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FEG announced three fights for their upcoming DREAM.13 event scheduled for March 22 earlier today. It appears KJ Noons’ return to MMA won’t happen in Strikeforce. Instead, they’re sending him overseas to fight Andre “Dida” Amado (Shogun Rua’s Muay Thai trainer) in a “Strikeforce vs. DREAM” match-up. They teased another SF-DREAM fight, but didn’t reveal who it would be, though they did hint it could involve one of Strikeforce’s top heavyweights.

Talking with the press after todays announcement, DREAM EP Sasahara said that there will be 3-4 additional fights to complete the DREAM.13 card. Two of the fights will be in heavier weight classes and one will be a DREAM vs. Strikeforce fight (Dida vs. Noons is the other one with this theme). These fights and the possible arrival of a big-shot Fedor-class Heavyweight (from Strikeforce?) are planned to be announced next week.

M-1 just announced Fedor will fight for Strikeforce in May against Fabricio Werdum, so we can probably rule those two out. I’ll let you guys speculate who else it might be.

The other two fights announced were Minowaman vs Jimmy Ambriz and Katsunori Kikuno vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka.

Now that Nick Diaz is the Strikeforce welterweight champ, he wants big fights. He wants to fight guys who are “important.” He wants his name out there and he wants to get paid. What he doesn’t want is to fight any of the best available opponents for him in Strikeforce.

Two of Strikeforce’s heaviest hitters are expected to throw down on Jan. 30 in Sunrise, Florida. According to Middle Easy and Five Oz., Melvin Manhoef and Robbie Lawler will likely meet at Strikeforce “Miami.”

FiveOuncesofPain.com has recently been able to comfirm through sources close to the situation that a middleweight slugfest between Melvin Manhoef and Robbie Lawler is currently on the table, and is expected to take place on the “Strikeforce: Miami” card set for January 30 from Miami, Florida.

While nothing has been signed as of this writing, FiveOuncesofPain.com was able to confirm that the bout has been offered, and is expected to be signed by at least one of the fighters shortly.

MMA Junkie also confirmed the fight’s possibility with Lawler’s manager, Monte Cox, but says they’ve yet to receive a bout agreement.

It will be a hell of a fight if it happens. Both fighters have infinite knockout power, yet take vastly different approaches. As he’s matured Lawler has become more methodical opting to pick his opponent apart before going in for the kill whereas Manhoef looks to destroy his opponent the moment the opening bell rings. In other words, Lawler might want to get to the point a little quicker than normal.

In other Strikeforce “Miami” news, KJ Noons was set to return against Billy Evangelista, however it appears Evangelista suffered an injury during training and was forced to withdraw. If another lightweight on the card goes down, Noons may step in as a replacement, otherwise he’ll be shifted to Strikeforce’s March or April card.

Update: Strikeforce has officially announced Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef for Strikeforce “Miami.”

Here’s your second Strikeforce signing announcement for the day.

K.J. Noons has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce, Sherdog.com has learned from sources familiar with the negotiations.

The former EliteXC champion could make his lightweight debut for the promotion at Strikeforce “Evolution” on Dec. 19 in San Jose, Calif., although Noons’ return is likely for Strikeforce’s Jan. 30 event in Sunrise, Fla.

Noons is a solid addition to Strikeforce’s thin lightweight roster, but the fight that needs to happen can’t take place at 155 lbs., at least not anymore. For those who weren’t with us during the EliteXC days last year, Noons and his manager made themselves famous for refusing to give Nick Diaz a rematch on CBS claiming the organization wasn’t promoting and paying Noons as much as Diaz. EliteXC folded shortly thereafter and Noons decided to box leaving a lot of unfinished business behind. Since then, Diaz emerged as one of Strikeforce’s top fighters (when he shows up), but can no longer make the weight cut to 155. Noons most recently said he now wants the rematch with Diaz, so hopefully he’s willing to fight at 170 lbs. or meet Nick somewhere in the middle. Diaz is expected to fight at Strikeforce’s Miami event on Jan. 30. Booking the rematch there is a no-brainer if you ask me.

Image via Sherdog

“Even though [Nick Diaz]’s moved up a weight class, I’ve been exploring that too with Scott from Strikeforce, to do a catchweight. So I’ve never turned down the fight, it was just turning down getting paid three times less money than him. So if that’s something that people want to see, I’m just looking to fight good fights that people want to watch. That’s definitely one of the fights that’s out there for me…Before that fight, I never took anything away from him. I knew he was a good athlete going into it. I just can’t stand the guy personally; I think he’s a dumbass. But fighter-wise, he’s pretty good. I think that’s a great style for me.”

—KJ Noons talking to MMA Weekly about a possible rematch with Nick Diaz in Strikeforce.

Nothing really new to pass along. Noons still plans on boxing this summer and wants to get back into MMA after that, and the fight he’s obviously campaigning for is the Diaz rematch.

There is something I want to point out though. Last year when EliteXC was trying to put this fight together it was compelling because of the post-fight brawl in Hawaii and all the out-of-ring drama and trash talk between the two camps, not because of the actual fight. It may still be compelling for those reasons, but now Nick isn’t getting cut every time his opponent comes to close to hitting him (the reason the first fight got stopped), his striking has dramatically improved, plus he’s an entirely different and much better fighter at the higher weight. There’s no denying Noons was putting a beating on Nick the first time around, but if they fight at something like 175 or even 170, I think you have the makings for one hell of a fight.

It seems like a no-brainer for Strikeforce, but I’m a little worried it might not happen for reasons other than how much Noons is getting paid. The UFC has started to show interest in Nick again. They haven’t come out and said it quite like Dana did with Vitor Belfort, but Dana did mention at the UFC 99 Q&A that their door is open for him. Plus, during Nate’s fight at the TUF 9 Finale, Joe Rogan was talking Nick up like he one of the greatest fighters in the world. Maybe that was all Rogan, but I think it’s pretty clear the UFC wants to bring him back into the mix. No idea how many fights Nick has left on his Strikeforce contract, maybe just one, but if KJ Noons isn’t his next opponent, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we miss out on the rematch again because of contracts and money.

Check out who wants to fight Nick Diaz now, KJ Noons!

Scott Coker had wanted to book a match between Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson and former EliteXC Lightweight Champion KJ Noons for their Showtime event on April 11, but apparently it’s not going to work out.

Where are they going? A week removed from EliteXC’s fall, not one EliteXC fighter is free and clear yet to sign a new deal elsewhere. That doesn’t mean the wheels aren’t turning though. Here’s the latest on a few of the fighters EliteXC left behind.