UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is slated to fight Forrest Griffin at light heavyweight division at UFC 101 in Philidelphia.

Press Release: NEW YORK (April 27, 2009)–Fresh off their respective thrilling wins, the versatile Nick Diaz (19-7) and knockout artist Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (17-5) are eager to get back in the cage. The pair will square off on Saturday, June 6, in a special 180-pound showdown during the live SHOWTIME® telecast of Strikeforce: “Lawler vs. Shields” from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis , Mo.

“I think this is a great fight for me, but I really hate that (Smith) brings his kids to every one of his fights because now I’m going to be made out to be the bad guy or some sort of villain after I beat him up,” said the 25-year-old Diaz, who shocked the MMA world with his complete dominance of four-time world champion Frank Shamrock in the Strikeforce main event on SHOWTIME from HP Pavilion in San Jose on Saturday, April 11. “At the end of the day, I’m going to do what I have to do though and take him out.”

Against Shamrock, Diaz demonstrated his versatility. The Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt spent the majority of the match trading strikes—and getting the better of the exchanges. Known for his prowess on the mat, Diaz is also a professional boxer.

Known for his outstanding endurance, Diaz just completed a 5K race and will compete in an upcoming triathlon near his hometown in Stockton, Calif., in order to prepare for what could be a marathon slugfest in the cage with Smith.

Earlier on the “Shamrock vs. Diaz” fight card, the 29-year-old Smith prevailed in a brutal and action-packed fight that surely will be candidate for 2009 Fight of the Year. The thrilling, seesaw battle with middleweight Benji “The Razor” Radach ended when Smith landed one monstrous punch in the middle of the third round.

“I’m pretty much 100 percent right now, other than some stitches I have that are tender,” said Smith, who returned to training on Monday, April 13, two days after his victory.

“I usually take a few weeks off, get out of shape and go up to about 210 pounds and wind up spending a few weeks just getting back in shape,” he said, “but I decided I wasn’t going to do that this time. I’m 195 pounds right now and I feel great.”

With 15 of his 17 wins having come by way of knockout, Smith, a Muay Thai specialist, has lived up to his nickname. To prepare adequately for Diaz’s grappling capabilities, Smith will work with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Ricardo Barros.

“Diaz is a great fighter,” acknowledged Smith. “He’s going to come in there and out grapple me and out strike me so what I have to do is go in there and beat him up. I actually think this is more of a dangerous fight for him than it is for me.”

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin will face UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 101 according to MMAJunkie and Yahoo. This fight will be at light heavyweight, a division that Silva fought at last July when he defeated James Irvin. This matchup comes after UFC President Dana White expressed disappointment after Silva’s performance against Thales Leites at UFC 97.

This fight should be a great because Forrest Griffin is big guy and he will have no problem engaging with Silva.

Strikeforce announced today in a conference call that former UFC champ Frank Shamrock (23-9-2) will face Nick Diaz (18-7) at a 179 lb catchweight on April 11, 2009. This matchup will be the Main Event of Strikeforce’s first fight of the year at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, California. This will be Diaz first fight in Strikefore and Shamrock’s will be his first fight in over a year since losing the Strikeforce middleweight belt to Cung Le.

“Nick Diaz is a guy who throws hands, talks trash and I’m going to knock him out on April 11”, declared Frank Shamrock on the conference call.

(Photos by Pro Elite & Pride FC)

Former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk (33-3) will face Frank Edgar (9-1) at UFC 98 according to MMAMania. UFC 98 will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 23.

New Featherweight champion Mike Brown (20-4) will face UFC veteran Leonard Garcia (12-3) at WEC 39 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

(Junior dos Santos in Pic – Props to Combat Lifestyle)

Dutch UFC newcomer Stefan Struve (16-2) will fight Junior “Cigano” dos Santos (7-1) at UFC 95 according to Sherdog. The Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira trained Junior dos Santos, recently burst onto the UFC scene by KOing heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum at UFC 90. The 6-foot-8 Struve comes from a Dutch kickboxing background but has 12 submission wins on his record.

(Photo from Diego Sanchez’s MySpace)

Diego Sanchez (19-2) has decided to move down to lightweight division to make a run for the UFC title. According to MMAJunkie.com, Sanchez’s first opponent at lightweight will be “Big Daddy” Joe Stevenson (29-9) at UFC 95. This fight is expected to be a co-main event at UFC 95. UFC 95 will take place at The O2 Arena in London, England, on February 21, 2009.

- According to GracieFighter, Nathan Diaz (10-2) will fight Clay Guida (24-9) on January 31st, 2009 at UFC 94 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

- MMAWeekly is reporting that Martin Kampmann will fight Alexander Barros at UFC 93.