For the second time in less than a week, Nick Diaz failed to show for a mandatory pre-fight drug test, with his Monday no-show causing him to be removed from his Saturday Strikeforce middleweight championship matchup against Jay Hieron.

As reported earlier Monday, Diaz will be replaced on the August 15 “Carano vs. Cyborg” card in San Jose by one-time UFC fighter Jesse Taylor, who is currently riding a seven-fight winning streak. Taylor and Hieron will meet in a three-round, non-title fight on the Showtime-televised card.

One-time UFC fighter and controversial TUF 7 cast member Jesse Taylor has reportedly been approved by the California State Athletic Commission to replace Nick Diaz and fight Jay Hieron at Saturday’s “Carano vs. Cyborg” Strikeforce event in San Jose should Diaz fail to be licensed for the bout.

The last thing that Strikeforce’s August 15th “Carano vs. Cyborg” card needed was another line up change. It appears that scheduled combatant Nick Diaz has taken some actions that may cause just that, and you guessed it, it’s related to his drug test. Diaz reportedly failed to show for his scheduled pre-fight testing on Wednesday, and his coach, Caesar Gracie, claimed that Diaz missed the appointment because he was “Busy training,”

A middleweight matchup between Tim Kennedy and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos has been announced to headline a September 25 Showtime-televised “Strikeforce Challengers” event at the SpiritBank Event Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

More light as now been shed on rumors that M-1 Global may have misled Gegard Mousasi in negotiations with the UFC before the light heavyweight signed with Strikeforce as CBS Radio host Carmichael Dave recently spoke to UFC Vice President of Talent Relations Joe Silva on the subject of Mousasi and M-1, and later posted a transcript of that conversation to the Sherdog Forums:

“Gegard called me about a week ago. He asked if it was true that the UFC offered 40/40 (40k to show, 40k bonus to win), Silva said. “I told him no, because we never actually made an offer. Not only did we not make an offer, but we would’ve assumed his Affliction contract and its terms. So whatever Affliction was paying him, that’s what we would’ve honored, and it was considerably more than 40/40.”

A Strikeforce light heavyweight championship bout between title-holder Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Gegard Mousasi remains on the August 15 “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” card despite a reported cease and desist letter sent to the promotion by the UFC and rumors that Mousasi was misled by his M-1 Global management about the UFC’s contract offer to the former DREAM champ.

Middleweight submission expert Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce and will fulfill his first fight on the contract “in the fall”, the promotion announced on Wednesday.

“Jacare” will reportedly make his Strikeforce debut at an October 25 event in Fresno, California, which could also host the Strikeforce debut of top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.

Fedor Emelianenko’s recently-announced deal with Strikeforce is an exclusive contract for three fights over one year, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, who discussed a variety of Strikeforce topics yesterday on TapouT Radio and the Carmichael Dave Show.

Coker said Strikeforce is planing a Thursday press conference to announce details on Fedor’s debut, and also announced that Jake Shields will be fighting for an interim middleweight title in October and that Strikeforce had formed a “alliance” with DREAM.

An opponent has been found for heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum as he’ll take on Mike Kyle at Strikeforce’s August 15 event in San Jose, California.

Werdum (11-4-1) was a heavyweight contender in the UFC following back-to-back wins, but was cut after an October loss to Junior dos Santos, while Kyle (12-6-1) upset Rafael Cavalcante in his most-recent fight in June.

Fedor Emelianenko has signed a “historic, multi-fight agreement” with Strikeforce that will see him headline Strikeforce events co-promoted by M-1 Global. Strikeforce announced the signing on Monday, ending more than a week of speculation and negotiation that ensued following the collapse of Affliction’s MMA promotion late last month.

Fedor’s first Strikeforce fight will air live on Showtime this fall, with a date, location, and opponent to-be-announced.

Originally rumored to be a participant on the August 15th “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” fight card, Erin Toughill has instead been tapped as a reserve combatant for the events headlining bout. Should either of the scheduled participants, Gina Carano or Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, be forced to withdraw, Toughill will take their place.

Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson has been forced out of his scheduled rematch against interim 155-pound title-holder Gilbert Melendez after failing to be medically cleared for the contest, which was to take place at Strikeforce’s August 15 “Carano vs. Cyborg” event in San Jose, California.

The promotion has already secured a replacement, as Mitsuhiro Ishida will fill in for Thomson and take on Melendez in a rematch of their own with the interim title on the line.

Both the UFC and Strikeforce have apparently made formal offers to top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, who was left without an upcoming fight or a promotion to call home following last weeks cancellation of Affliction: Trilogy and subsequent collapse of Affliction’s MMA promotion.

Though the UFC’s offer was called “very good” by Fedor’s M-1 Global management on Wednesday, the UFC’s reluctance to co-promote events with M-1 to bring Fedor has caused talks to stall. Strikeforce’s reported offer, though less lucrative than the UFC’s, is still very good and allows M-1 to co-promote Fedor’s events.

A plea deal by Jeff Monson on charges of painting graffiti on the Washington Capital could force him to withdraw from several scheduled fight abroad, while a trio of bouts has been added to the lineup for the September 2 WEC 43 event in Youngstown, Ohio.

Details on these stories and the latest MMA news and notes in MMAFrenzy.com’s latest quick hits…

Nick Diaz will likely fight Jay Hieron at Strikeforce’s August 15 event in San Jose after his original opponent, Joe Riggs, was forced to withdraw from the bout last week.

Strikeforce has yet to confirm the reported matchup and whether it will be for the promotion’s newly-created welterweight title.