Scott Coker and company invade “The Sunshine State” this evening with the promotion’s first event of the new year, Strikeforce: “Miami”. The event is set for the BankAtlantic Center in Miami, Florida and will be live on Showtime with the main card beginning at 10p.m. ET.

The card features the debut of two extremely-hyped heavyweights in Herschel Walker and Bobby Lashely. The main event of the evening is a welterweight title showdown between Nick Diaz and Marius Zaromskis for the vacant 170-pound title. A middleweight bout between stand up sensation Melvin Manhoef and top contender Robbie Lawler is also set for the main card.

However, the men will not be the only ones throwing down this night, as Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen will battle for the women’s 145-pound title that “Cyborg” won after defeating Gina Carano at Strikeforce: “Carano vs. Cyborg”.

The event will be live on Showtime, but for those of you without access to the channel, Inside Fights will be bringing you live blow-by-blow updates for tonight’s fights. Keep up with every round tonight and don’t miss a beat by joining us for the evening’s festivities.

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A team of writers at Inside Fights has worked together to decide upon this year’s awards for the individuals and organizations in the sport of mixed martial arts that went above and beyond the competition. Categories include Fighter of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Submission of the Year, and several other important awards to give credit where credit is due.

The series will be broken down into four parts, with this section following up Pt. 1 with “Fight Card of the Year” and “Story of the Year”.

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Last weekend, World Extreme Cagefighting put on yet another great night of fights with several excellent, fast paced matches between fighters at the very top of their weight classes. This was just the latest in a series of great WEC events with 2009 seeing Faber-Brown II, Torres-Bowles and Brown-Aldo proving that the 135Ibs and 145Ibs weight classes are second to none in terms of in-ring excitement and excellence. And yet while BJ Penn-Kenny Florian main-evented a PPV in lightweight championship fight, and fans are still buzzing from Shogun Rua dismantling Lyoto Machida, only a small audience of MMA diehards saw Brown retain against Faber in a twenty-five minute classic or Bowles shock the seemingly untouchable Torres. That disparity between the level of attention given to the five UFC weight classes and the two WEC weight classes is a symptom of the wider problems created by Zuffa’s handling of the featherweights and bantamweights.

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Gina Carano and Randy Couture will be appearing in ESPN The Magazine’s “Bodies” issue, which hits newsstands next week.

The magazine, which features professional athletes in various states of undress, will focus on specific body parts of several athletes. Couture’s legendary cauliflower ears will be highlighted.

Carano will be spotlighted on the cover of the magazine and will also be featured in the “Bodies We Want” section. The section will not focus on specific body parts, but will feature the athletes in a traditional photo shoot layout.

Manny Pacquiao, Adrian Peterson, Dwight Howard, Serena Williams and Joba Chamberlain are among the other athletes included in the magazine.

Like fellow fighter Quinton Jackson, MMA starlet Gina Carano is poised to make the leap to the silver screen.

Carano has been cast as the lead character in the new Steven Soderbergh movie, entitled Knockout. Don’t let the title fool you, though: the movie has nothing to do with mixed martial arts.

The film has been described as a “flat-out action spy thriller in the James Bond vein”.

Soderbergh is considered one of the most eccentric and talented producers working in Hollywood. He has produced scores of critically-acclaimed films such as Syriana, Michael Clayton, and Good Night and Good Luck.

Make no mistake about it: this is a very big deal for Gina Carano. We don’t know what kind of serious acting chops she has, but the movie will serve as a springboard for her post-MMA career. Lucrative offers in Hollywood could mean we only see her fight once a year from this point forward.

Gina Carano has released a statement on her one-sided loss to Cris Cyborg at the Strikeforce show earlier this month:

“I wanted to take time to collect my thoughts and speak from the heart rather than spew out some cliché anecdote about a tough loss. I know I am a better fighter than the way I performed that night and was heartbroken to not give more to those who have been inspired. However, I find some relief in knowing that this has never been only about me, and now more than ever I feel freedom to learn and grow at my own pace.

I make it a point to constantly remind myself throughout this journey who I am, what I am doing, and why. Life is the most amazing gift and I want to live it for the right reasons. To my family, coaches, management… thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me, loving and encouraging me.

Also a special thanks to the fans who support me from their computers at home, watch me on television and scream for me in the stadiums. Because of you, barriers have been broken down and you have inspired me to believe in a larger dream. Congratulations to Cris Cyborg and the women of MMA who have a great platform to shine. I am more excited than ever for female fighters and this amazing sport which has transformed my life. God Bless.”

Months in the making, Strikeforce:  Carano vs. Cyborg promised an event of monumental proportion.

Just as the event seemingly soared to exuberance, it experienced sudden freefall and numerous treacherous turns as it suffered numerous fighter withdrawals and other unexpected circumstances.  In the end, the roller coaster turn of events culminated as a showcase of fine MMA action.

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SAN JOSE – Gina Carano may be the face of women’s mixed martial arts, but Cris Cyborg is the new Strikeforce women’s champion.

Carano, who came into the fight as a two to one underdog, proved unable to cope with the power and striking ability of Santos, who finished the previously undefeated Carano by strikes with one second remaining in the first round.

Carano was in constant trouble from the beginning of the bout. She was able to avoid multiple submission attempts by Cyborg but wasn’t able to mount any type of offense against the Brazilian powerhouse.

MOUSASI MAKES STUNNING UNITED STATES DEBUT

Gegard Mousasi made his United States MMA debut in style, finishing former UFC star Renato “Babalu” Sobral in one devastating minute to capture the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship.

Mousasi rose to stardom in Japan and has unquestionably been one of the most-hyped prospects of the past few years, but Sobral represented the most talented fighter he’s faced thus far in his MMA career. Mousasi rose to the challenge, however, getting Sobral to the ground and then finishing the fight with hard shots on the ground that left Sobral nearly comatose.

MELENDEZ RETAINS INTERIM CHAMPIONSHIP

Gilbert Melendez and Mitsuhiro Ishida put on the best fight of the evening in a fast-paced and exciting bout for the interim lightweight championship. Melendez finished Ishida in the third round by TKO.

Fabricio Werdum made quick work of Mike Kyle in the first round of the main card opener, finishing Kyle by guillotine choke. Werdum, a potential future opponent for new Strikeforce heavyweight ruler Fedor Emelianenko, looked far more impressive than in his last UFC run.

Our very own Aki Kuwabara will be live from cageside in San Jose tonight for the biggest women’s mixed martial arts fight in history. Stay tuned to this very post for live updates and results, plus news and notes from the post-fight press conference.

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On the eve of the seminal fight card in the history of women’s MMA, Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos demonstrated that they are physically primed for the fight.

Carano and Santos convincingly banished the weigh-in fiasco to the past on Friday night — Santos tipped the scale at 144.5 pounds and Carano also passed the test with flying color as the scale registered at 143 pounds.

In the other championship bout, the defending Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Renato “Babalu” Sobral came in underweight at an astonishing 201 pounds.  The challenger, Gegard Mousasi also came in underweight at 204 pounds on the eve of his Strikeforce and American debut.

Vying for the interim Lightweight championship belt and the ticket to challenge the current title holder, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez and Mitsuhiro Ishida weighed in at 155 pounds sharp.

Melendez walked to the scale to the enthusiastic fanfare from the Bay Area fans, while Ishida experienced a much more subdued reception with smatterings of cheers interspersed with a few boos.

Now fighting on the main card, heavyweights Fabricio Werdum and Mike Kyle weighed in on the lighter end of the heavyweight scale, as Werdum came in at 228 pounds and Kyle at a svelte 219 pounds.

A bout that has been buffeted by a whirlwind turn of events, Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor stumbled once again.

While Hieron came in at 169 pounds, Taylor tipped the scale a pound over the limit at 172 pounds.  Taylor was subsequently given two hours to shed the extra pound.

Elsewhere, the undercard bouts featuring a number of local fighters faced no issues at the scale:  All fighters, including Alex Trevino, who stepped in as a last-minute replacement for Poppies Martinez to face Isaiah Hill, were on-weight.

Main Card:
-Gina Carano (143) vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (144.5)
-Renato “Babalu” Sobral (201) vs. Gegard Mousasi (204)
-Gilbert Melendez (155) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (155)
-Fabricio Werdum (228) vs. Mike Kyle (219)
-Jesse Taylor (172) vs. Jay Hieron (169)*

Preliminary Card:
-Mike Cook (205) vs. Scott Lighty (205)
-David Douglas (156) vs. Justin Wilcox (154)
-James Terry (169) vs. Zac Bucia (170)
-Alex Trevino (156) vs. Isaiah Hill (156)

*Taylor was given two hours to lose the extra pound.