Top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko will make his Strikeforce debut against Brett Rogers this fall, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced at an open workout for Emelianenko on Wednesday in New York City.

A date and location have not yet been confirmed for the matchup, which ends weeks of speculation that have ensued after Emelianenko’s August 1 Affliction fight against Josh Barnett was cancelled and he subsequently signed with Strikeforce following the collapse of Affliction. Earlier this month, Coker said Emelianenko’s debut would likely headline a November Showtime event.

Emelianenko (30-1) brings a 26-fight win streak into the contest that includes a reign as the heavyweight champion of PRIDE as well as back-to-back victories over Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski in his most-recent fights.

Like Emelianenko, Rogers (10-0) is also coming off a first-round knockout of the former UFC heavyweight champion Arlovski. “Grim” defeated Abongo Humphrey in April in his Strikeforce debut and previously won three-straight fights in EliteXC.

With Fedor now set to fight Rogers, Fabricio Werdum, the other likely opponent for Emelianenko, is likely to fight Strikeforce heavyweight title-holder Alistair Overeem at the promotion’s November or December event, with the winners then meeting in 2010.

(props to mmaweekly.com for pic.)

Former Elite XC welterweight champion Jake Shields and former ICON Sport middleweight champion Jason “Mayhem” Miller (pictured) will battle it out for the interim Strikeforce middleweight title sometime soon.

No date or location is known at this time. Miller made the announcement in a recent forum post over at MyFightTeam.com.

Mayhem stated:

“I’m set to take on Jake Shields for the middleweight championship of the world in Strikeforce.”

It’s expected that the winner of the 185-pound contest between Shields and Miller will challenge reigning Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le later this year to unify the belts.

Howver, Le is currently tied up with several Hollywood-related projects outside the cage that have kept him out of action for almost two years. But has vowed to make a return early in 2010.

When Frank Mir owned the UFC interim heavyweight title, he always made clear that he didn’t believe his own belt made him the best heavyweight in the world: Mir, like most MMA observers, said that Fedor Emelianenko is the top heavyweight. But now Mir’s opinion has changed.

Asked on the DAM Show why he thought Fedor had chosen to fight for Strikeforce instead of the UFC, Mir stated what many others have suggested; that Fedor isn’t interested in proving himself against UFC champion Brock Lesnar and the other top fighters in the UFC. Listen to the interview here:

MMA Live takes a look at the aftermath of Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg. In addition, an update on Lesnar vs Carwin, Chuck Liddell on Dancing with the Stars, and a comprehensive preview of UFC 102

Fightburger.com has received the fighter payouts for Strikeforce: “Carano vs. Cyborg” from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) for the Showtime event held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, on August 15.

Gina Carano was the big earner of the night. In spite of getting stopped by Cristiane Santos in the first round of their main event bout, Gina earned $125,000 for her work. Her opponent, and new female champ Cyborg took home $25,000.

Gegard Mousasi who was also on the main card was one of the lowest earners. After convincingly defeating well-known veteran Renato Sobral in just one minute of the 1st round, Mousasi earned a mere $2,000 for his work.

Here are all the Strikeforce: “Carano vs. Cyborg” payouts:

Cristiane Santos: $25,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Gina Carano: $125,000
Santos defeated Carano via technical knockout (strikes) at 4:59 of round one

Gegard Mousasi: $2,000 (no win bonus)
Renato Sobral: $75,000
Mousasi defeated Sobral via technical knockout (strikes) at 1:00 of round one

Gilbert Melendez: $50,000 (no win bonus)
Mitsuhiro Ishida: $30,000
Melendez defeated Ishida via technical knockout (strikes) at 3:56 of round three

Fabricio Werdum: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
Mike Kyle: $14,000
Werdum defeated Kyle via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:24 of round one

Jay Hieron: $55,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)
Jesse Taylor: $12,000
Hieron defeated Taylor via unanimous decision

Scott Lighty: $4,000 (no win bonus)
Mike Cook: $2,500
Lighty defeated Cook via technical knockout (strikes) at 2:05 of round one

Justin Wilcox: $5,000 (includes $2,500 win bonus)
David Douglas: $5,500
Wilcox defeated Douglas via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:16 of round three

James Terry: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Zak Bucia: $2,000
Terry defeated Bucia via technical knockout (strikes) at 1:23 of round one

Alexander Trevino: $3,500 (includes $1,500 win bonus)
Isaiah Hill: $2,000
Trevino defeated Hill via submission (keylock) at 3:56 of round one

Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc.

The total base fighter payroll for the event was $468,500. 13,976 spectators packed the HP Pavilion for an approximate live gate of $735,710.

“I did not grease in the fight. The athletic commission was with me the whole time. I didn’t bring any grease with me. I didn’t think there was much grappling in the fight anyway…. It’s kind of funny, but kind of weak. I beat him good and there’s no way I greased.”

Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez responds to claims from Mitsuhiro Ishida’s camp that he applied a greasing agent prior to their rematch at Strikeforce: “Carano vs. Cyborg” this past weekend. “El Nino” went on to score a convincing third round technical knockout via strikes in a one-sided bout, which was quite a contrast to their first encounter that “Endless Fighter” took via unanimous decision back in 2007, using a gameplan that relied on relentless takedowns. Ishida had a very difficult time getting Melendez to the mat this time around despite several efforts. Perhaps it’s the reason for the verbal grease claim. Keep in mind that a formal written complaint has yet to be filed with the California State Athletic Commission. Ishida and his handlers, if they’re serious about the allegations, have five days to do so. And even if they do, will likely have a difficult time proving that Melendez was illegally slick. Sour grapes or slippery snake?

Practical jokes are like knockout punches — they both rely on timing for maximum devastation. Cristiane and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos understand this better than anybody. Who knows why they’d want to give Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker a heart attack the night before an already cursed event, but oh boy did they get him:

The Strikeforce promoter is usually calm and cool under the worst of circumstances, and the weeks leading up to the show featured plenty of them, as several matches had to be rearranged for various reasons. But he thought he had a nightmare scenario on his hands the night before the show.

At about 9:30 p.m. on Friday night, on a show where every major match but the main event fell apart, Coker got a phone call from the Santos camp. They were apologetic, saying that they had no idea beforehand, but that when the commission was testing Santos, they found out that she was pregnant and the fight was off. Coker fell for it…though later he was told it was a prank. Good thing for Coker – and for Santos.

Too bad I couldn’t be there to see Coker’s reaction. I’m guessing it looked something like this.

Showtime commercial of Fedor, this aired on Strikeforces last card, Gina Carano v Cris Cyborg. The only question that now remains is who will Fedor fight? His opponent is yet to announced. However, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said, Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers have emerged as the frontrunners to face Fedor Emelianenko at a Strikeforce event sometime in November. My money is on the former.

“We had a conversation with Cesar Gracie about the Nick Diaz situation, so I feel very comfortable Nick will be back shortly. I think he’s going to meet with the athletic commission, get that all worked out, and hopefully we’ll see Nick back here before the end of the year. Jay Hieron came here to fight Nick Diaz, so we will put that fight together.”

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker hasn’t let the drug testing debacle discourage him for moving forward with a championship bout between Nick Diaz and Jay Hieron, indicating during last night’s “Carano vs. Cyborg” post-fight press conference that he will allow the welterweight title fight just as soon as Diaz acquires his license to fight from the California State Athletic Commission. Diaz, who failed to appear for this mandatory pre-fight drug test last week was not cleared to compete in the “Carano v Cyborg” event. In his absence, Strikforce quickly replaced him with TUF alumni, Jesse Taylor. Taylor lost via unanimous decision to Hieron.

For all other Strikforce: “Carano v Cyborg” results, please go here.

“There was some pressure coming into the fight because it was my first fight in the US, but I trained hard for it and I was very comfortable and confident in the ring. I wanted to fight stand-up with him but I knew he would go for the clinch. I didn’t want to give him any advantage so I knew when I could take him down, I would, [and] I had the chance so I took it. After 1-2 rights I felt he was a little bit dizzy, so I gave him some more — for better results.”

Gegard Mousasi on beating Rentato Sobral at the August 15 ‘Carano vs. Cyborg’ event in San Jose for the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt. Mousasi, who now brings is record up to 26-2-1 is on a thirteen fight win streak. His next opponent will be Sokoudju at Dream 12’s Super Hulk Tournament. Sokudju may be a tough opponent for the Armenian, though I doubt he is the same calibre. After Gegards next fight, I’m sure many fans will be asking what kind of 205 pound competition is really out there for him outside of the UFC?