Strikeforce Confirms April 17 in Nashville, Announcement Next Week

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Mixed martial arts fans have been anxiously awaiting word about what's next for Strikeforce, which has been rumored to have another big card on CBS coming up in April. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed Thursday that Strikeforce will have a card in Nashville on April 17 but said fans will have to wait just a little bit longer for any details.

"We've been putting most of our efforts into the fight tomorrow night," Coker said of the Strikeforce Challengers card on Friday in San Jose. "But we'll have some announcements next week, for sure. ... We will be having a fight in Nashville on April 17, but the rest of the information we'll be announcing next week."

The big three cards that have been discussed for the April card are Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum, Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields and Gegard Mousasi vs. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal. On Thursday reports surfaced that Fedor vs. Werdum could be moved to May, but Coker said he couldn't discuss any specific fights on any specific dates.

One date Coker did rule out is April 24, which had been discussed as another possible Strikeforce date.

"April 24 Showtime is having a big boxing fight so I know we won't be having a fight on the 24th," Coker said.

In addition to the fighters mentioned above, Coker mentioned Brett Rogers, who fought Fedor in November, and Shinya Aoki, the Japanese Dream lightweight champion who could battle Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez, as fighters he's excited about getting into the Strikeforce cage soon.

"For Brett, I think the fights that make sense for him are Antonio Silva or Alistair Overeem -- those are the two guys I'd like to see him fight right now," Coker said. "I think you'll see Aoki relatively soon. We're working hard to try to make that happen."

Coker also said he expects Strikeforce to have a pay-per-view card before 2010 is out.

"We have a different business model than the UFC does in the pay-per-view television business," Coker said. "We're very happy with Showtime and free television on CBS. But before the end of the year, in the fourth quarter, we'll definitely have a fight on pay-per-view."

But that's in the distant future. In the near future, Coker said, fans can expect to know what's next for Strikeforce soon.

"Stay tuned," Coker said. "We're getting things worked out and we'll probably have some big announcements next week."

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Herschel Walker Yes, Jose Canseco No for Strikeforce

Although there were plenty of critics, Herschel Walker did everything right when he made his mixed martial arts debut last month: He said all the right things, he took his training seriously, he showed respect for the sport and for opponent Greg Nagy, and he left the cage with his hand raised.

So it's no surprise that Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker says he hopes Walker makes a return to the cage. But Coker said Jose Canseco, who has been talking up a potential fight between himself and Walker, will not be fighting in Strikeforce.

"We sat down with Herschel about a week ago and talked about him fighting again," Coker said Thursday. "If he still has the desire -- and it seems like he still has the desire and the hunger -- I think that will happen."

All indications are that Walker does, in fact, plan to fight again. People who have seen him train say that he's committed to improving himself and growing as a martial artist, and that he loves the competition.

The biggest question is what type of opponent Strikeforce can give Walker, the 47-year-old former football star. It's not realistic to think Walker could beat an opponent with significant experience fighting at a high level, but he should get someone better than Nagy, who's not remotely close to Walker in terms of athletic talent.

But while Strikeforce has some work to do before deciding who Walker's opponent would be in his second pro fight, the promotion has definitely decided that it will not be Canseco.

"That's not going to happen," Coker said. "I know he wants to fight and he trained with Cesar Gracie, but I don't think he's training with Cesar anymore."

While on the subject of old guys looking for one more chance at glory, Coker said he doesn't want Strikeforce to be the place for UFC cast-offs. Asked if he's interested in Mark Coleman and Frank Trigg, both of whom were released after losing fights this month, Coker said, "No, I'm not. No. I would say no."

That's what he said about Canseco as well.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/02/26/herschel-walker-yes-jose-canse