Shields vs. Henderson, Mousasi vs. Lawal official for April 17th on CBS (Updates)

Jake Shields tweets official confirmation for Strikeforce's April 17th fight card on CBS. Shields later goes on to comment that he is "99% sure its going to be in Tennessee".

This is all expected news but it is nice to see official confirmation.

For those curious about what is happening behind the scenes with Fedor/M-1 and Strikeforce/Showtime Josh Gross tweets that there is truth to the rumors that Fedor is trying to rework his deal with Strikeforce for more money.

Foreshadowing?

Update: The shit just hit the fan.

If the Arlovski vs. Silva news wasn't enough for you there is this courtesy of Josh Gross:

I guess Melendez vs. Aoki is that "TBA" fight that Shields was referring to.

Update #2: Jeremy Botter indirectly says that the Mousasi-Lawal fight will be for the Strikeforce light heavyweight title. Henderson vs. Shields was expected to be for the title. No word on Aoki vs. Melendez.

Update #3: And the MMA-verse just went super nova...

Jeremy Botter adds more info on the Melendez-Aoki fight.

Aoki-Melendez will be for the Strikeforce lightweight belt, Aoki's DREAM title will not be up for grabs.

Update #4: And the final shoe drops.

But where does that leave Bobby Lashley?

Update #5: Overeem vs. Rogers won't be for the Strikeforce heavyweight title.

Update #6: One of the questions WKR has noticed is "why won't Fedor fight Overeem". Well, Bloody Elbow passes along a quote from M-1 Global Boss, Vadim Finkelstein, talking to sports.ru (translation via lowkick.com).

"I personally think that Alistair Overeem did not reach the desired level to challenge Fedor. He beat a lot of no-name opponents in Mixed Martial Arts. Overeem defeated Paul Buentello and then disappeared from the United States for more than two year, which is simply ridiculous. He has nothing to offer for Fedor Emelianenko, except being a steroid bully. Also, pay attention that Werdum beat Overeem when they were fighting in Pride, four years ago."

"We do not fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title. Strikeforce are our partner, and any titles whether it is UFC, Strikeforce, WAMMA, Dream... they are just medals. Fedor is above these things. We are interested in the level of our opponent and his popularity among the audience."

"Exactly. We are more interested in fighting Josh Barnett, who is currently disqualified until September. When he returns from his suspension and if he tests clean, we might consider fighting him."

This is madness...