Originally Posted by MMAMania

Diaz to fight Riggs for Strikeforce WW title on Aug 15


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Strikeforce today added a fourth championship title bout to its August 15 mega-card as bitter rivals Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs are set to collide in a 170-pound rematch at the “Carano vs. Cyborg” event from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, for the promotion’s newly created welterweight title.

This bout will serve as the rubber match between the two, who first went to war at UFC 57: “Liddell vs. Couture III” back in February 2006 with “Diesel” squeaking out a close unanimous decision victory.

The mortal enemies staged an immediate (albeit unsanctioned) rematch in a nearby hospital following the event, with Diaz winning via TCO (Technical Crap Out) after Riggs defecated on himself during a botched takedown attempt.

Diaz comes into this fight on an absolute tear. Aside from dismantling the clearly-overmatched Scott Smith at June’s “Lawler vs. Shields” event, the Cesar Gracie-disciple busted up the legendary Frank Shamrock en route to a second round TKO at the last San Jose-based event back in April.

The Stockton, California native is riding a five-fight win streak and has finished each of his opponents in dominating fashion.

Like Diaz, Riggs has found success since leaving the UFC and has put together two impressive back-to-back wins under the Strikeforce banner. After pounding out Luke Stewart at least year’s “Destruction” event, the one-time heavyweight breezed to a unanimous decision victory over Phil Baroni in St. Louis just last month.

No question this bout is going to produce fireworks — probably more so outside of the cage with all the trash-talking that’s anticipated from these two competitors leading up to the event.

Strikeforce: “Carano vs. Cyborg” will feature a 145-pound title fight between female fighting sensation Gina “Conviction” Carano and her nemesis Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos as well as a lightweight title unification bout between reigning champ Josh “The Punk” Thomson and interim champ Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez.

Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum will also hook ‘em up for “Demolition Man’s” heavyweight gold.

Originally Posted by MMAWeekly.com

- RIGGS VS. DIAZ 2 OFF; REPLACEMENT UNKNOWN
Friday, July 24, 2009 - by Steven Marrocco - MMAWeekly.com


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Joe "Diesel" Riggs will not fight Nick Diaz for the first-ever Strikeforce welterweight title at "Carano vs. Cyborg" on Aug. 15 in San Jose, Calif.

Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz confirmed the news to MMAWeekly.com Friday morning.

Word of the change first appeared Thursday night on graciefighter.com, a website owned and operated by Diaz's manager Cesar Gracie.

The report indicated that Riggs had withdrawn from the fight when he had an adverse reaction to a prescription medication, prompting a hospital stay that could be weeks long.

Afromowitz was unaware of Rigg's condition and was still trying to contact the fighter.

The fight was the second title match on the Aug. 15 event to encounter problems. Alistair Overeem, who in June canceled a scheduled title defense when he injured his hand in a nightclub brawl, bowed out of a second title booking against Fabricio Werdum when he was unable to recover from the injury. Strikeforce officials are currently looking for a replacement.

Riggs defeated Diaz at UFC 57 in February 2006, and later brawled with the Stockton native at a Las Vegas area hospital. Bad blood has remained since.

Afromowitz said the search was on to replace Riggs, but gave no names of fighters under consideration.

There are now two title fights remaining on the card. In the evening's headliner, Gina Carano will take on Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos for the first ever Strikeforce women's 145-pound title, and Gilbert Melendez will rematch lightweight champion Josh Thomson.