FanHouse Evangelista Santos

A day after news broke that Evangelista Santos was forced to pull out of his main event bout against Tim Kennedy on the upcoming Strikeforce Challengers card, FanHouse has learned that newcomer Zak Cummings has agreed to face Kennedy on short notice.

Cummings (10-0) will be making his Strikeforce debut on the card. Kennedy (10-2) made his organization debut in June, defeating Nick Thompson via submission. The fight will be contested at 185 pounds.

The Strikeforce injury bug continues to wreak havoc.

Almost a month before the organization's next Challengers event, Evangelista Santos (11-6-1) has been forced to pull out of his main event bout against Tim Kennedy (9-1) due to a knee injury sustained during training, according to The Fight Network, who cited a source close to Showtime.

Tim Kennedy will return to action against Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos on September 25 at the SpiritBank Event Center in Tulsa, OK. The middleweight fight will headline the next Strikeforce: Challengers card on Showtime. Strikeforce director of communications Mike Afromowitz confirmed the news with FanHouse on Friday.

A year ago, Joey Villasenor was feeling really good about his MMA career. He had just defeated Phil Baroni on the first-ever MMA event broadcast on network television and was primed to make a run at the EliteXC middleweight title. He was then three weeks away from receiving that shot and an opportunity to avenge an October 2006 loss to Robbie Lawler, until the organization suddenly ceased operations and cancelled the event in November.

Since then, Villasenor has been anxiously awaiting his chance to get back in the cage. "I just can't wait to be under the lights, man," he said. "That's what I have done over frickin' 30 times professionally. I just can't wait to feel that numbness in my stomach. I've kind of grown addicted to it."

On Friday night, Villasenor will feel that numbness again when he faces Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos in the main event of "Strikeforce: Challengers" on Showtime (watch their weigh-in scuffle from Thursday). FanHouse spoke to the native of Albquerque, N.M., about resuming his career and his place in Strikeforce's middleweight division. The full interview is below.