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After a month’s worth of rumors and speculation, the UFC has decided to scrap their plans to counter Strikeforce “Nashville” with a live event on April 17.

The long-rumored UFC event expected to counter the promotion’s April 17 CBS offering will not take place, MMA Fighting has confirmed.

Earlier this month, the UFC explored the option, going so far as to inform likely broadcast partner Spike TV that the show was a go, but the company has apparently reversed course, and a Spike source said the network has been told by the UFC that the show is no longer happening.

Now, it appears Strikeforce will air its anticipated show pitting three title fights free of live competition, though the Spike source said it’s likely the UFC will at least air a prior pay-per-view event on Spike. A decision on that programming has yet to be made.

While the rumored card seemed like a definite go at one point, that quickly became more and more questionable as the days and weeks passed without a single solid fight announcement. It’s unknown why the UFC ultimately decided to scrap it, but the trouble they had lining up a solid headliner was probably one of the major factors.

Strikeforce and CBS have to be relieved by the news. Even with the flexibility to move their event to April 24, they decided to stick it out on the 17th. Ticket sales are apparently going well and CBS started airing five and 10-second promos today during March Madness.

It looks like Strikeforce “Nashville” is going to get a fourth fight after all, and Bobby Lashley is going to be a part of it. The question is, who’s his opponent?

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Nick Solomon, reporting for JabsNGrabs.com and MMAWeekly.com, on Wednesday that the promotion had already submitted an opponent for Lashley and was awaiting approval from the Tennessee Athletic Commission. He declined to name the opponent.

If the match-up is approved, Coker told Solomon that the bout would likely be the fourth bout on the CBS televised portion of the event.

Well, we know it probably won’t be any of Strikeforce’s high-profile heavyweights. Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers, Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Silva are all slated to fight in May. It’s obviously not going to be Fedor, and Fabricio Werdum is still on deck for him as far as we know. I don’t know who it will be, but hopefully it’s someone who will push him harder than Wes Sims did. Good move getting Lashley some network television exposure though.

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.

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!

It looks like the Strikeforce April 17 event is all but officially announced for CBS. Jake Shields tweeted earlier today that his title defense against Dan Henderson and the rumored Gegard Mousasi vs. King Mo fight are official. MMA Weekly confirmed those two bouts will co-headline the event.

When M-1 announced that Fedor was no longer on Strikeforce’s April 17 card it seemed highly probable that CBS would broadcast the May card he’s supposedly fighting on instead, and Showtime would take the reigns for the April card headlined by Dan Henderson and Jake Shields. Well, apparently not. Both MMA Junkie and Sherdog are reporting that CBS will in fact broadcast the April event and the May card will land on Showtime.

The rumored Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields fight is finally a done deal. Shields confirmed the news to MMA Weekly, but also expressed a little doubt about the card airing on CBS.

“It’s a go now. We finally worked it out a few days ago,” he said about the fight with Henderson. “It’s a done deal, it’s been agreed upon by both parties as far as I know, and I think it’s set to go.”

“I have a date (and) venue, but they told me to hold that back,” said Shields. “Hopefully CBS. I think it’s CBS. There’s a slight possibility of Showtime because they’re still (working it out). I don’t know the rest of the card or any of that yet. But me and Dan’s on, and I’m hoping it’s on CBS.”

As far as anyone knows, or has at least reported, CBS is still set to broadcast the event. In fact, the most recent questions surrounding the event have been about the date, location, and whether Fedor Emelianenko is still set to headline the card, not the network it’s airing on. This is starting to turn out like an episode of Lost. Each answer brings more questions.

Image via Esther Lin for Showtime

Back in December CBS confirmed they would broadcast another Strikeforce event with Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson anchoring the card. April was the target month and now that we’re towards the end of February without an official announcement, some in the MMA community are starting to get restless.

Josh Gross has good news for everyone though. An announcement should be made at the end of the week. Apparently, Strikeforce is still finalizing the date and venue with Showtime and CBS. It appears to be between California on April 24 and Nashville, Tenn. on April 17 with the latter being the more likely of the two.

On Monday, newly appointed California State Athletic Commission executive officer George Dodd said Strikeforce expressed an interest in securing an April 24 date in the Golden State, meaning it could go heads-up against the first pay-per-view offering from UFC’s sister promotion, WEC.

However yesterday’s announcement by Showtime that two fights in its Super Six middleweight boxing tournament are set for Apr. 24 essentially rules out Strikeforce running too — the same television production crew handles MMA for CBS and Showtime, as well as boxing on the premium-cable network, and could not do both on the same night without serious maneuvering.

Last week MMANashville.com reported that Strikeforce would promote in the Music City on April 17. Chou said nothing has been confirmed, but that scenario remains most likely at this time.

Hopefully, the announcement does come this week so all the crazier rumors floating around out there can finally be put to bed.

Image via Esther Lin for Showtime