The final slot on the TV portion of the Sept. 25 “Strikeforce Challengers: Kennedy vs. Cummings” event will go to two-time U.S. Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier.

Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz confirmed Cormier’s signing with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) and said the fighter’s opponent should be finalized in the next day or two.

Cormier, the latest in a long line of former Oklahoma State wrestling standouts who have moved to MMA, will make his pro debut at the event, which airs on Showtime and takes place at SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby, Okla.

AOL FanHouse first reported last week that Cormier was expected to debut as a light heavyweight at the upcoming show.

Cormier enters Strikeforce with impressive amateur-wrestling credentials. The Louisiana native was a three-time state high school champion, a two-time junior-college champ at Colby Community College, and an NCAA Division I national runner-up at OSU. Among his many post-college accomplishments are a spot on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team and an appointment as the 2008 Olympic team’s captain.

Other OSU Cowboys who have recently found MMA success include Jake Rosholt, King “Mo” Lawal, Johny Hendricks and Shane Roller.

As MMAjunkie.com reported last month, Cormier is now training in California with the famed American Kickboxing Academy in preparation of his MMA debut.

In terms of long-term potential, few mixed martial artists carry the value of Gegard Mousasi, a multi-lingual 24-year-old with talent to spare. Currently under contract to Strikeforce and Dream, he denies the UFC made a pitch for his services following the collapse of Affliction’s fight promotion wing in July.

“There’s never been an offer to me to fight in the UFC,” Mousasi told Sherdog.com in this exclusive video interview.

In the month since Affliction’s demise, Mousasi has become the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion. He smashed Brazilian veteran Renato “Babalu” Sobral in exactly one minute to capture the belt in August, posting his 13th consecutive victory dating back to 2006.

“Basically, the fight went … it ended too quickly, so there wasn’t much he could offer,” Mousasi said. “It was a good fight for me for my U.S. debut.”

Check out TJ De Santis’ complete interview with Mousasi, as he touches on his marketability in North America, the second round of the Dream Super Hulk tournament on Oct. 6 in Japan and his decision to sign on for the EA Sports mixed martial arts video game.

After reading Jake Shields interview on MMA Weekly http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/…/dailynews.asp
?articleid=9504&zoneid=13 Striforce fighter Ronaldo “Jacare” gave this exclusive reply to Kid Peligro and ADCC News:
.
“I just read Jake Shields interview on mmaweekly.com and I would like to make a statement saying that I am more than ready to step up and smash Shields. I think Jake Shields ground game is overrated and I will be more then glad to end his win streak and take his belt away. So Jake, you talk the talk, but can you walk the walk, if you can, let’s do it, I accept the fight against you right now. So what’s it gonna be.

And I also would like to send a message to the clown ” Jason Miller , you made a huge mistake to follow me into Strikeforce” we have an unfinished business and I was afraid that I might not be able to finish it, since I came to Strikeforce, but thanks to Scott’s efforts and Jason’s stupidity, he signed, So now we live in the same house, and he is not welcome there” ” So Jason do whatever it is that you need to do , be ready and you are next on my list, after I finish Jake”.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Santos

Slated to be Fedor Emelianenko’s first opponent in the Strikeforce promotion, undefeated heavyweight Brett Rogers plans to knock out the top ranked Russian.

“I’m going out there to knock Fedor out. I’m going out there to knock him out just like Arlovski. It ain’t going to be no different,” Rogers told Tapout Radio earlier this week.

“The way I see it, he’s not going to want to stand with me. He’s going to want to take me down and play the little ground and pound game because he knows damn well my hands are ferocious and he’s not going to be able to handle my power. It’s not going to happen.”

Questioned how his ground game matches up against the Russian’s, Rogers said, “If he gets lucky and takes me down, because I’m not an easy guy to take down, I’m a stand-up fighter, so I train real hard on standing up, but if he succeeds, I’m cool. I’m cool with it. I’m a patient guy. I’m just going to hold him and get back up and make him play my game, and he’s going to have to try all over again.”

The bout has been agreed to, but no date has been set. “They just told me to be ready by October or November,” said the 28-year-old fighter.

“There’s a couple of situations with the UFC. They don’t want to schedule a show on the same day as one of their shows.”

Former EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields says there’s no delay on his end in facing Jason “Mayhem” Miller in Strikeforce.

“If they hand me the bout agreement today, I’ll sign it,” Shields told MMAWeekly.com.

Miller last month announced that he’d be facing the Top 10 welterweight in the near future, though his manager, Ryan Parsons, told MMAWeekly.com the timing of the bout was uncertain. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said his promotion was working on major events for October and December and entertained the possibility of an interim middleweight title fight for Miller and Shields.

Miller backed off his announcement this week despite a desire to fight Shields, telling MMAJunkie.com that “something was wrong” and he had not received a bout agreement.

Shields Wednesday night said the delays are on Miller’s end.

“People at Strikeforce told me Miller needed more time, so as far as what’s going on, I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe he needed more time and was trying to pass it on.”

Shields appeared on the first season of Miller’s hit MTV show, “Bully Beatdown,” and is expected to make an appearance on the second season. Shields’ manager/father, Jack Shields, said the two are friends, though a fight between the two would be “all business.”

Parsons on Thursday told MMAWeekly.com that Miller had spoken too soon and there “wasn’t any drama” with the delay.

“Strikeforce is trying to find the right time for the bout,” he said.

Jake said he didn’t want to make it personal with Miller, but was frustrated with the situation.

“I want to fight now,” he continued. “I don’t want to be wasting time. I’m training for a certain type of fight, and I don’t want it to get pushed back. But I guess it happens, and I’ll deal with it.”

Dealing with it, Shields added, may include asking for a different opponent in October.

“If Strikeforce offers me another opponent, I’ll definitely take another opponent,” he said. “I’d like to fight Miller, but I’ll fight someone else. I’d rather fight now.”

Strikeforce officials were not available for comment on the delay at the time of this writing.

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