According to sources close to the promotion, Five Ounces of Pain has learned talks between KSW and controversial striker James Irvin are ongoing with the expectation “The Sandman” will fill the vacancy opposite Khalidov. Though Irvin is currently facing a probable suspension from the CSAC after testing positive for steroids and was removed from an upcoming Shark Fights event as a result of the hit, Poland does not have an athletic commission meaning he can be cleared to compete there while risking repercussions back in the States by violating the board’s findings.

Khalidov is currently 21-4-2 with an even split at 10/10 between strike-based/submission victories. He is 4-1-1 in his last six outings including first-frame finishes by way TKO of Jorge Santiago in November 2009 and a first-frame TKO.

Comparably, Irvin has lost four of his last five fights and is at a crossroads in his career where success against the popular Eastern European is crucial. He holds past wins over Terry Martin, Scott Smith, and Houston Alexander.

It also appears “KSW 15: Revenge” will feature Polish strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski making a return to the ring after forcing Eric “Butterbean” Esch to tap from strikes last September at KSW 14. Based on information from the same source, the 3-1 Pudzianowski will likely be paired with fan-favorite James Thompson.

Thompson is British brawler known for packing lot of power as well as embodying a “Rock Em Sock Em” spirit where little fear if any is ever shown in terms of suffering a knockout. He is 1-8 in his last nine fights but has had his hands raised in the past against Don Frye, Dan Severn, and Hidehiko Yoshida.

According to the 14-10 Team Trojan product, he will return to the Japanese-based promotion in August at the unannounced “Sengoku: Ninth Battle” event.

Thompson has already targeted an opponent for the bout.

“I hope it’s Kazuyuki Fujita,” Thompson told The Fight Network on Tuesday.

Thompson first crossed paths with Fujita at PRIDE: Total Elimination Absolute in May 2006, where the 15-7 Japanese veteran dealt him a knockout loss at 8:25 of the first round.

This time around the British export wants revenge.

Competing as a professional since 2003, Thompson has defeated veterans like Dan Severn, Hidehiko Yoshida and Don Frye.

Throughout stints with the PRIDE Fighting Championships, EliteXC and Cage Rage, Thompson has dropped bouts to Fujita, Aleksander Emelianenko, Eric “Butterbean” Esch, Neil Grove and Brett Rogers.

Now on a four-fight losing streak, Thompson hopes to turn things around following a first-round knockout loss to Jim York at “Sengoku: Seventh Battle” earlier this month.

Thompson is best known for a third-round TKO setback against Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson on the CBS broadcast of “EliteXC: Primetime” last May. Despite being stopped in the third round, Thompson had Ferguson on the brink of defeat in the second stanza, nearly becoming the first man to defeat the Internet street fighting sensation. Moreover, Thompson now holds the accolade of participating in the most-watched fight in MMA history.

Prior to facing York on March 20, Thompson battled popular French-Canadian prospect Steve Bosse to a no contest at the first (and last) Titans Fighting event in Montreal on February 6. Confusion about rules for the show led to fans throwing debris into the ring once Thompson took Bosse to the ground. Fans, unknowing to the fact they were watching a sanctioned MMA fight as opposed to a modified kickboxing-rules contest, responded by throwing bottles, cans and other items into the cage in support of the local hero Bosse.

Thompson also told The Fight Network that his contract was one of 42 different EliteXC fighter contracts acquired by Strikeforce in the ProElite acquisition earlier this year.

“I am waiting to hear from Strikeforce,” said Thompson, who hopes to compete for the California-based promotion on a future card televised on Showtime. For the time being, however, he appears to be having no trouble securing fights in the “Land of the Rising Sun.”

Throughout his nine-year career, Fujita has recorded wins over Mark Kerr, Ken Shamrock, Gilbert Yvel and Bob Sapp.

Fujita has notable career losses against world-class competition such as Mark Coleman, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (twice), Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva and Jeff Monson.

Fujita is coming off a first-round knockout loss to former YAMMA Pit Fighting tournament winner and UFC veteran Travis Wiuff at “Sengoku: Third Battle” in June 2008.

Thompson, a veteran of PRIDE and EliteXC, is 2-7 in his last nine bouts though he still has a strong fan following in England. Thompson’s last outing came against Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson. After three hard fought rounds the bout was stopped when Thompson took a flurry of punches from Slice which popped his cauliflower ear and left him dazed.

Piotr Kusmierz is a relative newcomer to MMA with a record of 1-1. Kusmierz holds a TKO victory over Anton Schutte with his sole blemish coming to Stav Economou at Cage Rage 27: Step Up.

Also scheduled to appear is UFC veteran Ross Pointon who’ll be battling Ch’e Mills for the Cage Rage British welterweight title. Pointon (6-10) is coming off an impressive submission victory over Ross Mason at Cage Rage 26: Extreme.

Ch’e Mills is a Cage Rage veteran who has amassed an impressive record of 6-1 with 1 no contest. Mills holds victories over Marius Zaromskis, Ross Mason, and Afran Saeed.

Much of the criticism levelled at the main attraction pre-fight was that Kimbo Slice was undeserving of the role of ambassador for mainstream mixed martial arts because of his lack of experience and his backyard brawling background and that the fight would be just be an early first round knockout and would be more about showcasing Slice than it was MMA.

A quick first round knockout wasn’t what we saw on Saturday night though and I for one am glad that I got to see 10 minutes and 38 seconds of back and forth MMA action instead. Granted, the fight wasn’t filled with the cleanest of exchanges and grappling transitions but in my opinion it was a lot better viewing than the much predicted alternative.

If Slice/Thompson went as everyone expected it to go then MMA’s first foray into the world of network television would of come across to the novice viewer as just sloppy kickboxing with the occasional tackle.

The hardest part, I think, of introducing MMA to the uneducated public is getting the public to understand the intricacies of the ground game. If MMA is going to have any sort of staying power or longevity as a mainstream sport it needs an educated fan base. You can only dish up less than technical stand-up war after stand-up war for so long until the product becomes stale and in my opinion what gives MMA its lure is the contrast between the intensity and power of the stand up and the technical and tactical battle of the ground. Surprisingly, Kimbo/Thompson probably ended up helping the education of the newer audience in the details of the ground more so than any other possible fight could.

Like it or not, the overwhelming majority of people that tuned in yesterday that haven’t watched an MMA event most likely did so in order to watch Kimbo Slice. Now if you had only very limited knowledge about MMA beforehand and were only tuning in to watch Kimbo Slice you would be very eager and interested to learn what was going on when Thompson was on top of Kimbo. The commentators did a good job of explaining what Kimbo needed to do in order to get out of the bad situations he found himself in and what James Thompson was trying to do. For an MMA newcomer and Kimbo fan that would resonate more deeply than it would if it were two BJJ blackbelts rolling in the main event.

With any luck that fight planted seeds in the minds of many newcomers so that the next time they stumble upon an event they will be able to see and recognise those positions and will be able to get more insight and enjoyment out of that fight/event.

According to the report, the opponent set to be announced is none other than former PRIDE veteran James “Colossus” Thompson.

It was reported by FiveOuncesOfPain.com (www.FiveOuncesOfPain.com) following the combined EliteXC & Strikeforce show on March 29 that Thompson was in fact the leading candidate to face Slice after an attempt to finalize Ron Waterman as an opponent was unsuccessful.

Slice, 2-0, last fought on in February during EliteXC’s “Street Certified” show in Miami, Florida. During the card’s main event, Slice recorded a first round knockout victory over MMA pioneer Tank Abbott.

Thompson also fought on the same card, but lost to heavyweight prospect Brett Rogers after being knocked out at 2:24 into round 1.

Thompson, who trains out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, is 14-8 lifetime and holds notable career victories over Don Frye, Hidehiko Yoshida, and Dan Severn.

The debut CBS show, which is set to emanate from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., will also feature Robbie Lawler defending his EliteXC middleweight title vs. Scott Smith, Gina Carano facing Kaitlin Young in a women’s MMA fight, and Phil Baroni taking on Murilo “Ninja” Rua.