Carano joins Strikeforce, will debut against Santos

Strikeforce put on one of its biggest cards to date on Showtime on Saturday night, but the young organization made just as much of a splash with a fight announcement during the broadcast.

Having finally secured Gina Carano's rights, Strikeforce announced that she will make her debut with the organization against Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos on Aug. 15 in San Jose, Calif.

EliteXC had both fighters under contract and was working toward a bout between the two when it went bankrupt.

Carano, a 27-year-old Las Vegan, has not fought since Oct. 4 as the details of her contract with EliteXC were sorted through.

Jake Shields took just 2:02 to submit Robbie Lawler in Saturday night's main event, and Nick Diaz, Joe Riggs and Mike Whitehead all picked up victories.

Brett Rogers might have been the big winner from the card, though. He knocked out former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in just 22 seconds to remain undefeated.

The win gave Rogers instant credibility and probably propels him into a bout with Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

Overeem is scheduled to return to action on the Aug. 15 card, and Rogers should be ready to go if offered the opportunity after such a quick victory Saturday.

• MACHIDA-RUA SET -- Lyoto Machida will make the first defense of his Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight belt against fellow Brazilian Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, probably in the main event of UFC 104 on Oct. 24 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Machida won the title from Rashad Evans on May 23 and was expected first to defend his belt against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

But Jackson chose to coach against Evans in the upcoming season of the UFC's reality show.

Jackson said he feels Evans disrespected him and would prefer to settle that score before taking on Machida for the title. It has led some to question whether Jackson is ducking Machida.

In a video posted on Jackson's Web site, rampage-jackson.com, he answered his critics.

"For all you haters out there who say I'm scared of Machida, you guys need to slap yourself in the face because I can't reach to slap you right now," he said. "That's downright dirty and preposterous for me to be scared of anybody in my weight class or any weight class. I just had some unfinished business.

"My belt is coming back, but don't be trying to make up excuses that I'm scared of some karate guy. I ain't scared of nobody."

• FABER INJURED -- Urijah Faber broke his right hand during his loss to Mike Brown in a World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight title bout in Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday night.

Faber suffered the injury in the first round but lasted all five rounds before losing a decision.

Also on the card, Jose Aldo knocked out Cub Swanson in just eight seconds and could be Brown's next opponent.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.