Britt (11-3) has gone 7-2 since being eliminated from TUF 8 in mid-2008 due to a broken hand, losing to notables Jamal Patterson and Rodney Wallace, while scoring an 8-second KO of Antonio Mendes last May in Shine Fights and a Strikeforce debut victory over Scott Lighty in December in his most-recent fight.

“Feijao” (8-2), a former EliteXC standout, had a three-fight win streak snapped in a Strikeforce debut loss to Mike Kyle last June, but rebounded with a second-round TKO of Aaron Rosa in November.

Strikeforce’s May 15 event has yet to be officially announced, but is expected to be headlined by the return of heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers and is also reported to include Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

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

Pictured: Antwain Britt

Middleweight contender Demian Maia, who was recently tapped to replace an injured Vitor Belfort and fight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 112 in April, has been cleared for the fight after initially being medically suspended until August due to a cut suffered in his victory at UFC 109 earlier this month. [Yahoo]

Pictured: Demian Maia

Other top earners for “Evolution” included Smith, who earned $55,000 for his come-from-behind knockout of Le in the Showtime-televied headliner, as well as main card winners Gilbert Melendez ($55,000) and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza ($65,000).

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal earned $20,000 for his victory over Mike Whitehead, but was fined 10% of his purse by the CSAC for dousing the cage with Rockstar Energy Drink following the win.

“Evolution” drew 14,749 fans to the HP Pavilion Center in San Jose for a live gate of nearly $634,000. The event’s fighter salaries totaled $480,200.

The officially-reported salaries for Strikeforce: Evolution were:

• Scott Smith ($55,000 – no win bonus) def. Cung Le ($150,000)
• Gilbert Melendez ($55,000 – no win bonus) def. Josh Thomson ($30,000)
• Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza ($65,000 – includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Matt Lindland ($50,000)
• Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal ($20,000 – $10,000 win bonus) def. Mike Whitehead ($30,000)
• Antwain Britt  ($10,000 – $5,000 win bonus) def. Scott Lighty ($5,000)
• Justin Wilcox ($5,000) def. Daisuke Nakamura ($200)
• Alex Crispim ($4,000 – $2,000 win bonus) def. A.J. Fonseca  ($2,000)

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

Pictured: Cung Le

In a “Fight of the Year” contender, interim title-holder Gilbert Melendez again became the undisputed Strikeforce lightweight champion by edging Josh Thomson by unanimous decision in an exciting brawl that co-headlined the card.

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal both picked up swift victories in their Strikeforce debuts on the “Evolution” main card, as Souza submitted Matt Lindland in the opening round while Lawal posted a first-round KO of Mike Whitehead.

The complete results for Strikeforce: Evolution were:

MAIN CARD

• Scott Smith def. Cung Le via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:25
• Gilbert Melendez (c) def. Josh Thomson (c) via unanimous decision (49-47, 49-46, 49-46)
  Strikeforce Lightweight Championship Unification
• Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza def. Matt Linland via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:18
• Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal def. Mike Whitehead via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:08

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Antwain Britt def. Scott Lighty via TKO (cut) – Round 1, 5:00
• Justin Wilcox def. Daisuke Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Alex Crispim def. A.J. Fonseca via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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

Pictured: Scott Smith

Lightweight champions Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez, who unify their titles in the “Evolution” co-main event, also made weight, as did remaining main card fighters Matt Lindland, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Mike Whitehead.

The official “Strikeforce: Evolution” weigh-in results were:

MAIN CARD

• 185: Cung Le (184) vs. Scott Smith (185.5)
• 155: Josh Thomson (c) (153) vs. Gilbert Melendez (c) (154)
  Strikeforce Lightweight Championship Unification
• 185: Matt Lindland (185.25) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (185.5)
• 265: Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (218.5) vs. Mike Whitehead (261.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• 205: Antwain Britt (205.5) vs. Scott Lighty (203)
• 155: Daisuke Nakamura (154.5) vs. Justin Wilcox (155.5)
• 155: Bobby Stack (153.75) vs. David Douglas (157.5)*
• 145: A.J. Fonseca (143.25) vs. Alex Crispim (145.5)

* Missed weight on initial attempt, has two hours to lose additional weight before being penalized

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

Pictured: Cung Le

Britt (9-3) defeated Ryan Jimmo in the opening round on TUF 8, but a broken hand suffered in the win forced him off the show. After going 1-1 following his appearance on the UFC reality series, “The Juggernaut” participated in Vendetta FC’s one night tournament in September, where he advanced to the finals with back-to-back wins before losing to Rodney Wallace.

Lighty (5-0), who trains at The Pit alongside Chuck Liddell, improved to 5-0 in August with a first-round knockout of Mike Cook in his Strikeforce debut.

“Evolution,” which airs live on Showtime from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, features Cung Le vs. Scott Smith and Matt Lindland vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza as well as Robbie Lawler and the debut of Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest Strikeforce: Evolution rumors and Strikeforce news.

Pictured: Antwain Britt

A lightweight matchup between UFC veteran Jorge Gurgel and undefeated prospect Billy Evangelista will headline a November 6 “Strikeforce Challengers” event, which airs live on Showtime from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.

Pictured: Jorge Gurgel

Shine 2: American Top Team vs. The World

UFC veterans Roan Carneiro and Yves Edwards were both victorious at Friday’s  “Shine 2: American Top Team vs. The World” event, which took place at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. Representing ATT, Carneiro topped Jorge Patino in the headliner, while Edwards submitted James Warfield in the second-round in the co-main event. ATT went 4-0 on the card, as Luiz Firmino and Micah Miller also earned victories.

• Roan Carneiro def. Jorge Patino via unanimous decision
• Yves Edwards def. James Warfield via submission (triangle choke) — Round 2, 4:48
• Luiz Firmino def. Ryan Healy via unanimous decision
• Flavio Alvaro def. Jean Silva via majority decision
• Micah Miller def. Anthony Morrison via submission (arm triangle choke) — Round 2, 4:25
• Junior Assuncao def. Pete Grimes via split decision
• Herbert Goodman def. James Brasco via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 3:24
• Brian Fuery def. Phil Friedman via submission (neck crank) — Round 1, 2:03

XFC 9: Evolution

War Machine, a cast member on The Ultimate Fighter 6 formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver, stopped Mikey Gomez with strikes in the third-round of the XFC 9 main event at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. Also on the HDNet-televised card, Pablo Alfonso won the XFC bantamweight title with a fourth-round submission of Jason Goodall.

• War Machine def. Mikey Gomez via TKO (strikes) — Round 3, 0:19
• Pablo Alfonso def. Jason Goodall via submission (triangle choke) — Round 4, 2:40
• Bruce Connors def. Tim Snyder via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:00
• Julien Williams def. Jeremy Thurlow via submission (guillotine) — Round 3, 0:51
• Nate Jolly def. Frank Santore via unanimous decision
• Chris Barnett def. Daniel Perez via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 0:47
• Gerardo Julio Gallegos def. Hayder Hassan via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 0:57
• Rey Trujillo def. Shah Bobonis via split decision
• Sean Bartlett def. Jesse Benton via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 4:01

Vendetta FC: A Night of Vengeance

Minnesota Martial Arts Academy product Derrick Noble topped veteran Shonie Carter in the main event of Saturday’s Vendetta FC: A Night of Vengeance card, which took place Oranjestad, Aruba. The event also featured a eight-man tournament won by Rodney Wallace with a finals victory over The Ultimate Fighter 8’s Antwain Britt.

• Derrick Noble def. Shonie Carter via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Rodney Wallace def. Antwain Britt
• Antwain Britt def. Richard Hale
• Rodney Wallace def. Aaron Stark
• Richard Hale def. Evan Nedd
• Rodney Wallace def. Gregory Milliard
• Antwain Britt def. Carmelo Marrero
• Aaron Stark def. Angelo Araujo

Pictured: War Machine

Antwain Britt

Ultimate Fighter 8 cast member Antwain Britt needed just eight seconds to knockout UFC veteran Antonio Mendes on Saturday in the main event of Shine’s debut “Genesis” event in Columbus, Ohio.

Britt improves to 7-2 with the victory, including five knockouts in under two minutes, while Mendes drops to 16-5 with three-straight losses in defeat.

The event’s official results were:

• Antwain Britt def. Antonio Mendes via KO (punches) — Round 1, 0:08
• Brian Foster def. Kyle Baker via KO (punches) — Round 1, 0:59
• Mario Stapel def. Harris Sarmiento via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 1:47
• Beau Baker def. Jason Nickoson via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, 1:53
• Marcus Reynolds def. Brad Harris via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 3:16
• Joel Wyatt def. Nick Braker via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 3, 3:17
• Ed Newalu def. Dan Swift via unanimous decision
• Valter De Menezes def. Brian Rogers via unanimous decision

Mike Easton

Local Mike Easton captured the first-ever UWC bantamweight title on Saturday in Fairfax, Virginia with a third-round submission of late-replacement Justin Robbins. Jamal Patterson submitted Antwain Britt in just 44-seconds in the evening’s co-main event.

Notable fans in the crowd of 6,248 included MMA stars Matt Hughes, Robbie Lawler, and Amir Sadollah, Washington Redskin Chris Cooley, the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, Mike Greene, Nicklas Backstrom, and Donald Brashear, and ESPN’s Tony Reali.

The event’s full results were:

• Mike Easton def. Justin Robbins via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 3, 4:44
  UWC Bantamweight Championship
• Jamal Patterson def. Antwain Britt via submission — Round 1, 0:44
• John Dodson def. Jose Villarisco via unanimous decision
• Richie Hightower vs. Marcus Foran
  No contest – accidental strikes to the back of the head
• Ron Stallings def. Herbert Goodman via KO — Round 1, 4:56
• Cody Donovan def. John Doyle via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 2:33
• Iman Acchal def. Felice Herrig via split decision
• Kyle Baker def. Levon Maynard via TKO (strikes) — Round 2, 2:57
• Kris McCray def. Manny Okorie via submission — Round 1, 4:51