Strikeforce Main Card Preview

It could be the biggest fight in the history of women's MMA, and it's coming to Showtime this Saturday as Gina Carano takes on Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos on a Strikeforce card that could finally get fans to stop talking about the league's signing of Fedor Emelianenko for a little while.

The card also features arguably the second-best middleweight in the world in Fedor's training partner Gegard Mousasi, but another big-name fighter, Nick Diaz, is in limbo after failing to show up for a drug test last week.

Despite numerous late changes including additions and subtractions of some of the best talent on the card including Joe Riggs and Josh Thomson, Strikeforce features some high-caliber fights including four championship fights.

The online betting action also figures to be fierce at BetUS.com as there are some fairly close fights for bettors to wager on.

Carano and Santos will take center stage in their battle for the women's championship, and Santos is currently a -200 to +160 favorite over Carano. Carano will most likely be the fan favorite in this one from her time as "Crush" on American Gladiators along with her status as a borderline celebrity because of her flashy good looks, but Santos is perhaps just as well-kown in the MMA world despite her lesser standing from a celebrity point of view.

The Diaz vs. Jay Hieron fight that is still up in the air is also a featured betting play in the Sportsbook, and Diaz is a -260 to +200 favorite over Hieron. Diaz is a tough guy and a tough fighter from a rough area in Stockton, Ca., but Hieron has faced a number of tough obstacles in his life as well and he showed that he's not afraid of anybody by stopping up to face Diaz, arguably one of the best pure boxers in MMA and also one of the better jiu-jitsu practitioners in the sport.

Hieron is a tough lifelong wrestler and one of the top training partners at the renowned Xtreme Couture training camp, which will provide an interesting stylistic matchup against Diaz whose one weakness is probably his overall wrestling ability and strength.

If Diaz can't go, which is likely because he continues to insist on smoking weed and might have needed more time to cleanse his system according to reports, former Ultimate Fighter washout Jesse Taylor is rumored to be a replacement. Taylor would probably be the underdog to the much more experienced Hieron if that fight were to materialize. If Diaz and Hieron do fight, however, the winner would get the first-ever Strikeforce welterweight title.

The Mousasi vs. Renato "Bobalu" Sobral fight for the light heavyweight championship is perhaps the most-anticipated match on the card as it exudes the vibe of a top-notch PRIDE fight in Japan from back in the day. Mousasi is a versatile, aggressive fighter who constantly looks to push the pace and can finish a fight in a variety of ways. That versatility makes him Sportsbook over Sobral as he is listed at -240 to +190 odds over Sobral.

Sobral left the UFC after he was criticized for choking David Heath too long at UFC 74, refusing to break the hold after the ref jumped in, but that shows just how ruthless the jiu-jitsu expert can be. Sobral will need to improve on his feet going into the fight to give himself a good chance to beat Mousasi, however.