On Saturday, June 6, 2009, Strikeforce will make its first foray into “The Show-Me State” with Strikeforce - Lawler vs. Shields. The event will take place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. This will be the second Strikeforce event broadcasted live on the Showtime cable network. The thousands of Midwesterners in attendance will be treated with a main event fight between local superstar “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler as he takes on jiu-jitsu stalwart Jake Shields. Earlier this year, Strikeforce purchased fighter contracts from the now defunct EliteXC, which included their middleweight champion Lawler and their welterweight champion Shields. The two former EliteXC champions will meet under the Strikeforce banner in a catchweight of 182-pounds.

Another special catchweight bout will feature Shields’ teammate and training partner Nick Diaz, who is fresh off his TKO victory over Frank Shamrock on April 11th. He will lock horns with the power-punching Scott Smith who TKO’d Benji Radach on that same inaugural Strikeforce on Showtime card in April. Diaz who has fought most of his career at 170-pounds and recently for the EliteXC as low as 160-pounds will move up in weight for his second consecutive fight. Smith who is a middleweight will drop down to 179-pounds for this catchweight bout.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will be looking to rebound from a brutal first round KO to heavyweight kingpin Fedor Emelianenko in January. Arlovski is stepping in as a late replacement for Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem who is recovering from a hand injury. Arlovski will take on the massively built Brett Rogers, who brings his undefeated record with him after making a name for himself with a highlight reel KO on CBS’s first nationally televised primetime MMA event last May.

Welterweight rivals Joe Riggs and Phil Baroni could possibly be the “fight of the night” as they are both heavy-hitting, hot blooded, brawlers that are coming into this bout feeling that they both have something to prove. Their exchange of words leading up to this bout has only added fuel to this fire that will take center stage tonight in what can only be expected to end with someone laid out and toes up.

The final main event bout will feature the former UFC heavyweight champion and PRIDE star Kevin Randleman as he looks to regain his once fearsome form against TUF 2 and IFL standout Mike Whitehead. This fight, just like the Riggs-Baroni bout has some underlying tension as well, as both Randleman and Whitehead reside in Las Vegas and have engaged in a war of words leading up to this bout. In a bout pitting former Ohio State (Randleman) and Missouri (Whitehead) wrestling stars against each other, it would not too far out of the realm of possibility that this fight is decided with striking on the feet.




Main Card:

-Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields (182-pound Catchweight Bout)

-Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith (179-pound Catchweight Bout)

-Andrei Arlovski vs. Brett Rogers (Heavyweight Bout)

-Joe Riggs vs. Phil Baroni (Welterweight Bout)

-Kevin Randleman vs. Mike Whitehead (Light-Heavyweight Bout)


Preliminary Card:

-Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante vs. Mike Kyle (Light-Heavyweight Bout)

-Tyron Woodley vs. Sal Woods (Welterweight Bout)

-Jesse Finney vs. Josh Bumgarner (Welterweight Bout)

-Scott Ventimiglia vs. Lucas Lopes (Middleweight Bout)

-Pat Benson vs. Dave Cochran (Lightweight Bout)

-Booker DeRousse vs. James Wade (Heavyweight Bout)