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We’re off to Long Island, NY to hang out with Matt Serra as he prepares for his fight versus Chris Lytle at UFC 119: Mir vs Cro Cop. Don’t miss Serra’s fight – this Saturday, Sept. 25th Live on Pay-Per-View at 7pm PT/ 10pm ET.

HT: UFC.com

Bellator Fighting Championships will crown its first-ever heavyweight champ on Oct. 14.

That's when Cole Konrad and Neil Grove, finalists from the organization's eight-man heavyweight tournament, meet to determine a tourney winner and first-ever heavyweight title-holder.

Bellator 32 takes place in Missouri at the Kansas City Power & Light District.

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Yoshihiro Akiyama is ready for a tough fight against Michael Bisping at UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama and will be looking to rebound from a tough loss to Chris Leben suffered at UFC 116: Lesnar Vs. Carwin. The fight headlines what some British fans have called an extremely lackluster card but what Dana White has called very compelling match making. In any case UFC 120 is set for October 16, 2010 at the O2 Arena in London, England and will also coincide with the first ever UK UFC Fan Expo.

Showtime officials have plucked from their EliteXc video archives the first fight between Nick Diaz and K.J. Noons.

The fighters, of course, meet Oct. 9 when Diaz puts his Strikeforce welterweight title on the line against Noons at "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II."

The first meeting, held in the now-defunct EliteXC promotion, airs as part of an hour-long special on Showtime 2 this Friday at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

PRESS RELEASE / CHICAGO, Ill. (September 17, 2010) — Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the Local Feature Fights for Bellator 30 taking place in Louisville, KY at Fourth Street Live! on September 23rd. Headlining the local main event is well-rounded Louisville favorite John Troyer (10-6) facing off against undefeated Richmond-native Josh Clark (3-0) in a middleweight fight.

In the local co-main event of the evening, two undefeated Louisville-based heavyweights go to war when massive knockout artist Ron “The Monster” Sparks (5-0) collides with ground-and-pound specialist Greg Maynard (2-0). Standing at 6’5” and tipping the scales near the 265 pound weight limit, Sparks has been known for ending his fights early with 4 (T)KO’s to his credit in 5 professional outings.

Additionally, two more Louisville-based fighters clash when undefeated Thomas “TJ” Barber (3-0) takes on B.J. Ferguson (5-2) in fast-paced Featherweight action.

Louisville’s Mike “The Crazii Cajun” Fleniken (3-2) will be looking for payback after suffering a loss in his prior Bellator appearance when he faces off against undefeated up-and-comer Jeremiah Riggs (1-0) in a middleweight match-up.

Rounding out the card will be Stoney “The Skuller” Hale (3-1) fighting Louisville product Mike O’ Donnell (2-2). Hale is no stranger to Bellator action, recording an impressive submission victory over Mike Fleniken in his previous outing at Bellator 23.

“Our last event at Fourth Street Live! was a huge success, so it was a no brainer to make a trip back to Louisville,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “We have a great local card to go along with a stacked main card. Our goal here is to over-deliver for the great fans in Louisville.”

Bellator 30’s main card includes:

* A Bellator Special Feature Fight between Season 2 Middleweight Tournament finalist Bryan “The Beast” Baker (10-2) and battle-tested UFC and PRIDE veteran Jeremy Horn (85-19-5), who brings more than a hundred fight’s worth of experience to the fight.
* The Bellator Season 3 Bantamweight Tournament moves into the semifinals when Zack “Fun Size” Makovsky (10-2) squares off with the dangerous Bryan Goldsby (15-8) for one of the two spots in the Bantamweight Championship Title match.
* The Bantamweight semifinals continue when the crowd-pleasing Ed “Wild” West (14-4) takes on hard-hitting Jose Vega (9-2) for the second spot in the finals.
* A Bellator Season 4 Welterweight Qualifying match rounds out the main card as Jacob “Tick Tock” McClintock (6-1) meets Louisville based Brent Weedman (16-5) in a battle of Bellator veterans.

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There’s no denying that “Big” John McCarthy has been with mixed martial arts since the beginning and despite his vanishing act from UFC events, he’s still thought of as the best ref in the game. McCarthy’s signature line, “Let’s get it on!” still gets the blood pumping and sets the stage for fights perfectly. There’s no doubt that McCarthy should be officiating the biggest matches in the business, and he deserves all the respect given to him.

Former Strikeforce lightweight champ Josh Thomson has never been afraid to dive into a challenge head-first. The outspoken Californian has battled back from numerous injuries, faced all-comers, and always shown a willingness to engage his opponent over nearly a decade-long career. Based on that self-belief and ability to shrug off adversity, there’s little doubt as to why he stepped up to welcome highly-touted lightweight Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante to Strikeforce’s 155-pound division this October rather than take an easier route to title contention.

Thomson, who celebrates his 32nd birthday next Tuesday, recently spoke to media about his upcoming bout against the talented Brazilian, mentioning among other things his respect for the American Top Team product’s abilities, why he found the match-up appealing, and how he envisions the fight unfolding.

“I am excited for (the bout),” stated Thomson. “It’s been a rough camp…obviously when you are training hard for someone at JZ’s caliber you want to make sure that training goes perfect and I’ve been trying to make it as perfect as possible. I have bumps and bruises, everything that every fighter goes through, but so far it’s been a good camp.”

“I have had a lot of good guys to train with and I don’t think the media will get the grasp of the situation until JZ gets into the ring…it’s nice to have him come over from Japan and fight here stateside,” he continued while referencing the fact Cavalcante hasn’t competed outside of Japan since 2007.

When asked for more information on exactly how he was preparing for Cavalcante, “The Punk” replied, “I brought in a couple of other trainers, who have helped out a lot, so I have been working on my hands and I’m also working with a couple of some side guys on my kick boxing as well. I’ve been putting it all together and I have been working a lot on my wrestling as well. It is going to be interesting to see how the fight pans out.”

“Everyone I have talked to about him said that he is far and away the best that they have there down at the gym and I know I have my hands full,” he elaborated. “You can’t come to a fight like this with a chip on your shoulder and be arrogant about it. You have to go out there and be ready for everything that is going to happen. If I go out there and think that he can’t hurt me I am going to lose this fight. If he goes out there and rocks me in the first round your whole game plans goes out the door, and your mentality and everything gets ruined.”

As far as his assessment on what he sees taking place once the cage-door closes, Thomson responded, “I don’t think either one of us have an advantage. He is a little shorter than me. We have completely different styles, so it’s hard to say who has the advantage. We are both really well-rounded…he has great stand-up. Everyone wants to talk about mine but I hate to say it but he’s got phenomenal (striking). He’s a great fighter. He’s got the fighter spirit in him and he will never give up. He will fight to the end. I think this will be a knockdown fight. I see this being a knockdown, drag out fight.”

“(So) I can’t say that anyone really has the advantage,” he reiterated. “I fight a little bit faster. He’s probably a little bit stronger. He probably has a little more power. Obviously I am going to try to beat him to the punch. Wrestling wise he is a little shorter so he will probably be a little harder to take down, those type of things play a big factor. I need to go out there and implement my game plan and get in his face and let him know that it’s going to be a fight for three rounds.”

The 17-3 fighter also made it clear he wasn’t looking too far ahead, at least in regards to a rubber-match against current Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez, saying, “I think they are all must wins, everyone talking about the third fight. The last fight I was thinking about the third fight but the biggest problem was I think that there were a lot of things going through my mind which showed in my performance. It was a really lackluster performance, nothing was put together right. I broke two ribs in the first round and everything went down hill.”

Thomson continued, “So this fight what I did was I wiped my mind clean of the title fight. Everyone is talking to me about the Gilbert fight, and I was letting that get ahead of my actually training. You hear athletes say all the time I’ve got to take care of this one match first, and if this doesn’t happen there won’t be a third fight with Gilbert, and I let that hinder what I was doing last time. I definitely won’t be thinking about the third fight. I will be thinking about what is in front of me.”

In addition to the scrap between Thomson and Cavalcante for top 155-pound contendership, Strikeforce’s October 9th event is headlined by Nick Diaz defending his welterweight strap against rival KJ Noons, female champion Sarah Kaufman putting her title on the line against Marloes Coenen, and rising star Luke Rockhold facing typically-tough grappler Matt “The Law” Lindland.

A serious knee injury has forced Ricco Rodriguez out of a scheduled Bellator 31 matchup with fellow heavyweight Dave "Pee Wee" Herman.

MMAjunkie.com today confirmed the news with sources close to the Sept. 30 event, who said a search is underway for a replacement.

Rodriguez initially hoped to fight through the knee injury, but he's since learned multiple surgeries may be required.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker today confirmed that the winner of a pending bout between Josh Thomson and Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante is expected to get a fight with lightweight champion Glbert Melendez.

However, that winner may have to wait until next year for a crack at the belt.

Melendez, Coker said, may be bound for Japan.

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Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson (17-3) talks about his upcoming fight with Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante next month. Both fighters will meet at the “Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II” event.

Thomson is coming off a win over Pat Healy earlier this summer, submitting his opponent in the third round by rear-naked-choke. The win helped Thomson bounce back from his unanimous decision loss to Gilbert Melendez in their lightweight title fight last year.

HT: Strikeforce.com