re laid over in an airport somewhere in Middle America, because it’s snowing every damn place in the country that it’s not supposed to snow, and you learn a few things about a guy who may or may not have an adrenaline addiction, a guy who went in to MMA with relatively little training just to see what it was like.  Either that, or E Lawdog‡ heard about my nineteenth degree black belt in MMA and general ninjaness and called me up to shoot the breeze.
 

(OK, Julia watch for the le-. Never mind. VidProps: ProMMANow.)

What’s this? A fairly solid Strikeforce Challengers card that (for once) accomplishes its stated mission of showcasing a bevy of the promotion’s up-and-coming fighters? Believe it, people. Strikeforce managed to prolong some of the momentum it established late in 2010 and took advantage of the Showtime channel’s free preview weekend on Friday night with a decent card that saw a number of its more favored prospects pull off victories. Granted, things dragged a little bit down the stretch with Daniel Cormier, Ovince St. Preux and Tyron Woodley grappling their way to consecutive unanimous decisions, but on the whole this show has to be considered something of a success, at least as far as the often maligned Challengers series goes.

For the more punch-hungry fans out there, Amanda Nunes’ lightning quick 14-second knockout of Julia Budd certainly broke the monotony of the wrestling clinic, too. Video of that at top. After the jump, further musings on what it all means …

Strikeforce returns to Nashville for the first time since The Incident tonight when their "Woodley vs. Saffiedine" Challengers card pops off at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. You can catch the main card on Showtime beginning at 11 p.m. ET/PT. (It’s one of those free preview weekends, by the way.) If you have no plans tonight but feel like staying up late anyway, here’s what you could be seeing…

Tyron Woodley (7-0) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (10-2-1)
Coming off a dominant first-round TKO over Andre Galvao, Woodley has been making his name as one of Strikeforce’s best welterweights. The former University of Missouri wrestler will meet Belgian Team Quest product Saffiedine, who is 2-0 under the Strikeforce banner and is coming off a huge decision win over Brock Larson at Shark Fights 13 in September. 

Daniel Cormier (6-0) vs. Devin Cole (18-8-1)
We’re not sure why Daniel Cormier didn’t get an alternate-spot in Strikeforce’s heavyweight tournament — with six stoppage wins on his record and championship belts in two separate leagues (King of the Cage and Australia’s Xtreme MMA promotion), he’s one of the fastest-rising prospects in the division. IFL vet Devin Cole is coming off a decision loss to Aaron Rosa at Shark Fights 13, but he’s a seasoned vet who might be able to withstand the pressure that Cormier brings.

(Props: Strikeforce. For a larger version, go here.)

Junie Browning has a grenade tattooed on his hand because he could go off at any time. War Machine has an anarchy symbol on his hand because fuck a government. Waachiim Spiritwolf has a bear’s head tattooed on his hand because he’s a Native American warrior with excellent taste in body art. Marius Zaromskis is a strong favorite in their meeting at Strikeforce Challengers tonight — but you should never count out a man whose power-hand embodies the soul of an angry grizzly. That’s all I’m saying.

In all our excitement for Rampage vs. Machida, we haven’t really put much effort into covering the *other* event this weekend — Strikeforce Challengers: Wilcox vs. Ribeiro, which goes down tomorrow night at the Jackson Convention Complex in Jackson, Mississippi. The main card will be broadcast live on Showtime beginning at 11 p.m. ET. But should you actually take the time to watch it? Consult the flowchart below and find out. For the vision-impaired, there’s a larger version right here.

("Based on what we saw here today we think you’d be a great fit for the Strikeforce organization." PicProps: FightMagazine.com)

You’ll have to excuse even the most rabid “Ultimate Fighter” viewers if they don’t remember Wes Shivers. Shivers – one of the hulking NFL washouts not named Matt Mitrione on season 10 of the reality show– lost his first and only “TUF” fight to James McSweeney early on and quickly disappeared from our collective consciousness. In the wake of Shivers not getting invited back for the live finale we thought we’d seen the last of the guy until late last week, when Strikeforce sent out a press release (in triplicate, no less) trumpeting the fact that it’d dug him up to appear on the undercard of tomorrow night’s Challengers called.

Yeah, that’s right, Strikeforce sent out a press release to announce the return of Wes Shivers to MMA. Frankly, we wouldn’t be inclined to say much more (or anything at all) on the subject if not for Shivers’ interview this week with MMA Junkie which – through no fault of his own – effectively points out why/how Strikeforce continues to waste everybody’s time with these Challengers shows.

("Trust me, everything at Strikeforce is just fine. Say, anybody else hear those violins?") 

In the wake of yesterday’s merger between the UFC and the WEC, Strikeforce’s quest to carve out an equal space in the MMA world just got even more unlikely. But if you’re Scott Coker, this is no time to despair. It’s time to fight harder — and finally fix the slew of problems that have been dragging you down. So here’s what you do…

No more "Challengers" cards until further notice
The bottom line is, your roster isn’t deep enough to pull it off, and nobody gives a fuck. We just came off of a Challengers event that was headlined — I said headlined — by Roger Bowling vs. Bobby Voelker. For God’s sake, the next Raging Wolf card is more stacked. Strikeforce should abandon their minor-league series, and stick all those prospects onto the prelims of their larger Showtime cards (more on that next). If that means fewer events, so be it. Sure, you want to develop your brand by holding regular shows around the country, but just as importantly, you want to associate your brand with excellence and excitement. And let’s be honest, Strikeforce can’t be turning a profit on those Challengers cards anyway.

(Cain Velasquez‘s new Lugz commercial. Yeah, he smashed that. Props: YouTube.com/MMAFightClub)

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…

– Punch Drunk Preview: WEC 50 (Heavy.com/MMA)

- Cro Cop Says He’s Not Ready for UFC 119 but Still Guarantees a First Round Knockout (MiddleEasy)

– Backstage: Ariel Helwani vs. Ed Soares (MMA Fighting)

– Total Fighter Payroll for Strikeforce Challengers Phoenix: $53,250 (MMA Convert)

– 10 Taekwondo Knockouts That Will Blow Your Mind (MMA Scraps)

– Shane Carwin still silent on steroid connection; media as well (Watch Kalib Run)

– Pettis: ‘Roller Doesn’t Want Any Part of My Stand-up’ at WEC 50 (Versus MMA Beat)

– Chael Sonnen Syndrome: Urijah Faber trash-talking his way to the WEC Bantamweight Title shot? (LowKick)

- Rafael Cavalcante: “I have been working hard for not just this fight, but for my dream, every day for six years.” (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Strikeforce Houston: Noons & Gurgel on Standing and Banging for a Title Shot (FIGHT! Magazine)

("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.

("Next time on Extreme Makeover…" / Photos courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce.)

Program the codes into your DVR machine, because Strikeforce’s femme-tastic Challengers event in Phoenix airs tonight at 11 p.m. (For most of us, at least. Check your local listings.) Weights have been made, and the first-round tournament match-ups have been set: Miesha Tate will face Maiju Kujala in the semis, while Carina Damm takes on Hitomi Akano. Plus, Ryan Couture makes his pro debut, and Joe Riggs aw who cares. If you’re tuning in, please direct your thoughts to the comment thread below. Let’s have some fun tonight…

(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."

(Click above for larger version. Four competitors, representing four continents. Miesha enjoys cake decorating. Maiju’s turn-ons include the right hook and rear-naked choke. Image courtesy of Strikeforce.)

MMA Junkie passes along word that the format for the 135-pound women’s tournament at Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers event has been tweaked by the Arizona State Boxing Commission, a longtime enemy of epicness. First off, the two first-round matchups — which, again, won’t be determined until tomorrow — will only consist of two 3-minute rounds, rather than the three 3′s that were originally announced. The ASBC has also nixed the idea of a "sudden victory" round, so to prevent the inevitable 19-19 draws, the judges will just call the fight for whoever they think won it, PRIDE-style. (Okay, so that part’s not so bad.) The final match will still consist of three 3-minute rounds.

Two of the tourney’s four participants have previous multi-fight GP experience. Miesha Tate made her pro debut at that infamous 2007 HOOKnSHOOT women’s tournament, where she spent 12 minutes winning a decision over Jan Finney before getting blasted out by Kaitlin Young in 30 seconds. Maiju Kujala last competed at an Upcoming Glory tourney in the Netherlands in March, where she submitted Akvile Vitkauskaite and outpointed Titiana van Polanen, in over 19 minutes of total fight time.

(Can Miesha Tate smash through two fighters in the same night? Photo courtesy of Strikeforce.)

Look, we could talk about Silva and Sonnen all day, but there’s new business to attend to — namely, this is a huge week for women’s MMA. Thursday marks the premiere of Bellator’s third season, which will go down at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. In addition to appearances by Hector Lombard, Eddie Sanchez, and Yves Edwards, Bellator 24 will host two opening-round fights from their 115-pound women’s tournament: Megumi Fujii against late replacement Carla Esparza, and Jessica Aguilar vs. Lynn Alvarez. 

The following night, Strikeforce Challengers comes to the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, featuring Miesha Tate, Carina Damm, Hitomi Akano, and Maiju Kujala in a one-night 135-pound tournament; first-round matchups will be determined at Thursday’s weigh-ins. If you’d like to enter some MMA FightPicker pools, please make it happen by tomorrow at fightpicker.cagepotato.com or apps.facebook.com/fightpicker. The full list of this week’s questions is after the jump…

(“Dear Scott Coker, How do you like me now, bitch? XOXO. Love, Sarah.” PicProps: Strikeforce)

When Sarah Kaufman let it be known this week that she didn’t appreciate having her women’s welterweight title defense against Roxanne Modafferi relegated to the second-string series of America’s second-string MMA promotion, she said she planned to prove she deserved better. In a blog published on Pretty Tough Fighter.com, Kaufman said she would use her bout with Modafferi to demonstrate herself – and, by extension, the entire women’s 135-pound division — worthy of inclusion on one of Strikeforce’s “big shows.” Well, after Friday night’s performance, let us just say: We’re reading you loud and clear, Sarah.

Kaufman turned in one of women’s MMA’s more impressive (and ugly) knockouts last night, when she hoisted Modafferi off the mat and shut her lights out with a slam near the end of the third round in their fight at Strikeforce Challengers 9. If a finish like that doesn’t erase the memory of her previous fight and earn the now 12-0 Kaufman the respect and fanbase needed to be included alongside, say, “big stars” like Bobby Lashley or Herschel Walker on one of the Strikeforce’s A-list broadcasts, we’re not sure what will.

(Photos courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce. Click thumbnails below for larger images.)
   

Weigh-in results for tonight’s show in Everett, Washington are below. Set the DVRs now, Showtime subscribers. And please throw down some MMA FightPicker guesses if you haven’t already!

Shane Del Rosario (243.6) vs. Lolohea Mahe (264)
Sarah Kaufman (134) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (133.4)
Cory Devela (171) vs. Bobby Voelker (170.4)
Abongo Humphrey (202.6) vs. Mike Kyle (205.8)
Caros Fodor (155.6) vs. Thomas Diagne (156)

(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

"To talk about me is easy," Anderson Silva says in the above preview vid. "Try to beat me." Ah, there’s the rub. Chael Sonnen‘s trash talk has been absolutely epic in the run-up to this fight, but it remains to be seen if he can even back up one tenth of it in the Octagon. Meanwhile, Roy Nelson has finally earned Dana White’s respect with his knockouts of Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve, and is "a definite contender for the heavyweight championship." To get his shot, he’ll have to become the first UFC fighter to endure the fists of Junior Dos Santos, who has been leaving a very impressive trail of bodies in his wake. It’s a matchup that guarantees excitement, as opposed to main event, in which…well, if Silva dances around and mocks his opponent for five more excruciating rounds, don’t act like you didn’t see it coming.

After the jump: E. Casey Leydon follows Roxanne Modafferi and Sarah Kaufman as they prepare for their 135-pound title match at Strikeforce Challengers, tomorrow night in Everett, Washington. The event kicks off on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Yesterday, we wondered why Strikeforce’s next 135-pound women’s title fight was getting second-billing to a barely relevant men’s heavyweight scrap on a Challengers card. Well, Sarah Kaufman doesn’t really understand it either, and she posted a blog on PrettyToughFighter.com earlier today explaining her frustration. Take it away, champ…

Cookies and Man Parts
…seem to be the 2 things that will get me on a main Strikeforce card…that and learning how to shake my assets. [Ed. note: That was her link, not ours.]
I am currently the Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion…yet I fought for the title on a Challengers Card. Now, I am set to defend said title against Roxanne Modafferi in just a few days – again – on a Challengers Card.

I know that it’s going to be a fun and challenging fight…and I always welcome that. Roxanne has been around the sport for a long time and will come game to fight; however, I need to take this fight and make a statement.

That statement will be: I deserve to be on a main Strikeforce Card because I am a talented, exciting FEMALE fighter at 135lbs! I will NOT eat a ridiculous amount of cookies to make 145lbs JUST for the opportunity to be on a main card and growing man parts… well that would just be ridiculous  

(Del Rosario’s most recent Challengers appearance against Brandon Cash, 11/6/09)

Strikeforce’s next "Challengers" card goes down this Friday in Everett, Washington, headlined by a heavyweight bout between Shane Del Rosario and Lolohea Mahe, and the women’s 135-pound title fight between Sarah Kaufman and Roxanne Modafferi. Two questions come to mind…

– Why is a 9-0 steamroller like Del Rosario fighting a 4-1-1 novice who’s coming off a loss?

– Why is that fight headlining this card, as opposed to the women’s title fight?

The answers are: 1) It’s Strikeforce, do you really expect brilliant matchmaking? 2) As rumor has it, Strikeforce is displeased that Kaufman’s last three fights have gone the distance. So they’re pretty much going to stop pushing her. Anyway. Die-hard fightpickers can check out the full set of pool questions for this event after the jump; please make your selections at fightpicker.cagepotato.com or apps.facebook.com/mmafightpicker.

Unrelated: Our good friends at AskMen.com have released their 2010 Great Male Survey, which is honestly one of the greatest sociological research projects of our time. Over 100,000 men participated, giving their opinions on sex, grooming habits, current events, and so much more. Things we learned: 49% of men would punch a co-worker in the face if they could get away with it. 3% of men feel that MMA is too violent for their tastes. 19% of men would track their partner’s movements ("with a GPS implant, for example") if they had the ability. 53% of men feel that "sex addiction" is just a convenient excuse for guys who get caught cheating. Well, obviously.

Do us a favor and check it out here.

This Friday, the DCU Center in Worcester will host the oddly-named Moosin: God of Martial Arts event, in what is being billed as the first major, sanctioned MMA event in Massachusetts. The show will be available on pay-per-view, and should feature some entertaining matchups, including the headliner between former UFC champ Tim Sylvia and strongman-turned-MMA-fighter Mariusz Pudzianowski, and the female feature between Tara LaRosa and Roxanne Modafferi. Eric "Butterbean" Esch — who is also the event’s promoter — will be taking on radio host Lyndon Byers, though the fight won’t be part of the PPV broadcast.

Also on Friday, the Strikeforce Challengers series returns to Showtime, headlined by the "WTF, Are You Serious?" match between Matt Lindland and Kevin Casey. Tyron Woodley, Roger Bowling, and Tarec Saffiedine will also be on the card.

The full list of this week’s MMA FightPicker questions are after the jump. Give ‘em a look, and go get those PotatoChips. And if you haven’t done so already, please follow MMA FightPicker on Facebook!

Man, you thought going from Japanese MMA royalty to Strikeforce prelim fighter was bad? Dude. Strikeforce sent out a press release this morning announcing that MMA pioneer Matt "The Law" Lindland — who has been stopped in his last two fights against Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Vitor Belfort — will be headlining the next Strikeforce Challengers event (May 21st; Portland, Oregon), against Kevin Casey, best known as the jiu-jitsu coach of reality-show ass-pimple Spencer Pratt. Casey’s 3-1 MMA record includes a TKO loss to Ikuhisa Minowa, and three wins against guys you’ve never heard of. His Wikipedia page offers this telling anecdote:

[Casey] began to study Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 1999 when he befriended Rockson Gracie, son of Rickson Gracie…Casey has [promoted him]self to Black Belt in Jiu-Jitsu. He was banned from the school by Kron Gracie the son of Rickson Gracie because of his attempt at self promotion.

Really? A guy who recruited his celebutard buddy Spencer to look hard in a music video about his own awesomeness is a shameless self-promoter? You don’t say. Lindland vs. Casey is the ultimate matchup of grumpy old-timer vs. young entitled d-bag. And if Casey wins, we will never hear the end of it. So train well, Matt…and keep protecting our jobs. If you’re curious, the current lineup for Strikeforce Challengers 8 is after the jump.

(And you thought the tats on the *front* of Mahe were insane? Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce.)

…are after the jump, for the benefit of all you crybabies.

(Lolohea Mahe’s body is eerily similar to what my legal pad looks like during boring conference calls. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce.)

As a light appetizer to tomorrow’s big show, Strikeforce is having its latest Challengers event tonight at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The main card will be broadcast on Showtime starting at 11:45 p.m. ET/PT. If you don’t subscribe to Showtime, you’re in luck — the network will be available for free this weekend in 54.4 million households as part of their All Access Free Preview Weekend.

So why is tonight’s event worth DVR’ing? Well, you’ve got Hottest Women in MMA honoree Miesha Tate (8-2) taking on undefeated prospect (and former Fresno City College soccer player) Zoila Frausto (5-0) in a 135-pound contest. Jiu-jitsu phenom Andre Galvao (3-1) will try to rebound from his first MMA loss — a split-decision against Jason High at the DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix semi-finals — against Strikeforce veteran Luke Stweart (6-2). And in the main event, Fresno native Lavar Johnson (11-3) will take on Hawaiian heavyweight Lolohea Mahe (3-0-1). It will be Johnson’s first cage-appearance since his 18-second knockout of Carl Seumanutafa last May. In July, Johnson was shot in the abdomen by an unidentified gunman while attending a family barbecue. Four other people were shot during the incident, with one of them dying at the scene. Expect a hero’s welcome from the hometown crowd tonight.

The full lineup and weigh-in results are after the jump. No, not all fighters made their contracted weights, but they all tried, which I think is totally admirable.