Billy Evangelista remained undefeated on Friday in the main event of Strikeforce Challengers 4 in Fresno, California, earning a unanimous decision win over veteran Jorge Gurgel at the Showtime-televised card.

In other main card action, Shane Del Rosario, Luke Rockhold, Merrit Warren, and Thomas Diagne all earned victories.

Overshadowed by Saturday’s CBS-televised “Fedor vs. Rogers” event, Strikeforce tonight hosts Strikeforce Challengers 4: Evangelista vs. Gurgel in Fresno, California. The Showtime-televised card is headlined by undefeated lightweight Billy Evangelista vs. UFC veteran Jorge Gurgel.

Strikeforce fighter Luke Rockhold has announced via facebook that he will be Jesse Taylor’s unnanounced opponent at the November 6 “Strikeforce Challengers: Evangelista vs. Gurgel” event in Fresno California, which will air on Showtime. This comes just a day after MMAFrenzy.com reported that Taylor would be taking part in the event.

Headliner Gina Carano was the top earner at Saturday’s Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg event in San Jose, receiving $125,000 for her main event loss to Cris “Cyborg” Santos, who earned $25,000 for the first-round TKO victory.

Renato “Babalu” Sobral ($70,000), Jay Hieron ($55,000), Gilbert Melendez ($50,000), and Fabricio Werdum ($50,000) were also among the top earners for the event, according to the official fighter salaries released by the California State Athletic Commission on Tuesday.

Cris “Cyborg” Santos needed less than one round to become the first-ever Strikeforce 145-pound women’s champion, knocking out Gina Carano in the opening round of Saturday’s Strikeforce headliner at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

In other main card bouts, Gegard Mousasi became the new Strikeforce light heavyweight champion with a 60-second knockout of Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Gilbert Melendez retained the promotion’s interim lightweight title with a third-round TKO of Mitsuhiro Ishida, and heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum submitted Mike Kyle in the opening round to kick off the Showtime broadcast.

“Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg” headliners Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, who meet for the newly-created Strikeforce 145-pound Women’s Championship in Saturday’s Showtime-televised main event, successfully made weight for the matchup at Friday’s official weigh-ins in San Jose, California.

The rest of the 18-fighter card also successfully made weight with the exception of Jesse Taylor, who weighed in one pound over the welterweight limit for his main card bout against Jay Hieron.

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.

Marius Zaromskis won the DREAM welterweight grand prix and became the promotion’s first-ever 76kg champion on Sunday by upsetting Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and Jason High with back-to-back knockouts at DREAM 10 in Saitama, Japan.

In other DREAM 10 action, Shinya Aoki topped Vitor Ribeiro by unanimous decision in a lightweight bout that filled to live up to expectations TUF 7 cast member Jesse Taylor defeated Dong Sik Yoon, who was unable to continue due to a left ankle injury, and former WEC champ Paulo Filho submitted kickboxer Melvin Manhoef in the opening round of their middleweight matchup.

Though it wasn’t without a notable struggle, all 14 fighters successfully made weight on Sunday for DREAM 10, which takes place overnight in Saitama, Japan and airs live on HDNet.

Welterweight grand prix participant Hayato “Mach” Sakurai struggled to reach the 76kg limit for his semifinals bout against Marius Zaromskis, but eventually dropped the necessary weight for his third weigh-in attempt.

DREAM has released the finalized fight card and bout order for Monday’s DREAM 10 event, which takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and airs live on HDNet.

The official fight card, which includes Shinya Aoki, Jesse Taylor, Paulo Filho, and Melvin Manhoef, is after the jump.

Former UFC fighters Jeff Monson, Jesse Taylor (who fights again on Monday at DREAM 10), Eddie Sanchez, and War Machine (Jon Koppenhaver), as well as TUF 9 cast member Richie Whitson were all victorious on July 11 at Total Combat 33, which took place in Mexico City.

Former “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ cast member Jesse Taylor, perhaps most famous for getting kicked out of the UFC twice, recently announced he be fighting at the July 20th DREAM 10 event in Japan. He announced the bout via his website, as well as his expected opponent Korean Judoka Dong Sik Yoon.
Taylor is comes [...]

The Ultimate Fighter 10 heavyweight hopeful Rex Richards tasted defeat for the second time in his professional MMA career on Saturday at Shark Fights 4, falling to Darill Schoonover via fourth-round TKO in the event's headliner. The event, which was held at the City Bank Coliseum in Lubbock, Texas, also featured victories by Don Frye and Jesse Taylor.

Middleweight Frank Trigg sealed his main event win over Danny Babcock with a late third-round knockdown, earning a unanimous decision victory in the headlining bout of XCF: Rumble in Racetown, which took place on Saturday in Daytona, Florida.
Despite emerging victorious, Trigg, who has now won four-straight bouts and eight of his last ten, said he [...]