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Heavyweight prospect Dave Herman is currently embroiled in a breach of contract lawsuit against Bellator, but the promotion has made another attempt at reconciliation, offering him a Sept. 9 date against former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez, MMA Fighting has learned.

Herman (16-2), signed with the upstart promotion nearly two years ago, yet has fought only once under their banner, earning a first-round TKO over Josh Barnes in May 2009.

When MMA Fighting broke the news last Thursday that Tito Ortiz's next fight would come against Matt Hamill, many MMA fans were completely surprised, and almost in disbelief. After all, the two had struck up a strong friendship on season three of The Ultimate Fighter, where Ortiz selected Hamill with his first pick as coach, and became a mentor to him throughout the season.

The two have maintained a friendship over the years, but now they're in each other's way as they try to progress up the light-heavyweight ladder, and their paths will meet on Oct. 23 at UFC 121. In a video blog posted to his PunishmentFilms.TV website, Ortiz addresses the prospect of facing his friend.

It happened again. For the second time in as many events in the Strikeforce: Challengers series, one of the night's most compelling attractions ended with the winner pleading/demanding to be taken off Challengers and put into a major event.

Last time it was Matt Lindland, who's never been shy about his expressing his opinions. This time it was 135-pound women's champ Sarah Kaufman, who mentioned her desire to be on a proper Strikeforce card every single time there was a microphone nearby.

The thinking behind the Challengers cards is that it's a proving ground for up-and-comers, hence the tagline, "Where champions are made." In theory, that's a pretty solid concept, or at least it would be if so many of the fighters featured on the event didn't openly interpret their own presence there as an insult.

One of the problems that plagues combat sports broadcasting is that the television announcers are so closely aligned with the promotions whose fights they call that the broadcasters often start to sound like promoters themselves. The fans are told that every fight they're watching is great, even if their two eyes tell them something different.

That's why Michael Schiavello and Mike Kogan deserve a ton of credit for the way they called the Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Kazuhisa Watanabe K-1 World MAX tournament fight that aired on HDNet Friday.

Shane Del Rosario is still undefeated after easily beating yet another overmatched opponent Friday night, beating Lolohea Mahe by first-round TKO on another Strikeforce Challengers card.

"I've been working really hard," Del Rosario said afterward. "It's finally paying off."

It's been paying off for Del Rosario for quite some time, and now he's 10-0, with nine of his 10 victories coming in the first round.

In one of the most stunning endings to a women's fight that mixed martial arts has ever seen, Sarah Kaufman knocked out Roxanne Modafferi by picking her up and slamming the back of her head against the canvas in the third round of their Strikeforce title fight.

Kaufman used it as an opportunity to tell her promoters that they need to do a better jof of promoting her.

"Get me on main cards on Showtime," Kaufman said afterward. "I think I deserve it. Put me on there."

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This is the Strikeforce live blog for Shane Del Rosario vs. Lolohea Mahe, the main event of tonight's Strikeforce Challengers 9 card in Everett, Wash.

Del Rosario (9-0) and Mahe (6-1-1) are heavyweight prospects looking to make a mark in arguably, Strikeforce's premier division.

The live blog is below.

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In a sign of how much Mike Kyle has done to resurrect his career -- and a sign of how shallow Strikeforce's light heavyweight division is -- Kyle is being discussed as a light heavyweight title contender after choking out Abongo Humphrey on Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers card.

Kyle and Humphrey engaged in some exciting if not particularly technically proficient striking first round, and then in the second round Kyle forced Humphrey to tap to a rear-naked choke, improving his record to 17-7-1. Afterward Strikeforce's television announcers suggested that the victory makes Kyle the No. 1 contender in the light heavyweight division.

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This is the Strikeforce live blog for Sarah Kaufman vs. Roxanne Modafferi, the women's 135-pound championship bout on tonight's Strikeforce Challengers 9 card in Everett, Wash.

The undefeated Kaufman (11-0) puts her belt on the line against Modafferi (15-5), who is coming off a win over highly-regarded Tara LaRosa.

The live blog is below.

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Caros Fodor beat Thomas Diagne by unanimous decision Friday night on the Strikeforce Challengers card in Everett, Washington, but he wasn't satisfied.

In fact, Fodor, who improved his pro MMA record to 6-2, said immediately following the fight that he felt like he only showed off about 60 or 70 percent of what he can do, and he offered the fans an apology for letting the fight go to the judges' scorecards.

"I really don't have an excuse, I was a little bit off," Fodor said. "I apologize for that."

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