A rumored December 19 Strikeforce event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California was made official at Thursday’s “Fedor vs. Rogers” press conference, with Strikeforce’s Scott Coker announcing that the Showtime-televised “Evolution” event will feature Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza’s Strikeforce debut against fellow newcomer Matt Lindland as well as the debut of Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.

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.

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

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.

More Strikeforce news, including the release of heavyweight Paul Buentello, the signings of Brian Travers and Antwain Britt, the debut of Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier, and updates on Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller, are after the jump…

Fedor Emelianenko’s Strikeforce debut will headline an October 10 Strikeforce event at a location to-be-announced, according to MMA Fanhouse, with rumors making the rounds that Emelianenko could fight Ricco Rodriguez in the Showtime-televised card’s main event.

The UFC is reportedly considering adding a second October event to its schedule, potentially setting up a head-to-head showdown between the UFC and Strikeforce on October 10.

Contrary to previous reports following his knockout of Forrest Griffin on Saturday at UFC 101, Anderson Silva says he won’t be relinquishing his middleweight title to remain permanently at light heavyweight and will continue to fight in both divisions.

In other news, the UFC will counter-program Saturday’s Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg event with a free replay of UFC 100 on Spike TV, Dennis Hallman has signed a four-fight contract to return to the UFC, and more…

Affliction on Sunday confirmed to MMA News the finalized official fight card for Affliction “Day or Reckoning”, which takes place on October 11th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Five preliminary “Day of Reckoning” bouts will air live on HDNet while six main card fights, including the heavyweight main event featuring former [...]

Former International Fight League welterweight champion Jay Hieron (15-4) has agreed to take on UFC veteran Drew Fickett (35-6) at Affliction “Day of Reckoning” on October 11th, according to Sherdog.
Also, Matt Lindland (21-5) has found an opponent for his “Day of Reckoning” bout as he will meet UFC veteran Trevor Prangley (17-5) on the pay-per-view [...]

Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Matt Lindland at Affliction “Day of Reckoning” due to a hand injury, according to MMA Weekly:
“Vitor is out, I spoke with him I think yesterday and he told me,” said [Affliction vice president Tom] Atencio. “Actually, it was on Tuesday we [...]

Middleweights Vitor Belfort and Matt Lindland will square off on the main card of Affliction “Day of Reckoning”, which takes place on October 11th in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view.
Belfort (17-8) defeated Terry Martin at Affliction’s first-ever event in July, but is currently serving a 180-day medical suspension and will need to be cleared [...]

Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort will clash for the first-ever Affliciton middleweight championship at Affliction 2 on October 11th in Las Vegas, according to Tatame.com.
“It’ll be a great fight, we’ll see who is the best of the world there”, Belfort told Tatame. “I saw his fight with Negão and he’s a warrior. He comes be [...]

MMAFrenzy.com today acquired the official fighter salaries for Affliction “Banned” as reported to the California State Athletic Commission.
The ten-bout event took place on Saturday, July 19th, at The Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Main event winner Fedor Emelianenko took home $300,000 for his 36-second knockout of Tim Sylvia, who received $800,000 for the first-round loss. Other [...]

Former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko cemented his status as the world’s top heavyweight and one of its best pound-for-pound fighters with a 36-second victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in the main event of Affliction “Banned”.
The ten-bout event took place on Saturday, July 19th, in front of a sold out crowd of [...]

Fedor Emelianenko def. Tim Sylvia via submission – Round 1, 0:36
WAMMA Heavyweight Championship
Andrei Arlovski def. Ben Rothwell via KO – Round 3, 1:13
Josh Barnett def. Pedro Rizzo via KO – Round 2, 1:44
Mark Hominick def. Savant Young via submission – Round 2, 4:25
Renato “Babalu” Sobral def. Mike Whitehead via unanimous decision
Matt Lindland def. Fabio Negao [...]

Affliction “Banned”, the clothing company-turned-MMA promotion’s inaugural event, took place on Saturday, July 19th, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Former PRIDE heavyweight champion and top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko took on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in the “Banned” main event. Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell, Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo, Mike Whitehead vs. [...]

Affliction:Banned
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
Emelianenko via submission, round 3.
To me this is a pretty simple pick. Fedor will definitely have respect for Sylvia’s punching power, and will likely only stand and trade with the much taller opponent for a short while. Fedor will shoot for a takedown here and there but will probably get [...]