Strikeforce "Lawler Vs. Shields" Post Event News and Notes

Joe Riggs had a 102 degree temperature coming into the fight against Phil Baroni. It was a very impressive performance by Riggs considering that he was so ill.

Riggs wants to fight Jake Shields next. He was on Tapout Radio earlier this week and said that he really wants to expose Shields. Strikeforce should book this fight later this year.

Riggs also wanted everyone to know that he is represented by Trevor and Todd Lally and not Ken Pavia anymore. Riggs bashed Shields but saved his strongest vitriol for Pavia.

He called Pavia a "compulsive liar" and a "scumbag" and told a story about how Bob Cook from American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) threw Pavia to the ground and kicked and slapped him. 

Cook apparently did not appreciate Pavia trying to sign away some of the fighters from AKA.

Riggs also said that Nick Diaz had the punching power of a 13-year-old girl.

I have read a lot of articles by MMA writers and bloggers saying that Shields could fight Nick Diaz next. Come on guys, that will not happen. They are training partners and friends.

The chances of a Shields vs Diaz fight happening is as good as Dana White lending Anderson Silva to Strikeforce for a future Strikeforce show.

Brett Rogers will probably get a title shot against Alistair Overeem on Aug. 15 in San Jose, California. Rogers did not suffer any apparent injuries in his stunning knockout victory over Andrei Arlovski on Saturday.

Rogers was a heavy underdog in the fight and shocked a lot of fans with his quick win.

The winner of this fight could probably face a challenge from Fabricio Werdum.

Robbie Lawler's loss to Shields ruined the possibility of a Lawler vs Cung Le fight in the  near future. Shields might be a more difficult opponent for Le due to Shields' strong submission skills and ground game. Le has not been tested much on the ground in his MMA career.

By the way, a promoter mentioned to me about three years ago that he was close to signing Lawler and Shields to fight at a local show in the San Francisco Bay area. I wonder who would have won if they fought back then.

Kevin "The Monster" Randleman may have lost by decision to Mike Whitehead, but you can probably expect him to have a better performance in his future fights with Strikeforce. Randleman was coming off a long layoff in the cage.

Will we see Tito Ortiz fight later this year for Strikeforce? He should be making an announcement in a few months about his future.

Anderson Silva was at the Lawler vs. Shields card to support Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante in his fight against Mike Kyle. Kyle knocked out Cavalcante for the upset win. Silva was in San Francisco the week before to corner a fighter named Damoso Schubert in a fight against Eduardo Baiao at the World Combat Sports Challenge show.

With the loss to Kyle, Cavalcante is no longer the top contender for the Strikeforce Light Middleweight title held by Renato "Babalu' Sobral. These two fighters were supposed to fight for the title last Saturday night, but Babalu withdrew from the fight because his wife was pregnant and he wanted to spend time with his family.

Babalu will now fight Aug. 1 at the Affliction show against Gegard Mousasi. The Strikeforce title will not be on the line.

Strikeforce's next show on Showtime will be Jun. 19 in Washington. The main event will be Joey Villasenor vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. This event is a Strikeforce Challengers show which is a show filled with mostly up-and-coming fighters trying to make a name for themselves.

Miesha Tate's boyfriend, Bryan Caraway, will be fighting on the show. Tate is one of the most popular fighters in women's MMA.

The next big show for Strikeforce will be on Aug. 15 at the HP Pavilion. Gina Carano finally signed with Strikeforce and is scheduled to fight Cyborg Santos for the first Strikeforce women's title, and Josh "The Punk" Thomson will defend his Strikeforce Lightweight belt against former champion Gilbert Melendez in a rematch.