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Scott Coker talks to Fanhouse about their alliance with DREAM, potentially bringing Strikeforce to Japan and when Fedor might return.

Strikeforce held an open workout and press conference yesterday at Legends gym in Hollywood, California for their upcoming Strikeforce “Nashville” event. Here’s highlights, video interviews and pictures courtesy of Strikeforce, Showtime, Sherdog and FIGHT! Magazine.

Ugh, just when I thought the Jose Canseco story had finally gone away, Scott Coker has to go and drop this quote to MMA Junkie.

“I can tell you this: If Cesar Gracie says to me, ‘Jose’s training with me, I’m going to get him ready, and I’m going to do it in four or five months,’ and Cesar’s telling me this? That will have a lot of weight on what we decide.”

Coker did add that he doesn’t have any intention of signing of Canseco, but still that doesn’t exactly sound like the same guy who previously said he had no interest whatsoever in Canseco. Basically, the door’s slightly cracked, not completely shut, locked and boarded up.

I don’t know, if Canseco seriously trained for 4-5 months, I guess I’d have less of a problem with it, but I’m having a hard time getting past his motivation for doing it in the first place. The difference between him and Herschel Walker is Herschel donated his purse to charity, and there’s no indication Canseco would do the same. I mean we are talking about the same guy who will literally hang out with you for a day if you pay him $1,000. I usually try to keep an open mind about some of the random stuff this sport produces, but Canseco just leaves a bad taste in my mouth I can’t seem to wash out.

…For UFC 111 at least.

The hottest ticket in New Jersey just got hotter, as it has been announced that Playboy cover model and UFC All-Access host Rachelle Leah will be returning to her old gig as Octagon Girl for one night only on Saturday, March 27th at UFC 111 in Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center.

I don’t think there will be any complaints about that.

M-1’s Vadim Finkelchtein has confirmed there are “contract issues” with Strikeforce in regards to Fedor, however it sounds like everything is going to get worked out. From an interview with MMANews.su translated by TMR from the UG.

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.

“We threw the kitchen sink at Brock when he came in. Are we going to do that same thing with James? I don’t know. To be 100 percent honest with you, all [expletive] aside, I haven’t thought it out…I like James Toney. He’s one of the greatest boxers ever. I have tremendous respect for him. He said he wanted to fight in the UFC and I was interested. Now he’s here and I have to figure out what to do with him. What we won’t do is make a freak show out of it. I’d be the first to scream if someone else did that, so I’m not going to do it…Hey, I don’t want this to be seen as a joke, and it’s not like Herschel Walker or Canseco or any of those guys. James Toney is a fighter. The worst thing anyone can ever say to me is that they were watching one of my fights and they changed the channel. That’s why I’ll never put [expletive] fights on…James is an interesting case. We know how much talent he has as a boxer and he insists he’ll surprise people by how much MMA he knows. I’ve still got some thinking to do. But if we promote him and he does well and that raises his profile and he gets a Klitschko fight and makes a lot of money for himself and Goossen, I’d be cool with that. But James came to me and he literally chased me around the country to do it, so I’m giving him the chance. We’ll get it figured out one way or another.”

—Dana White telling Yahoo! Sports he’s still figuring out what to do with James Toney, but it won’t be a “freak show”

The report also reveals that Toney will compete as a light heavyweight and will be allowed to box, which is a first for the UFC. According to Dana, Strikeforce was also talking to Toney about fighting Herschel Walker. Toney had this to say about the signing.

“Don’t make wise cracks about my weight, because I’ve been working hard and the next time you see me, you’ll be shocked,” said Toney, who said he would probably box sometime in the next six weeks to get the rust off. “Dana put his foot in his mouth and said UFC guys are better fighters than boxers. We’ll see. Everyone who knows anything about fighting knows I’m the purest fighter in the game. There ain’t no secrets.

“I’ve been fighting a long time. I was born fighting. I know what I’m doing. Boxing is still my main focus, but them guys are a bunch of (expletives) and they don’t want to fight. So I called Dana after he put his foot in his mouth and I’m going to prove he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

His first opponent is still a mystery, but Randy Couture is already asking for the fight.

Update: Dave Meltzer seems to think the Toney signing, or at least the willingness on the UFC’s part to allow him to box, had a lot to do with Strikeforce trying to sign him to fight Herschel Walker.Via Fight Opinion:

“Strikeforce was negotiating or at least Dana (White) was under the impression that Strikeforce was negotiating a Herschel Walker/James Toney fight for CBS most likely, perhaps for PPV. And so he decided that I will outbid them and ruin that fight. So I think that’s what that’s all about because the key to me is that they’re letting [Toney] box. I mean, like if [UFC] had any you know thoughts that this guy was really valuable to them, they weren’t going to sign him to a non-exclusive contract. They’ve never signed anyone to a non-exclusive contract and they signed him to a non-exclusive contract.”

On a semi-related note, there are rumblings that the UFC may counter-program Strikeforce’s April 17 CBS event with a live event of their own. However, since Herschel Walker is no longer associated with that card, will the UFC still see it as a big of enough threat to justify putting together a whole new event for? Doesn’t seem like it to me, but who knows. I wouldn’t put it past the UFC to do anything to crush the competition. Apparently, Strikeforce is prepared for it though. Josh Gross is hearing SF has the flexibility to switch their event to April 24 and counter WEC 48 if the UFC tries to counter them on April 17. Promotion chess match.

Oh, and by the way, Pat Barry wants to fight James Toney…tonight!

“It’s awesome, man,” he said. “It just widens the pool of fighters. If it was up to me, I’d rather see someone get stung and knocked out versus submitted any day. If he hits you, you’re going to get hurt. I’m looking forward to seeing him do damage if he can make the adjustment.”

“It’s dope, man,” Barry said. “I want to fight him. Tonight.”

Love that guy.

So it looks like James Toney and the UFC reached a deal after all.

According to Five Oz., Toney has signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC.

FiveOuncesofPain.com has been informed through sources close to the situation that James Toney has recently been signed to a multi-fight contract with the UFC.

Mike Chiappetta has since confirmed the news with Dana White, so this one is about as official as it gets without a press release.

I guess the question now is who, when and where will Toney fight? Maybe a fellow striker like Cheick Kongo or Kimbo Slice (or Simba Spice as Toney likes to call him)? Or maybe a legend like Randy Couture or Minotauro Nogueira who can show him the finer points of mixed martial arts? Who knows, Dana didn’t say, but the bigger question I find myself still asking is why?

Update: Rampage Jackson’s former trainer, Juanito Ibarra, has been tasked with helping Toney make the transition from boxing to MMA.

“We have been working on stretching, sprawling and movement, all the things he will need to get a handle on,” Ibarra said.

Ibarra said he wasn’t sure about an opponent or a date for Toney’s first bout. The trainer said he hopes Toney would be matched up with Kimbo Slice, noting that Toney should be given an opportunity to “get his feet under him” in the UFC.