May 15, 2009 card

The inaugural event will take place on May 15, 2009 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California and will air on the Showtime cable network.

Televised Bouts:

* Lightweight bout: the United States Billy Evangelista vs. the United States Mike Aina
* Light Heavyweight bout: the United States Aaron Rosa vs. the United States Anthony Ruiz
* Featherweight bout: the United States Bao Quach vs. the United States Isaac De Jesus
* Heavyweight bout: the United States Lavar Johnson vs. the United States George Bush

Undercard:

* Welterweight bout: the United States Ben Holscher vs. the United States Cody Cantebury
* Lightweight bout: the United States Kaleo Kwan vs. Senegal Ousmane Thomas Diagne
* Bantamweight bout: the United States Avery Vilche vs. Zoila Frausto

When Coker said ShoMMA was going to focus on up-and-comers, he wasn't kidding. I've barely heard of any of those guys.

Hopefully, they're just people who haven't had exposure and not a half-assed Journeyman show.

Heavyweight bout: the United States Lavar Johnson vs. the United States George Bush <-----

I think that name rings a bell, LOL

Hehe. It's actually one of the few names I've heard of. I've seen him on some smaller, older shows (most notably Gracie Fighting Challenge and Yamma).

Bwahahaha... Yamma... There's something for the Jokes forum.

All 20 fighters competing at tonight's "Strikeforce Challengers: Aina vs. Evangelista" event weighed in for the show on Thursday.

The weigh-ins took place at the World Sports Café in Fresno, Calif.

Fresno's Save Mart Center hosts tonight's Showtime-televised show, which features a main event between Mike Aina and Billy Evangelista and a co-headliner of Sarah Kaufman vs. Miesha Tate.

Although both headliners appeared to miss the 156-pound limit, Strikeforce officials didn't mention any penalties and instead stated the bout is official and ready to go.

Evangelista, undefeated at 9-0, fights in front of a hometown crowd when he meets B.J. Penn-trained Aina.

"I plan to spoil his homecoming and win one for all my fans in my hometown in Hawaii, who have always been there and supported me," Aina stated. "They are with me each and every time I step into the cage."

Tonight's main card airs at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime. MMAjunkie.com will have a complete event recap posted later today.

The full weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD

* Mike Aina (157.2)* vs. Billy Evangelista (157.5)*
* Sarah Kaufman (135) vs. Miesha Tate (135.4)
* Lavar Johnson (246.4) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (250.5)
* Aaron Rosa (205.4) vs. Anthony Ruiz (205.2)
* Tito Jones (145.6) vs. Bao Quach (145.8)

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Cody Cantebury (160) vs. Ben Holscher (160.2)
* Zolia Frausto (129.8)* vs. Avery Vilche (122.8)
* Ousmane Thomas Diagne (155.6) vs. Kaleo Kwan (155.4)
* Fabricio Camoes (156.2)* vs. Torrance Taylor (155.8)
* Spencer Herns (180.6) vs. Chad Sutton (184)

* - Although the fighter appeared to miss weight, Strikeforce made no mention of any penalties.