Tim Kennedy vs. Jason “Mayhem” Miller Trilogy On Tap For Stirkeforce Ohio

A third bout in a trilogy between Tim Kennedy and Jason “Mayhem” Miller is likely to take place at Strikeforce’s first stop in Columbus, Ohio. Planned for March 5, the fight has been agreed to by both camps, but no bout agreements have been issued yet, as the fight is pending approval from Strikeforce and Showtime officials.

Multiple MMAWeekly.com sources confirmed the proposed bout, first reported by MMAMania.com.

Jason Mayhem Miller and Tim Kennedy at HDNet Fights

The two split results in their earlier bouts.

Kennedy defeated Miller by unanimous decision as part of an eight-man tournament at Extreme Challenge 50 in early 2003. Kennedy went on to win the tournament with a victory over Cruz Chacon in the final.

Miller then won a unanimous decision over Kennedy in their second bout, which was the main event of HDNet Fights sophomore, and final, effort as a fight promotion in late 2007.

Kennedy (12-3) is coming off of a loss to current Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza last August. He won all four of his fights between the losses to Miller and Souza, and will look to another victory over Miller to get back into title contention.

Miller (24-7), despite being embroiled in a venomous war of words with current Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, is also looking to jump back into the middleweight title picture. He has won back-to-back bouts against Tim Stout and Kazushi Sakuraba, but failed to win the title when he and Jake Shields fought for the vacant belt in late 2009.

The winner of this fight is likely to be elevated to number one contender’s status.

If negotiations are successful, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante is also expected to defend his light heavyweight title against former Pride champion Dan Henderson on the March 5 Strikeforce fight card in Columbus.

(Updated 10:00 p.m. PT on Jan. 17, 2011 to correctly reflect possible bout between Cavalcante and Henderson.)

Ken Pishna is the managing editor of MMAWeekly.com.
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