(Back when Ken was making more than GSP…)

The TUF 11 Finale went down 1 year ago.

Why it matters:

Five of the fighters from the show are still active in the UFC and four are undefeated in the Octagon.

TUF winner Court McGee, who defeated Kris McCray in the finale by rear naked choke also beat Ryan Jensen by arm triangle at UFC 121 in October. He’s set to face Don Yi Yang at UFN “Battle at the Bayou” in September.

Kyle Noke, who was beaten by teammate McCray by unanimous decision in the quarterfinals of the show, defeated Josh Bryant by TKO at the finale and rattled off two rear naked choke submission wins against Rob Kimmons at UFC 122 in November and TUF 11 cast mate Chris Camozzi at UFC 127 at home in Australia in February. He’ll face Tom Lawlor next at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle in August.

Brad Tavares, who lost to McGee in the semi-finals by rear naked choke is undefeated in official competition as well as 2-0 in the Octagon.He defeated TUF 11 quarterfinal opponent Seth Baczynski at the finale by unanimous decision and Phil Baroni by knockout at UFC 125 in January.

(Thank Crom somewhere along the way, they decided to wear shorts.)

36 years ago: MMA’s version of Yoda, Greg Jackson, was born in Washington, DC.

34 years ago: UFC middleweight and former CagePotato TUF 11 guest blogger Rich Attonito was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Check out the rest after the jump.

(Guess if they’re gonna let *somebody* fight Bisping, it might as well be somebody we like.)

When last we heard from Tim Kennedy, he’d just completed the MMA equivalent of sinking a two-foot putt by choking out Melvin Manhoef in Strikeforce, then went public with his lament that he hadn’t been the one to administer an in-home eye exam to Osama bin Laden. Y’all know we’ve always liked Kennedy. Seems like a super cool dude and admittedly there’s something fascinating about a guy whose typical day might just as easily include either choking out a Dutch-Surinamese kickboxer or smoking the world’s top terrorist. Give or take.

It’s exactly that admiration that led us to be a bit disappointed this week when we heard about Kennedy offering to fight Michael Bisping over at MMA Weekly. Calling out Bisping is one of the more played-out moves a well-known middleweight can make, after all. When we saw Kennedy saying it, we assumed it was just another case of a guy trying to make his bones off Bisping’s inflated reputation and general overratedness. Truthfully, there probably is some of that at work here. But then we started digging into Kennedy’s quotes and realized that A) He’s offering to fight “The Count” basically for free (PR bump notwithstanding) and B) He seems driven to do it out of moral obligation, more than anything else. As far as we’re concerned that – as long as he’s not just bullshitting us – is pretty cool.

(Edith Labelle: Still alive. Photo proof via Harris Masood/MMAMania)

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…

- Five Lessons: UFC 129 (NBC Sports MMA)

- Jon Fitch Says He and GSP Both Deserve Some Criticism for Decisions (MMA Fighting)

- Watch and Listen: The 50 Best Entrance Songs in the History of the UFC (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Tim Kennedy Weighs in on the Killing of Osama Bin Laden (MiddleEasy)

- Bob Sapp Was Busy Being Bob Sapp Last Weekend (MMA-Scraps)

- Great Expectations: The Problem With Georges St. Pierre (MMA Convert)

- Vladimir Matyushenko Wants Tito Ortiz or Little Nog Next (LowKick)

- Gabriel Gonzaga to Emerge From Brief Retirement at ‘Heavyweight Xplosion’ in June (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Jake Ellenberger Undergoes Hand Surgery Following UFC 129 Knockout Victory (5thRound)

(“Alright ladies, now smile as if you have any f*cking clue what’s going on right now.”)

Thanks to everybody who entered this week’s caption contest, which produced over 200 entries, most of them pretty damn funny. And yet, only three of you will be earning t-shirts from Alchemist Clothing. Doesn’t seem fair, does it? Anyway, let’s begin with some honorable mentions…

destinationblood: All they had left at the Halloween store was stewardess costumes, Rambo guns and a Fred Flintstone tie.

J. Spaceman: Hey Frye, this is how a real man pads his record!

missedcue: Even elite MMA fighters need Apple tech support.

missedcue, again: Dana: “Yeah I guess that’s cool but you still ain’t getting into the Smasher Group.”

intercept440: GAY TEST: If you notice the inconspicous black guy in the back ground…I have some bad news for you.
[Ed. note: Or, if you noticed Tim's pants before anything else...]

Ajax Says: After what happened in the fifth grade, Tim swore he would never have a bad yearbook picture ever again.

MaxS: No ladies that’s NOT a gun in my pocket…that’s just what “Ranger Up” means.

Morningwood: Now THIS is how you raise 120 bucks!

And now, the big winners:

(Nate Marquardt’s UFC 128 walkout shirt — just one of many fine shirts available at AlchemistClothing.com)

You may know Alchemist as the MMA management company fronted by MC Hammer. You may not know that Alchemist has its own clothing line, featuring signature shirts created for its stable of fighters including Nate Marquardt, Jorge Rivera, and Stefan Struve. To help spread the word, Alchemist is giving us three t-shirts to give away to CagePotato readers. As always, there’s a catch.

Check out the photo after the jump of Tim Kennedy fist-posing next to his personal stewardesses, and write a clever caption in the comments section. Submit your entries by Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET, and we’ll announce three winners later that day; if you’re one of them, you get an Alchemist shirt of your choice. Any questions? For more free swag, ‘Like’ Alchemist on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. They do giveaways more often than Charlie Sheen does pornstars. (#hey-oh #topicalhumor)

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Melvin Manhoef highlight reel, via StillW1ll)

After his decision loss to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in August, Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy has had quite an adventure finding his next opponent. First, everybody in the world was ducking him. Then, he was slated to have a tie-breaker match with Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Then, Strikeforce decided to nix that idea and put Kennedy up against exciting prospect Luke Rockhold, who has been inactive for a year due to a shoulder injury. Well, that’s off now too. Due to a reported leg injury suffered in training, Rockhold has been forced to withdraw from his meeting with Kennedy at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson (March 5th; Columbus, OH). Replacing him? None other than balls-to-the-wall striker Melvin Manhoef.

Manhoef has one of the most impressive finishing percentages in MMA, with 23 of his 24 career victories coming by way of KO/TKO. However, he’s lost four of his last six fights — three by way of submission, and one by Hail Mary KO at the hands of Robbie Lawler. Manhoef last competed at Dream.15 in July, when he lost to Tatsuya Mizuno by kimura. Kennedy’s keys to victory are very simple: Slow the pace down, check (or dodge) Melvin’s brutal leg kicks, and get the fight to the ground as soon as possible. Let’s hope this is the last opponent swap for Kennedy, because we’re actually kind of psyched to see this one go down.

("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?

(I guess you had to be there. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.)

Originally slated to go down this month, the long-awaited (at least by us) rubber match between middleweights Jason Miller and Tim Kennedy is now expected for Strikeforce: Columbus, which takes place March 5th at the Nationwide Arena. It’s great news for Kennedy, who has been ducked by everybody in the universe since his decision loss to Ronaldo Souza in August. Miller has won his last two fights, scoring a first-round TKO over local yokel Tim Stout at Strikeforce: Nashville last April, and choking out creaky legend Kazushi Sakuraba at DREAM.16 in September.

For the second year in a row, the UFC has decided not to hold an event during the annual Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, and Strikeforce is swooping in to take full advantage. Along with Miller/Kennedy, the event is rumored to feature Rafael Cavalcante vs. Dan Henderson in the main event, a 135-pound women’s title fight between Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, the possible return of Paul Daley, and maybe (maybe!) even Werdum vs. Overeem. 

Speaking of Jason Miller, did you know that he once fought a 360-pound man at an Icon Sport event, and held onto a choke for so long that even Babalu Sobral would be disgusted? I just learned that over the weekend, and I’m still confused. Video proof after the jump…

(This is, like, the only bag in the gym that would agree to be kicked by Tim Kennedy. PicProps: MilitaryTimes.com)

About a month ago we brought you news that bonafide badass Tim Kennedy was having a tough time finding an opponent in Strikeforce’s 185-pound division. Well, as of this writing Kennedy has been out of action nearly five months and with nothing yet scheduled he apparently got so fed up with waiting that this week he decided to say "fuck it" and start naming names. Dig this interview with MMAFA.tv, where Kennedy alleges that nearly every middleweight in Strikeforce has said “thanks, but no thanks” to a meeting in the cage with him during the last few months.

“It’s absolutely atrocious,” Kennedy says. “Strikeforce approached me for the December and January card. I said, ‘Definitely, just give me a name and I’ll take the fight.’ Benji Radach was the name, I said yes. Then they tell me he doesn’t want to fight me. Joey Villasenor was another name, but I understand him saying no because we trained at Jackson’s (team) together. Matt Lindland was another guy who said no. Robbie Lawler has turned me down three or maybe four times. They asked Melvin Manhoef to fight me and he said ‘(expletive) no.’ ”

(Hopefully somebody Rangers Up soon.)

According to a report from FiveOuncesofPain.com, Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy is having a hell of a time finding an opponent for his next fight.

The 12-3 retired Army Ranger who last fought and lost by decision to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for the Strikeforce middleweight strap four months ago was offered two opponents for last weekend’s Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu event, but both declined the fight, leaving Kennedy in the lurch.

“I said yes to two different names for the December 4th card but both guys turned down the fight,” Kennedy explained. Though the humble 31-year old did not reveal names, he did explain he’s being proactive about the situation – a quality [that] likely serv[ed] him well throughout his decorated military career.

(We should all be that fired up, at least once in our lives. Props: UFC.com)

When BJ Penn knocked out Matt Hughes at UFC 123, one of the greatest rivalries in MMA history finally got its conclusion. And while not every two-fight series needs an immediate tie-breaker — the Internet has already informed Dana White what we think of Lesnar vs. Mir III — there’s something incredibly dramatic and satisfying about a good rubber-match. Off the top of our heads, here’s a few others we’d like to see…

Jason "Mayhem" Miller vs. Tim Kennedy

History: Kennedy def. Miller via decision @ Extreme Challenge 50 (2/23/03), Miller def. Kennedy via decision @ HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon (12/15/07)
Why it needs to happen again: Look, I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for Jason Miller to agree to a catchweight fight with Nick Diaz under 185 pounds. Mayhem hasn’t even fought for Strikeforce since he squashed Tim Stout in April, and Kennedy is still without an opponent himself after dropping a decision to Jacare Souza in August — and he’s already mentioned that he wants another go-round with Mayhem. Strikeforce has two talented, unattached middleweights at their disposal with a storyline already in place. It doesn’t take rocket appliances to figure this out, guys.

(King Mo was skeptical about looking into the strange man’s pinhole projector, but eventually his curiosity about seeing a total eclipse of the sun got the better of him. PicProps: Strikeforce)

Aside from the hapless Jorge Gurgel – who has lived in the States so long his nationality could most accurately be listed as “Ohioan,” anyway – Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Houston card couldn’t have gone much better for the promotion’s Brazilian contingent. From Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante stopping Muhammed Lawal to claim the light heavyweight title in the main event to  Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza winning the 185-pound strap after a fight with Tim Kennedy that wasn’t really as close as a lot of people are trying to allege, Brazil pretty much owned everybody’s asses last night.  Again.

In unrelated news, Bobby Lashley lost to some guy whose sideburns made him look like he should be playing trombone in a third-wave ska band. All of our deepest fears and darkest suspicions about the former pro-wrestler’s heart and MMA skills were confirmed. Goddamn it felt good.

Somewhere, whatever notes Scott Coker had scribbled on the back of a Motel 6 brochure about the future of his company probably got crumpled up and tossed in a trash can.

(Focused and ready for battle, King Mo stares into his opponent’s eyes, desperately trying to remember who the hell this dude is. Photo courtesy of allelbows.com)

Two title fights in the light-heavyweight and middleweight divisions, a lightweight slugfest between KJ Noons and Jorge Gurgel, and Bobby Lashley‘s latest bit of record-padding, all brought to you by the world-famous City of Syrup. Let’s be real — if you’re not watching Strikeforce tonight, you’re a damn fool. Or, you don’t have Showtime. Or, you have better things to do. Speaking of which, your usual live-bloggers are occupied tonight, so respected CagePotato contributor Matt Kaplan will be filling in. Round-by-round updates can be found after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page for all the latest, and let your voices be heard in the comments section. 
 

("Actually, Bobby is the one who’s adopted. Long story." Photo courtesy of allelbows.)

Clear your schedules, Potato Nation. CagePotato.com will be liveblogging tomorrow night’s Showtime broadcast of Strikeforce: Houston starting at 10 p.m. ET, so be sure to stop by. The fighters just stepped on the scales at the Toyota Center, and 86% of them were able to successfully hit their marks. Pretty impressive, guys! The numbers are below:

Main Card
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (203.75) vs. Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (203.5)
Tim Kennedy (185) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (184.75)
K.J. Noons (156.25)* vs. Jorge Gurgel (154.75)
Bobby Lashley (246.5) vs. Chad Griggs (228.5)

Preliminary Card
Daniel Cormier (249) vs. Jason Riley (256.5)
Andre Galvao (170.75) vs. Jorge Patino ()**
Vinicius "Draculino" Magalhães (144.5) vs. Rocky Long (146.25)
Kier Gooch (155.5) vs. Adam Schindler (155.5)
Jose Santibanez (154.25) vs. Reynaldo Trujillo (155.25)
Humberto DeLeon (127.25) vs. Chad Robichaux (131)***
Chad Cook (205.25) vs. Arteneus Young (204)

* Gurgel allowed Noons the extra quarter-pound; Noons will not have to shed the additional weight.
** Wasn’t present at the weigh-ins; will weigh-in later this evening.
*** Was given an extra hour to lose one pound for the 130-pound catchweight bout.

Unrelated: You have the rest of the weekend to get in your final submissions for our ongoing desktop wallpaper contest with Throwdown. The entries have been awesome so far — but we want MORE! So get hustlin’ for your chance to win that $250 gear package.

("The first time I got shot at in a war … I knew I was in the right place," PicProps: CanvasChronicle)

There are both positives and negatives about this weekend’s Strikeforce middleweight title fight. On one hand, it obviously sucks that Saturday night’s scrap between BJJ whiz ‘Jacare’ Souza and all-around Awesome Dude Tim Kennedy essentially represents another epic fail by Strikeforce when it bungled plans for its totally-rad-sounding 185-pound title tournament. On the other hand, that this fight gives two seemingly very likable athletes their first chance at a major championship, well, it’s hard to hate on that.

Especially in the case of Kennedy, whose status as what the UFC might call “an elite war fighter” should be well-known to you. The active duty Green Beret not only appeared as the special guest on this week’s Bum Rush podcast (which makes him a prince among men, in our opinions) but he also cut a half-fascinating, half-bone-chilling new interview with Old Dad where he shed some more light on how his experiences “Over There” helped prepare him for a career inside the cage. Essentially, it was kind of like using a cannon ball to train for throwing the shot put.

("Listen, Jacare, those hotel carpets are usually covered in…you know what, forget it.")

Strikeforce Houston is set to blast off this Saturday and your old pal Gambling Addiction Enabler has just one question: Could you loan us a few bucks until payday? Seriously, man, we’ve got some can’t-miss fight picks cookin’, and we swear it won’t be like last time. Thanks, bro. For real, you won’t regret this. Would it be cool if we used your shower?

The available betting lines, courtesy of bestfightodds.com:

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (-376) vs. Rafael Cavalcante (+375)
Ronaldo Souza (-255) vs. Tim Kennedy (+215)
KJ Noons (-205) vs. Jorge Gurgel (+205)
Bobby Lashley (-500) vs. Chad Griggs (+370)
Daniel Cormier (-1350) vs. Jason Riley (+700)*
Andre Galvao (-280) vs. Jorge Patino (+240)**

* The Cormier/Riley and Galvao/Patino prelim fights will both be streamed live on Sherdog before the Showtime broadcast.

** Jorge Patino is a late replacement for Nate Moore, who has dropped out of the event due to injury. Please make your Fightpicker changes as necessary.

Anyway…

(You’re really going to pick against a guy who can play Für Elise with handguns? Props: YouTube.com/RangerUpVideo)

Following WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez on Wednesday and Bellator 25 on Thursday, this wild and wooly week of MMA concludes Saturday with Strikeforce Houston, which features King Mo vs. Rafael Cavalcante, Tim Kennedy vs. Ronaldo Souza, KJ Noons vs. Jorge Gurgel, Bobby Lashley vs. Chad Griggs, and a champion of two different promotions on the preliminary card. For some reason, betting sites are only offering action on Lawal (-381) vs. Cavalcate (+375), so you’ll have to make things interesting by wagering some FightPicker PotatoChips — which you can accumulate just by signing into the game every day. Swing by fightpicker.cagepotato.com (or the Facebook equivalent) to make your predictions on the four marquee fights, as well as three prelim scraps that will probably never see the light of day. The question list is after the jump. Pick wisely.

(Remember to bring snacks, drinks, headphones and a piss bottle for this road trip.)

You thought we forgot, didn’t you?

To be honest, we were going to do a show next week to preview Strikeforce Houston and UFC 118, but we decided last minute to split the shows up. 

This episode, which features an interview with Strikeforce middleweight challenger Tim Kennedy, is slightly abridged as we were somewhat crunched for time with Ben working his ass off to plan the CP UFC Fan Expo extravaganza. We apologize in advance for not including the insider roundtable segment which has become your consensus favorite and the standard way we close out The Bum Rush.

Before the comment section blows up with "We want ReX13" or "You guys suck" posts, rest assured that we will be bringing back some of your favorite CP personalities for the next show to drop knowledge and terrible predictions on y’all.

We should have all of the episodes up on iTunes very soon and we will let you know when you can subscribe. The process is underway and we’re waiting on Apple to accept our metadata submissions or some other IT-type mumbo jumbo.

Hope you enjoy the show.

Player, download link and Tim Kennedy video we mention on the show after the jump.

(For those of you wondering, now we know what happened to Color Me Badd)

Strikeforce held a press conference yesterday at the Toyota Center in advance of its August 21 event that will take place at the venue in Houston, Texas. Ben and I were both unable to attend since, well,  neither of us wanted to, but thankfully KBME Sports Talk 790 was on hand to catch what we may have missed.

The videos are after the jump.

("Okay, fine! Team Edward! Team Edward!" Joey Villasenor gets chased down by Ronaldo Souza at Heavy Artillery. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

It was announced on Friday that Strikeforce: Houston — which goes down August 21st at the Toyota Center, and will be headlined by the light-heavyweight championship match between Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante — will also feature a fight between Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza for the organization’s middleweight title, which recently became vacant when Jake Shields got fired. But wait just a goddamned minute, wasn’t the new MW champ supposed be determined by a potentially epic tournament? Well, it seems that was the plan. Unfortunately, Strikeforce didn’t do their homework before booking the event. As MMAFighting.com explains:

Strikeforce had been planning a one-night, four-man tournament in Houston to determine its next champion. The four competitors were to be Kennedy, Souza, Robbie Lawler and Matt Lindland. Those plans, however, were nixed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation…

TDLR administrator Greg Alvarez confirmed to MMA Fighting on Saturday that Strikeforce wanted a one-night, bracket-style tournament for the Houston show, which will air live on Showtime. But Alvarez said that request was denied. "They asked if it was possible and I told them that when Tough Man was outlawed, the state also did away with tournaments back in 2001," Alvarez said.

(Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos vs. Marius Zaromskis)

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

(Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Prangley)

("You think you scare me, Whitemare? I bang Cris Cyborg. Voluntarily." Photo courtesy of the Strikeforce LA Live Weigh In Pics gallery on CombatLifestyle.com)

Q: Why are we watching a Strikeforce event on Showtime, in the middle of the damn week, ten days before a bigger Strikeforce event on Showtime?

A: Why the hell not?

The stakes are relatively low, but the matchups are promising. In the main event, Renato Sobral and Robbie Lawler slug it out in a moneyweight battle for a potential title shot down the road. Welterweights Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos and Marius "The Whitemare" Zaromskis meet in a guaranteed basher. Plus, Army Staff Sergeant Tim Kennedy defends his country’s honor against South African veteran Trevor Prangley, and KJ Noons returns to the cage against Conor Heun. Round-by-round results await you after the jump. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let’s hope these fights end early so I can go to bed.

(Photo courtesy of Tim’s official Facebook fan page.)

by CagePotato contributor Matt Kaplan

Tim Kennedy is a family man, a rising MMA star, and a war hero. He is guided by a strong moral compass and upholds what he thinks is right. As a result, he will no doubt rub some of you the wrong way.

He is unapologetically pro-military. He thinks that too many high-profile fighters are irresponsible, and that your favorite scary MMA t-shirt is lame. His shorts will never promote alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or pornography, and he snickers at nicknames that have “Killer” or “Assassin” in them. He takes seriously his role as a professional athlete and would like to see more of the MMA community follow his lead.

For some of you, Tim’s patriotism and wholesome principles are breaths of fresh air. Others, however, might be wondering if his high horse actually has a name. Either way, there’s no denying that Tim is one of MMA’s most quintessential warriors (for real).

A U.S. Army Staff Sergeant with the 19th Special Forces Group, Tim is a trained sniper and combatives instructor whose combat heroism has earned him the Bronze Star. Now, with an already impressive military record to his credit, Tim is preparing for just his second fight as a full-time fighter and has already lined up in his crosshairs the Strikeforce middleweight championship belt.

On June 16 at Strikeforce: Los Angeles, Tim Kennedy (11-2) will climb into the cage with rugged South African veteran Trevor Prangley (22-5-1), his biggest test to date. Tim has yet to fight someone with the combination of size, strength, toughness, and experience that is Prangley, so he’s keeping to a basic plan of attack: dominate the fight in every possible way. Why get fancy, right?

CAGEPOTATO.COM: Your last fight was against Zak Cummings back in September. Why the long lay-off?

(Props: wec)

Heads up: WEC 44 goes down next Wednesday in Las Vegas, with featherweight champ Mike Brown defending his belt against terrifying knockout artist Jose Aldo, who has ended all five of his appearences in the WEC via highlight-reel stoppage; his last opponent, Cub Swanson, lasted all of eight seconds. But is Mike Brown scared? Nah. "He’s never faced the caliber of fighter that I am," Brownie says. "It’s not gonna be an easy fight of course, but if I do my thing, I’m gonna win the fight." Check out the full lineup here.

(Zak Cummings and Tim Kennedy engage in a vicious staredown at yesterday’s weigh-ins. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin / Strikeforce.)

We may be entering a month-long UFC drought until "Machida vs. Shogun," but all is not lost. Strikeforce is putting on its latest "Challengers" event tonight at the SpiritBank Event Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the main card will be broadcast live on Showtime starting at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT. Here’s what’s in store…

Tim Kennedy (10-2) vs. Zak Cummings (10-0)
Army Ranger Tim Kennedy, who most recently scored a TKO over Nick Thompson at the last Strikeforce Challengers show in June, takes on undefeated middleweight prospect Zak Cummings, who enters the fight as a replacement for the injured Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. Cummings defeated Terry Martin by split-decision earlier this year, and most recently scored a TKO victory over Dominic Brown in May.

Ray "Sugarfoot" Sefo (1-0) vs. Kevin Jordan  (11-7)
Five-time Muay Thai world champion Ray Sefo, who hasn’t competed in MMA since a knockout of Min Soo Kim in 2005, tries his hand at cagefighting once again in this heavyweight bout against journeyman Kevin Jordan, who you might remember from his UFC losses to Paul Buentello and Gabriel Gonzaga. On August 1st, Jordan won a unanimous decision over UFC old-schooler Patrick Smith, breaking a two-fight losing streak.

(It beats the hell out of welfare.)

In case you’ve forgotten, the Strikeforce Challengers event from Kent, Washington is on Showtime tonight, headlined by “Smokin” Joey Villasenor taking on the other “Cyborg” Santos.  You know, the dude one.  That’s all well and good and they even shoved each other at the weigh-in yesterday to add a little easy hype, but the story that’s being overlooked right now is just how much Nick “The Goat” Thompson obviously does not want to fight Army special forces bad-ass Tim Kennedy.  He’s not even pretending that this was his idea, or that he is anything but resigned to his fate at this point.  Just check out these quotes from Thompson, courtesy of Strikeforce:

(Cristiane and Evangelista’s high school class voted them "Most Likely to Push Your Shit In." Photo courtesy of Showtime Sports.)

No rest for the hardcore MMA fan: Strikeforce’s second "Challengers" event goes down this Friday at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington — a day before the TUF 9 finale in Las Vegas. Headlining the Strikeforce card will be a middleweight matchup between two exciting strikers: Team Jackson product “Smokin’” Joey Villasenor and Chute Boxe veteran Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. Both guys are coming off extended layoffs; Villasenor hasn’t competed since his first-round TKO win over Phil Baroni last May, and Santos is coming back from an elbow injury suffered in a Sengoku fight against Siyar Bahadurzada in September.

Also on the card: Highly-regarded welterweight Nick Thompson takes a middleweight fight against Tim Kennedy out of desperation, UFC vet Jorge Gurgel makes his Strikeforce debut against bully-beater Conor Heun, and Sarah Kaufman and Shayna Baszler will test out Strikeforce’s new five-minute-rounds policy in the night’s sole women’s feature. Not bad for premium cable. The full lineup is after the jump.