Rogers will appear at 10am ET on “First Take” and will also be a guest on “Sports Nation” at 4pm ET.

For the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Duffee confirmed the withdrawal on Tuesday with Sherdog, which also spoke to Buentello, who says Stefan Struve and Mike Russow have been proposed as potential opponents for the main card fight.

“I’m not sure exactly what it is he has, mono or whatever, but I know that he was sick and couldn’t get a good, hard workout in,”  Greg Nelson of Minnesota Martial Arts Academy told Yahoo Sports. “There’s a big difference between making an appearance and smiling and waving at a football game and going out and doing what he has to do in his training.”

According to the report, Lesnar-Carwin remains targeted for UFC 108 on January 2 in Las Vegas, but could be postponed until February is Lesnar is unable to resume training soon. If the fight is again pushed back, UFC 108, one of the UFC’s traditional blockbuster events, is likely to be left without a championship main event, as lightweight title-holder BJ Penn fights less than one month earlier at UFC 107 while Lesnar, light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, middleweight champ Anderson Silva, and welterweight title-holder Georges St-Pierre are all expected to be unavailable.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

“Trilogy” was to take place on August 1 in Anaheim, California, but was put in doubt when headliner Josh Barnett, who was to fight Emelianenko in the pay-per-view’s main event, tested positive for steroids and was forced off the card in late-July. The event was ultimately canceled citing the promotion’s inability to secure a suitable replacement, though the lawsuit alleges that Brett Rogers was “ready, willing, and able” to fight Fedor at the event and that Affliction “elected to serve its own financial interests at the expense of its partners”.

Emelianenko and Rogers are now slated to headline Saturday’s Strikeforce event on CBS, which is co-promoted by M-1.

The lawsuit outlines a number of allegations regarding the relationship between M-1 and Affliction, most of which concern the deal between Affliction and the UFC which resulted in the cancellation of the event and closure of Affliction Entertainment, an independent branch of the company which promoted MMA events, even though a viable replacement opponent had been secured and the show could have taken place as scheduled.

Bloody Elbow and MMA Payout have further details on the lawsuit, including that wording of the complaint makes it appear likely that the UFC will soon be added as a defendant alongside Affliction.

Catone recently announced the fight on his official website.

Both fighters have lost two-straight coming into the bout, with Catone (7-2) losing to Tim Credeur and Mark Munoz following a debut win over Derek Downey, while Steibeiss (4-3) dropped his lone WEC fight to Carmelo Marrero before falling to Ryan Jensen in his first UFC fight.

The rumored lineup for UFC Fight Night 20 now includes:

• Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz
• Tom Lawlor vs. Aaron Simpson
• Efrain Escudero vs. Evan Dunham
• Mike Guymon vs. Rory MacDonald
• Tim Credeur vs. Mike Massenzio
• Jeremy Stephens vs. Nik Lentz
• Rick Story vs. Jesse Lennox
• Chris Leben vs. Jay Silva
• Rafael dos Anjos vs. Kyle Bradley
• Nick Catone vs. Steve Steinbeiss

For the latest UFC Fight Night 20 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Pictured: Nick Catone

Below is an interview with FightTrends.com founder Cody Sweet, who has joined the MMAFrenzy.com team to remain as editor of the site.

What exactly is FightTrends.com?

FightTrends.com is an online fashion and gear blog dedicated to the fight niche. Our goal is to keep the fight community updated with all of the newest gear and clothing available to them. Everything from T-shirts to gis to fight shorts to thai pads. If you love wasting your paycheck on killer fight gear and clothing then FightTrends can give you a hand with that.

So what’s the story behind FightTrends? How did it all get started?

Back about two years ago I was in one of my Entrepreneurship classes at California State University, Chico. We were assigned to read an article called The Brand Underground in the New York Times. It is about 3 urban fashion entrepreneurs who started their own labels and hit it big.

I ended up having to give a presentation on the article and while I was researching it I came across the site Hypebeast.com. It is an urban fashion blog and I thought it was awesome. I’m not so much into the urban scene but the concept of the blog was great. I immediately thought I could do this in the fight niche. The problem was I had no web design skills and hadn’t even heard of Wordpress yet. So the idea just sat in my mind for a couple of years until I started learning about Wordpress. Once I started to mess around with Wordpress the idea of FightTrends came back to the surface. One day I just got a fire inside of me and started and finished FightTrends in one weekend. It has been up and running for just under four months now.

How do you decide what makes the cut for FightTrends and what doesn’t?

I just try to keep it interesting. If something catches my eye, I’ll put it up. I try to pick brands that really support the sport and are real fight brands. Some brands like to sponsor a fighter or two and then never really make a real run into the fight niche. I shy away from brands like that. I love to add the Japanese brands. Inspirit and Reversal always put out great products so I try to feature them as much as possible. I tend to stay away from the Affliction-esque type of brands out there because to me they are not fight brands, they are fashion companies trying to target our demographic.

What has made FightTrends successful so far?

I think the biggest reason FightTrends has caught on like it has is because so many people in the sport have taken a liking to it and helped spread the word. People like Kris at MMAFrenzy, Dave at Nogi, Vince at Shoyoroll, Jesse at MixedMartialMarketing.com, Ted at Tri-Coasta and so many others. Brands like Manto, Warrior Wear, Redstar, Six Deuce, Venun, Kimurawear, Jaco, Sprawl and others have all given me access to their brands so that I am one of the first ones to know when new products are hitting the market. This allows me to keep FightTrends readers in the know and get them information before it hits the streets.

Any big plans for FightTrends in the future?

Yeah, too many! FightTrends has recently taken on a life of its own. I no longer decide what FightTrends does, it decides on its own and then I have to bust my ass to keep up lol. Right now is a crazy time in the fight game. It is growing like mad and along with that means fight brands are increasing the size of their product lines and new brands seem to come into the market on a weekly basis. There is a lot to stay on top of out there.

Besides the partnership with MMAFrenzy we are also looking to bring a forum to FightTrends. We want our readers to be able to interact with each other and have a real community feeling to FightTrends. We also want it to be a place where fight brands can come to interact with their customers and get feedback on their products and also get ideas and suggestions for future products.

Anything you would like to say to the people reading this?

If you haven’t already, go to FightTrends.com and check us out. Let us know what you think, we love hearing from our readers on ways we can improve FightTrends. While you are at it, add us to Facebook and Twitter also. We have big things planned for FightTrends so be sure to keep checking back, I think you will like the direction we are going. Thanks to all of the MMAFrenzy readers out there and we hope to bring you tons of interesting material in the future.

Varner has held the WEC lightweight title since he won it from Rob McCullough in February of 2008, defending it twice against Marcus Hicks and Donald Cerrone, respectively. Since defeating Cerrone, Varner has been sidelined with injuries suffered in the fight.

Henderson has gone undefeated in his WEC career, including a recent victory over Donald Cerrone in a bout for the WEC interim lightweight belt. The WEC had wanted to have him fight Varner to merge the belts in December, however injuries sustained against Cerrone forced the bout to be pushed back to the current date.

Pictured: Jamie Varner

Takanori Gomi def. Tony Hervey via unanimous decision (47-45, 46-45, 46-44):

FightTrends.com becomes the first site in the newly-launched MMAFrenzy.com Network and FightTrends.com founder Cody Sweet joins the MMAFrenzy.com Team, remaining in his role as editor of FT.

Check out FightTrends.com’s Best of October 2009 for an introduction to what the site has to offer, and stop back to MMAFrenzy.com later today for an interview with Cody.

New and enhanced features are in development for MMAFrenzy.com and FightTrends.com and will be announced in the future.

About MMAFrenzy.com

Launched in early-2007, MMAFrenzy.com rapidly emerged as one of the web’s top MMA destinations and has since cemented its status as a premiere MMA website and community, with hard-hitting MMA content each and every day. It is owned and edited by Kris Karkoski.

About FightTrends.com

FightTrends.com, founded in July 2009, has quickly grown into one of the top sources for updates on MMA clothing and gear.

Hill, who suffered a gruesome fight-ending leg break in a December loss to Dale Hartt, was expected to be out of action for up to two years, but he surprisingly resumed training over the summer and tells MMA Weekly he expects to return early next year, possibly in January.

Cote made it to the third-round against middleweight champ Anderson Silva last October, but a torn meniscus in his right knee ended the fight prematurely. Two surgeries have postponed his return, but Cote posted on Facebook on Sunday that rehab was going “very well” and that he will return around April.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Corey Hill

As part of an alliance formed between DREAM and Strikeforce earlier this year, Zaromskis will continue to fight for both organizations.

Zaromskis (13-3) won the welterweight title in July with back-to-back head kick knockouts of Hayato “Mach” Saturai and Jason High at DREAM 10, then returned to action last month with a 19-second head kick KO of Ho Bae Myeon in a non-title bout at DREAM 12. Two of Zaromskis’ three career losses came against Che Mills in England’s Cage Rage, where he competed seven times between 2006 and 2008 before joining DREAM earlier this year.

For the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Fitch (19-3), previously set to fight Ricardo Almeida at UFC 106 and rematch Thiago Alves at UFC 107 before injuries scratched both fights, reeled off a record eight-straight wins to begin his UFC career, Fitch had his 15-fight win streak snapped with a unanimous decision loss to welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre last August. The American Kickboxing Academy fighter has bounced back in 2009 with back-to-back wins over Akihiro Gono and Paulo Thiago.

Pierce (9-1), originally scheduled to fight Josh Koscheck at UFC Fight Night 20 in January before Koscheck was tapped as a late-addition to UFC 106, will be aiming for his seventh-straight win after upsetting Brock Larson in September in his UFC debut.

For complete UFC 107 coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

According to the report, Slice and Alexander were to meet at the 205-pound light heavyweight limit, but Slice, who weighed in around 230 pounds for his TUF 10 loss to Roy Nelson, was unable to reach the mark, and they’ve instead agreed to the heavyweight catchweight.

The UFC has yet to announce the fight, which will be featured on the Spike TV-televised main card, and likely won’t do so until the conclusion of the season.

For the latest The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

Lightweight Josh Neer has been released by the UFC after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Gleison Tibau last Saturday at UFC 104, his second-straight loss and third in his last four fights.

Pictured: Josh Neer

Popular featherweight Urijah Faber, sidelined since a June loss to Mike Brown due to a broken hand, will square off with Raphael Assuncao at WEC 46 on January 10 in Sacramento, California.

Pictured: Urijah Faber

While heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Shane Carwin are expected to be recovered from their recent bouts with the flu to headline UFC 108 on January 2, Silva’s title defense against Vitor Belfort that had been scheduled for the card is in doubt as Silva continues to recover from recent elbow surgery.

St-Pierre, who’s been sidelined since a July title defense over Thiago Alves, was expected to headline a February UFC card, likely UFC 109 on February 6, but may be unable to return to the Octagon until March, according to Yahoo! Sports, though the Silva-Belfort matchup could be tapped to fill the main event.

An opponent has not yet been determined for St-Pierre’s next fight, though the winner of a UFC 105 matchup between Mike Swick and Dan Hardy is the likely front-runner.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com

UFC officials have confirmed that Lyoto Machida will need surgery on one of his hands, thus delaying the planned middleweight championship rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (18-4). Machida injured his hand during his controversial win over Rua during UFC 104 Saturday in Los Angeles.

White was hopeful to get the rematch in as soon as Jan. 2, when the company has one of its traditional major events of the year at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Rua had agreed to the date, but Machida’s surgery eliminates whatever slim possibility there was that he would be fully recovered and ready in time for that date. Right now, it is not known when the fight would be able to take place.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com

According to Fanhouse, Matt Veach, who had been set to fight Mark Bocek on the event’s preliminary card, is the leading candidate to replace Pellegrino, who is suffering from three herniated discs in his back and will be sidelined at least three weeks, with the injury.

Alves recently suffered a torn posterior cruciate ligament and will be out 3-4 weeks, likely returning to action in January or February.

Though Alves had sought to simply postpone the rematch until he was healed, the UFC will instead look for a replacement to fight Fitch at UFC 107, with Ariel Helwani telling MMAFrenzy.com that the promotion felt it wasn’t fair to make him wait further after he was bumped from UFC 106 last week.

UFC 107 is headlined by BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez and also features Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida, Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir, and Paul Buentello vs. Todd Duffee.

For complete UFC 107 coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Alexander (9-4), a loser of three-straight UFC fights, returns to the Octagon after getting back on track outside the promotion with a knockout of one-time UFC fighter Sherman Pendergarst in September. Prior to his three-fight skid, “The Assassin” scored back-to-back knockouts of Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara to begin his UFC career.

Slice (3-1), a cast member on TUF 10, suffered a second-round TKO to Roy Nelson in the season’s opening round, but will make his official UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale.

With the fight still unannounced, it is not yet known whether Slice will move down to 205 for the contest or whether Alexander, who has competed exclusively at light heavyweight in the UFC, will move up to heavyweight for the matchup.

The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale also features Jon Jones vs. Matt Hamill and Frankie Edgar vs. Kurt Pellegrino, as well as the finals of the season’s heavyweight tournament.

For the latest The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.

The Versus-televised event also features a lightweight co-main event between former IFL standout Chris Horodecki and Anthony Njokuani and a featured bout between bantamweight contenders Joseph Benavidez and Rani Yahya.

“Four of our top lightweights are going to be competing on Dec. 19, each with his sights set on securing a coveted shot at the world title,” WEC GM Reed Harris said in a release announcing the card. “Cerrone vs. Ratcliff has the potential to be an explosive standup war. We can expect much of the same from Njokuani and Horodecki as well. This is the perfect holiday gift for fans.”

“On Dec. 19, we are showcasing two of the world’s most dynamic bantamweights,” Harris continued. “Benavidez-Yahya has the potential to steal the show. We are really excited to bring this card to The Palms.”

Tickets, priced from $50 to $175, go on sale to the general public this Saturday, October 31 at 12 pm PT and are available online at Ticketmaster.com.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest WEC 45 news and WEC 45 rumors.

Strikeforce’s December 19th is beginning to shape up, fighters already rumored for the event include Robbie Lawler, and Scott Smith. Now joining them is a proposed middleweight match up between Matt Lindland and Ronald “Jacare” Souza, and the promotional debut of Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal against an as yet unknown opponent. [Fanhouse]

Pictured: Matt Lindland

Nover (6-2-1) dropped a unanimous decision to Efrain Escudero in the TUF 8 Finale, then suffered a controversial first-round TKO to Kyle Bradley. Nover was scheduled to fight in September at UFC Fight Night 19 against Sam Stout, but suffered a seizure and the bout was scratched from the card.

Emerson (8-8), a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter 5, recovered from a double-knockout no contest with Gray Maynard to win back-to-back fights over Keita Nakamura and Manny Gamburyan, but has since dropped two-straight to Kurt Pellegrino and Rafael dos Anjos.

For complete UFC 109 coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Phillipe Nover

Next week on TUF 10, Team Rashad will aim to complete its sweep of Team Rampage as Mike Wessel squares off against Marcus Jones in the final opening round bout, then the quarterfinal matchups are determined.

Here’s how the teams stand after tonight’s fight

TEAM RASHAD

• James McSweeney (1-0)
• Brendan Schaub (1-0)
• Justin Wren (1-0)
• John Madsen (1-0)
• Roy Nelson (1-0)
• Darrill Schoonover (1-0)
• Matt Matrione (1-0)
• Mike Wessel

TEAM RAMPAGE

• Kimbo Slice
  Eliminated by Roy Nelson on Episode 3
• Abe Wagner
  Eliminated by John Madsen on Episode 1
• Demico Rogers
  Eliminated by Brendan Schaub on Episode 4
• Wes Sims
  Eliminated by Justin Wren on Episode 5
• Scott Junk
  Eliminated by Matt Mitrione on Episode 7
• Wes Shivers
  Eliminated by James McSweeny on Episode 2
• Marcus Jones
• Zak Jensen
  Eliminated by Darrill Schoonover on Episode 6

Click here for more The Ultimate Fighter 10 coverage.

Koscheck revealed on Twitter Tuesday that he’d be co-headlining the pay-per-view event, and while initial speculation focused on Matt Hughes, the knockout artist Johnson was ultimately tapped for the short-notice addition to the event.

Koscheck (13-4), who had been scheduled to fight Mike Pierce at UFC Fight Night 20 in January, bounced back from an upset loss to newcomer Paulo Thiago with a first-round knockout of Frank Trigg in September.

Johnson (8-2) missed weight for Saturday’s UFC 104, but won his third-straight with a 41-second knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

UFC 106 is headlined by Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin after Brock Lesnar withdrew from his scheduled headlining title defense against Shane Carwin on Monday due to an extended illness and the fight was postponed to UFC 108 on January 2.

For the latest UFC news stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Anthony Johnson

I got some big fight news for me. I am fighting nov 21 in Vegas. Co main event!!! Haha it’s on baby!!!!

An opponent has not yet been announced for the bout, a late-addition to bolster the card currently headlined by Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin after losing Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin, its original main event, on Monday.

One potential opponent, Matt Hughes, turned down the short-notice matchup, according to Inside Fight’s Jeremy Botter.

The speculated front-runner is now Anthony Johnson, who is coming off a 41-second knockout of Yoshiyuki Yoshida at Saturday’s UFC 104 event and could be ready to fight Koscheck next month.

Koscheck (13-4) bounced back from an upset loss to newcomer Paulo Thiago with a first-round knockout of Frank Trigg in September.

For complete UFC 106 coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Pictured: Josh Koscheck

Machida, the UFC’s light heavyweight champ who won a controversial decision over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the UFC 104 headliner, was suspended for 60 days for a lip laceration, potentially delaying an immediate rematch with Rua that was reportedly being planned for UFC 108 on January 2.

Barry, who won “Knockout of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” for his second-round knockout of Antoni Hardonk, could be out up to six months due to a possible broken wrist.

The full list of medical suspensions included:

• Lyoto Machida – Suspended 60 days (left upper lip laceration)
• Ben Rothwell – Suspended 45 days (precautionary) and 60 days (right eyebrow laceration)
• Spencer Fisher – Suspended 45 days (precautionary) and 60 days (right eye laceration)
• Yoshiyuki Yoshida – Suspended 45 days (precautionary)
• Eric Schafer – Suspended 60 days or cleared by physician (right side nose laceration)
• Patrick Barry – Suspended 180 days or cleared by physician  (possible left wrist fracture)
• Antoni Hardonk – Suspended 45 days (precautionary)
• Rob Kimmons – Suspended 45 days (precautionary) and 60 days (forehead laceration)

For more UFC 104 coverage check out MMAFrenzy.com’s UFC 104 section.

Pictured: Patrick Barry