The former UFC heavyweight champion was scheduled to square off against Brazilian striker Junior dos Santos in the main-event of the evening for UFC 131. However, the wrestling powerhouse is currently in his second-battle with diverticulitis, an intestinal disease, that has since sidelined him for the foreseeable future.

Shane Carwin took Lesnar’s place, though the power puncher was originally scheduled to meet with newcomer Jon Olav Einemo. Carwin was then replaced with Dave Herman to take on Einemo, though Herman was originally scheduled to meet with Joey Beltran. Now, “The Mexecutioner” will meet with Strikeforce vet Aaron Rosa, who will be making his octagon debut now after the huge heavyweight shuffle.

Rosa is currently riding a four-fight win streak upon his UFC debut. In his last outing, Aaron met with “The Ultimate Fighter” veteran Abe Wagner this past March under the Titan FC banner. Wagner had just come off of a first-round knockout victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and was quickly gathering some steam, though Rosa put an end to the hype train quickly, when he handled Wagner en route to rear-naked choke submission win, which came just 35-seconds into the second-round.

A win over Beltran will put him in good standings with the promotion, though the UFC always favors those whom step up on short notice and keep them around for another outing. The same can’t be said for Beltran, who knows all too well the opportunity that Rosa has.

Joey originally made his UFC debut as a late replacement, taking on Rolles Gracie at UFC 109 in February of last year. There, Beltran made good on the chance afforded to him, and TKO’d the Jiu-Jitsu ace on second-round strikes. A decision win over Tim Hague had Beltran riding high on a two-fight win streak inside the octagon, however decision losses against notables Matt Mitrione and Pat Barry have since put him on the bubble, and another loss here will likely mean his walking papers.

UFC 131 takes place on June 11th at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of the new match-up? Who do you favor, and do you think a loss here warrants Beltran’s release from the promotion? Sound off in the comment section below.

Anchored by notables Trevor Prangley, a Strikeforce middleweight standout who also serves as Shark Fights’ light heavyweight champion, will face UFC veteran and MMA notable Keith Jardine in a 205-pound match that will be contested as a non-title, three round affair.

The rest of the card is littered with other UFC notables such as additional light heavyweights Houston Alexander taking on the “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Also confirmed for the broadcast is UFC castoff, Paul Daley against an as of yet announced opponent, a middleweight slug fest against Drew McFedries and Joey Villasenor.

The main card is said to be priced at $29.95, a considerable amount for Shark Fight’s first go around on a PPV broadcast, but with a card that stacked, its considerably a desirable watch.

The card takes place on September 11, at the Amarillo Civic Center in Texas, which has been home to several of Shark Fights’ previous endeavors.

Even though preliminary card can serve as a main card in most cases, and the promotion is not ruling out possible plans to feature said preliminary’s in some capacity, whether it be an online stream, or something of that nature.

Doug Evans, a former UFC lightweight turned featherweight, will take on Sengoku veteran Ronnie Mann for the 145-pound title.

Former WEC top welterweight contender and UFC standout Brock Larson will also be in action, though no opponent has been mentioned as of yet.

Sengoku, Bellator, and EliteXC veteran Dave Herman will be in a heavyweight clash against Strikeforce veteran Aaron Rosa, while WEC veterans Marcus Hicks and Karen Darabedyan will meet in a sure crowd pleaser, meeting at 155-pounds.

It’s almost exhausting having to name all of these fighters, but all are recognized fighters in the world of MMA, and none should be left out vicariously, in a card that will be one of the biggest outside of the UFC or Strikeforce banners.

So, will you be buying this particular card, or rather, is it worth the $29.95? (iN DEMAND)

The two-time All-American wrestler, Woodley, attended the University of Missouri and is from St. Louis, across the state.  Woodley  tapped out “Lisbon Outlaw” Zach Light (6-9) in an armbar at 3:38 of round two at Strikeforce Challenger Series 3 in Tulsa September 25.

Bears TKO’d Brendan Seguin (18-15-1) at M-1 Global’s Breakthrough in Kansas City August 28.

Also confirmed, light heavyweights “Feijao” Rafael Cavalcante (7-2) and Aaron Rosa (10-3) will fight for a potential title shot versus Strikeforce champ Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1).  Fighters.com broke the matchup Monday.

“Feijao” was TKO’d by “MAK” Mike Kyle (11-7-1) at Strikeforce in St. Louis June 6.

Rosa finished former Strikeforce light heavyweight title challenger “El Toro” Anthony Ruiz (17-14) in a rear naked choke at Strikeforce in Fresno May 15.

Welterweights Bobby Voelker(20-7) and Erik Apple (10-1) will also matchup on the card.

All three fights will be televised on SHOWTIME® at 11:00 PM EST, delayed on the west coast.  The doors at Memorial Hall will open at 7:15 PM CT.  Tickets starting at $35 can be purchased at the Memorial Hall ticket office and will be available at Ticketmaster via the Internet or by calling (800) 745-3000.

No contract has been signed, but the fighters have agreed to the matchup.

Unless the signing of an elite 205er changes things, Fighters.com speculates based on solid information that the winner will become the top Strikeforce contender and challenge champion Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1) for the light heavyweight title.

“Feijao” was TKO’d by “MAK” Mike Kyle (11-7-1) at Strikeforce in St. Louis June 6.

Rosa finished former Strikeforce light heavyweight title challenger “El Toro” Anthony Ruiz (17-14) in a rear naked choke at Strikeforce in Fresno May 15.

After a paced and cautious first round for both fighters, “Bartimus” began working kicks in the second, first a solid body shot, then snapping at Cox’s leg.

During the final flurried exchange, Palaszewski wheeled a wide left hook to Cox’s body, backing Cox into range for the right high kick finisher.

Palaszewski literally lept out of the cage upon the stoppage “W”.

In the main event, Michael Russow (10-1) manhandled late replacement for “Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-8),  Jason Guida (17-16), tapping Clay’s big brother in a standing neck crank against the fence at 2:13 of round one.

“I hope he’s OK,” Russow related after the stoppage.

Hometown hero Rory Markham (14-4) said, “Let’s get serious.  That guy just jumped over me!” after “Silent Assassin” Jay Ellis (5-19) launched a flying knee at the opening bell, indeed, flying right over Markham.  “So, I decided I was going to keep it on the ground.”

Markham pounced on Ellis; but, Ellis swept to Markham’s guard, which Markham climbed into a triangle tapout at 57 seconds of round one.

H.I.T. Squad lightweight Clay French (16-2) pulled rank on “Sergeant” Jameel Massouh in a second round rear naked choke submission at 3:18.

French took Massouh to the mat at will and, when French began posturing out of the rubber guard Massouh originally used to neutralize French’s G’n'P, he bullied Massouh to his stomach and sank the choke.

Middleweight Terry Martin (17-4) took three kicks to the groin before the referee disqualified Daiju Takase (7-12-1).

“The last one hit me right in the cup,” Martin admitted after the fight, “but…damn!”

Takase slammed his mouthpiece to the mat at the second round disqualification.

“Meat Cleaver” Forrest Petz (14-5) survived a first round knockdown by “Mandingo” Brian Gassaway (28-18-2) to win a unanimous decision by 29-28 three times in his first post-UFC fight.

“Mandingo” floored Petz with left in the first, but was unable to finish before the end of the round.

Gassaway was gassed in the second and third rounds and Petz began landing more in the sporadic flurries and dominating the mat with G’n'P.

Team Curran welterweight Mike Stumpf (10-1) TKO’d Dom O’Grady (4-1) at 3:53 of round one.

O’Grady controlled round one with technical kickboxing, keeping Stumpf at distance with a jab and snapping leg kick.

Two minutes into the second round, Stumpf lunged forward in a flurry, dropping O’Grady with a left hook.

O’Grady turtled up beneath Stumpf; but, Stumpf took O’Grady’s back and rolled him over.  O’Grady slickly flipped and twisted into Stumpf’s guard, quickly closing to a leg triangle as O’Grady yanked free.

O’Grady dropped again amidst another flurry from Stumpf.  This time, Stumpf pounced and windmilled punches for the referee stoppage.

Light heavyweight Aaron Rosa (11-2) obliterated “Killing Fields” Ron Fields (24-26-1) with a big right at :34 of round two for a KO victory.

Rosa and Fields had wrestled most of round one; and, but for the cage stopping Fields’s momentum, Fields nearly locked in an armbar on Rosa.

Kentucky boy Joe Jordan (42-12-2) schooled the kid, lightweight Ryan Williams (5-3), for a unanimous decision.

Jordan set-up downstairs with heavy body shots, then climbed to Williams’s head, leaving a welt on the left side of Williams’s face and a cut on the right.

Whether due to the body shots or bright lights, Williams was lethargic and never really got off in the fight.

Featherweight Joe Pearson (26-10-1) dispensed with the stand-up toot sweet after getting tagged with a John Hosman (7-4-1) southpaw overhand right.

Pearson clinched up, tripped Hosman into his guard, and wriggled under Hosman’s G’n'P before catching the less experienced fighter in a leg triangle in the first round.

Light heavyweight Louis Taylor (3-0) was able to bookend a gassed out second round with a first round of counter punching and third round of G’n'P to win a unanimous decision over Adam Maciejewski (6-5) by scores of 29-28 twice and 30-27.

Maciejewski left the first round with cuts under both eyes from Taylor’s quick, if wild, hands.

Taylor wore himself out tagging Maciejewski and took round two off before tripping Maciejewski in round three and piecing together enough looping shots to win the decision.

Fighters.com scored the fight 29-28 for Taylor.

The most damaging strike landed to Hector Urbina(12-4) by David Kleczkowski (5-4) was a first round thumb to the eye.

That just pissed off Urbina, who tagged the herky-jerky Kleczkowski with a jab, left cross, well…you name it.

No one will question Kleczkowski’s granite chin though.

He survived to 1:19 of the second round before the referee ended the beating with Urbina pounding Kleczkowski against the mat.

Heavyweight “Meat Truck” Kerry Schall (21-10) barrelled into center cage to begin his fight with “Herc” Antoine Hayes (7-5), tagging “Herc” with straight rights.

Then, the “Truck” down shifted to Hayes’s pace; and, “Herc” secured a standing North/South, kneeing Schall relentlessly in the second round.

By the third round, Schall was out of gas and Hayes ground’n'pounded to a UD by 29-28 three times.

Welterweight Tom Belt (4-1) mounted and pounded out Marcus Levesseur (5-2) at 4:10 of round one.

Late main event replacement for “Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-8), former middleweight Jason Guida (17-5) weighed-in at 241.5 pounds, and it didn’t look like he found heavyweight girth in the gym (unless “The Gym” is the name of a pizzeria in Little Italy.)

Guida’s opponent, Chicago police officer Michael Russow (9-1) looked svelte at 243.2 pounds.

Middleweights Terry Martin (16-4) and bleached blond Daiju Takase (7-11-1) made their weight class at 185.2 and 185.8 pounds repectively.

IFL veteran Rory Markham‘s (13-4) opponent, Jay Ellis (5-18), will give up nearly twenty pounds to Markham in their 180-pound catch weight match-up.  Markham weighed 180.1 pounds and Ellis weighed 161.6 pounds.

Fighters.com’s third-ranked heavyweight “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-4) attended with his girlfriend, who didn’t weigh-in but stood about 5’1″ next to 6’7″ Sylvia, and chided “Meat Truck” Kerry Schall (21-9), shouting, “Meat Trick!” as Schall weighed in.

Other weights from Friday:

“Meat Cleaver” Forrest Petz (13-5) 173.4 pounds versus Brian Gassaway (28-17-2) 174.1 pounds.

Tom Belt (3-1) 170.3 pounds versus Marcus Levesser (5-1), who did not weight in.
 
Jeffrey Cox (9-5) 154.4 pounds versus “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski (28-11) 155.7 pounds.
 
“Sergeant” Jemeel Massouh (16-3) 155.4 pounds versus Clay French (15-2) 155.4 pounds.

“Herc” Antoine Hayes (6-5) 265 pounds vs. “Meat Truck” Kerry Schall (21-9) 258.6 pounds.

Aaron Rosa (10-2) 205.6 pounds versus “Killing Fields” Ron Fields (24-25-1) 204.8 pounds.
 
Hector Urbina (11-4) 185.6 pounds versus David Kleczkowski (5-3) 186.5 pounds.

Dom O’Grady (4-0) 169.8 pounds versus Mike Stumpf (9-1) 173.4 pounds.
 
Joe Jordan (41-12-2) 170.2 pounds versus Ryan Williams (5-2) 170 pounds.
 
Louis Taylor (2-0) 202.2 pounds versus Adam Maciejewski (6-4) 205.6 pounds.
 
Joe Pearson (25-10-1) 134.6 pounds versus John Hosman (7-3-1) 135 pounds.

As reported by Fighters.com, the main event matches grappler “The Snowman” Jeff Monson (24-7) versus wrestler Michael Russow (9-1) in a mat struggle.

“The Snowman” will fight Russow just two weeks after taking on Fighters.com’s third-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assasin” Josh Barnett (21-5) at Sengoku II in Tokyo.

UFC fighter turned boxer Terry Martin (16-4) will fight Japanese middleweight Daiju Takase (7-11-1) before his hometown crowd.

Martin comes off UFC losses to “Crippler” Chris Leben (18-4) and “Beastman” Marvin Eastman (15-7-1), but won his boxing debut 12 April with a knockout of Ricardo Upchurch (0-2 in boxing).

Lightweight jiu-jitsu player Alberto Crane (8-2), who lost both of his UFC fights, will bounce back matched against King of the Cage vet Clay French (15-2).

IFL lightweight standout “Bartimus” Bart Palaszewski (28-11), who’s taken three tough losses consecutively, will rebound in his hometown versus Jeffrey Cox (9-5), who lost his UFC debut to “Pitbull” Manvel Gamburyan (8-2) last month in Denver.

Also on the card to be held at the Sears Centre:

“The Freak” Tony Fryklund (14-9) v Brian Gassaway (28-17-2)
Taiwan Howard (4-1) v Rory Markham (13-3)
James Giboo (11-2) v Mark Miller (8-3)
“Herc” Antoine Hayes (6-5) v “Meat Truck” Kerry Schall (21-9)
Rob Kimmons (20-3) v Hector Urbina (11-4)
Aaron Rosa (10-2) v “Killing Fields” Ron Fields (22-25-1)
Dom O’Grady (4-0) v Mike Stumpf (9-1)
Joe Jordan (39-12-2) v Ryan Williams (5-2)
Christian Reynosa (6-2) v John Hosman (7-3-1)

“The Diamond” Malaipet Sitprapom (3-2) did both in the closing seconds of the first round against “Wildman” Thomas Denny (26-16) Friday in the main event of ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series on Showtime, and was disqualified.

“I’m sorry because I came here to fight, but this is MMA and you have to follow the rules,” said Denny, who could not continue after he was nailed by three blatant elbows to the back of the head.  “I may have been dazed but I wasn’t knocked out.  One thing I could not do, however, was move my neck.”

Knowing his advantage on the ground, Denny took Malaipet to the ground in the opening seconds and kept him there for more than four and a half minutes of the initial five-minute session.

At one point in the 160-pound fight, it appeared that Malaipet would get choked out, but he rallied to work his way out of it and managed to continue.  Denny quickly locked him up again and tried to take matters back to the ground.  A frustrated Malaipet then committed the three flagrant fouls.

Denny was given a few minutes to recover, but when he couldn’t the fight was called at the 4:51 mark.

“Malaipet was tough because I thought I had him with the rear naked choke,” Denny said.  “But I will definitely fight him again.  I was totally dominating.”

A world-class superstar Muay Thai kickboxer with reportedly more than 300 Muay Thai fights, Malaipet had a three-fight MMA winning streak end.

“I definitely want to fight him again,” Malaipet said.  “If he wants to do it at 150 pounds, I’ll fight him any time, any place.  This wasn’t my type of fight.  But there was no way I was ever going to tap out.”

In other televised bouts, Conor Heun (7-2) won an unpopular, unanimous decision over Marlon Mathias (5-2); Jaime Fletcher (6-3) recorded an upset points victory over Aaron Rosa (10-2); Shane Del Rosario (4-0) scored an opening-round knockout over Analu Brash (1-2); and Mark Oshiro (10-1) knocked out previously unbeaten Chris Cariaso (6-1) in the first round.