March 19, 2010: We are proud to announce the launch of the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites, as well aswww.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.

Much like the Men’s Independent World MMA Rankings, which were launched last June, the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody’s vote counting more than anybody else’s vote, and no computerized voting.

The rankings will be tabulated and published on a monthly basis, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

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Strikeforce World Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez:

I don’t think you’ll be seeing 20-hit combos like me and Josh (Thomson) going out there but you’ll see some hard hitting, probably see a little more technical. This is probably going to be a lot more technical. It’s unbelievable that he’s coming to the U.S. to fight me. It says something about him, and he’s the biggest star in Japan. That shows some confidence. I’m happy about it.

"Aoki is the No. 2 fighter in the world and I think he’s an amazing mixed martial artist. I’m excited to fight the guy. That’s what he has on everybody — his ground game and submission. Am I prepared for it? I believe so. I have to be prepared for all his submissions.

"My biggest advantage in this fight is my stand up and my patience. I’ve been fortunate enough to see the Aoki style. I’m just going to be patient and let it happen. I think I can knock this guy out in two rounds.

"I’m really happy to have this fight on CBS. Millions of people will be watching and, yeah, it definitely makes a difference. To me it’s a coming out party to display my skills to the world."

DREAM Champion and Challenger Shinya Aoki:

"This fight is nothing special. I will fight as usual. I feel I’m representing DREAM and also Japan."

"He’s a very aggressive fighter. He’s a good fighter representing the United States. It’s going to be a very quick fight, a quick submission or a quick knockout, but either way it’s going to be a personal fight.

"He’s a top-ranked fighter in the United States but I can take his pressure and I’m going to beat him and take back two world title belts to Japan."

The March 2010 Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.

In addition to the numerous MMA web sites that publish the Independent World MMA Rankings, you can also access the rankings at any time by going to www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.

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Dream has officially confirmed their Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki (23-4-0) will challenge Gilbert Melendez (17-2-0) for his Strikeforce Lightweight Championship April 17 at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn.

Badr Hari/Alistair Overeem

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Not often have I been able to say that HKL got the ball rolling on a confirmed rumor, but HKL got the ball rolling on a pretty big rumor and it is out now. MMAJunkie got a hold of Alistair Overeem today. It looks like the rumors of his fight on May 15th against Rogers are a reality, and the possible fight with Neil Grove is in the works.

Overeem announced the Rogers fight earlier today on his Twitter account but clarified that the matchup is not confirmed. He also added that a rumored appearance at DREAM.13 against Neil Grove or Josh Barnett is also unconfirmed. 

"I'll know this week," he said. 

Keeping up with the Dutch fighter's schedule has proven a difficult task for American fans. Overeem was slated to face Rogers at "Strikeforce: Shields vs. Lawler" in 2009 before he injured his hand in an Amsterdam nightclub brawl and suffered severe complications, which he said shelved him for a follow-up appearance two months later against Fabricio Werdum at "Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg."

Overeem also mentions he would like to participate in the 2010 K-1 tournament if Strikeforce doesn't eat up all of his time, could this year be the year of Overeem?

Basically, we just want to know what the hell is going on right now with these heavyweights.

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As most people have heard by now, Josh Barnett is the major heavyweight that DREAM is going to be booking for their late March show, but is still without an opponent. Tim Sylvia has turned down a fight with Josh Barnett and will instead fight Wes Sims in Canada because Ohio refuses to license the fight, and on top of that, he is apparently fighting Mariusz Pudzianowski in Massachusetts. Sylvia's road to recovery is apparently taking easy fights in hopes of being signed to UFC again. Antonio Silva was also called upon, but apparently has plans for Strikeforce in April against either Andrei Arlovski or Brett Rogers. So this is telling us the following; Sylvia is still a goof, Silva vs. either Andrei or Rogers is in discussion and Josh Barnett is potentially putting his career in the US on the line to fight in DREAM by crossing the CSAC who have refused him a license. 

Then there is Fedor Emelianenko. According to some message board poster, Fedor is currently training for an upcoming fight, claimed to be in the US. It is not hard to believe that Fedor is training for an upcoming fight, but it is a tough sell that it is for a fight in the United States just yet. There is a chance that his camp believes things with Strikeforce, but according to sources within M-1, things look rather grim. According to M-1 Global, Strikeforce has not honored the contract that they signed with M-1 and the only way Fedor will fight in a Strikeforce cage again is if they sign a new contract. M-1 is looking for a partner and to have Strikeforce cards featuring Fedor to be fully co-promoted cards. 

To put it bluntly, M-1 Global is looking at other potential partners right now if Strikeforce doesn't shape up. Generally speaking, that does not mean there is a healthy relationship with Strikeforce and that the chances of seeing Fedor fighting outside of Strikeforce have gone up. Now, is this just them trying to scare Strikeforce into conceding to their demands or are they seriously shopping Fedor and M-1 Global around is the question. 

So where does the horse meat-eating Alistair Overeem fit into this equation? K-1 has listed him as a possible participant in the K-1 World Grand Prix in Yokohama, and this lines up with our previous reports of Alistair having one last K-1 bout in March or April. I've recently spoken to one of the most outspoken men in combat sports, Bas Boon, the manager of Golden Glory fighters like Alistair Overeem and Sem Schilt. Bas and his relationship with M-1 Global is no secret, they do not agree with each other, but both Boon and Finklestein have gone on record with HKL saying that they would do business with each other in regards to booking Overeem vs. Fedor. When prompted as to who GG has been in talks with for Overeem to fight and if it will be in K-1 or DREAM, he offered a very uncharacteristic response that he could not comment, as they were still negotiating. Bas Boon does not "no comment." That could mean a lot of thing, so take it as you will.

SBN coverage of DREAM.13

Alistair Overeem

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Rumors about a possible Fedor Emelianenko v. Alistair Overeem fight in 2010 seem to have been squashed earlier today when M-1 announced that Fedor would face Fabricio Werdum in May.  However, Overeem still looms large over Fedor, both as one of the toughest non-UFC HWs Fedor has not yet defeated, and as (theoretically) the champion of Strikeforce. Dutch site Mixfight.nl decided to get in touch with Fedor's management regarding a fight with Overeem;  M-1's Apy Echteld said that they were interested in fighting Overeem, however they would not fight unless Overeem was drug tested leading up to the fight.  In response, Martijn de Jong from Overeem's team expressed his belief that Fedor deserves a shot at this Strikeforce title, and that they look forward to a potential fight.

While there is a strong possibility of Fedor v. Overeem later in the year, this drug testing could indeed throw a Pacquaio/Mayweather-style monkeywrench into the fight.  We'll have to see how that plays out.

In the meantime, Overeem is rumored for the K-1 Yokohama event, and now Dutch sites are reporting that he may be facing Brett Rogers on an upcoming Strikeforce event.  Again, we'll have to wait and see, but if we do get Fedor v. Werdum and Overeem v. Rogers this spring with the two winners meeting later in 2010, it certainly would be a tremendous year for Strikeforce's previously spotty heavyweight division.

Never count Inoki out. Did you know he once bought an island under the pretense it contained pirate treasure?

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One of the lessons to be learned from the past few years in Japan was Antonio Inoki should not be trusted when it comes to running a large-scale Mixed Martial Arts show, period. Horror stories of television networks being upset, investors (read: yakuza) not being pleased, sponsors bailing on the show and nobody getting paid from the last Inoki Bom-Be-Ye event.

So of course, to celebrate Inoki's involvement in the martial arts world for 50 years, Inoki might be scheming up a new show to rival K-1's Dynamite!! event. NightmareOfBattle posted this alarming news earlier.