FanHouse KevinRandleman

Sengoku middleweight champ Jorge Santiago will face Mamed Khalidov in a non-title fight and Kevin Randleman will take on Stanislav Nedkov at Sengoku 11 on Nov. 7 in Tokyo, World Victory Road announced today.

Santiago (21-7), who last fought in January when he captured the Sengoku title over Kazuo Misaki, has been on a tear the past two years after leaving the UFC late 2006 on two knockout losses. Since, the American Top Team fighter has won Strikeforce and Sengoku tournaments and would have looked to extend his win streak to ten in August against Vitor Belfort until the cancellation of the Affliction "Trilogy" event.

Gegard Mousasi is currently training for his next fight to take place at the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers-headlined Strikeforce event on Nov. 7 in Hoffman Estates, Ill., the fighter confirmed Monday on his blog for M-1 Global.

The Strkeforce 205-pound champ's opponent is to be announced, but according to Mousasi, the rumors are Kevin Randleman, Paulo Filho and Mike Whitehead. He added that while Ricardo Arona has not joined Strikeforce, the PRIDE veteran would be a great signing for the organization.

Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago, featherweight GP finalist Michihiro Omigawa and Strikeforce light heavyweight Kevin Randleman will compete on the Sengoku 11 card on Nov. 7 at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

World Victory Road announced the initial details for Sengoku 11 at a small conference Friday at the J-ROCK workout studio in Tokyo, where Omigawa was also present to conduct a workout for the media.

Since leaving the UFC in February 2006, Mike Whitehead has quietly compiled a 15-1 record. He last fought for Strikeforce in June, defeating Kevin Randleman via unanimous decision.

Whitehead told FanHouse that he expects to return to Strikeforce in October, but doesn't know who he will be facing. If he had his pick, Whitehead would like a shot at Strikeforce's current 205-pound champion, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, who is the only man to defeat him in over three years. He would also love to face Tito Ortiz. Find out why in our video interview below.

Kevin Randleman will make his Strikeforce debut on June 6 after all. FanHouse has learned that the former UFC heavyweight champion has been booked against Mike Whitehead in a light heavyweight matchup on the upcoming Strikeforce card at the Scottrade Center in St Louis.

FanHouse reported two weeks ago that Randleman had turned down a fight against Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante after current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral pulled out of his scheduled title defense.

Strikeforce suffered a tough break when current light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral pulled out of his June 6 title defense against Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante earlier this week. Sobral's wife is scheduled to give birth at the end of May and he reportedly felt like the fight was too close to her due date.

On Saturday night, Strikeforce put on its first MMA show of 2009, and on Sunday night Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker talked to me about how he thinks the first show went and where he sees Strikeforce going in 2009.

Among the topics we discussed were the success of Nick Diaz, the future of Frank Shamrock, the weight of Cris Cyborg (and her likely future fight with Gina Carano), as well as the possibility that big names in MMA including Kimbo Slice, Tito Ortiz, Royce Gracie and Fedor Emelianenko could fight in the Strikeforce cage. The full interview is below.