There were two moments from last weekend’s MMA double-header that jumped out at us during the events, but which we didn’t give any attention to afterwards. Luckily, we now have videos of both.

First up, Ronda Rousey gives Strikeforce sideline-reporter Heidi Androl the look of death when Androl dares to ask about her plan B for Miesha Tate. (Again, it’s another armbar, just like Chuck Norris’s beard has another beard behind it, and behind that beard is a fist, or something like that.) Not trying to hate, but most of Heidi’s fighter interviews end up feeling awkward for one reason or another. Didn’t Karyn Bryant used to handle those for Showtime? Can’t they get her back?

Related discussion question: Is Ronda Rousey the Chael Sonnen of women’s MMA — a born entertainer who is playing a role in order to promote herself — or is she the Nick Diaz of women’s MMA — an athletic savant who just isn’t as good at relating to other human beings as she is at fighting?

After the jump, Demetrious Johnson shows the bare minimum of concern for Ian McCall‘s aching balls.

(Props: YouTube.com/Strikeforce)

Strikeforce held a press conference yesterday plugging this weekend’s “Rockhold vs. Jardine” card at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Some highlights…

- Keith Jardine hasn’t weighed 185 pounds since the ninth grade.

- King Mo plans to “put them thangs” on Lorenz Larkin. Man, I hope that doesn’t mean what we think it means.

- Scott Coker thinks Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov won’t make it out of the second round. As usual, Lawler is as silent as a cigar-store Indian.

After the jump: A highlight reel of the fighters in action. The editor wisely chose to use a clip of Jardine’s TKO of Forrest Griffin from 2006 rather than his sole appearance in Strikeforce.

(Props: allelbows)

Four months after beating the Strikeforce middleweight belt off of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Luke Rockhold returns to action this Saturday night in a title defense that even he isn’t that psyched about. But considering his 7-0 stretch under the Strikeforce banner — with six of those wins coming in the first round — it’s clear that Rockhold’s biggest accomplishments are still in front of him. If you’re not familiar with the AKA rising star, check out this “Fight Journal” video from allelbows, in which Rockhold makes some media rounds, discusses the downfall of Brock Lesnar, has a run-in with a very humble Keith Jardine, and shows how he puts his championship belt to sleep every night.

Okay, maybe it’s not the card of the year — and four of the five matches are undeniable squash matches — but if you’ll be around on Saturday, come by for our liveblog of the Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine Showtime broadcast, starting at 10 p.m. ET.

(Props: YouTube.com/Strikeforce)

Reminder — Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal goes down tomorrow night in San Diego, and we’ll be liveblogging the Showtime broadcast beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Strikeforce recently released this promo video focusing exclusively on the lightweight title competitors and Cris Cyborg; Gegard Mousasi and Ovince St. Preux are nowhere to be seen, and the only glimpses we get of KJ Noons and Billy Evangelista are brief clips of them getting beat up by Jorge Masvidal. Still, this could be a surprisingly entertaining card for those who actually care enough to watch it. Either way, that clip of El Nino ruining Kawajiri’s life with elbows never gets old.

After the jump: Jorge Masvidal gets interviewed by three hot Spanish chicks, nearly slaps the crap out of one.

(Props: Zee2tehPee)

If Strikeforce gave out performance bonuses like their big brothers at the UFC, the “Barnett vs. Kharitonov“ prelim match between Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and rising Canadian star Jordan Mein would be a front-runner for Fight of the Night. After two entertaining rounds of stand-up, Mein ended the match in the third frame with the nastiest display of standing elbows in MMA history. Seriously, that’s not an exaggeration. Skip to about the 1:45 mark and tell me I’m wrong — this might even give Anderson Silva vs. Tony Fryklund a run for its money. To see the first two rounds of the fight (and everything else from the prelims), swing by IronForgesIron.

Mein’s victory upped his career record to 23-7, and lengthened a win streak that includes victories over Joe Riggs, Josh Burkman, and Marius Zaromskis. He’s been fighting professionally since 2006, and he’s 21 years old. You do the math on that one.

After the jump: Another highly satisfying knockout from the Strikeforce prelims, this one involving former light-heavyweight champ Rafael Cavalcante and Olympic freestyle wrestling silver medalist (and Strikeforce first-timer) Yoel Romero. We set up the video to skip past the first ten minutes of Romero avoiding the fight and taunting Feijao at every opportunity; trust us, we’re doing you a favor. When Cavalcante finally catches up with his dick-headed opponent, it is so, so good.

(Props: shosports)

In case you missed the action on Saturday night. After the jump: Full videos of Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov and Daniel Cormier vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Check ‘em out while they last…

(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)

(Leg kicks, why have you forsaken me? / Photo courtesy of allelbows.com)

Today, as you know, is Easter — a day in which Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, three days after his crucifixion. To commemorate the holiday, we’d like to take this time to remember notable resurrections in the sport of mixed martial arts. (Because we’re respectful like that.) There’s nothing more incredible than watching a dude get the living crap beaten out of him for minutes at a time, and then somehow, miraculously, finding the strength to knock his opponent dead before the last bell. So without further ado, here are 11 of our favorite “Back From the Dead” MMA fights of all time…

Just wanted to pass along a few interesting moments from Fedor vs. Silva‘s post-fight presser, which featured all of the night’s winning fighters, plus the other four heavyweight grand prix competitors who will be squaring off on April 9th (venue TBA). Josh Barnett was the first to be introduced, and he gave the media his usual mix of insightful analysis and comic-book-like hyperbole. “Getting an easy win doesn’t do anything for you,” he said. “I’d rather stare death in the face.”

Scott Coker confirmed that Fedor Emelianenko could theoretically return to the grand prix as an alternate, jumping ahead of Shane Del Rosario, who was supposed to have earned the first replacement spot with his impressive win over Lavar Johnson. Nope. The tournament committee will decide that. And Coker’s not even on the committee. It is only now, two days later, that it’s occurred to me to wonder, “Wait a minute, so who is on the committee?” Vadim Finkelchtein and Gus Johnson? God help us.

After the jump: Alistair Overeem is bummed that Fedor got knocked out of the tournament because of the “glow” he brings to the proceedings, but after being ducked by Fedor twice, he already gave up on the idea of fighting him. Plus, Alistair and his brother Valentijn say that they’d have no problem fighting each other in the context of a tournament. I’m sure Dana White would respect that, but Coker is less than thrilled by the idea.

(That’s what we call commitment to the bit. Props: MMA.us)

Approximately 1,500 MMA fans swarmed the Roseland Ballroom in New York City yesterday afternoon for a special meet-and-greet with the participants from Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix. The action begins this Saturday at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with two quarterfinal matches — Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Silva and Andrei Arlovski vs. Sergei Kharitonov — and three reserve matches, featuring Shane Del Rosario, Chad Griggs, and Valentijn Overeem. If you’re going to be there in person, please swing by the press pit to receive a complimentary fist-bump from BG.

We’ve collected some video highlights from yesterday’s festivities after the jump: First, all eight members of the heavyweight GP are introduced to the crowd by horrific YAMMA/Affliction vet Scott Ferrall. Then, Alistair Overeem talks to Ariel Helwani about his new love of American football, getting ducked by Fedor, and Dana White’s opinion that he’s not a top ten heavyweight. Finally, Fabricio Werdum shows off his special move for the tournament, and we have to admit, it’s pretty damn special. Check it out.

(Remember when Sergei Kharitonov sent Alistair Overeem‘s lifeless body through the ropes at K-1 Hero’s 10? No? Then you really need to watch these videos…)

In our excitement for Strikeforce’s potentially insane heavyweight tournament, one point seems to be getting lost in the narrative — namely, that these guys have already fought each other many, many times before. Five of the eight competitors (Werdum, Arlovski, Overeem, Emelianenko, Rogers) have previously faced at least three other fighters in the tournament field. Fabricio Werdum has actually fought everyone except Brett Rogers and Josh Barnett, and only Barnett himself has managed to go his entire career without bumping up against anybody else in this year’s bracket.

All told, there’s eleven twelve fights worth of shared history among the Strikeforce HWGP competitors, dating back over five years. To help you study for the quarterfinals next month, we’ve posted them all below in chronological order…

UPDATE: We originally forgot to include Fabricio Werdum’s decision win over Antonio Silva. So actually, there have been 12 previous meetings, not 11. The video has now been added. 

(Sergei Kharitonov def. Fabricio Werdum via split decision; PRIDE 30, 10/23/05)

(Alistair Overeem def. Sergei Kharitonov via TKO, 5:13 of round 1; PRIDE 31, 2/26/06)

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.

(Props: youtube.com/shosports)

It’s not quite Nick Diaz vs. Jason Miller, but Strikeforce is going to do its very best to convince you that Nick Diaz vs. KJ Noons — who’s fighting for the title in his Strikeforce welterweight debut! — is the grudge match you’ve been begging for. And how do they plan on accomplishing that? By staying on message. As you’ll see, the famous phrase "Don’t be scared, homey" pops up twice in this one-minute hype clip for Strikeforce’s next event at San Jose’s HP Pavilion on October 9th. Which begs the question: If "DBS,H" is the theme of the night, why not hold the event in Stockton? What, too real for you guys? Violent crime rate too high? Pussies.

At this point, only two other fights have been booked for the Showtime broadcast of Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II. After earning her employers’ respect with a slam-knockout of Roxanne Modafferi at the last Challengers card, 135-pound champion Sarah Kaufman will make her next title defense against Marloes Coenen, who was sacrificed to Cris Cyborg earlier this year at Strikeforce: Miami. Also, Matt Lindland will follow up his TKO win over Kevin Casey with a bout against hot middleweight prospect Luke Rockhold (7-1), who has ended all six of his Strikeforce appearances by first-round stoppage, including wins over Jesse Taylor and Cory Devela. Christ, good luck Matt.

(Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos vs. Marius Zaromskis)

From last night’s event at the Nokia Theatre. Props: ZP840.

(Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Prangley)

(Props: YouTube.com/ShoSports)

Another promo, another dilapidated warehouse to shoot it in. Brett Rogers is already used to this. And with his first stare-down with Alistair Overeem in the books, things have officially gotten real. Frank Shamrock gives the fighters props for not nervously pissing themselves during the shoot. There isn’t much you can really interpret from the clip; both fighters seem calm and thoroughly focused. Still, if this was a pectoral competition, it would be the Reem in a walk-off. 

After the jump: Overeem explains his 2.5-year absence from Strikeforce, discusses the legality of horse-meat in the United States — like, actual horse-meat, we’re not using that as a euphemism for steroids this time — and plugs his documentary.