Hieron/Riggs and Noons/Evangelista Expected for Strikeforce: Miami

Reports regarding potential Strikeforce match-ups have surfaced: Jay Hieron is rumored to be facing Joe Riggs in the welterweight division, and the Strikeforce debut of Karl "K.J." Noons will find him standing opposite Billy Evangelista.

Jay Hieron signed with Strikeforce thinking he would get an immediate title shot, but Nick Diaz no-showed the mandatory drug test and caused the cancellation of the Hieron/Diaz championship bout that was aligned for the "Carano vs. Cyborg" event.  Hieron still participated, and beat up Jesse Taylor  for a unanimous decision victory.  It was widely assumed that a fight with Diaz would be resurrected until Strikeforce announced that Diaz would face newcomer Marius Zaromskis for the strap instead. 

Despite further delay and another tough opponent to go through, 18-4 Jay Hieron remains positive.  "All good things come to those that wait," Hieron said. "Trust me; I'm going to make a statement in my next fight."  

Joe Riggs will be the man on the receiving end of Hieron's intentions.  Holding a fairly deep record for a young age, Riggs is 32-10 overall, and already has a wealth of experience in MMA.  He's always been heavily hyped for his allegedly astounding athleticism, yet seemed to fall short in light of the praise attached to him.  On the bright side, there is no shame in losing to established fighters such as Matt Hughes, Diego Sanchez, Kazuo Misaki, Ivan Salaverry, and Mike Swick.  Riggs is currently on a four-fight win streak since losing to Misaki at the Playboy Mansion, taking out Luke Stewart and Phil Baroni in Strikeforce, and then continuing his trend of keeping busy by fighting on consecutive weekends and picking up wins over David Barnes and Nick Almen. 

Considering the fact that Riggs has a win over Nick Diaz in the UFC, and the two even went at it in the hospital after their fight, this match-up is a win/win for Strikeforce, as it's too sensible not to pit the winner of this fight versus the victor in the Diaz/Zaromskis title fight, and likewise with the losers.

K.J. Noons is another fighter who has a history with Diaz, but the present gap in weight between the two prevents a rematch, so Noons will hop from the ring back into cage against Billy Evangelista for his first fight in Strikeforce.  The professional boxer begins a tour of duty in MMA after focusing strictly on the sweet science since we last saw him in contract disputes with EliteXC. 

There are still many interesting pairings for Noons in Strikeforce, and undefeated Evangelista is one of them.  The striker last earned a unanimous decision over Jorge Gurgel, making his loss to Mike Aina, which was eventually wiped away and morphed into a No Decision ruling after illegal knee shenanigans, the closest thing to a blemish on his 10-0-1 record. 

Noons/Evangelista will be a crowd pleasing slugfest and another solid addition to the "Strikeforce: Miami" card.  Other fights slated for the card include Bobby Lashley's debut against Shane Del Rosario, the Diaz/Zaromskis title fight, and Marloes Coenen versus Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.