FanHouse PaulDaley

Update: Affliction Vice President, Tom Atencio, just informed FanHouse that he received an unexpected call from a member of Takanori Gomi's management team about reaching an agreement on a new contract that benefits both parties. Stay tuned.

Takanori Gomi won't be competing at "Affliction: Trilogy" after all. FanHouse has learned that Affliction Entertainment could not reach an agreement with the Japanese MMA star to fight on their upcoming show on August 1 in Anaheim, Calif. Affliction Entertainment Vice President, Tom Atencio, told FanHouse on Friday that after weeks of negotiation, the two sides couldn't agree on a contract. Gomi was offered a fight against Rafael Rivera.

Takanori Gomi (30-5) will not be facing Brett Copper (9-4) at "Affliction: Trilogy" on August 1.

MMA Weekly reported early Thursday morning that the 165-pound catchweight bout was close to being finalized, but Affliction Entertainment VP, Tom Atencio, told FanHouse on Thursday that after brief consideration, the fight is not happening.

Former IFL heavyweight star, Ben Rothwell, will return to Affliction on August 1 to face up-and-coming Chase Gormley. The Vice President of Affliction Entertainment, Tom Atencio, informed FanHouse of the news at Wednesday's "Affliction: Trilogy" press conference in New York City.

Rothwell lost to Andrei Arlovski in the first Affliction show last July, but has since recorded a first round submission victory against Chris Guillen at Adrenaline MMA 2 in December.

While not yet officially announced, Affliction's third MMA event is quickly taking shape.

FanHouse has learned that a welterweight bout between Jay Hieron and Paul Daley has been signed for the organization's upcoming show on August 1. FanHouse reported earlier this week that Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett have verbally agreed to headline the event.

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.

Although Kimbo Slice showed on Saturday night that he has no business in a mixed martial arts cage, I hope that doesn't mean the end of EliteXC on CBS. The four televised undercard fights demonstrated that MMA does belong on network television.

Benji Radach came out swinging against Murilo "Ninja" Rua and earned a TKO halfway through the second round. Radach has been around a while, but that was the best win of his career. I loved the way he controlled the tempo.

Gina Carano showed, indisputably, that she's a real fighter with a dominant unanimous decision over Kelly Kobold. If EliteXC has another show on CBS, I hope Carano vs. Cris Cyborg is the main event.

Jake Shields beat Paul Daley with a second-round arm bar to retain the EliteXC welterweight title in an impressive display of jiu jitsu tonight.

After they exchanged some strikes in the first round, Shields took the fight to the ground, which is where he likes it. He dominated with a ground-and-pound in full mount for most of the first round, although late in the round he had an unsuccessful submission attempt, which allowed Daley to get on top and land some elbows.

The mere fact that the fight lasted into the second round was unusual for Shields, who had won five straight fights in the first round. But Shields won the fight by going back to the ground in the second and landing an arm bar that Daley couldn't escape.

It's the fight card that could determine the future of EliteXC and maybe even the future of mixed martial arts on network television. EliteXC: Heat is just a day away, and although the main event is Kimbo Slice trying to knock out a washed-up legend, I'll be tuning in more for the four undercard matches. Here are the details:

What: EliteXC: Heat

Who: In addition to the Kimbo vs. Ken Shamrock main event, the card also features Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold, Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson, Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley and Murilo "Ninja" Rua vs. Benji Radach.

When: Saturday, 9 p.m. ET

Where: Bank Atlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida

How: Watch for free on CBS

Predictions after the jump.

Will EilteXC have any competitive fights on Saturday night? Looking at the betting odds, you get the feeling that we're in for a bunch of lopsided contests.

We've previously noted that Kimbo Slice is a heavy favorite over Ken Shamrock in the main event of EliteXC: Heat, and now Bodog has released the odds for the other four fights on the CBS card. All four fights have one significant favorite and one long-shot underdog.

If you and I were to make a list of the top 10 welterweights in mixed martial arts, our lists probably wouldn't be identical, but both lists would almost certainly share these three qualities:

1. UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre would be No. 1.
2. EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields would be somewhere in the Top 10.
3. Other than Shields, every fighter on the list would be under contract to either UFC or its sister organization, WEC.

That means that as long as Shields is under contract with EliteXC, he can't fight any other Top 10 welterweights. And Shields acknowledged today that as long as that's the case, no one is ever going to consider him the No. 1 welterweight in the world.

"It's hard to be number one when you're not fighting the guys who are considered to be No. 1," Shields said.