Top contender Miesha Tate has now bowed out of her March 5 title fight with reigning 135-pound Strikeforce women's champion, Marloes Coenen. Tate gained her position to challenge for the title when she came out the victor last August at a one-night four-woman tournament, defeating the likes of Maiju Kujala and former title challenger Hitomi Akano, dominating both women with her superior wrestling prowess en route to decision victories. However, since succumbing to injury, Tate's loss is another woman's gain is undefeated Liz Carmouche will now be vying for the 135-pound strap against Coenen come this March. ...

By John Moody MMA fans are in hog heaven over the next three weeks with two UFC events and another major Strikforce show. There are numerous fights across all the cards which should dazzle, but I have targeted three, in particular, which will impact the sport at large to a greater scale.  They may not be what you expect ... give a look! ...

When it comes to unlikely champions, the newly-crowned Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight (135-pound) Champion Marloes Coenen seemed pretty unlikely. Coenen was coming off of a humbling TKO loss to Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight (145-pound) Champion and engine of destruction Cristiane Santos, but was nevertheless awarded another championship opportunity after dropping down in weight, this time against then-champion Sarah Kaufman. Coenen made the absolute most out of the opportunity and outright dominated Kaufman, but the new champion is now facing a very real threat to her belt in the form of Miesha Tate. Here’s what the new Strikeforce champion had to say about her championship-winning performance at the recent Strikeforce: "Diaz vs. Noons 2" event as well as her early thoughts on Tate, who is more than likely her next opponent. ...

As the year is coming closer to an end, the now annual World MMA Awards, which is hosted by Fighters Only Magazine, has recently announced their finalists for the December 1st event, which will take place once again in Las Vegas, Nev., which has become a hot bed for all things fighting related. The 2009 event opened up to a large audience, and has become a propellant in the mixed martial arts world, opening up the eyes to a mainstream audience, by the community taking leaps and bounds in order to legitimize itself as not only a legitimate sport, but one that deserves that same sort of recognition that most others receive, here in these United States. ...

Strikeforce has announced the next challenger for champion "Cyborg" Cris Santos (9-1). Stepping inside the cage with her will be Jan Finney (8-6) and she is not as big of an underdog as most of the fans and media make her out to be in this fight. ...