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STRIKEFORCE WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONS NICK DIAZ & SARAH KAUFMAN RETURN TO ACTION SATURDAY, OCT. 9 IN SAN JOSE
Live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT
SAN JOSE, CALIF. (Aug. 21, 2010) – The STRIKEFORCE men’s and women’s Welterweight World Champions Nick Diaz (170-pounds) and Sarah Kaufman (135-pounds) will return to the cage on Saturday, Oct. 9 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, LIVE on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).
Diaz will face an opponent to be named in the coming week while Kaufman will defend her title against Dutch superstar Marloes Coenen.
Also on the explosive card, emerging star from the Strikeforce Challengers series Luke Rockhold will risk his six-fight win streak against MMA superstar and former Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt "The Law" Lindland in a featured middleweight (185 pounds) contest.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, August 28 at 10:00 a.m. PT online at Ticketmaster.com, at the HP Pavilion ticket office, or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
A special presale opportunity for “STRIKEFORCE Insider” e-newsletter subscribers begins this Wednesday, August 25 at 10:00 a.m. PT. A special presale code will be sent out to all “STRIKEFORCE Insiders” on Tuesday, August 24. Sign up to become a “STRIKEFORCE Insider” at http://www.strikeforce.com/
The 27-year-old Diaz (22-7), a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and native of Stockton, Calif., has won seven consecutive fights since his last loss in 2007. He is coming off a first round submission victory (armbar) over fellow superstar Hayato “Mach” Sakurai on May 29 at DREAM 14 in Japan. Prior to that, Diaz won the STRIKEFORCE title with a late, third-round TKO (punches) of Marius “The Whitemare” Žaromskis at STRIKEFORCE: Miami on Jan. 30.
The undefeated Kaufman (12-0), a former ballet dancer who hails from British Columbia, Canada, is fresh off the first defense of her title, an explosive body slam KO of Roxanne Modafferi at STRIKEFORCE Challengers in Everett, Wash., on July 23. The 24-year-old Kaufman, who has won nine of her fights by KO, will face Coenen (17-4), a submission specialist and the No. 1 contender to the STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight belt.
The 29-year-old Coenen (17-4) will fight for the first time since a third-round TKO loss to Cris Cyborg for the STRIKEFORCE Women’s Middleweight (145 pounds) Championship at STRIKEFORCE: Miami. Coenen, a member of Holland’s Team Golden Glory and mixed martial artist since the age of 14, will be moving down in weight to challenge at 135 pounds. Kaufman and Coenen have both defeated Modafferi, with Coenen avenging a 2007 loss via first round armbar in her STRIKEFORCE debut on Nov. 7, 2009.
Rockhold (7-1), who could prove to be one of STRIKEFORCE’s next great middleweight superstars, has won six of his seven fights via submission. The 25-year-old member of Team AKA is coming off a first-round TKO (knees to body) of Paul Bradley on Feb. 26 at a STRIKEFORCE Challengers event in San Jose. The impressive win was the first KO victory of the Santa Cruz, Calif., native’s professional career. Prior to his latest conquest, Rockhold had won five straight fights by way of submission.
Lindland (22-7), who won the silver medal in Olympic Greco Roman Wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games, scored a third-round TKO victory over “King” Kevin Casey on May 21 at STRIKEFORCE Challengers in his hometown of Portland, Ore. A former UFC star who has been competing professionally in MMA since 1997, Lindland, 40, is also a former All-American wrestler for University of Nebraska and the 1993 NCAA Big Eight conference champion. During his stellar career, Lindland has triumphed over a number of all-time greats including former UFC champions Pat Miletich and Carlos Newton.
About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.
About Showtime Networks Inc.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD™, SHOWTIME 2 HD™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL HD™, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL ON DEMAND™ and FLIX ON DEMAND®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Channel™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.
