Nick Diaz vs. Frank Shamrock video

I am not brave enough to post this video but if a birdie told me the fight is on MMATKO.

UFC 100 tickets sell out in record time for July 11 event at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas

By: MMAmania

UFC 100 tickets for “Lesnar vs. Mir 2” — slated for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 11 — are set to go on sale TODAY (Saturday, April 11) to the general public at 10 a.m. PT.

There’s just one very big problem: The promotion announced that tickets for the historic pay-per-view (PPV) event, which marks a major milestone in its more than 15 years of existence, SOLD OUT in just two days. That’s right, UFC Fight Club members and newsletter subscribers apparently gobbled up the stubs in two exclusive presales that led up to today.

It’s a new ticket-selling record, according to the promotion.

Here’s a snip from company president Dana White:

“I started hearing about UFC 100 around UFC 90. I am blown away by how excited fans were for this event. So I made sure to stack this card with the greatest fights and greatest fighters in the world, and keep ticket prices consistent with our other big events. Once again, our fans responded with a record sellout. This is another great milestone for the UFC, and July 11 is going to be an amazing event.”

The good news?

UFC 100 tickets can be purchased through StubHub.com (Note: StubHub often has seats available even if the event is “sold out”). It will also be available to watch on pay-per-view (PPV) at 10 p.m. ET on fight night.

UFC 100 features two major title fights: Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir will tangle to declare an undisputed division champion and Georges St. Pierre will once again defend his 170-pound strap against number one contender, Thiago Alves.

In addition, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) TUF 9 coaches, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping, are slated to meet and determine who earns the right to challenge the reigning middleweight champion later in 2009.

Temple of Boom 5 :: April 11, 2009

PALOLO HONGWANJI
April 11, 2009
BLUE CORNER RED CORNER
Main Event
KOLA KOKA Exabition MMA Match MICHAEL BRIGHTMON
MMAD 2/3 Min Rounds

Co Main Event
DAIVD"BABA"KAHANUI Exabition MMA Match KONA KE
DA HUI 2/3 Min Rounds Gods Army

JULIO MORENO Exabition MMA Match JARED IHA
Bulls Pen 2/3 Min Rounds No Remorse

STEVE ALBANESE Exabition MMA Match COLIN MACKENZIE
M.C.O.A. 2/3 Min Rounds Gods Army

CORDEL KNAPP 155lbs MMA Match ANGEL GARZA
558 MP Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds Chris Leban

ROHAN NANTON 155lbs MMA Match BEN SANTIAGO
Freelance Exabition 2/3 Min Rounds Gods Army

KEOKI SILVA 170lbs MMA Match ROBIN CLARK
Freelance Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds Hells Fire

205lbs MMA Match ASHTON VISORIA
Amateur 2/3 Min Rounds Team Devastation

HWlbs Kick Boxing Match DALE SOPI
Amateur 3/2 Min Rounds Hells Fire

KID YAMAMOTO ENTERS DREAM GRAND PRIX

by MMAWeekly.com Staff

---

Dream on Friday announced the bouts for the quarterfinal round of its Featherweight Grand Prix scheduled for May 26 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

Receiving a bye in the opening round, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto enters the quarterfinal round to face wrestling standout Joe Warren. Warren defeated former WEC champion Chase Beebe in the opener.

Daiki "DJ Taiki" Hata is out of the quarterfinals with a fracture to his orbital bone. Hideo Tokoro will take his place, stepping in to face Abel Cullum. In a showdown between tough Japanese veterans, Yoshiro Maeda squares off against Hiroyuki Takaya. And Masakazu Imanari faces a stern test in Bibiano Fernandes.

Featherweight Grand Prix Quarterfinalists:
-Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Joe Warren
-Masakazu Imanari vs. Bibiano Fernandes
-Yoshiro Maeda vs. Hiroyuki Takaya
-Abel Cullum vs. Hideo Tokoro

Thiago Alves excited to knockout the ‘Baddest Man on the Earth’ at UFC 100 on July 11

By: MMAmania

Props: Setanta.com

Quoteworthy:

“I was born ready for this fight.I’m training hard for this one and this is the biggest fight of my career. I’m really excited to fight the baddest man on the earth and I can’t wait to knock him out. I’ve gotten so much better. I feel like the luckiest man in the world — fighting GSP, the toughest man on the planet, and fighting at UFC 100 is an honor.”

Number one welterweight contender Thiago Alves seems to be salivating for his opportunity to challenge 170-pound division champion, Georges St. Pierre, for his title at UFC 100 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 11. “The Pitbull” seems confident that he will be able to finish the Canadian, saying on numerous occasions, including this one, that he will turn his lights off once they meet inside the Octagon. True or untrue?

Spike TV debuts "UFC's Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights" in July

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Apr 09, 2009 at 1:00 pm ET

Spike TV will join in the celebrations surrounding July's historic UFC 100 event.

The UFC's cable broadcast partner will debut a five-part series entitled "UFC's Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights" prior to UFC 100, which takes place July 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Fans can begin voting on the top 100 UFC fights of all-time on May 1 at Ultimate100.spike.com, and highlights from the chosen bouts will air on the series, which debuts July 5.

That first episode airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT on a Sunday. Subsequent episodes air in the same timeslot on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Prior to Saturday's series finale, Spike TV will re-air the other four episodes.

The UFC this week announced three official bouts for UFC 100, which is becoming the can't-miss event of 2009. UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar takes on interim heavyweight title-holder Frank Mir (in a title-unification bout), and UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre meets top contender Thiago Alves. Additionally, "The Ultimate Fighter 9" coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson are also slated to fight at the event, and as revealed on this past Wednesday's episode "The Ultimate Fighter 9," Stephan Bonnar will take on Mark Coleman.

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9: Episode 2 recap and discussion

Episode two of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 9 gets underway and we start things off in Las Vegas with the 16 hopeful Americans arriving to find out who they must fight in order to secure one of the eight remaining spots in the TUF house.

Two minutes into Dana’s monologue and Jason Pierce pulls a Phillipe Nover and goes down in a heap, presumably from cutting weight.

He doesn’t get much of the spotlight however as John-David Shackleford sports a helping of herpes on his forehead and gets the boot.

Then there is Christian Felgium, this season’s Jason Guida. Felgium shows up overweight and has to spend some time on the outdoor bike in a rubber suit. When he clocks in still two pounds over, they drop him on the treadmill and he instantly collapses.

Not a good look for the boys back home.

Dana starts dropping the F-bomb because it’s season nine and the guys still can’t seem to get it together. He even goes so far as to call it the worst start to any season in TUF history — and of course it’s the Americans who hold that dubious honor.

Dana warns the group that Team Britain is on point and I suddenly feel the urge to go back and edit my opinion on Team UK in last week’s recap.

Fatso and Herpes go home, which leaves two vacancies for Team USA. Dana makes some calls as the elimination fights get under way.

Continue reading ‘The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9: Episode 2 recap and discussion’

UFC 101: Ricardo Almeida vs. Kendall Grove on tap for August 8

MMAmania.com has confirmed a report from FightHype.com that middleweights Ricardo Almeida (10-3) and Kendall Grove (9-5) have verbally agreed to collide at UFC 101, which is tentatively scheduled to take place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on August 8.

Since returning to the sport of mixed martial arts after a self-imposed three-year layoff to open the Ricardo Almeida Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Hamilton, N.J., “Cachorrao” has posted a 2-1 record, which includes wins over previously unbeaten Rob Yundt at UFC 81 and most recently over Matt Horwich at UFC Fight Night 18.

The lone loss came via split decision to the hard-hitting Patrick Cote at UFC 86 — a fight that earned “The Predator” a title shot against middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.

Had that UFC 86 fight gone the other way, it’s easy to speculate about what might have been. Could we have seen an Almeida vs. Silva title fight? Perhaps we still will. Or perhaps we’ll see Almeida get his long-awaited title shot against welterweight sensation GSP.

Almeida recently confirmed to MMAmania.com that he is indeed looking to drop to 170 pounds … just not right away.

For now, he faces another stiff test at 185-pounds in season three middleweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter, Kendall Grove.

“Da Spyder” returned to action after a nine-month layoff to cremate Jason Day at UFC 96, which took place at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 7.

It was Grove’s first fight since his hard fought victory over former 185-pound champion Evan Tanner at TUF 7 Finale via unanimous decision back in June 2008. It was a critical win — the Hawaiian was jeopardy of losing his third straight match.

UFC 101 will likely feature a main event between lightweight champion BJ Penn against number one contender Kenny Florian, as well as a 205-pound showdown between former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin and the previously unbeaten Thiago Silva in the co-featured fight of the night.

For more on UFC 101, including rumored bouts and all other event-related news, click here.

Fedor on Sports Science

Mike Aina vs Billy Evangelista to headline Strikeforce

Former Elite XC lightweight and Hawaii native Mike Aina (11-6-1) will take on undefeated five-fight Strikeforce veteran Billy Evangelista at SHO MMA: “Strikeforce Challenger Series I” from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., on May 15, according to the Star-Bulletin.

Strikeforce will debut its brand new “Challenger Series” on the premium cable network Showtime, which are designed to give up-and-coming, less heralded Strikeforce fighters an opportunity to do their thing in front of a large television audience. It’s essentially similar to what Elite XC used to do with its SHO XC Challenger Series.

Here’s a snip from company founder and CEO, Scott Coker, on SHO MMA:

“This is where the men — and women — will be separated from the boys, so to speak. The growth and future of our sport just got a turbo injection. For regional fighters and up-and-coming men and women looking to test themselves against other top prospects and get on the fast track to stardom, SHO MMA: Strikeforce Challengers is the place to do it. I can’t wait for this first event.”

Aina is probably best known for having taken Nick Diaz the distance and dropping a razor close split decision in his Elite XC debut at “Uprising” in September of 2007. He competed only one more time for the promotion since then before it went under last year, defeating Kaleo Kwan by unanimous decision at “Return of the King” in June.

The Hilo resident is an 11-fight veteran of the Hawaiian-based Rumble on the Rock promotion where he made a name for himself amongst the “Aloha State” faithful. The BJ Penn-trainee has fought some pretty tough guys to this point in his career, including Roger Huerta (loss), Ryan Schultz (loss), Albert Rios (win), Diaz (loss) and others.

His last fight was a first round submission win over Ismael Gonzalves at Rumble on the Rock: “Beatdown 8″ last August.

Evangelista is one of Strikeforce’s top young prospects in the lightweight division. He brings a solid wrestling and jiu-jitsu base to the cage with him, but the Team Buhawe product can also strike with his opponents.

In fact, he’s defeated four of his nine victims by (technical) knockout. His hit list includes “The Ultimate Fighter” alum Marlon Sims (knockout), UFC veteran Luke Caudillo (decision), Nam Phan (decision), Ryan Healey (technical knockout) and others.

His most recent action came in January at Palace Fighting Championships 12, where he out pointed Harris Sarmiento on the judge’s scorecards for a unanimous decision win.

Kim “Sugar Free” Couture, wife of former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture, has also been rumored for this card. Tickets go on sale starting next Monday (April 13).

mmamania

Kauai Jiu Jitsu tournament

May 16th Saturday Gi/No Gi tournament

Friday 15 at 5pm to 8 pm weigh ins at the scrappa store.

Advanced gi and no gi divisions cash prizes.

$60 entry fee for Adults covers both divisions
$40 entry fee for both divisions
$35 entry fee kids

$55 adult both divisions preregister

Capoiera actually works!

DREAM 8 results and quick recap

Japan’s Fighting & Entertainment Group (FEG) this morning blew up the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan, for the DREAM 8 event that was stacked with a solid main card and plethora of intriguing match ups in its 2009 Welterweight Grand Prix.

The pinnacle of the event was of course the much anticipated showdown between Japanese mainstays and not-so-bitter rivals Shinya Aoki and Hayato Sakurai.

And like BJ Penn, “The Tobikan Judan” found out that moving up from lightweight to challenge the boys at welterweight isn’t as easy as it looks.

“Mach” would finish the fight quickly, putting an exclamation mark on the bout with some vicious ground and pound and deadly knees that would leave Aoki out cold before he even had chance to contemplate working some of his ground magic.

Speaking of grappling chops, jiu-jitsu phenom Andre Galvao progressed to the next stage of the tournament by dominating his fight on the ground and eventually submitting opponent John Alessio by armbar late into the opening stanza.

Marius Zaromskis and Seichi Ikemoto had an all-out war that saw its share of crazy moments, such as Zaromskis trying to backflip into Ikemoto’s guard. The bout would go the distance where all three judges saw in favor of Zaromskis for the win.

And the last spot in the Welterweight GP semifinals was earned by Jason High, who dominated Yuya Shirai from the get-go, coming out strong and landing a flurry of punches which would knock down Shirai and allow High to take his back and choke him unconscious.

In a carry over from DREAM 7, Daiki Hata garnered a decision victory over Hideo Tokoro for the final spot in the 2009 Featherweight GP.

“DJ.taiki” must now make a quick turn around and get set to compete again in just one month’s time at DREAM 9 where he’ll join the likes of Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (17-1), Masakazu Imanari (16-6-1), Hiroyuki Takaya (10-6-1), Yoshiro Maeda (24-6-2), Abel Cullum (14-2), Joe Warren (1-0) and Bibiano Fernandes (4-2).

Heading up the non-grand prix portion of the card was submission specialist Jeff Monson, who made short work of Russian gladiator Sergei Kharitonov, forcing the Russian to tap with a north-south choke early into round one.

Making his debut for DREAM was former PRIDE standout Murilo “Ninja” Rua. Unfortunately it was not a successful outing and he was outpointed via decision by last-minute replacement Riki Fukuda.

Vitor Ribeiro got back into the thick of it after a 19-month layoff from competition. He faced off against Olympic Greco-Roman silver medalist Katsuhiko Nagata.

“Shaolin” would end up winning — although it probably wasn’t the most satisfying of victories. The bout was drawn to a close because of a cut sustained to Nagata.

Ribeiro looked to be suffering from a little ring rust. He had Nagata mounted and rattled off numerous submission attempts but the four-time CBJJ winner decided to ditch his bread and butter and instead focus on ground and pound, eventually leading to the fight ending laceration.

Here are the official results for DREAM 8:

Main card:
Jeff Monson (30-8) defeated Sergei Kharitonov (16-4) by north south choke (1:42-R1)
Katsuyori Shibata (3-6-1) defeated Ikuhisa Minowa (41-30-8) via unanimous decision
Riki Fukuda (14-4) defeated Murilo Rua (16-10-1) via unanimous decision
Andrews Nakahara (2-1) defeated Shungo Oyama (7-12) by TKO (Strikes) (2:09-R1)
Vitor Ribeiro (20-2) defeated Katsuhiko Nagata (4-5-1) by TKO (Cut) (7:58-R1)

Welterweight Grand Prix:
Hayato Sakurai (35-8-2) defeated Shinya Aoki (20-4) by TKO (Knees & Strikes) (0:27-R1)
Andre Galvao (3-0) defeated John Alessio (24-13) by armbar (7:34-R1)
Jason High (7-1) defeated Yuya Shirai (15-8) by rear naked choke (0:59-R1)
Marius Zaromskis (9-2) defeated Seichi Ikemoto (18-15-5) via unanimous decision

Featherweight Grand Prix:
Daiki Hata (11-5-3) defeated Hideo Tokoro (21-16-1) via unanimous decision

The event will be shown stateside courtesy of HDNet on Friday, April 10, at 10 p.m. ET. In the meantime, be sure to keep it locked in to MMAmania.com for coverage surrounding the second round of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix scheduled for May 26.

DREAM 8: Shinya Aoki vs Hayato Sakurai (Video)

I think Aoki is a fine fighter and he is one of my favorite fighters to watch. With that said I feel he is not physically strong enough to compete with the elite fighters in his class. He did beat Alvarez so I guess my MMA knowledge is not that great either.

Triple Crown Pre registration, last chance

Just a reminder that SUNDAY APRIL 5th @ MIDNIGHT is the deadline for early registration. All registration entries after this date will be charged an LATE FEE of $10. Also, late applicants will NOT be guaranteed a competitor t-shirt. Only those who register early will be able to secure a competitor t-shirt at the tournament. Also, those who have tried to register and have had problems with payment, contact us immediately so that we can get you registered completely before the pre-registration deadline. Make sure that you have received a confirmation from paypal to ensure that your payment went through. If you are not sure, contact us so that we can check our records. All competitors need to check the pre-registration page to ensure that all their information is correct. If we need to make corrections (ie: weight division, gi/no-gi/both, other) let us know early so we can make the proper adjustments accordingly. Contact us if you have any questions. Aloha!

Let's hear your comments

Take the time to sign up for this Blog and post your comments. I know all of you hate this new format but it is probably going to be this way for a while.

I was going to let anonymous posts but decided against it because then you have all sorts of trouble makers posting all sorts of garbage.

Garden Island Kauai Cage article

Dennis Fujimoto

and Paul C. Curtis

the garden island



Eben Kaneshiro took out Bronson Pieper just 45 seconds into the first round with a guillotine choke at the Kaua‘i Cage Match VIII event, Saturday night, that played out under rain, cold and wind at Hanapepe Stadium.

The Kaneshiro match was the featured event in the 150-pound class in the mixed martial arts (MMA) division. Kaneshiro, now living in Portland, Ore., is an ‘Oma‘o native whose parents still live in ‘Oma‘o.

Sergio Hurtado of Boars Nest and Shane Kahananui of Kaua‘i, a heavy crowd favorite during the Friday night weigh-in at Kukui Grove Center, each won their MMA matches by unanimous decision, Hurtado taking Adam Rivera of Team Hakuilua in the 125-pound class, and Kahananui of Kaua‘i Technical Institute (KTI) taking Jon Bernard of God’s Army in the 145-pound class.

Nainoa Dung of Da Hui/O2 Martial Arts, the winner of a previous Kaua‘i Cage match, earned the 70-pound Amateur Youth Kickboxing Title with a TKO, or technical knock-out, against Lokahi Morante of HMC. The referee stopped the match in the first round after Morante could not continue, according to information provided by bout co-promoter Vance Pascua.

DJ Bozu of HMC Kickboxing of Honolulu earned a judges’ decision in his match against Duane Silva of Disciples of Puhi in the 170-pound kickboxing event, and Ezekiel Lopes of HMC followed with a unanimous decision over Jeff Hildago Buragat of Disciples of Puhi in the open class kickboxing event.

Tyler Kobayashi of HMC continued to reap wins for the blue card with a decision over Erickson Abalos of Disciples of Puhi in the 145 kickboxing event.

Waylan Mata of Bulls Pen took the 145-pound MMA match against Josh Dubois of Kaua‘i (fighting freelance) with a rear neck choke tapout 1:44 in the third round, and Glen Daguio of KTI got the red-card win on a decision over Domenick Ansagay of Kaua‘i (also fighting freelance, or unattached to any club) in the 130-pound MMA class.

Randall Silva of KTI picked up another win for the red card in the 180-pound MMA class with a rear neck choke that came at the 1:12 mark in the first round against Mike Soloman of Bulls Pen.

Colin Mackenzie of God’s Army and Justin Konia of HMC thrilled the audience in an exhibition showdown in the 155-pound weight class with the island’s first live look at a Triple Threat Match, wherein the first round is limited to kickboxing, the second round involves adding boxing gloves and headgear, and the third round involves full-on MMA moves and action.

“I really want to thank all the fans for all the support and hanging in there despite the weather conditions,” said Pascua, the event organizer. “It really shows the Kaua‘i spirit.”

He estimates a crowd of over 2,000 people braved the elements, and said there were long enough periods of favorable weather during the evening so that all the bouts could be completed, in between heavy rain showers that sent many fans for cover.

“They came to support the fighters. The whole community comes together,” Pascua added. “Kaua‘i fans are good.”

He would not speculate about when fans could expect Kaua‘i Cage Match IX.

UFC 97: Chuck Liddell wants to ‘knock off’ Shogun’s head and get back in the title hunt

“I am looking to get back to competing for the title. I want to get back to the top and put some of my past fights behind me and get my revenge…. I am in great shape. I have been waiting to fight Rua for a long time. He was one of the best in Pride and seen as one of the top guys until he lost to Forrest so this is going to be a great fight…. I am going to go after him. I am going to pressure him and make him prove that he is in shape. But basically I am going to try to knock his head off.”

Former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell still has his sights set on reclaiming the 205-pound title even at age 39. “Iceman” has dropped three of his last four fights, but that’s not stopping him from making one last run at championship glory, which will go through Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 97: “Redemption” on April 18 in Montreal, Quebec. Not an easy task … although Liddell is certainly not short on confidence.

X-1 World Events presents Temple of Boom 5 on April 11

X-1’s Temple of Boom V will take place at Palolo Hongwanji in Honolulu, Hawai’i on April 11.

Fight Card:
Pro Boxing Bouts

135 lbs. - Isaac Arasato (Palolo BC) vs. Ricky Thompson (Florida)

140 lbs. - Van Oscar Penovaroff (Kona BC) vs. Mike Maley (Indiana)

126 lbs. - Thaddine Johnson (New York) vs. Tracey Stevens (Canada)

145 lbs. - Richard Barnard (Waianae BC) vs. Dimitris Labatos (Florida)

140 lbs.- Nui Wheeler (Maili Soljahs) vs. Keith Kelly (Montana)

MMA Bouts

170 lbs. - Kolo Koka (MMAD) vs. Michael Brightmon (Gorilla House)

170 lbs. - David Kahanui (Da Hui) vs. Kona Ke (God’s Army)

135 lbs. - Julio Moreno (Bullspen) vs. Jared Iha (No Remorse)

145 lbs. - Steve Albanese (M.C.O.A) vs. Colin Mackenzie (God’s Army)

155 lbs.- Cordel Knapp (558 MP) vs. Angel Garza (Chris Leben’s UFS)

155 lbs. - Steve Farmer (Universal Combat) vs. Ben Santiago (God’s Army)

170 lbs. - Keoki Silva (Freelance) vs. Joe Palimoo (HMC)

185 lbs. - Kaipo Cayetano (Bullspen) vs. Frankie Ruiz (Freelance)

185 lbs. - Akoni Sexton (Freelance) vs. Derrick Wright (Freelance)

205 lbs. - Mikey (Freelance) vs. Ashton Visoria (Team Devastation)

UPROARHAWAII

Jake Shields vs Robbie Lawler Strikeforce fight set for June 6 in St. Louis

Strikeforce announced today the much-anticipated superfight pitting former Elite XC welterweight champion Jake Shields (22-4-1) against former Elite XC middleweight kingpin Robbie Lawler (16-4) at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 6.

Their main event fight, airing live on Showtime at 10pm ET, will be contested at a catchweight of 182 pounds.

Both competitors have been out of action since their former employer ProElite went out of business last November. Shields defeated talented British striker Paul “Semtex” Daley on the final event for the promotion, which aired live on CBS from Sunrise, Fla., last October.

The victory was the first title defense for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. He captured the vacant title with a first round submission win over the normally very difficult to beat Nick “The Goat” Thompson a little more than two months earlier on the July 26 EliteXC: “Unfinished Business” card, which aired live on CBS as well.

For Lawler, it’s been a little longer since he last saw action, finishing off Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith in the second round of their rematch on the “Unfinished Business” card in July 2008. The two engaged in one of the best fights in the short history of the organization in their first encounter in May, but the fight was ruled a no contest because of an inadvertent eye poke, which led to the rematch.

The win over Smith was the fifth in a row for “Ruthless” — sans the dreaded no contest — and he wasn’t fighting any bums either. That list included Frank Trigg, Joey Villasenor and Murilo “Ninja” Rua. Not to mention earlier career victories over Niko Vitale (twice), Chris Lytle and others.

This is a great match-up for Strikeforce’s second event in the post EliteXC buyout/Showtime deal era.

Shields has expressed interest in the past about fighting in the 185-pound division. He’s always been a big welterweight and shouldn’t have a problem moving up to face Lawler — a former welterweight himself.

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral and ex-EliteXC 205-pound champ Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante have also been confirmed for a throwdown at this event. Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this developing fight card.

Tickets for Strikeforce: “Lawler vs. Shields”, priced from $30, go on sale on Monday, April 13, at 10 a.m. CT, at the Scottrade Center box office as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and Strikeforce’s official website (www.strikeforce.com)

MMAMANIA