Rich Franklin spoke with MMA Scraps Radio in advance of his UFC 126 fight with Forrest Griffin. The former UFC middleweight champion speaks of his training for this fight, where he's training and much more.

Rich talks about what rematches he would and would not take and what it would take for him to retire.

SBN coverage of UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort

After much speculation and with the event happening in just more than a month, Strikeforce officially announced its March 5 event, which will emanate from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The show will be headlined by a light-heavyweight title bout between Rafael Cavalcante and Dan Henderson and a women's welterweight championship fight between Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate.

The show, like Zuffa shows the past four years, will be held in conjunction with the Arnold Sports Festival.

NEW YORK (Jan. 31, 2011) - Dan Henderson is one of the most recognizable and popular fighters in the world. He is the only fighter in the history of Mixed Martial Arts to simultaneously hold two world titles in two different weight classes with a major MMA promotion.

In an illustrious career, the legendary 40-year-old Henderson has won a total of four MMA world championships and fought and defeated a host of all-time greats, including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort. Before turning pro, Henderson was a two-time United States Olympic Games wrestler. There isn't a lot that he hasn't accomplished.

On Saturday, March 5, Henderson (26-8), of Temecula, Calif., will attempt to add another belt to his wardrobe when he challenges defending champion Rafael "Feijao'' Cavalcante (10-2) of Brazil for the STRIKEFORCE World Light Heavyweight (205 pounds) Championship at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast).

In the opening half of a STRIKEFORCE World Championship Doubleheader, Marloes "Rumina'' Coenen (18-4) of the Netherlands will risk her lightweight title for a first time against No. 1 135-pound contender, Miesha "Takedown'' Tate (11-2), of Tacoma, Wash.

Tickets for the event go on pre-sale starting tomorrow and are available to the public starting Friday.

Strikeforce: Columbus
March 5, 2011
Nationwide Arena

Light-Heavyweight Championship: Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante vs. Dan Henderson
Women's Welterweight Championship: Marloes Coenen vs. Miesha Tate
Tim Kennedy vs. Luke Rockhold
Billy Evangelista vs. Jorge Masvidal

'Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg' is in the books and Strikeforce produced a second straight solid effort for the show that saw Nick Diaz retain his Strikeforce welterweight title against Evangelista Santos and Ronaldo Souza retain his Strikeforce middleweight championship against Robbie Lawler.

Here are some post-fight thoughts:

Diaz certainly had some issues with "Cyborg" before finishing him with an armbar late in the second round. This was interesting because this wasn't your typical Diaz "pitter-patter" performance because Cyborg kept him at bay with a ton of leg kicks. When Cyborg wasn't getting punched in the face against the cage by Diaz, he was making a very good account for himself. Those leg kicks never seemed to visibly hurt Diaz, but they certainly did damage. This, to my recollection, is the first time we've seen Diaz get kicked like that, so we'll see if anybody else decided to employ that strategy against him.

When Cyborg got that takedown late in the round, I was thinking, "well, that's two rounds for Cyborg." That was until Cyborg made a big mistake and was caught in an armbar. There's a reason Cyborg has 14 career losses and you saw it here. It's too bad because I thought Cyborg's gas tank was empty after the first round, but he impressed me. He was never going to win a conditioning battle against Nick Diaz, but he made a good account of himself here. 

Another fighter who put up a good account for himself in a losing effort was Lawler, as he fell to "Jacare" in the middleweight title fight. I really enjoyed this fight. This was one of the better examples of "striker vs. grappler" that we've seen in recent memory. Lawler throwing a flying knee and getting taken down in the first round was a real fun moment for me. I literally screamed, "What are you doing?!" as I watched.

To Lawler's credit, though, he was able to get back to his feet. Although that came only after he completely offered his neck to Jacare. I can't even remember I saw someone give their neck up like this. I know Lawler pretty much had to do it to be able to get back to his feet. I'm not sure which one I'm more stunned by: Lawler giving his neck up so readily or Jacare, noted BJJ specialist (hello, understatement) completely failing to take advantage. Then Lawler gets the better of Jacare standing and Jacare falls to his back. What does ol' Robert Glen Lawler do? He jumps right into his guard. Just baffling. Maybe I'm completely missing something or I'm just not as smart as I thought I was (save your jokes), but that doesn't seem like the best idea in the world.

Lawler just couldn't stop Jacare's takedown and that proved to be the difference. Where Lawler impressed me was his defense of Jacare's two second round armbar attempts. Perfectly defensed. Consider me impressed (yeah, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it). By the time the third round came, Lawler was in rough shape. Jacare really laid in some shots on Lawler on the ground in the second, some real vastly improved ground-and-pound. When Jacare got that takedown early in the third, I figured it was just a matter of time. There was no way Lawler was getting back up. He didn't. Jacare finished him with a rear-naked choke. Very impressive performance.

Continue reading this post »

Matt, Neil and Forrest will be LIVE! at midnight ET/9 p.m. PT following the conclusion of tonight's "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg" to review the show, which is headlined by a Strikeforce welterweight championship bout between Nick Diaz and Evangelista Santos.

Also on the show, the Strikeforce middleweight title was on the line when Ronaldo Souza met "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler and former NFL superstar Herschel Walker met Scott Carson.

The trio will review the show's main card while also taking a brief look at the preliminary bouts that aired on Sherdog.com.

To participate in the show, dial (347) 202-0934, leave a question or comment here in the show thread or tweet us @MMA4Real.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Join all your favorite MMA For Real community members and staffers starting at 10 p.m. ET/PT for our open thread for tonight's "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg" which is headlined by a Strikeforce welterweight championship fight between Nick Diaz and Evangelista Santos and a middleweight championship bout between Ronaldo Souza and Robbie Lawler.

The show, which will emanate from HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., will air live on Showtime (tape delayed on the West Coast).

Welterweight Championship: Nick Diaz d. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (Submission/Armbar) R2 4:50 *Retains Welterweight Championship*
Middleweight Championship: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza d. Robbie Lawler (Submission/Rear-Naked Choke) R3 2:00 *Retains Middleweight Championship*
Herschel Walker d. Scott Carson (TKO/Punches) R1 3:13
Roger Gracie d. Trevor Prangley (Submission/Rear-Naked Choke) R1 4:19

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Matt, Neil and Forrest will be LIVE! at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT to preview Saturday's "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg," which will be headlined by a Strikeforce welterweight championship bout between Nick Diaz and Evangelista Santos, a Strikeforce middleweight title fight between Ronaldo Souza and Robbie Lawler and a heavyweight bout between Herschel Walker and Scott Carson.

Also on the card, Roger Gracie faces Trevor Prangley in a light-heavyweight affair.

The trio also will discuss all the latest in MMA, including the UFC in Toronto and more.

To participate in the show, dial (347) 202-0934, leave a question or comment here in the show thread or tweet us @MMA4Real.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg