Former WWE champion and undefeated heavyweight fighter Bobby Lashley (4-0) has signed with Strikeforce and will make his debut for the promotion on the Jan. 30 Showtime card.

Lashley, who wrestled for Missouri Valley College and the United States Army, last fought on June 27, defeating Bob Sapp. He was offered a fight against Fedor Emelianenko as a replacement for Josh Barnett in August, but turned it down, feeling that he wasn’t ready for that level of competition yet. He’s seeking to continue the development of his skill set and work his way towards a fight with Brock Lesnar in the UFC at some point in the future.

Some of our regular readers may have noticed that I’ve been mostly absent from Inside Fights over the past two months. I have accepted a full-time job with Heavy.com as the lead MMA staff writer, which cuts back severely on the time that I can spend on Inside Fights.

I will remain in my position as Editor in Chief here at Inside Fights, but tonight I’m introducing a new MMA editor for the site. Nate Lawson, our most regular contributor, has been taking on more and more responsibilities here at Inside Fights over the past few months, and he’ll act as the day to day MMA editor for the site from this point forward.

Citing a severe illness that has left him unable to train for three weeks, UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has pulled out of his Nov. 21 fight with Shane Carwin.

UFC President Dana White has confirmed the news with Yahoo Sports.

“He said he’s never been this sick in his life,” White said. “He said it’s been going on for a long time and he just hasn’t been able to shake it.”

UPDATE: The Lesnar/Carwin bout has been rescheduled for UFC 108 on January 2nd in Las Vegas. Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will now be featured in the headlining bout.

I’ve spoken to sources in Lesnar’s camp. Lesnar actually fell ill late last week and not three weeks ago as originally reported. He’s currently in the hospital undergoing blood work to determine what the problem is, but they are working under the assumption that he has contracted the H1N1 virus.

InsideFights.com is live from cageside at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for tonight’s UFC 104 event. We’ll be providing live updates from all preliminary and main card bouts tonight, so join us at 7pm ET for all the action.

The preliminary bouts for the evening will be starting shortly. I’ll be joined on this live blog by Jonathan Snowden, who will provide post-match commentary for each bout.

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The latest round of contract negotiations between Dan Henderson and the Ultimate Fighting Championship have reached an impasse.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports broke the news tonight that Henderson and the UFC have been unable to reach a deal and that Henderson is on the verge of signing with rival promotion Strikeforce. That’s not the case, however, as sources within Strikeforce tell InsideFights.com that negotiations with the former PRIDE champion have yet to take place. Henderson is planning a hunting trip that will last two weeks and has no plans to make any decisions before it ends.

InsideFights.com has also learned that Henderson and the UFC are “far apart” on contract negotiations. Henderson is asking for a contract that will make him one of the highest-paid fighters on the roster, and the UFC offer is said to be considerably lower. The key sticking point in the negotiations has been Henderson’s request for a seven-figure signing bonus.

Both Henderson and the UFC have exhibited little desire to budge on the negotiations.

Henderson has repeated throughout the negotiation period that he has zero interest in going to Strikeforce. But sources close to his camp indicated to Sports Illustrated tonight that even though the UFC is his first choice, Henderson is now open to leaving.

SAN ANTONIO – FoxSports.com/InsideFights.com is on the scene for tonight’s “WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson” card in San Antonio, Texas. We’ll be providing live results and commentary for the entire show, including all preliminary bouts.

We’re settled in cageside here at the AT&T Center. The building is still fairly empty, but the line for the Chuck Liddell autograph signing outside appears to be a mile long — and Chuck has been signing and taking pictures with fans for over two hours. Once they wrap that up, the place should fill up fairly quickly.

First fight was scheduled to take place at 7pm ET, but the start time has been pushed back a few minutes. We should be under way shortly.

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SAN ANTONIO – Inside Fights/FoxSports.com was on the scene for tonight’s WEC 43 weigh-ins in San Antonio. All fighters made weight, with only one fighter — preliminary card fighter Mackens Semerzier — needing a second chance to get under the limit.

The weigh-ins were hosted by Cowboy’s Dancehall, a massive 20,000 square foot saloon that was far different than the normal Zuffa weigh-in location. The fight card takes place at the AT&T Center, the home of the San Antonio Spurs.

Full weigh-in results:

MAIN CARD

Donald Cerrone (154.5) vs. Benson Henderson (155)
Dave Jansen (156) vs. Richard Crunkilton Jr. (156)
Rafael Assuncao (146) vs. Yves Jabouin (146)
Will Campuzano (135) vs. Damacio Page (136)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Muhsin Corbbrey (156) vs. Anthony Njokuani (156)
Scott Jorgensen (136) vs. Noah Thomas (136)
Wagnney Fabiano (145.5) vs. Mackens Semerzier (146)
Manny Tapia (135.5) vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
Coty Wheeler (135) vs. Charlie Valencia (134.5)
Deividas Taurosevicius (144.5) vs. Javier Vazquez (145)

Forrest Griffin will replace the injured Mark Coleman against Tito Ortiz at UFC 106.

UFC President Dana White tonight confirmed the news with Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.

Coleman, who suffered an injury while training last week, requested that the fight with Ortiz be rescheduled. But UFC 106 is shaping up to be one of the premier cards of 2009 for the company, and they wanted to keep Ortiz on the card.

Griffin is coming off a big loss to Anderson Silva in August, but he represents a much stronger and more dangerous opponent for Ortiz.

This will be the second meeting for Ortiz and Griffin. They faced off at UFC 59 in 2006, with Ortiz scoring a controversial split decision victory.

UFC 106 takes place Nov. 21 in Las Vegas and is headlined by Brock Lesnar taking on Shane Carwin.

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter pulled a 2.2 household rating, a clear and sharp drop from last week’s record-setting episode featuring Kimbo Slice losing to Roy Nelson. The Nelson/Slice bout drew a 3.7 household rating, making it the most-watched MMA show in North American history.

Spike TV did not include the household rating in the ratings press release today, instead choosing to focus on the male 18-34 demographic, which scored 1.1 million viewers and handily defeated the MLB playoffs on TBS. Spike TV provided the household rating to InsideFights.com.

Junie Browning, 24, was taken to St. Rose Dominican Hospital last night in Henderson, Nevada after he took sixteen klonopin pills. Henderson police, who arrested Browning, said he took the pills in an attempt to harm himself.

At the hospital, the situation went from bad to worse. Browning tried to leave the hospital, but was told he couldn’t leave the building. Browning pushed a female nurse, punched and kicked two male nurses, and screamed obscenities at the hospital staff.

“Do you know who I am? I will kill you and rape your family,” Henderson police say Browning shouted.

Browning faces three counts of battery on a health care provider. He was booked at the Henderson Detention Center, where he was released today.

Browning’s UFC contract was terminated on Wednesday night.