Kennedy (10-2), who recently joined the Texas National Guard after serving six-years with the US Army, returned to action in June after sitting out all of 2008, knocking out Nick Thomson in the second-round of their Strikeforce Challengers bout. A veteran of the IFL,  Kennedy’s lone career losses came at the hands of notables Scott Smith (due to cut) in his pro debut and Jason “Mayhem” Miller in 2007, the latter of which snapped an 8-fight winning streak.

Santos (16-13), the husband of top female fight Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, also last fought at the June Strikeforce Challengers show, losing to Joey Villasenor in the card’s headliner, his second-straight loss and fourth in his last five fights dating back to 2007.

Check out the MMAFrenzy.com MMA rumors section for the latest Strikeforce rumors.

Pictured: Tim Kennedy

The official weigh-in results for the Showtime-televised event were:

MAIN CARD

• 185: Joey Villasenor (184.5) vs. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (185)
• 185: Tim Kennedy (184) vs. Nick Thompson (185)
• 160: Jorge Gurgel (157.5) vs. Conor Huen (158.5)
• 135: Shayna Baszler (134.5) vs. Sarah Kaufman (134.5)
• 185: Cory Devela (184) vs. Luke Rockhold (183.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD (un-televised)

• 195: Justin Davis (200) vs. Dennis Hallman (191.5)
• 145: Brian Caraway (145) vs. Alex Zuniga (144)
• 160: Lyle Beerbohm (160) vs. Duane Ludwig (159.5)
• 186: Travis Doerge (184) vs. Landon Showalter (185.5)
• 156: Len Bentley (155.5) vs. Marques Daniels (154.5)
• 171: Steve Hadsel (170) vs. Taylor Roberts (170.5)

* Davis was not penalized for missing weight as he was a late replacement

[Pictured: Joey Villasenor]

Joey Villasenor

Strikeforce has finalized the card for it’s next event, a “Strikeforce Challengers” set for June 19 in Kent, Washington. Headlining will be “Smokin” Joey Villasenor taking on Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos in a middleweight bout, with possible future title implications.

The bout’s winner will place themselves in contention for the Strikeforce interim middleweight belt, which executive Mike Afromowitz has told MMAJunkie the promotion will issue.

Villasenor was last in action in May of 2008 with a TKO victory over Phil Baroni in the now defunct EliteXC. He was later scheduled to take on Robbie Lawler for the EliteXC middleweight belt, but that bout was canceled just before the promotion closed up shop.

Santos will also be looking to knock off some ring rust, since he last fought in September of 2008, in a TKO loss to Siyar Bahadurzada due to injury at Sengoku 5.

Other prominent names to be included in the card are Jorge Gurgel, Nick Thompson, and Sarah Kaufman. To view the full fight card, visit our Strikeforce Challengers Rumors page.

The event, which will be broadcast live on Showtime, will be headlined by a middleweight matchup between Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (16-12) and Joey Villasenor (26-6).

Jorge Gurgel, Dennis Hallman, and Cory Devela have also been announced for the card.

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

Carmichael Dave at Sports 1140 and MMAjunkie respectively reported the bouts on Monday.

Alistair Overeem

Since claiming the belt in late-2007 Overeem (29-11) has won three-straight bouts but has not yet defended the title. Rogers (9-0) earned the championship opportunity by winning all nine of his professional fights, including a victory over Abongo Humphrey earlier this month.

Villasenor (26-6), a King of the Cage, PRIDE, and EliteXC veteran, has not been in action since a May 2008 victory over Phil Baroni. Santos (16-12) has lost three of his last four fights, most recently falling to Siyar Bahadurzada due to injury at Sengoku 5 in September.

Both matchups are expected to be televised on the Showtime-broadcast main card.

Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields is scheduled to take place on June 6th at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The event is headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields and is also slated to include Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith.

The opening round of the promotion’s middleweight grand prix is now set as UFC and PRIDE veteran Kazuhiro Nakamura will meet Paul Cahoon in the first round and Jorge Santiago will take on Logan Clark. Previously announced for the tournament were Yuki Kondo vs. Yuki Sasaki and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos vs. Siyar Bahadurzada.

World Victory Road also announced that Jiu-Jitsu world champion Xande Ribeiro will make his mixed martial arts debut against professional wrestler Takashi Sugiura at Sengoku 5.

IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz faces Jorge Masvidal at the September 28th event and Roger Gracie will also be in action against an opponent to-be-determined.

The current fight card features:

• Takashi Sugiura vs Xande Ribeiro
• Ryan Schultz vs Jorge Masvidal
• Roger Gracie vs. TBD
• Kazuhiro Nakamura vs Paul Cahoon
  Middleweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Jorge Santiago vs Logan Clark
  Middleweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Yuki Kondo vs Yuki Sasaki
  Middleweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Evangelista Cyborg vs Siyar Bahadurzada
  Middleweight GP Series 2008 1st Round

Sengoku 4 features a main event lightweight bout between former PRIDE champion Takanori Gomi and Bang Seung Hwan. The opening round of the promotion’s 2008 lightweight grand prix is also slated for the event.

The complete fight card features:

• Takanori Gomi vs. Bang Seung Hwan
• Makoto Takimoto vs. Frank Trigg
• Satoru Kitaoka vs. Clay French
  Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Rodrigo Damm
  Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Kazunori Yokota vs. Bojan Kosednar
  Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Mizuto Hirota vs. Ryan Schultz
  Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Pawel Nastula vs. Yang Dong Yi
• Peter Graham vs. Moise Rimbon
• Kazuo Takahashi vs. Valentijn Overeem

*****

World Victory Road also announced on Tuesday that Xande Ribeiro, Roger Gracie, and Jorge Masvidal will be in action in separate bouts at Sengoku 5 and also announced the addition of Yuki Sasaki to the promotion’s middleweight tournament field.

Sengoku 5 now includes:

• Xande Ribeiro vs. TBD
• Roger Gracie vs. TBD
• Jorge Masvidal vs. TBD
• Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round participants:
  • Yuki Sasaki
  • Kazuhiro Nakamura
  • Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos
  • Siyar Bahadurzada
  • Jorge Santiago

Kazuhiro Nakamura, Evangelista Cyborg, Siyar Bahadurzada, and Jorge Santiago are all set to participate in the opening round of the middleweight tournament.

The promotion also announced that Kazuo Takahashi will face Valentijn Overeem at Sengoku 4 on August 24th at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

SENGOKU 4

• Takanori Gomi vs Bang Seung Hwan
• Makoto Takimoto vs Frank Trigg
• Pawel Nastula vs Yang Dong Yi
• Peter Graham vs Moise Rimbon
• Kazuo Takahashi vs. Valentijn Overeem
• Satoru Kitaoka vs. Clay French
  Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Rodrigo Damm
  Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Kazunori Yokota vs. Bojan Kosednar
  Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Mizuto Hirota vs. Ryan Schultz
  Lightweight GP Series 2008 1st Round

SENGOKU 5

• Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. TBD
  Middleweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos vs. TBD
  Middleweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Siyar Bahadurzada vs. TBD
  Middleweight GP Series 2008 1st Round
• Jorge Santiago vs. TBD
  Middleweight GP Series 2008 1st Round