FanHouse LukeRockhold

Jesse Taylor, the former Ultimate Fighter cast member who was kicked off the show for misbehavior and dropped by the UFC after a loss in the Octagon, suffered another setback in losing to Luke Rockhold on a Strikeforce Challengers Series card in Fresno Friday night.

Taylor, a former wrestler, immediately shot for a takedown and kept working for it until he finally got Rockhold on his back a little over a minute into the first round. But going to the ground turned out to be a mistake: Rockhold showed superior Brazilian jiu jitsu skills, getting Taylor's back, controlling him with a body triangle, and making him tap with a rear-naked choke.

Strikeforce will run shows back-to-back shows for the first time, starting with Strikeforce Challengers on Nov. 6 at the SaveMart Center in Fresno, Calif. and followed by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Roger on Nov. 7 in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

FanHouse has learned that in addition to the previously announced Jorge Gurgel vs. Billy Evangelista main event, Luke Rockhold vs. Jesse Taylor and Shane Del Rosario vs. Brandon Cash have been signed for the card.

Yes, Luke Rockhold is 4-0 in Strikeforce, and yes, he defeated veteran Cory Devela in 30 seconds at the last Strikeforce Challengers event. But that doesn't mean the American Kickboxing Academy product is going to start calling out some of the big names in Strikeforce's middleweight division.

Rockhold told FanHouse recently that he is happy building his resume on the Challengers series until he feels ready to compete against the organization's best 185-pounders. He's hoping to return to action on the October 25th Challangers card after recovering from a hand injury. Check out the video interview below.

Joey Villasenor beat Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos by split decision Friday night in the main event of the Strikeforce Challenger Series event in Kent, Washington, providing an exciting, fast-paced conclusion to a good MMA show.

Get live updates for tonight's Strikeforce fight in St. Louis now.

Strikeforce is back Saturday night with its first show of 2009, and the fights are over. I tweeted the results if you want to follow me on Twitter, and the full results of all 10 fights are below.