FanHouse Gina Carano

Strikeforce announced Wednesday that they will be holding a press conference at the WaMu Theatre inside New York City's Madison Square Garden on July 14 to hype the August 15 fight between Gina Carano and Cristiane Santos. The event is also open to the public.

Call me crazy, but I think that this is a historic moment for Strikeforce, mixed martial arts and, more specifically, women's MMA.

Gina Carano and Cristiane Santos (better known as Cris Cyborg) will step into the cage in the main event of the August 15 Strikeforce show in what is being billed as the biggest fight in the history of women's MMA. But there's a looming question over the fight: Can Carano and Cyborg make weight? And on a call Thursday to promote the bout, neither Carano nor Cyborg was in the mood to discuss it.

It's been almost a year since we've seen Shayna Baszler compete in an MMA cage. Following her last fight, a highly-visible loss to Cristiane Santos on CBS in July 2008, the 28-year-old was forced to sit on the sidelines while Pro Elite figured out what they were going to do with their contracts. Once Strikeforce purchased most of the significant ones in February, it was only a matter of time before Baszler got back to work and resumed her promising career.

At Friday's "Strikeforce: Challengers" event in Kent, Wash. (Showtime, 11 PM ET/PT), Baszler (9-5) will face undefeated star Sarah Kaufman. Kaufman (9-0) made her successful 135-pound Strikeforce debut last month, defeating Meisha Tate via unanimous decision. FanHouse spoke to Baszler about her time off and preparing for Kaufman. The full interview is below.

Cristiane Santos, aka Cris Cyborg, will take on Gina Carano on August 15 in what Strikeforce is promoting as the biggest fight in the history of women's mixed martial arts. One of the big reasons that Cyborg vs. Carano is such a big fight, of course, is that Carano has become a star and a sex symbol beyond just the world of MMA. But Cyborg has a message for Carano on that count.

The first lady of MMA is back. During its broadcast on Showtime Saturday night, Strikeforce announced that Gina Carano has finally signed with the promotion and will return on Aug. 15.

Carano will fight Cris Cyborg in the most anticipated women's fight ever.

Saturday night's fight between Phil Baroni and Joe Riggs may not be the most interesting bout on the Strikeforce card, but it certainly stole all the headlines in the weeks leading up to it.

Seems like every day another trash-talking episode popped up between the two out-spoken fighters. Whether it was Baroni calling out Riggs for missing a pre-fight conference call or Riggs accusing Baroni of being a drug user, if nothing else, both men did a fantastic job of selling this 170-pound clash.

FanHouse spoke to "The New York Bad Ass" via e-mail about restarting his career as a welterweight and what he hopes to accomplish in the future. The full interview is below.

News and notes from around the world of mixed martial arts:

* A heavyweight bout between Tim Sylvia and Paul Buentello has been penciled in for "Affliction: Trilogy," a source close to Sylvia informed Fanhouse on Friday. A member of Buentello's camp told FanHouse that he already signed the bout agreement and Sylvia will be doing the same shortly. Sylvia was last seen losing in 36 seconds via rear naked choke to Fedor Emelianenko at the first Affliction event last July. Meanwhile, since losing the Strikeforce heavyweight title to Alistair Overeem in November 2007, Buentello has won his last two fights in a row.

Gina Carano is America's most popular female fighter, but for the past seven months she's been a cage fighter without a cage to fight in.

That may soon change, as Carano -- who lost her promotion when the EliteXC organization went under -- told FanHouse that she's about to sign with Strikeforce, which could put together a superfight with the other star of women's MMA, Cris Cyborg.

Carano also talked about her aspirations as a fighter, her fame, and the new line of figurines bearing her likeness that the Round 5 company has put out. The full interview is below.

Gina Carano, the most popular female fighter in mixed martial arts, said Friday that she is "very certain" she will sign a contract soon to fight for Strikeforce in August, and she expects her return to the cage to be a title fight against Cristiane" Cris Cyborg" Santos.

When I asked Carano when she'll fight again, she said, "It's looking like August. I'm getting ready to sign the Strikeforce contract, so we're going for August, I think. ... I'm very certain it's going to be very soon. Unless something crazy happens, it's going to be very soon."

Carano said she is satisfied with the way her contract talks have gone, and so is Strikeforce.

Miesha Tate (5-1) went from training for a fight against a well-known, less experienced opponent in Kim Couture (1-1), to a lesser-known, more experienced opponent in Sarah Kaufman (8-0). It was a bitter pill to swallow for the up-and-coming female MMA star, but one that she ultimately realized could benefit her career even more in the long run.

A win over Couture would have been a nice addition to Tate's resume, but it also would have done little to prove that she is a top-level fighter. Defeating the undefeated Kaufman in the co-main event of tonight's inaugural Strikeforce Challengers event on Showtime, would go a long way in terms of establishing Tate as one of the best 135-pound female fighters in the world.

FanHouse spoke to Tate about gearing up for a new opponent on short notice and trying to be recognized for more than just her looks. The full interview is after the jump.