(Yeah, it’s a nice shirt, but you know what?  I’m just going to wait until it’s selling for three dollars at T.J. Maxx.)

On Strikeforce’s media conference call today Frank Shamrock confirmed that he would indeed be fighting Nick Diaz on April 11, and at a catch-weight  of 179 pounds.  One can’t help but imagine the fierce negotiations that landed them at that awkward figure, but one can imagine that Frank and Nick both acted totally sweet during said negotiations, refusing to meet at a round number.

Of Diaz, Shamrock said, “"He’s a guy who throws and talks trash.  And on April 11 I’m going to knock him out."

That’s pretty much a compliment from Shamrock.  He also said he’d like to fight more often than the once or twice a year plan he’s been on lately, and of course he also beat the old ‘I want to fight my brother’ drum yet again.

Other news coming out of the call…

(While he’s fairly confident you all know who’s #1, Frank Shamrock still doesn’t like to chance it.)

Five Ounces of Pain reports that when Frank Shamrock headlines the April 11 Strikeforce card, he’ll be doing so against former EliteXC 160-pound contender and weed-loving hard-ass Nick Diaz.  On one hand, this has the makings of a great fight.  Both men are slightly insane in their own special ways, and both are liable to say/do absolutely anything in the lead up to a fight.

On the other hand, should they even be fighting?  Shamrock has competed most of his career at middleweight and above.  He weighed in at 185 for his bout with Cung Le.  Diaz has been hovering in the 160-170 pound neighborhood as of late, and doesn’t exactly have the kind of frame you can pack a lot of weight on to.  It’s unclear at this point whether Shamrock will cut down or whether Diaz will munchie up, though if we had to guess we’d put our money on the latter.

But even as I sit here perplexed by the decision to pit these two against each other – and disappointed by the fact that it isn’t a Diaz brothers vs. Shamrock brothers tag team match – I am forced to admit that I wouldn’t miss this fight for anything.  

(Will brawl for food.)

Now that Strikeforce is getting its Pro Elite ducks in a row, we’re all wondering what, if anything, they’ll decide to do with Kimbo Slice.  He was an undeniable draw for EliteXC, but he also came with a hefty price tag that was maybe, just maybe, not justified by his performance in the cage, particularly in his last fight against Seth Petruzelli.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker seems sympathetic to the plight of the internet brawler, but perhaps not so much that he’s willing to keep paying him the six-figure salary Pro Elite did:

“I think that if you look back at the past, he could have been built up to have the fights that he needed to face the Seth Petruzellis of the world and be successful, but he wasn’t given the opportunity,” said Coker. “When I look at Kimbo, I don’t look at it as his fault. He was in a ‘no win’ situation.”

Kimbo’s manager, “Icey” Mike Imber, indicated that while he wasn’t enthusiastic about a pay-cut for his fighter, he’d consider it rather than keep him out of action indefinitely.  But one thing’s for sure, Bas Rutten will not be training Slice.  Ever.

(More headkicking in store for Shamrock in ’09?)

Ever since Strikeforce purchased “select assets” from Pro Elite we’ve been wondering a) which select assets, and b) what the hell does he plan to do with them?  In an interview with USA Today, Coker inched closer to answering those questions, saying he’s spoken with 10 Pro Elite fighters and only one of them has tried to renegotiate his deal (we assume this was Kimbo Slice insisting he take a pay cut and be place on the untelevised undercard).  

Coker also said he “would like to invite K.J. Noons to fight [Strikeforce lightweight champ]" Josh Thomson, and added that he’s in talks with Noons’ agent, Mark Dion, to make that happen. 

You’ll recall that Noons essentially turned his back on EliteXC when they tried to make him fight Nick Diaz on CBS and Noons was unhappy with the payscale and with rematching Diaz in general, who was slated to make more than him despite losing the first meeting due to a cut stoppage.  Thomson is a quality, name opponent, and if Noons decides he doesn’t want to fight him either, we in the MMA world would probably do well to forget about “King” Karl altogether and let him box his little heart out.

As for other fights on Coker’s mind right now…

(Benji Radach goes in for the kill against Murilo "Ninja" Rua at EliteXC: Heat last October. Photo courtesy of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.)

From a new press release distributed by Strikeforce:

This won’t be the first time that a Strikeforce event has been broadcast on Showtime; Shamrock vs. Le aired live on the premium cable channel last March, and Shamrock vs. Baroni aired on Showtime PPV in June 2007. But now it looks like Strikeforce will be airing fight cards with the same frequency as the UFC — particularly when you include the quarterly specials on CBS, as has been reported — and that’s a significant step forward.

According to FiveOuncesofPain, one of the fights that will featured in the April 11th event will be a bout between Scott Smith and Benji Radach. Smith was featured twice in EliteXC’s live events on CBS, both times in unsuccessful efforts to claim Robbie Lawler’s middleweight title. (Their first fight was ruled a no-contest after Smith received an unintentional eye-poke in the third round that ended the match.) Somehow, Smith was able to extricate himself from his EliteXC contract after Pro Elite closed its doors, and last competed for Strikeforce in November, scoring a 24-second knockout over Terry Martin. Radach last competed at EliteXC: Heat in October, where he knocked out Murilo Rua in the second round.

Former Strikeforce middleweight champ Frank Shamrock and current Strikeforce lightweight champ Josh Thomson are also rumored to be on the card.

 
So I guess they’re stopping short of calling it an actual sale of the company, but according to Josh Gross it has been confirmed that Pro Elite and Strikeforce have finalized a transaction for an asset purchase. Here are the details, as of now:

If we had to guess, we’d say "run them directly into the ground," but we’re cynical like that. FiveOuncesofPain adds this important bit:

More to come…

(Everybody with talent, get on the bus to San Jose! Not so fast, Skala. Photo courtesy of NapkinNights.)

Keep your fingers crossed, because the EliteXC fighters whose contracts have been in limbo since late October — and who have been legally barred from competing for functioning organizations — may be free to move on with their careers. We were first alerted to the news by Mad Xyientist on the UG, who listens to Sherdog Radio so we don’t have to:

BloodyElbow follows this up with more details:

A lot has been said about Scott Coker’s incredible business sense, and how he’s been able to build what’s basically a regional outfit into a legitimately profitable operation that still manages to pay its fighters well, all while miraculously staying on Dana White’s good side. And yet we’re still shocked that Strikeforce has enough cash on hand to purchase as large a property as Pro Elite. Or maybe they’re just assuming some of Pro Elite’s sizable debt, and no actual money is switching hands. We’ll let you know when more details emerge. But for now, it seems like Gina Carano, Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler and the rest are one step closer to working again, and that’s great news.

(Props: NBCSports via BloodyElbow)

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

(‘Looks like we won’t be eating boiled down wallpaper this year, after all.’)

Tanking economy, you say?  Not in San Jose, brother.  The official fighter payouts for Strikeforce: Destruction tell a tale of a local MMA promoter that’s doing just fine, even if some of the figures are a little strange.  At least most of the Strikeforce fighters will be able to afford a Christmas now.  And not one of those shitty Christmases where you make homemade gifts and write each other poems and everyone has to pretend like a haiku about a mother’s love is just as cool as an Xbox.  No, a real Christmas.  With material goods and stuff!

Thanks, Strikeforce.  Go to hell, haiku.

Scott Smith: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
Terry Martin: $20,000
Renato “Babalu” Sobral: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
Bobby Southworth: $20,000
Duane Ludwig: $32,500 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
Yves Edwards: $12,000
Kim Couture: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Lina Kvokov: $1,500
Joe Riggs: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
Luke Stewart: $10,000
Bobby Stack: $5,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus)
Cyrillo Padilha: $2,000
Eric Lawson: $9,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
Tony Johnson: $2,000
Kurt Osiander: $9,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
Josh Neal: $1,550
Brian Schwartz: $28,000 (no win bonus)
Lamont Davis: $5,000
Luke Rockhold: $4,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus)
Nik Theotikos: $2,000
Darren Uyenoyama: $5,000 (includes $2,5000 win bonus)
Brad Royster: $1,500
Alvin Cacdac: $3,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
Jose Palacios: $3,000
Zakary Bucia: $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
Adam Steele: $1,000

Analysis…

(That’s got to sting a bit. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

What’s the most anti-climactic way for a title fight to end? Okay, the second-most anti-climactic, right behind double KO via simultaneous cardiac arrest? You guessed it: stoppage due to a cut. That’s what did Bobby Southworth in at last night’s Strikeforce. As you can see, it was a nasty one brought on by one of “Babalu” Sobral‘s elbows in the first round. Before the second could start doctors waved it off, and just that easy “Babalu” is now the Strikeforce champ.

In other action, Kim Couture put her increased aggression to good use, while her opponent fought very much like we expected given her scared-soccer-mom appearance at the weigh-in. Duane “Bang” Ludwig earned a decision victory over Yves Edwards. And Scott Smith knocked Terry Martin out cold in just twenty-four seconds. Looks like there’ll be a Christmas at the “Hands of Steel” household, after all.

Full results after the jump.

(Someone’s nervous. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

- Kim Couture’s opponent misses weight, looks scared. (Xtreme Couture)

- That UFC ad campaign trashing other sports? Yeah, it was bullshit. (Fightlinker)

- “Ninja” Rua says his bro is fixing to mess Mark Coleman up. (Tatame)

- “Human Weapon” arrested for rape, but D.A. won’t file charges. (TMZ)

- “Babalu” Sobral will break his hand on Southworth’s face if need be. (NBC Sports)

- Strikeforce betting odds. Feel like putting a fin on “Bang” Ludwig? (BestFightOdds)

- Joe Riggs only regrets that he didn’t get to smash Kimbo first. (MMA Rated)

- Men 18-34 are stupid, apparently. Bummer. (Holy Taco)

- Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler.” Count me in. (Screen Junkies)

- Wal-Mart’s new CEO shakes things up. (Wall Street Fighter)

- The rare ‘party girl parking garage beatdown’ caught on tape. (Nothing Toxic)

(Smith during his last UFC appearance, against Ed Herman at UFC 72. Photo courtesy of slam.canoe.ca.)

Though most of his former EliteXC stablemates are still in contract limbo, two-time middleweight title challenger Scott Smith (13-5) has managed to book his next fight. “Hands of Steel” will be taking on fellow UFC vet Terry Martin (18-5) at Strikeforce’s “Destruction” card, which will be held at San Jose’s HP Pavilion on November 21st. According to the press release we received this morning:

Despite the short notice he was given for the meeting with Martin, Smith claims he will enter the fight in better condition that he did for [his most recent] meeting with [Robbie] Lawler, as he had already been preparing for a bout on November 8th that was subsequently canceled.

“My teammates said you got to stick in there and be ready to fight at any time and that’s what I did. I think fighting two weeks later is better for me and is perfect timing…He’s a better boxer and I’m a better kickboxer. I want to keep the fight standing. I know he likes to stand and bang so it’s looking to be a slugfest.”

#10: Rashad Evans serves Tom Murphy on TUF 2

Believe it or not, Rashad Evans used to be a cocky son-of-a-bitch. Finding no challenge from an outmatched Tom Murphy on the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, Sugar entertained himself during the fight by popping, locking, and striking poses until the judges awarded him the victory. The performance also earned him some serious scorn from opposing coach Matt Hughes, but the two eventually put aside their differences and learned to love each other. Now when Rashad dances in the ring, it’s only to pay tribute to the late, great, Redd Foxx.

#9: “Mayhem” Miller mixes clown-and-smile with ground-and-pound

What do you do when Dream gives you a guy who’s nowhere near your level? If you’re “Mayhem” Miller, you have a little fun with it. You start the fight with some kung fu posing, get him down, move to the mount, flash a peace sign for the camera (1:55), then resume punching. Maybe even throw in a double-chop, Sakuraba-style. Why not? The fans love it. What they don’t love is Miller’s faux-retirement. Isn’t it time he dropped that charade? The MMA world is running dangerously low on antics these days.

#8: Anderson Silva’s “52 Blocks” against Patrick Cote

Though Cote continues to tell himself that Silva was simply “lost” and “confused” in this fight, this moment serves as evidence to the contrary. Late in the second round (10:04 in the video) Silva decided to pay homage to his favorite kung fu movies, exhibiting a little Wing Chun action to show his defensive hand skills. At least Silva seemed to be entertaining himself at this point, even if he was the only one who really got a kick out of it. Too bad the fight ended early with Cote’s knee injury. The Dim Mak couldn’t have been far away.

(‘That was…fun?’)

Kim Couture is set to get back in MMA action for the first time since having her jaw jacked in her pro debut against Kim Rose back in June, only this time she’ll be fighting in a real organization. Strikeforce sent out a press release to announce that “Sugar Free” would be competing on their Nov. 21 “Destruction” card in San Jose, Calif.

The wife of UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture has tried her hand at just about every aspect of MMA except ring girl at this point, even messing around with management and promoting, with mixed results. Now she takes on Lina Kvokov, and she’s hoping for a better, or at least less grisly outcome this time around:

“Losing that fight was the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Couture who, despite sustaining considerable punishment, went the three round distance with Rose before losing a unanimous judges’ decision. “It’s completely changed me as a fighter. I’ve started doing things a lot different. It made me realize that I have to be the aggressor or I’m going to get hurt.”

Hurt, indeed. The more interesting (or perhaps only interesting) aspect of this news is it signals Strikeforce’s willingness to wade deeper into the waters of women’s MMA. With Gina Carano destined to eventually hit the free agent market and the UFC ruling out the idea of a women’s division at the moment, the opportunity exists for someone to step in and fill that void. Strikeforce could well be that someone.

Slightly related: Kim Couture and Gina Carano Grappling (video), Kim Couture surprised at UFC’s disregard for Brock Lesnar’s safety

Finland took on South Korea in the third installment of the M-1 Challenge on HDNet, and the one who really shines in this highlight video recap is the announcer who’s tasked with pronouncing the plethora of difficult names. That guy is a pro. Finland turns out to have some tough bastards on their team from the looks of it. South Korea, on the other hand, has one totally awesome and very happy ass-kicker in the form of Hyun-Gyu Lim. That one guy might not be enough to win the M-1 Challenge for them, but dammit, his enthusiasm is downright infectious.

After the jump check out Inside MMA from Strikeforce: Payback in Colorado. A little after the ten-minute mark they talk with Frank Trigg. I dare you to watch it and pay attention to anything other than his ear. No, fuck that. I double dare you.

(P.S. Bas Rutten also interviews Kimbo Slice before his fight with Ken Shamrock, or so he thought. Ever the seer, Kimbo advises us not to blink. Oh, irony. You cruel bitch.)

(Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson puts Tyra Parker to sleep in 80 seconds.)

Main Card:
Duane Ludwig def. Sam Morgan via submission (strikes), 2:01 of round 1
Frank Trigg def. Falaniko Vitale via unanimous decision
Donnie Liles def. Pete Spratt via submission (rear naked choke), 1:59 of round 3
Billy Evangelista def. Luke Caudillo via unanimous decision
Carlos Zevallos def. Andre Walker via TKO, 4:48 of round 1
Michelle Waterson def. Tyra Parker via submission (rear naked choke), 1:20 of round 1
Tyler Toner def. Ricky Johnson via TKO, 3:44 of round 2

Undercard:
Drew Dober def. Lumumba Sawyers via KO (punch), 0:16 of round 1
Alan Gomez def. Jordan Goodwin via unanimous decisio
Eric Galvin def. Jeremy Malaterre via split decision
Turrell Galloway def. Brett Tillis via submission (rear naked choke), 1:21 of round 1
Aaron Trujillo def. Haven Torres via TKO, 2:59 of round 1

And the award for Best Vagina-Ear goes to:

(Tyra Parker and Michelle Watterson, reppin’ hard for the females. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

Just two weeks after holding their second show at the Playboy Mansion, Strikeforce is putting on another exciting MMA card, this time at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado; you can watch the action live tonight on HDNet beginning at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT. Headlining the festivities is a rematch between UFC/KOTC/Strikeforce vets Duane “Bang” Ludwig (16-8) and Sam “The Squeeze” Morgan (19-11). Morgan, who has lost four out of his last five fights, scored a first-round knockout of Ludwig at a Ring of Fire event in 2005. Ludwig hasn’t competed since losing to Takanori Gomi at Sengoku 1 in March.

The co-main event will be a middleweight brawl between broadcaster/t-shirt designer/fighter Frank Trigg (17-6) and Hawaiian grappler Falaniko Vitale (26-8), who has been inactive since winning a four-man X-1 tournament in January. Also notable is the Strikeforce debut of Denver’s own Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Watterson (3-2), a former castmember of Fight Girls who also spent time as a swimsuit model. She’ll be facing Tyra Parker (0-1), who came in a full four pounds over the 112-pound weight limit during yesterday’s weigh-ins, and will have to pay a portion of her fight salary to Watterson. The full lineup for Strikeforce: Payback is as follows:

MAIN CARD (Professional Bouts)
Duane Ludwig (165) vs. Sam Morgan (164.8)
Frank Trigg (183.8) vs. Falaniko Vitale (185.6)
Donnie Liles (170.8) vs. Pete Spratt (170.8)
Luke Caudillo (155) vs. Billy Evangelista (155)
Michelle Waterson (111.4) vs. Tyra Parker (116)
Andre Walker (202.4) vs. Carlos Zevallos (205.4)
Tyler Toner (146) vs. Ricky Johnson (143.6)

UNDERCARD (Amateur Bouts)
Lumumba Sawyers (171.2) vs. Drew Dober (167.8)
Jordan Goodwin (157.6) vs. Alan Gomez (155.6)
Jeremy Malaterre (159.4) vs. Eric Galvin (160)
Brett Tillis (141.8) vs. Turrell Galloway (139.2)
Aaron Trujillo (122.8) vs. Haven Torres (126.4)

(Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Justin Wilcox; props to MMA Root)

Last night’s Strikeforce card at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills featured two Japanese stars making successful debuts for the organization, lightweight champ Josh Thomson easily winning his squash match, and impressive performances by Terry Martin, Trevor Prangley, and Luke Stewart. In the night’s main event, #9-ranked middleweight Kazuo Misaki went toe-to-toe with Joe Riggs, with both fighters hesitant to engage in the first round. Riggs dropped Misaki with a straight left in the second, but Misaki hopped back up and connected with a straight right that sent Riggs to the mat. Misaki threw down blows from above until referee Josh Rosenthal declared it a TKO; Riggs immediately complained about the stoppage, despite Rosenthal’s repeated (and unanswered) warnings for Riggs to improve his position.

In a relatively pointless non-title fight, Josh Thomson disposed of Lion’s Den product Ashe Bowman in just over a minute. Aside from a stiff overhand right from Bowman that landed flush on Thomson’s chin, the match belonged to The Punk, who swarmed his opponent with punches to end the match. His victory sets up a future match with Shooto/PRIDE/Dream vet Mitsuhiro Ishida, who won his Strikeforce debut last night with a submission over the far-outmatched Justin Wilcox. See the above video for Ishida’s unbelievable transition from kimura to armbar (2:36-2:42), which apparently didn’t feel very pleasant for Wilcox.

Full results and video of the Thomson/Bowman fight after the jump.

(Josh Thomson’s just happy to be anywhere right now. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)

In yesterday’s interview with Renato “Babalu” Sobral we wrote, “Right now, the only thing that’s certain is that Sobral will be fighting Bobby Southworth on September 20th for Strikeforce’s light-heavyweight championship.” But in this mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, can anything be certain? Not so much, apparently. MMA Junkie is reporting that Southworth has dropped out of “Strikeforce at the Mansion II” due to an undisclosed injury. Sobral will instead face Anthony Ruiz (21-11), who previously defeated Southworth via cut stoppage in a non-title fight last November, then lost a decision to Southworth in June when the belt was actually on the line. A month later, Ruiz fought in the undercard of EliteXC: Unfinished Business, where he defeated Jeremy Freitag for the third time in his career.

Sadly for Babalu, this means that his next fight won’t be for a belt after all. But as with the first meeting between Southworth and Ruiz, Strikeforce doesn’t even guarantee title fights to their reigning champions. In fact, Josh Thomson — who earned Strikeforce’s lightweight title with his five-round pwnage of Gilbert Melendez in June — was recently booked for a non-title fight at the September 20th Playboy Mansion show. He’ll be facing Ashe Bowman, a 6-4 Lion’s Den product who has absolutely no business being in the cage with someone on Thomson’s level. Bowman is coming off a three-fight win-streak, but those three opponents sported a combined record of 0-2 at the time he faced them.

Honestly, it’s one of the most bizarre matchups in recent memory. And it emphasizes the ridiculous nature of Strikeforce’s non-title matches. They’re denying Bowman a title shot to prevent the possibility of a total scrub wearing the belt; so why exactly are they throwing a total scrub at their champion in the first place? If Strikeforce has no other credible lightweights to vie for the championship (a sad state of affairs in itself), can’t they let Thomson take fights elsewhere until they find somebody? It’s a waste of The Punk’s time, and it’ll almost certainly be a lopsided loss for a young fighter who should still be woodshedding in regional shows.

(Photo courtesy of StrikeforceUSA.net.)

One of the most unfortunate aspects of Tito Ortiz’s bizarre negotiation cock-up with Affliction is that it’s jeopardizing his grudge match with Renato “Babalu” Sobral, the Brazilian UFC vet who would love, love, love to kick the crap out of him. After Sobral’s impressive unanimous decision over Mike Whitehead last month at “Affliction: Banned,” a meeting between Babalu and the Huntington Beach Bad Boy seemed inevitable. Right now, the only thing that’s certain is that Sobral will be fighting Bobby Southworth on September 20th for Strikeforce’s light-heavyweight championship, and he’s currently training hard to be worthy of the belt. Our own Luiz De Souza chatted with Sobral recently about Ortiz, Strikeforce, and the real story behind his unique nickname.

***

CAGEPOTATO.COM: First of all, how likely is it that we’ll see you face Tito Ortiz in Affliction?
RENATO SOBRAL: I don’t know when that fight will happen. It’s not up to me — if it was, I would have beaten his ass yesterday.

You’ve said that facing Tito would be your “dream fight.” Why is that, exactly?
First of all because he said that I am a “C-class fighter,” then he went on to say that I am a third-world country fighter. It would be a pleasure for me to kick his ass.

What do you think of him as a person?
Well…he is a good fighter. But it would be my pleasure to send him to hell.

If you two fought, how do you think the fight would end?
Whatever way in which the ending is me sending him to hell.

The salaries for some of the fighters at the first Afflicton show were incredibly high — do you feel like you were underpaid compared to guys like Ben Rothwell, Matt Lindland, or some of the other headliners?
I don’t really comment on money. Some make more money; others who are just starting make less. I have nothing to complain about.

How has Affliction treated you, compared to some of the other promotions you’ve worked for?
I’ve been treated very well by everyone, and I have nothing to complain about. I am a professional. Fighting is a business — the show doesn’t have to be the fighter’s father and mother.

Former IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has reportedly verbally agreed to face Drew Fickett at the next Affliction event in Las Vegas on October 11. The real question is, will Fickett find some clever new way to screw it up? Fickett’s manager, Alexander Oxendine, seems open to that possibility:

“We’re in discussion with a few organizations and Affliction is one of them,” said Oxendine. “They are at the top of our list. As far as Drew is concerned, he’s made a great turnaround with his life and training. He is ready to move forward.”

If you don’t know, Fickett is the same guy who managed to get himself fired from MFC and booted off a Strikeforce card in one glorious weekend when he tried to breach his contract in the apparent hopes that no one would figure it out. They did, chaos ensued, and Fickett went on to lose via questionable stoppage in a Rage in the Cage event.

So now one of MMA’s favorite troublemakers is being offered a spot in Affliction against one of the tougher welterweights outside of the UFC, and he’s not sure if he wants to take it? Affliction should not only be at the top of his list, it should be the entire list. He should run down there and sign the contract in his own blood before they have a chance to change their minds. Let’s hope this is just a negotiating ploy by his agent. If Fickett ends up turning this down to fight in some small show at a fairground somewhere, we’ll know it’s time for new management. No, not Mark Dion, either.

(Props: MMA Scraps)

HDNet brings us an absolute war between Jesse Forbes and Chris Camozzi for the “Fight of the Week.” If you like a bout that gets bloody early and only becomes more so before a surprise finish, then you are going to love this one. If you don’t like that, maybe you should check out a sport more your speed. How about women’s team handball?

In other HDNet news, Strikeforce’s October 3 event in Denver will air live on the cable network, MMA Weekly reported today. This is in addition to their late-night offering on NBC, which means Strikeforce is very quietly becoming one of the most visible MMA organizations on TV. No word yet as to whether their September event from the Playboy Mansion will make it on to TV, but we sure hope so. Purely because of the fights, of course.

(Babalu’s mugshot, because why not.)

For the second time in the organization’s history, Strikeforce will host an MMA event in the posh and jiggly confines of the Playboy Mansion. According to a newly distributed press release, the fight club will return to Beverly Hills on September 20th for a ten-bout card that will be headlined by a light heavyweight title match between Strikeforce champion Bobby Southworth (who last defended his belt in a five-round snoozer with Anthony Ruiz in June) and challenger Renato “Babalu” Sobral, who recently defeated Mike Whitehead via decision at Affliction: Banned. Said Sobral: “He is the protector and I am the hunter. I am already in shape and prepared to take it from him. I want to be the new Strikeforce world champion and if I could become champion while fighting at a venue like the Playboy Mansion, that would make a good win even better.”

Also on the card is Josh “The Punk” Thomson defending his lightweight scrap against an opponent to be announced later, and a middleweight feature between highly regarded Pancrase/PRIDE/Sengoku vet Kazuo Misaki and Joe “Diesel” Riggs (whose last Strikeforce appearance didn’t go so well). And if that weren’t enough to convince you:

In this video of Cung Le fielding questions at a seminar of some sort, the Strikeforce middleweight champ gives the lowdown on his relationship with the UFC (skip to the 0:47 mark). Apparently, Dana White wants to lock him into an exclusive six-fight contract, but Le still has three fights remaining on his Strikeforce contract — even though Strikeforce would be willing to let him fight Anderson Silva in a one-off match. (White, obviously, doesn’t play that shit.) But then it gets interesting. Speaking about Silva, Le says:

“Anderson Silva is pound-for-pound ranked number one, but what I see is, all four of his losses are all by Asians…those Asians are not scared of him, so they will come in and they will engage the fight. Now, everyone in the UFC who’s fighting him, they’re fighting scared. I mean, I’m gonna go in there, I’m either gonna win or I’m gonna lose. It’s how am I gonna win or how am I gonna lose. And when I walk out of there I want to be able to carry my head high, because if I happen to lose, I gave it my all…It’s like, I have nothing to lose. What can they say? Anderson Silva is favored to win. I got nothing to lose.”

He then goes off on a tangent about how much of a lush Quinton Jackson is, and how he watched Rampage down 14 Jack-and-cokes in one sitting. But never mind that. The important thing is that Asian fighters are kryptonite for Anderson Silva! Well, if you count Silva’s DQ against Yushin Okami as a legitimate loss, and if you count Luiz Azeredo as Asian, then sure, the statement totally holds water. But hey, when a fight with the Spider lurks in the distance, you comfort yourself with the little things.

Related: “He has very nice ankles, I like pulling on them.”

(Props: MMA Mania and MMA Scraps)

The CSAC has released official salary figures for last Friday’s “Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson” event; Gilbert Melendez topped the money list despite being used as a punching bag by “The Punk” for five rounds. Here are the numbers:

Josh Thomson: $35,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
Gilbert Melendez: $50,000
Billy Evangelista: $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus)
Nam Phan: $10,000
Bobby Southworth: $25,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Anthony Ruiz: $200 (Ruiz received the majority of his purse as an advance)
Miesha Tate: $1,500 (includes $500 win bonus)
Elaina Maxwell: $4,000
Jeremiah Metcalf: $8,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Raymond Daniels: $10,000
Chris Cariaso: $6,000 (no win bonus)
Anthony Figueroa: $5,000
Bobby Stack: $3,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
Jose Palacios: $3,000
Brian Caraway: $3,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
Alvin Cacdac: $3,000
Cyrillo Padilha: $2,500 (includes $750 win bonus)
Jesse Jones: $2,000
Jorge Interiano: $1,500 (includes $500 win bonus)
Travis Johnson: $2,000
Alexandre Trivino: $1,500 (includes $500 win bonus)
Eric Jacob: $1,000
Eric Lawson: $8,000 (includes $1,000 stoppage bonus)
Jesse Gillespie: $3,500
Total payroll: $203,200
Live gate revenue: $355,487 from 7,288 spectators

Underpaid: Miesha Tate, who needs to immediately fire her agent and hook up with whoever’s handling Gina Carano’s career. She’s a hot chick who can kick ass — $1,000 to show is fuggo money, kid.

Overpaid: Raymond Daniels. I know I’m not the only one who was disgusted by his grandstanding entrance/psyche-up, not to mention that he seemingly came into the match with the attitude that he didn’t need to learn takedown defense or ground-fighting. He got a much-needed beating, to be sure, but he didn’t earn that $10,000 consolation prize.

Related: Over at MMA Payout, Kelsey Philpott argues for a UFC minimum base salary of $10,000 per fight. I’ve been saying that for months, but Philpott actually takes the time to explain why that figure works, and why it’s necessary. Definitely worth a read.

(Mike Ciesnolevicz covers his nipples for the sake of decency.)

All the talk about Drew Fickett’s MFC/Strikeforce debacle raises the issue of whether fighters should be free to take bouts that are close together but in different organizations. Of course, breach of contract is a separate issue, but Mike Ciesnolevicz recently tested his durability by fighting twice in one weekend, in two different weight classes and in two different states.

Initially, that sounds impressive. Ciesnolevicz must be a very tough bastard or a very poor bastard to agree to that. First he beat Andrew Force in Decatur, Ill. in the Courage Fighting Championship on Friday night, then went up to heavyweight to beat Matt Anderson in Extreme Challenge 100 in Iowa on Saturday.

But check out what Ciesnolevicz had to say about his strategy after Friday night:

“I was trying to throw no punches, because I didn’t want to hurt my hands for (Saturday’s fight). (Saturday) I can go all out.”

Now, I don’t want to pick on Ciesnolevicz for doing something that few fighters would even attempt, but maybe he’s unwittingly hit upon the reason people don’t normally fight twice in two days. By saying he was saving himself for Saturday, when he could go all out, he’s essentially saying that the people who paid to see him fight on Friday got less than their money’s worth.

(Awww, who could stay mad at that face?)

Drew Fickett and Maximum Fighting Championship boss Mark Pavelich have been engaged in a war of words since Fickett agreed to fill in for Joe Riggs at “Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson,” and Pavelich has had enough. Here’s a new press release from MFC, courtesy of TKO Xtreme:

I would like to take this opportunity to offer a personal response to comments and actions taken by Drew Fickett over the past 72 hours.

Drew had agreed to and signed a contract to fight on the Maximum Fighting Championship show on July 25 for the welterweight title against Ryan Ford. Over the last few days, Drew has caused severe problems and therefore we find him in complete breach of his contract.

We were shocked to learn Drew agreed on one day’s notice to fight as a middleweight in another organization’s event this past Friday. When I contacted this other organization, its owner immediately cancelled Drew’s fight when informed that he was under contract to fight on the MFC show and as part of Mr. Fickett’s contract he was not allowed to take another fight up to five weeks before the MFC show.

When I learned of Drew’s intentions to take this fight, I repeatedly attempted to reach Drew’s manager to find out why. After numerous attempts to reach his manager went unreturned, I did leave a voice mail which has since been made public. I admit to being very upset, angry and frustrated not only by Drew’s action but also by not being able to reach his manager and the tone of that voice mail reflected my feelings.

For all his high-kickin’ domination in Chuck Norris’s World Combat League, Raymond Daniels was absolutely demolished in his MMA debut against journeyman Jeremiah Metcalf. Daniels had no answer for Metcalf’s takedowns and ground-and-pound, and didn’t even land one effective strike. Personally we think he should have been given a delay-of-game penalty for his ridiculous psyche-up at the beginning, but it all worked out at the end.

Bobby Stack vs. Jose Palacios was just one of many dull decision fights at “Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson,” but it contained possibly the best escape-from-mount we’ve ever seen. Here’s the end of the fight — the camera angle is horrible at 0:59, but you get the full effect of Palacios’s reverse-somersault-escape during the replay at 2:04. Unfortunately, Stack’s top control throughout the match earned him the victory.

Miesha Tate vs. Elaina Maxwell contained a similar mount-escape by Maxwell, who seemed to have Tate in trouble a couple times in the fight with scissor-lock chokes. It was one of the better matches of the evening and you can see it here (part 1) and here (part 2).

Thomson vs. Melendez is after the jump…

Josh Thomson overwhelmed Gilbert Melendez for all five rounds last night to become the new Strikeforce lightweight champion, despite entering the bout as a 2-1 underdog. Strikeforce reportedly packed in almost 7,500 fans into San Jose’s HP Pavilion to see the show. Too bad fans don’t care about MMA outside the UFC.

Full results from last night’s show:

Josh Thomson def. Gilbert Melendez via decision, 5
Billy Evangelista def. Nam Phan via decision, 3
Bobby Southworth def. Anthony Ruiz via decision, 3
Eric Lawson def. Jesse Gillespie via submission (RNC), 1
Miesha Tate def. Elaina Maxwell via decision, 3
Jeremiah Metcalf def. Raymond Daniels via submission (RNC), 2
Chris Cariaso def. Anthony Figueroa via submission (RNC), 2
Bobby Stack def. Jose Palacios via decision, 3
Brian Caraway def. Alvin Cacdac via submission (RNC), 1
Cyrillo Padhillo def. Jesse Jones via decision, 3
Jorge Interiano def. Travis Johnson via TKO (doctor stoppage), 2
Alexandre Trevino def. Eric Jacob via submission (armbar), 1

— Luke Thomas weighs in (heavily) on our “Broken Jaws and Double Standards” article. (BloodyElbow)

— A first-hand account of Jesse Taylor’s Palace Station rampage, courtesy of Matt Riddle. (MMA Junkie)

— Brazilian PRIDE/Cage Rage vet (and Thiago Silva’s roommate) Edson Draggo just wrecked himself in a motorcycle accident. (Sherdog)

— The next Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion event will go down September 19th, and will feature Kazuo Misaki, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, the winner of Thomson/Melendez, and (hopefully) Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. (MMARated)

— Ironically, the Shamrocks are the unluckiest clan in MMA. But that didn’t stop 18-year-old Lion’s Den product Jeff Shamrock (Ken’s nephew) from signing a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce. (FiveOuncesofPain)

— “Lay and Pray” vs. “Hit and Run” (Fightlinker)

— Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen is looking for a sponsor. (Japan MMA)

— 8 countries with weak pesos but hot women. (WallStreetFighter)

— Pictures of the chick that Mini-Me banged on that sex tape. OMFG, little Verne in his U of M onesie is presh! (Holy Taco)