FiveOuncesOfPain.com was recently able to obtain the news through a representative of the Showtime network.

The event was headlined by a female title attraction between Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Gina Carano, with other featured bouts including Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle and more.

“Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” bested out previous Showtime/Strikeforce ventures such as “Shamrock vs. Diaz”, “Lawler vs. Shields”, and “Shamrock vs. Le” in the ratings department.

Showtime is set to re-air the broadcast tomorrow evening (Wednesday, August 19). The entire event is also available on Showtime On Demand from right now through September 14.

The event took place Saturday evening from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and aired live on Showtime.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com was recently able to receive a full list of the disclosed fighter payouts for the event through the California State Athletic Commission.

Carano wound up taking home a cool $125,00 for her loss to Cyborg, while Babalu netted an impressive $75,000 for his dismantling at the hands of Gegard Mousasi (who was shockingly only compensated to the tune of a disclosed $2,000).

Others on the card that were able to bring home hefty paydays totalling $50,000 or more were Gilbert Melendez, Fabricio Werdum and Jay Hieron.

A full list of the disclosed payouts for the event are listed below:

Gina Carano: $125,000

Cris “Cyborg” Santos: $25,000 - $20,000, win bonus $5,000

Renato “Babalu” Sobral: $75, 000

Gegard Mousasi: $2,000

Gilbert Melendez: $50,000

Mitsuhiro Ishida: $30,000

Fabricio Werdum: $50,000 – $25,000, win bonus $25,000

Mike Kyle: $14,000

Jay Hieron: $55,000 - $25,000, win bonus $30,000

Jesse Taylor: $12,000

Scott Lighty: $4,000

Mike Cook: $2,500

Justin Wilcox: $5,000 – $2,500, win bonus $2,500

David Douglas: $5,500

James Terry: $6,000 - $3,000, win bonus $3,000

Zak Bucia: $2,000

Alex Trevino: $3,500 – $2,000, win bonus $1,500

Isaiah Hill: $2,000

“Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg”

FiveOuncesOfPain.com was recently able to obtain the numbers through the California State Athletic Commission.

The statistics are just slightly down in comparison to the “Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz” event which saw a live crowd of 15,211, and a gross gate of $750,000.

This past Saturday evening’s show featured a 145 pound female championship between Cristiane” Cyborg” Santos and Gina Carano as the main event.

The event took place on Saturday evening and featured a female 145 pound championship between Cris “Cyborg” Santos and Gina Carano.

Results from steroid tests on the athletes from the card will take three to four weeks to get back due to facilities being shared for NFL pre-season testing.

5 Oz’s will keep you updated when the results to the steroid tests come back.

Mousasi pounding out Sobral

If anything, Gina Carano’s loss to Cyborg last night will do nothing but help further the development of female MMA. I mean seriously you guys, last night’s main event was nothing short of awesome in terms of the excitement it delivered. It seemed to put that special raw something in this sport we have grown accustomed to. I can honestly say that the five minutes of battle waged between Carano and Cyborg on Saturday night was five of the most exhilarating and satisfying minutes I have ever spent watching MMA. Made me feel like a teenager again, tuning in to the UFC for the very first time.

Who doesn’t want to see Gina work her way back up to the top for her chance at revenge. The storyline will guarantee a much bigger fight in the rematch than in the original. Mark my words. Just watch how much attention the rematch gets. If Gina had won it would have dampened the interest on a sport that would seem completely dominated by one person. While it may seem as if that is the case right now, this writer doesn’t believe so. I think Carano fought a bad fight and was overwhelmed by the she-beast that is Cyborg. I’d expect for her to be much more prepared in the next go around.

Women’s MMA can thank Cyborg for finishing the fight in the first round. Let’s be real folks, if the fight made it to the second round it was setting up to get really ugly. A blind man could see that both women were winded at the end of the first round, in what was scheduled to be a five round contest. Now, granted these two were going at it at a pace that was far above average, but both were going to be suffering in the cardio department if it had gone any further. Carano was tired from being beaten, and Cyborg was exhausted from keeping up a pace as vigorous as she did.

No more headlocks Gina. Can we please fix those bad habits. I don’t know how many times Carano resorted to the old school headlock out of desperation of being assaulted. A natural human reaction to being attacked, but it shouldn’t be a fighters reaction. Let’s focus on the clinch, takedowns and positioning, positioning, positioning in the future. No more head locks, and no more giving your opponent your back while standing. You’re better than that.

Female MMA is about five years behind male MMA at this point, but don’t worry, it’s evolving. Five years from now a wild-woman like Cyborg will likely be exposed. Much like Wanderlei Silva did after ruling his division in the sport with the same level of intimidation and aggression. I feel like the sport will catch up with Santos in due time, but not before she establishes her legacy as the first dominant champion in the history of female mixed martial arts.

Gegard Mousasi just proved what I have been saying all along: “The Dreamcatcher” is the future. It was some nine months ago that the 5 Oz’s fighter of the year poll came up and I had my back against the wall as I pleaded my case for Mousasi to be honored with the title. Out of eight other staff writers I was the only guy to put my name on the line for the Dutch-Armenian phenom by the name of Gegard. Of course the sexy choice at the time was either Rashad Evans or Miguel Torres, but I remained adamant. I just couldn’t rationalize giving the title to a man who won two or three big fights over the space of a year, over a man that had come out victorious against six dangerous fighters, and additionally competed in his first professional kickboxing match where he obliterated an insanely more experienced veteran of the game.

I had heard the argument before, ‘He hasn’t beaten anyone that’s top level yet’, ‘Everyone he has face has been one-dimensional’. I swear, some people can convince themselves of anything if they wanted to. I believe in reading between the lines, and instead of “studying” fighters on fight data-bases, I actually prefer watching tape. Anyone that has had the opportunity to view four or five of Mousasi’s fights would agree in saying that he didn’t have as much left to prove as many had claimed. The twenty four year old prodigy is the complete package; slick submissions, top level striking, and a mind-set that just can not be taught.

I firmly believe, and have believed that Mousasi is among the best fighters in the world. Not a question in my mind. I also feel strongly that, at just 24, Mousasi could very well be the man to carry the torch for Fedor Emelianenko when “The Last Emperor” ultimately decides he has fought his last fight.

Strikeforce’s heavyweight division just got a little more interesting with the impressive return of Fabricio Werdum. Slow down before you point pout the fact that Mike Kyle is not considered to be a top rated heavyweight, I understand this, what made me a believer out of the new Werdum was the amazing physical shape he came into the fight in. I have never seen a Werdum as lean and fit as the one that made short work of Kyle last evening, and a motivated Fabricio is a scary thing. It was a far cry from the flabby shell of a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt that showed up to get knocked senseless at the hands of Junior dos Santos in his last bout with the UFC. Welcome back Fabricio!

Just one bout left to avenge for Gilbert Melendez. The rematch between Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson and interim champ Gibert Melendez for all of the marbles was further promoted by a brilliant performance on the side of Melendez last evening. Just like Gilbert explained in his post-fight interview, Ishida is an extremely strategic fighter and you can’t just go in there trying to clobber the guy. Melendez displayed the type of resolve and focus in the bout with Mitsuhiro that he had never shown before. The rematch between Thomson and Melendez definitely became a little more intriguing in the wake of last night.

The highly anticipated show failed to dissapoint as every fight on the card delivered it’s promise to entertain.

The first Strikeforce female 145 pound champion was crowned as Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos assaulted Gina Carano in the opening round of their scheduled five round match-up, Gegard Mousasi annihilated Renato “Babalu” Sobral in record time, Fabricio Werdum looked better than ever, and much more.

Fabricio Werdum is back

Melendez vs. Ishida

Melendez by TKO

Mousasi pounding out Sobral

The new champion

Carano vs. Cyborg

Doing female MMA proud

Pain, made to order

Cris "Cyborg" Santos, Strikeforce female 145 pound champion

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos

Along with her newly obtained Strikeforce belt, Cyborg can now be recognized as the the most dangerous female mixed martial artist on the planet.

In a single round that seemed to go on for twenty minutes in length, these two world class female martial artists displayed skill, heart and courage for the world to see in an exhilarating and electric bout that had every soul in attendance on their feet.

Santos brought the fight to Carano almost immediately, hurling her fists with the type of force meant to finish the fight as soon as possible. Gina whethered the storm and wound up in the top position on the canvas on two separate occasions, but was unable to keep it there for any length of time. Once Cyborg got the upper hand on the ground she let loose the demon on Carano in the form of a punishing assault of leather, forcing the referee to call a halt to the contest with a mere second remaining in the opening round.

Gegard Mousasi showed the masses that he is the real deal this evening as he made Renato “Babalu” look  bad, finishing the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt off with a devastating series of punches in the opening moments of the first round.

Gilbert Melendez was able to avenge the first loss in his professional career as he wore down and TKO’d Mitsuhiro Ishidain the third round to hold on to the Strikeforce interim lightweight championship.

Also on the card was a ripped Fabricio Werdum that reasserted himself as a legitimate threat in the heavyweight division with an impressive first round guillotine choke submission over Mike Kyle.

For a full list of the event results from “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” CLICK HERE

New Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Champion, Gegard Mousasi

Make it thirteen in a row for the Dutch-Armenian sensatiion that goes by the nickname “The Dreamcatcher”.

‘Wow! Gegard Mousasi is the real deal’, is the sentiment currently rippling throughout the world of mixed martial arts as the M-1 Global signed fighter put a vicious beating on Renato “Babalu” Sobral to claim the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship.

The two met up this evening at “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

Mousasi entered the ring stone-faced, showing no emotion. As the two slammed into each other in the opening moments of round one Mousasi hurled Babalu to the canvas and followed him down into side position. From there it was a matter of seconds before the finish came as Mousasi based up and let loose a flurry of punches that left Sobral in an unconscious stupor.

Gegard is quickly making a case for himself as one of the most dangerous pound for pound fighters on the planet.

All of the action will kick off at 8:30 pm ET (5:30 pm PT) with the main card airing at 10:30 pm ET on Showtime, and you can check back right here as 5 Oz’s brings you all of the latest results and updates from the event as it happens.

Of course the main event of the evening is a highly anticipated female championship bout pitting Gina “Conviction” Carano up against Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.

Also on the card will be a light heavyweight between Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Gegard Mousasi, Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida and much more.

Isaiah Hill vs. Alex Trevino: Winner – Trevino via submission (side choke) – Round 1

James Terry vs. Zac Bucia: Winner - Winner – Kerry via TKO – Round 1

David Douglas vs. Justin Wilcox: Winner – Wilcox via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3

Scott Lighty vs. Mike Cook: Winner: Lighty via TKO – Round 1

Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor: Winner – Hieron via unanimous decision

Mike Kyle vs. Fabricio Werdum: Winner – Werdum via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1

Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida: Winner – Melendez via TKO – Round 3

Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi: Winner - Mousasi via knockout – Round 1

Gina Carano vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos: Winner – Cyborg via TKO – Round 1

As if you didn’t know, “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” takes place this evening from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and will be airing live on Showtime.

*Photo credits to Esther Lin from Strikeforce

FiveOuncesOfPain.com

The weigh-ins are set to begin shortly from the San Jose Marriott Hotel in beautiful San Jose, California.

“Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” is set to take place tomorrow evening from the HP Pavilion in San Jose and will air live on Showtime.

The first fighter should hit the scales right around 7 pm ET (4 pm PT).

A full list of the weigh-in results from the event are listed below:

Gina Carano (143) vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (144.5)

Renato “Babalu” Sobral (201) vs. Gegard Mousasi (204)

Gilbert Melendez (155) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (155)

Mike Kyle (219)vs. Fabricio Werdum (228)

Jay Hieron (169) vs. Jesse Taylor (169)

Mike Cook (205) vs. Scott Lighty (202)

David “Tarzan” Douglas (156) vs. Justin Wilcox (154)

Zak Bucia (170) vs. James Terry (169)

Isaiah Hill (156) vs. Alex Trevino (156)

**Jesse Taylor came in at 172 pounds and the cut-off for welterweight is 171. He has one hour to lose the one additional pound. Of course, Taylor stepped in to face Hieron on less than one weeks notice.

UPDATE: Taylor has since made weight and all fights are set to take place as planned. Respect to Taylor for getting the job done on very short notice.

It seems like it’s been five years now that this fight between Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos has been brewing. Obviously I’m exaggerating, but who won’t be excited when these two femme fatales touch gloves at the HP Pavilion in San Jose? A show of hands please……. [crickets chirping]. It’s going to be a good one fight fans.

And how can you forget Babalu vs. Mousasi, or Melendez vs. Ishida, or even Taylor vs. Hieron. My MMA faithful, come along with me as I dare to take a closer look at what promises to be one of the most exhilarating events of the year.

Gina Carano vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos

There are quite a few people out there that seem to hold the opinion that Cyborg may very well rip the flesh from Carano’s face and wear it back to Brazil with her, I’m not one of them.

Santos is a scary woman, I’ll give her that. Does she have the skills to pay the bills? Absolutely. The Chute Boxe trained assassin possesses an intimidating, somewhat masculine physique, and not only does she look the part, she drops bombs like Hiroshima.

This writer feels like many fans may be judging these books by their covers, and that could wind up being a costly mistake if you’re planning on being a betting man this Saturday evening. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a thousand times with Carano. Don’t let the pretty face fool you. She’s the goods and she will prove it against in the toughest challenge of her career up until this point.

It makes me chuckle when I hear people talk about how Cyborg is going to brutalize Carano. Do they forget how it took Santos three rounds to finally finish off an absolutely one-dimensional Hitomi Akano in the imposing Brazilian’s last bout. You know, the one where she out-weighed the poor girl by a good 10-15 pounds. The same girl that had never managed to rack up a single KO or TKO win in the course of her twenty plus fight career.

Let’s go back one bout further, when this ferocious killing machine was extended to the judges scorecards against Yoko Takahashi. Another one dimensional submission fighter, this one managing a record of 15-10-1, yet somehow she managed to make it to the final bell with this beast of a woman.

But oh yeah, Cyborg is going to maul Carano all over the cage on Saturday night and knock her senseless. Give me a break. Gina is a far cry from Yoko “Random Japanese Fighter” Takahashi. Lets just see how well Cyborg does when she’s in against a punching bag that can punch and kick back with the kind of force and velocity that only Gina can deliver.

Let’s not forget for a second folks, the only reason Carano hasn’t knocked out all of her opponents senseless is because they don’t want any part of the stand-up with her. She kicks like a man, and punches a little harder. Her technique is much more sound, compact and polished than Cyborg’s and heaven forbid they end up on the ground. Let’s not forget that Cyborg HAS lost in her career and it was by submission. I’m just saying.

Winner: Gina Carano via knockout

Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi

Without question this is the one fight I am looking forward to more than any other on this card. Mainly because me and a dear friend of mine that shall remain nameless have been vigorously debating who we feel will win this bout and why for over a month now, and I’ll be glad to put this argument to bed. Mainly beacuse I’m right.

My friend (an extremely knowledgeable guy) feels like Babalu will take Gegard’s lunch money and give him a much needed learning experience at this early point in his career. I feel as if Gegard is gong to use Sobral as a platform and highlight the fact that you CAN NOT be one dimensional in this game any longer.

Not as though Babalu is completely one-dimensional, or that he has nothing to offer in the stand-up department, but his striking game grows more and more outdated as the sport of mixed martial arts continues to evolve. I’m just saying, the last time Babalu stopped anyone by legitimate knockout or TKO was when he soccer kicked Brad Kohler in the back of the head at a RINGS event way back in January of 2000. That was like a decade ago!

If Renato has shown one thing in the course of his career it’s that he can be clipped. It happened twice with Chuck Liddell, and although I know Babalu supporters would like to, how can you forget the embarrassing knockout at the hands of Jason Lambert in 2007? On that note, do not sleep on Gegard’s stand-up arsenal. A boxer by origin, Mousasi got involved with kickboxing, and eventually MMA solely due to the fact that there was no money to be made in professional boxing in the country he was from. Regardless, striking is his heart, and he showed it in his K-1 debut on New Years Eve 2008 in Japan when he demolished an enormously more experienced kickboxer in Musashi within just one round.

While Babalu’s vicious submission arsenal should present a series of problems for Mousasi, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt is not the top ten light-heavyweight my good friend believes he is, and Gegard should look good while securing the biggest “name” win of his career and further establishing himself as one of the most complete fighters in the business.

Just remember when you watch Mousasi handle a dangerous veteran like Sobral on Saturday night that the newly crowned champion is a mere 24 years of age. Still a baby in this sport.

Winner: Gegard Mousasi via TKO

Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

I’m not going to sit here and lie and tell you guys this one has the potential to be the fight of the night. The first fight between the two was comparable to watching paint dry in my opinion, largely due to Ishida choosing to employ a one-dimensional, “take him down and hold him down” style. Hey, it worked for him then, but it’s not going to this time.

On the bright side of things, I definitely anticipate this bout between the two to be far more entertaining than the first based largely on what I believe to be Melendez’ evolution and progression as a mixed martial artist.

An important fact to take not of in this one is that Ishida is coming back from a TKO defeat while Melendez is returning after an impressive knockout victory. While I anticipate this one going to the distance, anything can happen, and what I mean by that is ‘Melendez might knock him out’. They’re going the distance: final answer.

Winner: Melendez via unanimous decision

Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor

Would Diaz vs. Riggs have been super awesome? Of course it would have been, but there’s no use in crying over spilt milk in this world. What we do have is an extremely interesting match-up between two top flight welterweights that should end up being quite a battle.

JT Money has been on an absolute rampage since his days acting like a complete moron at The Ultimate Fighter house, winning his last seven bouts in impressive fashion. Hieron has long been considered to be a force at welterweight, but has always lacked that one big win to push him to the upper crust of the division.

This bout will be a very interesting fight as the winner automatically becomes a very relevant force in the Strikeforce welterweight division overnight.

Winner: Jesse Taylor via unanimous decision

Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle

A much more dangerous fight for Werdum than may initially meet the eye. Kyle has made a career of putting fully grown men to sleep and has a reputation for punching like a Mac-Truck. Of course, Werdum is coming back from a horribly disappointing knockout loss in the UFC at the fists of Junior dos Santos and it will be interesting to see how he rebounds against a fearsome striker such as Kyle.

With that said, Werdum is on a whole different level on the ground, and he should manage to get Kyle to the canvas and have his way with him. He just can’t fool himself into thinking that he’s some sort of kickboxer any longer. If you’re good at something, stick to it. I expect for Werdum to do just that in this one.

Winner: Werdum via sumbmission

“Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” is set to take place this Saturday evening from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and will air live on Showtime.

Fighters participating on the card that were present at the photo shoot that took place just yesterday afternoon were Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Gilbert Melendez and Mitsihuro Ishida.

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral

Babalu

The defending champion

Gegard Mousasi

The challenger, Mousasi

Gilbert Melendez

El Niño

Mitsuhiro Ishida

The Endless Warrior

*Photos credited to Esther Lin from Strikeforce

UFC 94 was a show that had been built up for months and was billed as an “Epic Battle of Champions” between B.J. Penn and Georges St-Pierre. Now, I can only speak for myself, but it definitely felt that way too. Dana White had three press conferences as soon as he announced the fight, first in Vegas, then Toronto and finally Honolulu. They also made a three part “UFC Primetime” series on the fight that was a real hit, and the media were all over it for the fact that it was two of the best ever about to collide in their primes.

Coming this weekend, we have a battle between the undefeated Gina “Conviction” Carano and her toughest opponent ever, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. These two are the faces of women’s MMA and are well known by the hardcore MMA community as the best of the best, but some in the media may not be giving this long-awaited battle it’s due.

Flipping through the channels these days it is more and more likely that you will see the face of the former Muay Thai standout, Gina Carano. However, in watching an interview with her, you might not get the right picture as to who she really is. You might think she were a full-time model or a long-time “American Gladiator” or famous for an alleged sex tape with Kit Cope (that doesn’t exist). Thankfully, Gina took some time from her busy fight preparation schedule to clear some of that up.

In a recent interview with RawVegas.TV, Carano spoke on her promotional experiences of late, “You know, I’ve had to deal with a lot for this fight, and I look at people and I’m like, ‘Why don’t they realize this is like the toughest fight of my life?’ And they’re asking me like, you know sex questions and dating questions, and I’m like, ‘Do you have any idea like, what I’m actually going up against right now?’ You know, all that stuff isn’t even on my mind.”

With the fight only days away, Carano might be justifiably frustrated that the fight may not get the hype it deserves, but she is also making note of the fact that it has to do with the respect for female fighters as well, “It’s just crazy, you know, and I had somebody else tell me the other day, ‘You know Gina, it’s gonna be awhile before people take you guys seriously.’ I’m like, ‘What’s not serious about this? I’m stepping into the cage with an amazing athlete, like, you know things can go potentially really bad.”

Having seen many of the interviews she is referring to, it is clear to me that the female side of MMA has a long way to come to gain the type of respect that the men are given.

Is it because of the fact that the pool of top tier fighters is so small in comparison? Maybe so, but does that mean that the top two of the world’s elite are to not get the same respect as Royce Gracie did when he was facing men who were arguably of lesser skill? I don’t think so. You could argue that women’s MMA is further back in evolution when being compared to their male counterparts, but do we not remember the warriors and Champions of the early days of MMA as pioneers and legends that deserve our respect? Absolutely we do, even though those early days showed how much we didn’t know about fighting more than anything.

Gina experiences this lack of knowledge on a daily basis and as being arguably the most popular female MMA fighter, she understandably can get a little frustrated, “It just hurts my heart for the sport that its’ taken this long [for MMA in general], and now the women are trying to go through it.”

She remains optimistic however knowing that the respect will only continue to grow as the sport of MMA and she remains humble knowing that there are many great fighters that are out there right now and many will come after her, “I’m just one fighter. I’m just one female. I just happen to be one of the most recognizable ones out. But there is plenty other females, and women’s MMA is gonna be around if I’m a part of it or not.”

It is clear that there are many people trying to distract the young Carano leading up to her next fight, but she seems to be keeping it all in perspective leading into the undoubted war she will be in on Saturday night. “Everybody’s gotta give it up to Cris. She’s an amazing fighter and it’s really an honour to fight her, because she’s the best. She’s one of the best, and I know whoever is holding that belt at the end is gonna be a good belt holder regardless, and so that makes this fight really cool.” She continues, “I’ve sat down and I’ve watched tape. I’ve watched old tape and I’ve watched new tape and all I know is it’s gonna be a tough fight. I’ve got my game plans but I know anything can happen.”

Those who have followed women’s MMA know that this fight is the most anticipated in its history and likely have been waiting to see it happen for some time now, as I have. One thing is for sure, with all eyes on women’s MMA on Saturday night, I’m sure there couldn’t be two better representatives to go at it than these two. The fans will be treated to an “Epic Battle” of the best female MMA fighters on the planet.

The event is set for this Saturday evening from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and will air live on Showtime.

Hieron’s previous opponent Nick Diaz was scratched from the bout after failing to submit to a drug test requested by the California State Athletic Commission.

Strikeforce President Scott Cokerhas since confirmed the match-up between Hieron and Taylor in a recent report to MMAJunkie.com.

Taylor has come a long way since his days boozing it up at the TUF house, racking up seven consecutive victories, with his most recent win coming in the DREAM organization.

Hieron is just happy to have an opponent after the recent collapse of his expected bout with Paul Daley at “Affliction: Trilogy” and the recent Nick Diaz drama. Hieron is also coming off of a winning streak as he has seen victory in his last five bouts fighting in the IFL, Night Of Combat and Affliction promotions.

EDITORS NOTE: FiveOuncesOfPain.com has recently been able to confirm through Bill Douglas of the California State Athletic Commission that Diaz never showed up for his drug test this afternoon and is not currently licensed to fight in California.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com recently had the opportunity to get the latest details on this unfolding story from California State Athletic Commission Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas. According to him this bout is not currently beyond saving, but it’s getting closer and closer to that point with every passing minute of the day.

For absolute clarity we’ll let Mr. Douglas explain the details and transpirings of the past events that have led us to this point in his own words.

“When we initially made contact with the Diaz camp in regards to acquiring the pre-fight drug testing he was allegedly training in Florida with American Top Team and not available to be in California. No problem. We were trying to be accommodating.

“We knew he was scheduled to be a special guest at a boxing/kickboxing event that was taking place this past Friday evening. So we contacted Cesar Gracie on Wednesday to make the arrangements and let them know that we’ve been trying to arrange this drug test for some time. You know, we were like, ‘Let’s make this happen sooner than later because we want to make sure that we get the test results back in time. Technically we would have to get the test done by Friday to insure that we have enough time to get a drug test processed, it doesn’t take as long as a steroid test. So let’s do this’.

“Well they wanted a clarification on a legal opinion about medicinal marijuana in California because of the deal that was allegedly made between Nick Diaz and Armando Garcia. And I’m sitting here thinking, well Armando hasn’t been here since November. Is that really the policies of a person that we want to emulate at this point in time. So lets disregard that but Cesar asked for a legal opinion and at that point I’m obligated to give it to him. I went back to the department’s legal team, and what they clarified was that the passionate use act in California will protect people from criminal prosecution for the use of medicinal marijuana, but it does not protect them from administrative action against a license. So there is no criminal actions here against Mr. Diaz, it’s a licensing action that still falls in line with our rule 303 prohibiting use of a banned substance, and at this time in regards to athletic competition marijuana is still considered banned. So that’s what we came back to Cesar with.

“On Thursday we actually made arrangements again with Cesar. I set it up on this end for an athletic inspector who was going to be in Sacramento to wait for them and greet them. Cesar made contact with the athletic inspector and agreed that it would be best to do the drug test prior to the Friday evening boxing/kickboxing event, because of the fact that Nick was going to be there anyway. Cesar wanted to do it before anyone got there, we said no problem. We confirmed it with Cesar on behalf of Nick and this inspector. On Friday evening I get a phone call from the inspector saying they no-showed. There’s no Nick Diaz, there’s no Cesar Gracie, there’s nobody. When I reached out to Nick through phone call I was informed that Nick was busy training at Donner Lake. And I’m sitting here thinking that there’s a huge problem because to get to Donner Lake you have to go through Sacramento. So what’s the deal.

“Now Nick Diaz is completely unavailable, so I call the promoter and tell him we have a huge problem. I told him that I was out of options and didn’t know what to do. At this point, without his license, we can’t approve him to fight Jay Hieron. So this is fairly late in the evening on Friday night, about 9 or 10 pm on Friday night. I was on the phone at all hours dealing with this on Friday night, and the promoter said , “How about this as an option? How about we make sure that Nick is in Los Angeles on Monday. That way at least he’s there and we can drive him over to the lab”. I said, ‘You know what. In interest in fairness to Nick, interest of fairness to you and all of the fans that have wanted to see this fight; let’s do that. I’m all for second chances, let’s do whatever we can to get this man licensed. This is the only possible way we could get the test results on Friday. I even went as far as to say that I wouldn’t give a cut off time for the test results. I will take the test results up until seconds before Nick Diaz has to get on the scale. Seriously, I want to get this man licensed. The promoter said, “Excellent, thanks for this opportunity. We appreciate it. He’ll be there.”, and that was the last time we’ve heard from anybody. At least if we could get the test done by 2 pm this afternoon and get it to the lab by 5 pm, we’ll be alright.

“I attempted to contact the promoters of the event on Saturday night as far as what needed to be done, and again at midnight. The inspector has also made attempts to contact them on Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and again this morning, and neither one of us has heard anything from either the promoter or the Diaz camp. I’m sitting here thinking that we’ve done everything we can to try to get ahold of them and if we can’t get a simple phone call back, or some kind of fax, or an email, just one line, something; If they can’t meet us halfway on that, then it’s doomed.”

No problem, explained CSAC Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas, he’d go out of his way to make the fight happen. Douglas re-scheduled the Diaz drug testing for the latest possible time it could be completed in order for the bout to take place, early this morning.

So where’s Diaz? Good question. For the sake of the bout with with Jay Hieron, he absolutely must get down to the CSAC headquarters TODAY.

“[The test] has to be in the lab today by 5 pm to get the processing started because usually we’re looking at about a 72 hour process time, and then the extra day for results,” explained Douglas. “So if they get it in today there’s a chance it could be finished on Thursday, and we’ll have a report in our hands by Friday. Doing the test tomorrow is not going to do any good because the lab won’t process anything during the weekend and we wouldn’t have anything in our hands to license the bout until Monday. It has to be in by 5 pm today”

Douglas further confirmed with FiveOuncesOfPain.com that the CSAC has been actively trying to reach representatives from both the Diaz camp and Strikeforce over the weekend without success.

Diaz has not showed up at the CSAC this morning during the agreed time frame, and the upcoming Diaz vs. Hieron bout appears to be in severe jeopardy.

Stay tuned to FiveOuncesOfPain.com as we continue to keep you up to date on the bout between Nick Diaz and Jay Hieron, including an immediate report from the CSAC if Diaz make s it down to the lab in time.

A full report on the recent conversation with Bill Douglas is to follow shortly.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com was recently able to confirm the signing of the bout through Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz.

Werdum was slated to face off with current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem before a nagging hand injury forced Overeem to the sidelines.

The black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu first made his name in mixed martial arts as Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s Jiu-Jitsu instructor during the PRIDE days and has since gone on to compile an impressive record of 11-4 while competing primarily for the PRIDE and UFC promotions. Werdum has gone 3-3 in his last six bouts while picking up wins over Aleksander Emelianenko, Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera, and dropping fights to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Andrei Arlovski and Junior dos Santos.

Fellow UFC veteran Mike Kyle took a lot of people by surprise when he gave a heavily favored Rafael Cavalcante a vicious beating en route to a second round TKO in their light-heavyweight contest that was held at “Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields” on June 6. Kyle will be returning to heavyweight for this fight with Werdum, where he has previously picked up wins over fighters such as Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Wes Sims and “Scary” Jerry Vrbanovich.

Strikeforce

Thomson has been rehabilitating a broken leg suffered in training months ago, and apparently the injury has not been allowed the proper time to fully recover.

It was recently being reported by numerous sources that Mitsuhiro Ishida has been tabbed as a replacement for Thomson, and FiveOuncesOfPain.com has since been able to confirm the news of the bout-change through Strikeforce.

They will face off at “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg“, which is slated for August 15 from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. The event will air live on Showtime.

The pair are far from strangers as Ishida holds the first defeat in the career of Melendez when they first met in Japan on New Years Eve, 2007. Ishida was able to control Melendez and edge out a hard fought unanimous decision in what was considered to be a mild upset at the time.

Melendez recently bounced back from losing his Strikeforce championship to Thomson in June of 2008 by knocking Rodrigo Damm senseless at “Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz” in April of this year.

Ishida will be looking to get back in the win column following a recent TKO defeat at the hands of Mizuto Hirota in Tokyo that came on the heels of back-to-back victories for the powerful wrestler known as “The Endless Warrior”.

The news comes courtesy of a recent report from MMAFanhouse.com who confirmed the match-up through Hieron’s manager, Ken Pavia.

The unlikely championship bout came to fruition after Joe Riggs was pulled from fight with Diaz due to a bad reaction suffered to a drug, and Jay Hieron being yanked from his expected match-up with Paul Daley because of the cancellation of “Affliction Trilogy”.

Apparently Hieron was all set to make his return to the UFC until it was discovered that he had recently inked a deal with “EA Sports MMA“, which ultimately brought an abrupt conclusion to the negotiations.

Not to worry, Hieron’s as excited as he could be being able to step right into a title shot with Strikeforce. Sometimes opportunities such as this one only come knocking once in the course of one’s life, it’s up to you what you do with it.

“I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to fight for a title shot,” Hieron was quoted as saying. “I had other offers on the table and with the UFC. I just signed a video game deal that I was obligated to [and] I couldn’t get out of it.

“UFC stepped up the offer for me. It was a great offer, but again, I signed a deal with EA Sports. I was definitely surprised and I was ready to go back to the UFC. I got a great opportunity with Strikeforce, though, and I’m excited to fight for a title.”

“Strikeforce: Carano vs.Cyborg” is set for August 15 from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and will air live on Showtime.

Other than the headlining bout, the card will feature a Strikeforce light-heavyweight championship pitting Renato “Babalu” Sobral up against Gegard Mousasi, and a lightweight title rematch between Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez.