Strikeforce has solidified themselves as the number two promotion in the mixed martial arts world, but they are becoming a very distant second in my opinion. One of their biggest flaws has always been the manner in which they put together bouts on a given fight card, case in point "Strikeforce: Columbus" which has already rustled through three fighters in a single bout. Initially, a middleweight match-up pitting Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Tim Kennedy was expected to take place on the March event, which is scheduled to coincide with the Arnold's Sports Festival, however the promotion has since scrapped those plans for the trilogy bout. Then, it was announced that Kennedy would instead be facing budding contender Luke Rockhold in a middleweight fight, and as of today that fight has been put on the back burner also. ...

A previously anticipated third-meeting between Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Tim Kennedy has since been scrapped. Both men are the top players in the Strikeforce middleweight division, as they have both challenged for the promotions 185-pound strap, so it seemed only logical that they would meet not only to settle the score of their 1-1 meeting to conclude with a definitive winner to the trilogy, but the win would also also a clear cut number one contender to the title. However, with Miller having been pulled from the bout, an equally impressive Luke Rockhold has stepped in his place, and will likely battle Kennedy to determine the next challenger for the title. ...

For someone who once approached the upcoming video game “EA Sports MMA” with an incredible amount of hesitation, now more and more I’m thinking that October 19 can’t get here soon enough. In order to generate interest and encourage fans to open their wallets and put down a pre-order, EA Sports is revealing the entire roster of the game on a week-by-week, division-by-division basis. The Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight roster has already been revealed, and recently the Middleweights took center stage. EA Sports also recently revealed a teaser image of a famous venue that has yet to see a Mixed Martial Arts event. ...

Strikeforce lightweight title contender Billy Evangelista (9-1) defeated Jorge Gurgel (13-6) in a unanimous decision by judges' scores of 30-27 twice and 29-28 once at Strikeforce Challenger Series 4 in Fresno Friday night. ...

After a close call in the opening minute of his fight, Luke Rockhold (3-1) choked out Nik Theotikos (5-1) with a first-round rear naked at Strikeforce: Destruction Friday night in San Jose. Rockhold came out with a right punch, which Theotikos immediately evaded, catching Rockhold in what looked like a tight guillotine.  Rockhold was able to escape, and landed in Theotikos’s guard.  Rockhold reddened Theotikos’s ribs with his fists. They rolled and Rockhold got Theotikos’s back, first attempting the rear naked choke, then trying some ground and pound, but finally finishing with a rear naked at 3:06 of round one. ...

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 ...