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Here’s Jim Rome’s take on the UFC-James Toney signing. While nothing is official or even been hinted at by the UFC, James Toney says in this interview they’re planning on him making his UFC debut in June or July which would be UFC 115 in Vancouver or UFC 116 in Las Vegas, same card Brock Lesnar is expected to return on.

A report from CagePotato suggests Versus is likely to reach a deal with DirecTV and end their dispute in time for the upcoming UFC on Versus 1 event.

Sources close to the situation tell CagePotato that the dispute will come quietly to an end next week, with DirecTV subscribers once again able to purchase Versus as part of a special sports tier. While it won’t come in time for this weekend’s WEC card, MMA fans with DirecTV should have the opportunity to purchase the channel by the time the UFC runs its first event on the network later this month.

The agreement brings to an end a long and arduous six months without the WEC. But what was the fuss all about? … Versus and DirecTV, a satellite television provider with more than 18 million customers, couldn’t come to an agreement over the phallic-sounding “penetration rate.” Long story short, Versus wants to be available to as many customers as possible. DirecTV wants to put the network on a special sports tier that would require customers to pay a premium for the content. It looks like Versus may capitulate and decide some DirecTV subscribers are better than none.

Great news for you DirecTV subscribers, though it appears there’s a downside. You’ll have to pay extra for it.

The chances of the UFC holding a live event to counter Strikeforce’s second CBS event appear to be increasing by the minute. Dave Meltzer is reporting the UFC has put together an entire fight card for April 17.

Dana White confirmed today via text that UFC has completed a card for April 17th. The Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama match is not the main event. The only thing confirmed is they are trying to finalize a Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick semifinal fight today.

The report didn’t mention how it would be broadcast, but it’s probably safe to assume it would be a Spike TV card and not a pay-per-view. Speculation has been running rampant today that a Kimbo Slice vs. James Toney could headline the rumored card, however Kimbo’s manager Icy Mike says Kimbo’s plans to fight Matt Mitrione at UFC 113 haven’t changed and nothing is in the works to fight Toney. With the UFC holding three consecutive fight cards later this month and UFC 112 on April 10, their talent is already stretched pretty thin, so it’s anyone’s guess what the mystery main event will be.

What’s funny is this might end up backfiring on Zuffa. Josh Gross is reporting Strikeforce and CBS have the flexibility to push Strikeforce “Nashville” back a week to April 24, the same date as the WEC’s pay-per-view debut, and may do that if the UFC tries to counter-program them on April 17.

After officially announcing April 17 as the return for MMA on CBS, sources tell SI.com that CBS is willing to move the card back a week if, as rumored, the UFC decides to move ahead with counter-programing. That would put Strikeforce in direct competition with Zuffa’s first attempt at selling WEC on pay-per-view, and likely signal the commencement of major ground operations between the promotional companies.

It was initially thought that production of an April 24 MMA card on CBS was unlikely since the Showtime broadcast crew, led by producer David Dinkins Jr., was handling duties for the second round of the premium network’s Super Six 168-pound boxing tournament that night. But Kelly Kahl, the senior executive vice president of CBS prime time, told SI.com that it as his impression “things were fluid” regarding the production dates, though he didn’t know for certain.

If you have the option to go against a free UFC card or a $45 WEC card, you go with the latter all day, every day. Zuffa isn’t going to counter their own WEC pay-per-view with a live UFC card, so they might as well take the path of least resistance. Sure, it’s going to piss Zuffa off, but so what? You know they’re going to counter Strikeforce’s first pay-per-view with a free show regardless, so really what’s the difference? If you’re forced to fight, take your best shots while you can.

Update: Nothing is official yet, but word is getting around to the various media outlets that a live UFC event for April 17 in the works.

Though the company has not officially announced the event and it should not be considered a done deal, two separate sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the promotion has begun to ramp up its efforts over the last several hours and that Spike TV — the likely broadcast outlet for the show — has been informed of the decision.

Though several possible matchups have been buzzed about in recent days, MMA Fighting could not confirm the rumors of a Mike Swick vs. Matt Serra matchup. Swick has been out of the country on a trip to Thailand, just returning yesterday, and might need surgery on an injured arm. Serra, meanwhile, fought just one month ago and would prefer a return to action in the summer.

Another alleged rumor pitting Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama seems unlikely, as sources close to Silva told MMA Fighting that he is hopeful of a chance to fight on UFC 116 because the event takes place on his birthday, July 3, and in his new hometown of Las Vegas.

Scott Coker has also confirmed they have the flexibility to move their event if need be. Apparently, they initially opted to play nice and not counter WEC 48, but if the UFC is going to counter them, all bets are off.

“CBS had an opportunity to do the fight on the 24th and go after the WEC pay-per-view date, and they said, ‘No, let’s just do it on the 17th and be nice guys.’ Now that the counter-programming is coming their way, I think there is some fluidity in what could happen.”

“It hasn’t been decided yet,” Coler said. “I think we’re meeting probably Monday. But for now, everything is going to be locked and loaded for the 17th.”

Looks like a high-stakes game of chicken for now.

On this week’s edition of ESPN MMA Live, Jon Anik and crew preview WEC 47. Also, Scott Coker calls in to talk about the recent Strikeforce announcement. He addresses the Fedor rumors, but doesn’t really clarify what’s going on behind-the-scenes with M-1. As he put it, they’re merely working through a few last minute details and hope to have Fedor back in the cage in the second quarter or at least sometime in the summer. Coker also confirmed the reported Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers and Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva fights are set for May 15 in St. Louis. He says Overeem will fight twice more before the end of the year for Strikeforce, but didn’t say whether the Rogers fight will be for the heavyweight title.

Several Strikeforce fighters including Dan Henderson, Frank Shamrock and Cung Le will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of CBS’ NCIS: LA to cross-promote the upcoming Strikeforce “Nashville” show. If their presence wasn’t already a dead giveaway, the episode will have a MMA theme. LL Cool J’s character will be going undercover as an MMA fighter to investigate the death of a Marine. The episode airs on April 6, a week and a half before Strikeforce’s second CBS event. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s a really good show so definitely check it out.

Set photo via Sherdog

After months of rumors and speculation, Strikeforce’s second network television event is finally official. As announced earlier today, Strikeforce returns to CBS on April 17 with three title fights — Hendo vs. Shields, Mousasi vs. King Mo and Melendez vs. Aoki.

Noticeably absent from the announcement though was the participation of Herschel Walker who has been heavily rumored for the card in recent weeks. It appears his name was left off for a reason. According to CBS’ Kelly Kahl, it doesn’t look like Herschel will be ready by April 17 for his second pro fight.

“I’d still love to get him on CBS at some point, but it sounds like this was a little too close to the last fight,” Kahl said. “The thing I love about Herschel is he’s not going to jump in until he’s ready, and he takes the training very seriously, so I’m going to give him all the time he needs.”

If not Herschel, then which competitors will fill the fourth slot on the televised card? Well, apparently since there’s three five-round title fights and broadcast time constraints (two-hour block), there might not be a fourth fight.

Speaking to Ranallo, CBS executive Kelly Kahl said the network is still considering a fourth fight, but no decision has yet been made.

“We still might put somebody interesting on the card just to round it out a little bit, but it’s not like we feel that we need anything but these three fights,” Kahl said.

The only problem with going with three fights is what do they do if those fights end early, and chances are at least one or two of them won’t go the full 25 minutes. Showing prelims like the UFC seems like the way to go, but Showtime has opted to end their broadcasts early in the past instead of airing prelims for whatever reason. If that same protocol holds true for CBS, they should seriously consider adding a fourth fight even if it’s between two up-and-comers. Three title fights are awesome, but if they only last a round or two, fans might feel like they were short-changed.

Image via Esther Lin for Showtime

Update: On the same episode of the The Fight Show (.mp3) as the above Kelly Kahl interview came from, Mauro Ranallo reported that the Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers fight expected for May 15 will be for Alistair’s Strikeforce heavyweight title.

I love that fight, but to be honest, I’m not sure what’s worse, Alistair returning after two years and not defending his title or defending it against Brett Rogers who’s coming off a loss against the guy who should be fighting Overeem for the title. A lose-lose situation as far as the title is concerned.

Update 2: Strikeforce matchmaker Rich Chou confirms Hershel Walker will not make the Nashville card. He says they may add a fourth swing bout.

It’s finally official!