“Diesel” Joe Riggs (29-11) TKO’d Luke Stewart (5-2) in round two at Strikeforce: Destruction Friday night in San Jose. The fight started with a clinch, but Stewart was the one who managed to trip Riggs.  He was unable to do anything from the mat, however, and Riggs stood. Riggs came at Stewart with a quick flurry of fists.  Stewart attempted another takedown, and after battling a few moments was able to mount.  After a short stint in side mount, the round ended with Stewart on top. Stewart kicked Riggs in the ribs to begin round two.  This time, Riggs tripped Stewart.  From Stewart’s guard, he put fists in Stewarts’s face while protecting his own.  The punches gained power, and the crowd groaned as they felt Stewart’s pain until returning referee, “Big” John McCarthy, called the fight at 2:05 of round two. ...

Fighters.com was live at the Strikeforce: Destruction weigh-ins Thursday night at the Hotel DeAnza in San Jose. All fighters made weigh and, despite a delayed start and “Diesel” Joe Riggs’s (28-11) displeasure at having to strip, everything went smoothly. Riggs was not the only one who had to strip further than his ginch; the California State Athletic Commission requested that each fighter have only one crack at the scale, resulting in several weigh-ins behind towels. Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-4) looked cut.  He told Fighters.com Thursday afternoon that he had hired a new strength and conditioning coach. “Everybody’s been commenting on how my physique looks and how I’ve been performing.  So we’ll see how I perform tomorrow night,” Southworth said. Join Fighters.com Friday night for the live results. ...

Strikeforce has confirmed the full line-up for its Destruction event, which takes place 21 November in San Jose. Two title fights, between Strikeforce Lightweight Champion “The Punk” Josh Thomson (14-2-1) and Yves Edwards (34-14-1) and between Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-4) and “Babalu” Renato Sobral (29-8), will headline the event. Also featured is a welterweight bout between “Diesel” Joe Riggs (28-10) and Luke Stewart (4-1). The rest of the card includes: Lemont Davis (1-2) versus Brian Schwartz (0-1) at 175 lbs Brad Royster (1-1) versus Darren Uyenoyama (4-1) at 135 lbs Tony Johnson (0-1) versus Eric Lawson (2-2) at 185 lbs Alvin Cacdac (3-4) versus Jose Palacios (1-1) at  145 lbs Bobby Stack (2-1) versus Cyrillo Padilha (1-1) at 155 lbs Zakary Bucia (0-1) versus Jaime Rodriguez (0-0) at 155 lbs Kurt Osiander (2-0) versus Raul Castillo (2-0) at 185 lbs Nik Theotikos (5-0) versus Luke Rockhold (2-1) at 185 lbs ...

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) will defend his belt from "Babalu" Renato Sobral (30-7) in San Jose 21 November. Strikeforce Lightweight Champion "Punk" Josh Thomson (16-2) will also defend his title versus an opponent yet to be named. Before his last "W" over "Archer" Ashe Bowman (9-5) in Beverly Hills, north of Los Angeles, 20 September, Thomson expressed interest in fighting "Endless Fighter" Mitsuhiro Ishida (17-4-1).  After the fight, Thomson also hoped to defend his title from Fighters.com's fourth-ranked lightweight and DREAM champ "Hellboy" Joachim Hansen (19-7-1). After knocking off former Strikeforce champ "El Nino" Gilbert Melendez (14-2) in San Jose 27 June, Thomson has been desperate for an opponent who'd help him crack the top ten. Southworth versus "Babalu" was originally scheduled for the 20 September card at the Playboy Mansion, but both fighters pulled up lame and spent the night chasing bunnies into the grotto (I assume). ...

Fighters.com's ninth-ranked Kazuo Misaki (21-8-2) TKO'd "Diesel" Joe Riggs (28-11) at 2:29 of round two Saturday night in Beverly Hills, north of Los Angeles. "I'm happy with the win," Misaki said through an interpreter. There was a frustrating seven-minute build-up to the fireworks finale in which both veterans circled and strategized while  the crowd begged for action. Riggs struck first in the second round, nailing Misaki with a big left and a kick; but, Misaki countered with a right cross that floored "Diesel". Misaki followed Riggs to the mat and landed several shots before referee Josh Rosenthal ended the fight. "I had my hands covering my head," argued Riggs after the stoppage.  "But it is what it is." Strikeforce Lightweight Champion "Punk" Josh Thomson (16-2) knocked "Archer" Ashe Bowman to the fence with a right and followed up with a flurry before referee Herb Dean ended the fight at 1:14 of round one. ...

Middleweight Luke Stewart (5-1) has been removed entirely from Strikeforce’s 27 June card in San Jose when the organization could not find an opponent for him. Stewart was originally scheduled to face “Mr. International” Shonie Carter (41-17-7), but Carter withdrew due to a hand injury. “Diesel” Joe Riggs (27-10) was then tapped to replace Carter, but he was pulled from the card Thursday by the California State Athletic Commission. Then, Drew Fickett (34-5) agreed to replace Riggs, but was not allowed to fight due to contractual obligations to the MFC. Fickett is already slated to fight “The Real Deal” Ryan Ford (6-0) for the MFC’s vacant welterweight title 25 July. MFC promoter Mark Pavelich told The Fight Network that Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker “took care of it” and assured him that Fickett would not fight this weekend. ...

Former UFC welterweight title contender "Diesel" Joe Riggs (27-10) will replace "Mr. International" Shonie Carter (41-17-7) versus Luke Stewart (5-1) in San Jose 27 June at Strikeforce. The fight will occur at the catchweight of 178-pounds. Carter withdrew from the fight with Stewart this week with a hand injury. Riggs will return from back surgery for an injury suffered during a slam that forced Riggs to tap to Cory Devela (9-2) in February. Stewart will look to bounce back from a loss to Tiki Ghosn (10-7) in March, the first of Stewart's pro career. ...

Top Strikeforce welterweight contender Drew Fickett (33-5) locked in his title bid versus champ Jake Shields (20-4-1) in the form of a guillotine choke around the neck of intended Nick Diaz (15-7) opponent "The Korean Icepick" Jae Suk Lim (9-4) at 1:14 of the first round in San Jose Saturday night. Fickett was signed to challenge Shields on tonight's Showtime-televised card; but, Shields injured his back heaving a sledgehammer during training. Fickett drew Lim after Shields's partner, Diaz, was denied a license by the California State Athletic Board. The title fight has reportedly been rescheduled for 14 June in Hawaii. The absence of Shields and Diaz, popular Nor Cal warriors,  agitated thousands of hungry fight aficionados at HP Pavilion. They packed in to feast on a middleweight mixed martial arts title fight between Strikeforce champion Frank Shamrock (24-9-1) and Cung Le (6-0), heroes from opposite sides of the Capital of Silicon Valley. What they were fed was two-and-a-half rounds of brisk San Shou sparring and two-and-a-half minutes of MMA. Le remained undefeated when Shamrock quit with a broken arm after the third round, relinquishing his belt to the Vietnamese kung-fu stylist.  "He kept blocking," Le explained,  "so I kept aiming at that part of the wrist." With local street cred on the table, both fighters answered the opening bell cautious of the other's prowess. Shamrock circled in a crouching stance while pumping a lazy jab in Le's general direction, while Le waltzed warily from a safe range. When the hammer did fall, beginning with a Shamrock kick to Le's midsection countered by a Le left hand, it was in single-strike spurts followed by congratulatory high fives. They grinned at each one-off as the crowd chanted "Boring!" Shamrock closed round one with a knee busting Le's lip, but lost the round in range of Le's snapping kicks. Le opened the second frame knocking Shamrock's mouthpiece out with a left high kick. As Le learned Shamrock wasn't interested in taking him to the mat, he became more comfortable launching left and right middle kicks to setup punches to Shamrock's head, catching Shamrock with a right hook towards the round's final bell. Le topped Shamrock in round two as well. Midway through the third round, a fight broke out and the champion and challenger traded flurries against the cage. A hard left kick to Shamrock's core backed the champion into the fence and Le followed with a spinning back fist as Shamrock advanced. Shamrock walked through the worst of Le's attack and pounded punches in a flurry marked by a right fist that staggered Le against the cage. Le countered with another lightning strike body kick followed by a flurry of hooks as the bell signaled an end to the round and, as Shamrock chose not to answer the fourth round's bell, the end of the fight. "This is a dream come true," Le said after the fight.  "Coming from Vietnam under gunfire and now world champion, I love it." In undercard action, top ten lightweight "El Niño" Gilbert Melendez (14-1) shook-up and opened the anticipated can of whoop ass on last minute opponent Gabe Lemley (11-7). Referee Herb Dean showed mercy on the seemingly awe-struck Iowan and called an end to Melendez's G'n'P onslaught at 2:18 of the second round. Melendez returned like a typhoon from a loss to "The Endless Warrior" Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-3-1) in Japan, the first of "El Niño's" career. Strikeforce newbie Wayne Cole (11-6) surprised "MAK" Mike Kyle (9-7-1) in an armbar 45-seconds after the opening bell. Kyle, win-less since 2005, was rusty from a two-year absence from professional competition. In a sloppy, but entertaining 4:45 minute punch-up, middleweight Joey Villasenor (25-6) of Jackson's Submission Fighting popped late replacement Ryan Jensen (11-4) with a right hand, knocking the former UFC fighter out in his third consecutive first-round stoppage loss (all against tough competition). Team Oyama welterweight Tiki Ghosn's (10-7) takedown defence kept his scrap with young Luke Stewart (5-1) where Ghosn could pick at Stewart's stand-up.  The veteran nickle-and-dimed his way to a unanimous decision of 29-28 twice and 30-27. Stewart picks up his first "L" after five stoppage wins, all in Strikeforce affairs. Team USA grappler Darren Uyenoyama (4-1) broke bantamweight Strikeforce regular Anthony Figueroa's (4-2) two-fight win streak by sweeping from half guard into a guillotine choke, enticing the tap at 1:27 of the first frame. Undefeated Jesse Jones (2-0) exposed Jesse Gillespie (1-1), transitioning in back control from a rear naked choke to G'n'P for a 35-second TKO. Lightweight Billy Evangelista (6-0) knocked out Marlon Sims (3-3) at :39 of the third round to end the night. ...