Tyron Woodley submitted Rudy bears in the first round of their matchup on Friday with arm triangle to maintain his undefeated record in the main event of Strikeforce Challengers 5, which took place in Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.

Also on the Showtime televised main card, Strikeforce newcomer Kerry Vera earned a first round TKO victory over Kim Couture, Bobby Voekler weathered an early storm to defeat Erik Apple with a second round TKO, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante bounced back from his previous loss, defeating Aaron Rosa via second round TKO, and Kevin Casey submitted Chad Vance in the opening round.

All 22 fighters who will be in action at Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers 5: Woodley vs. Bears event hit the scales today to weigh-in for their bouts, with the entire Showtime-televised main card, including headliners Tyron Woodley and Rudy Bears and notables Kim Couture and Kerry Vera, successfully making weight.

The event takes place at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas and airs live on Showtime at 11pm ET (delayed on west coast).

Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem, who has yet to fight again for the promotion since winning the title in November 2007, returned to MMA action overseas over the weekend, dominating Tony Sylvester at Ultimate Glory 11 in Amsterdam, Netherlands before finishing the fight with a guillotine choke in just 83-seconds. Overeem will fight again this weekend at DREAM 12 against James Thomson before he’s expected to return to Strikeforce to defend the title.

Read about the latest Strikeforce news after the jump, including additions to “Fedor vs. Rogers”, the main card for Strikeforce Challengers 5, and more.

Strikeforce announced on Saturday that it will hold a Showtime-televised “Challengers” event on November 20 at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas in conjunction with the Combat Sports Championships and X-Fights promotions.

In other Strikeforce news, heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum has been added to the lineup for the promotion’s November 7 CBS-televised event headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers, but his opponent has not yet been announced.

UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva will undergo elbow surgery after all to remove bone spurs and will be sidelined briefly, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic is not retiring following his latest loss and intends to fight at least once more, at a November 7 Strikforce event headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers will take place at the Sears Centre near Chicago.

Read about the latest MMA news in MMAFrenzy.com’s Quick Hits…

Undefeated power puncher Sarah Kaufman (8-0) will fill the void left by Kim “Sugar Free” Couture and throw down with fellow rising star Miesha Tate (6-1) in a 135-pound contest during the SHOWTIME televised portion of the inaugural Strikeforce Challengers mixed martial arts (MMA) event at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., on Friday, May 15.

Kim Couture has withdrawn from her scheduled May 15th Strikeforce bout against Miesha Tate for undisclosed reasons. Strikeforce today confirmed the card change, but did not announce the reason for her withdrawal from the debut installment of ShoMMA: Strikeforce Challengers in Fresno, California.

Kim Couture will take a major step up in competition when she squares off with fearsome submission expert Miesha Tate at SHO MMA: Strikeforce Challengers at Fresno, California’s Save Mart Center on Friday, May 15. In addition, Aaron Rosa will face Anthony Ruiz in a light heavyweight fight.

A women's superfight between Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg is likely to take place in Strikeforce in August, Scott Smith suffered a shattered hand in Saturday's loss, DREAM has announced their featherweight grand prix pairings, and more...

Lightweights Billy Evangelista and Mike Aina will meet in the main event of the first-ever ShoMMA: Strikeforce Challengers event on May 15th at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Kim Couture is also slated to return at the event against an opponent to-be-named.

Kim Couture, the wife of UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture, was today granted a restraining order against Affliction CEO Todd Beard, according to TMZ:
Randy and wife Kim claim Affliction Prez Todd Beard has been on a campaign of terror against them since they asked for an accounting of profits. A Las Vegas judge just issued [...]

Infamous Ultimate Fighter 7 outcast Jesse Taylor is rumored to return to the UFC at UFC Fight Night 14, against fellow TUF cast member CB Dolloway.
Brandon Vera, who will meet Reese Andy at UFN 14, confirmed that he did in fact turn down a fight with Lyoto Machida, but was open to fighting Dan [...]