STRIKEFORCE Welterweight Champions

Nick Diaz & Sarah Kaufman Return To Action

Saturday, Oct. 9 In San Jose

Live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT

October 9, 2010

HP Pavilion

San Jose, California

SAN JOSE, CALIF. (Aug. 21, 2010) – The STRIKEFORCE men’s and women’s Welterweight World

Champions Nick Diaz (170-pounds) and Sarah Kaufman (135-pounds) will return to the cage on

Saturday, Oct. 9 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, LIVE on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the

west coast). 

Diaz will face an opponent to be named in the coming week while Kaufman will defend her title against

Dutch superstar Marloes Coenen.

Also on the explosive card, emerging star from the Strikeforce Challengers series Luke Rockhold will risk

his six-fight win streak against MMA superstar and former Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt "The

Law" Lindland in a featured middleweight (185 pounds) contest.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, August 28 at 10:00 a.m. PT online at

Ticketmaster.com, at the HP Pavilion ticket office, or by phone at (800) 745-3000. 

A special presale opportunity for “STRIKEFORCE Insider” e-newsletter subscribers begins this Wednesday,

August 25 at 10:00 a.m. PT.  A special presale code will be sent out to all “STRIKEFORCE Insiders” on

Tuesday, August 24.  Sign up to become a “STRIKEFORCE Insider” at

http://www.strikeforce.com/insider.html.

The 27-year-old Diaz (22-7), a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and native of Stockton, Calif., has won seven

consecutive fights since his last loss in 2007.  He is coming off a first round submission victory (armbar)

over fellow superstar Hayato “Mach” Sakurai on May 29 at DREAM 14 in Japan.  Prior to that, Diaz won

the STRIKEFORCE title with a late, third-round TKO (punches) of Marius “The Whitemare” Žaromskis

at STRIKEFORCE: Miami on Jan. 30. 

The undefeated Kaufman (12-0), a former ballet dancer who hails from British Columbia, Canada, is fresh off

the first defense of her title, an explosive body slam KO of Roxanne Modafferi at STRIKEFORCE

Challengers in Everett, Wash., on July 23.  The 24-year-old Kaufman, who has won nine of her fights by KO,

will face Coenen (17-4), a submission specialist and the No. 1 contender to the STRIKEFORCE Women’s

Welterweight belt. 

The 29-year-old Coenen (17-4) will fight for the first time since a third-round TKO loss to Cris Cyborg for the

STRIKEFORCE Women’s Middleweight (145 pounds) Championship at STRIKEFORCE: Miami.  Coenen, a

member of Holland’s Team Golden Glory and mixed martial artist since the age of 14, will be moving down

in weight to challenge at 135 pounds.   Kaufman and Coenen have both defeated Modafferi, with Coenen

avenging a 2007 loss via first round armbar in her STRIKEFORCE debut on Nov. 7, 2009.  

Rockhold (7-1), who could prove to be one of STRIKEFORCE’s next great middleweight superstars, has won

six of his seven fights via submission.  The 25-year-old member of Team AKA is coming off a first-round TKO

(knees to body) of Paul Bradley on Feb. 26 at a STRIKEFORCE Challengers event in San Jose.  The

impressive win was the first KO victory of the Santa Cruz, Calif., native’s professional career.  Prior to his

latest conquest, Rockhold had won five straight fights by way of submission.

Lindland (22-7), who won the silver medal in Olympic Greco Roman Wrestling at the 2000 Olympic Games,

scored a third-round TKO victory over “King” Kevin Casey on May 21 at STRIKEFORCE Challengers in

his hometown of Portland, Ore.  A former UFC star who has been competing professionally in MMA since

1997, Lindland, 40, is also a former All-American wrestler for University of Nebraska and the 1993 NCAA

Big Eight conference champion.  During his stellar career, Lindland has triumphed over a number of all-time

greats including former UFC champions Pat Miletich and Carlos Newton. 

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on

Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed

martial arts fight card in California state history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary

champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion,

played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has

been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a

leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA)

series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie."  In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of

STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000

to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.  In March

2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the

premium cable television network.  The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the

CBS Television Network.

About Showtime Networks Inc.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the

premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex

channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®,

SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ 

XTRA.  SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD™, SHOWTIME 2 HD™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL HD™, SHOWTIME

ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL ON DEMAND™ and FLIX ON DEMAND®.  SNI also manages

Smithsonian Channel™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution.  All SNI feeds provide

enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for

exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

Contact:

- Strikeforce

  Mike Afromowitz: mafromowitz@strikeforce.com

- Showtime

  Chris DeBlasio: Chris.DeBlasio@Showtime.net

  Annie Van Tornhout: annie.vantornhout@showtime.net

- Brener Zwikel & Associates, Inc.

  Steve Pratt: Stevep@bzapr.com

  John Beyrooty: Johnnybey@aol.com

- Press Release from Strikeforce

Subject to change

(8/21/10)