Strikeforce's Showtime Revival On The Round-Up

MMA Nation Round-Up provides you with daily coverage of the latest in news, multimedia, and analysis throughout the world of combat sports. Today we'll take a look at Thursday's big news, before moving on to a sparring session gone wrong and an unexpected twist in the Junie Browning story.

- Without a doubt, yesterday's highlight was the Strikeforce - Showtime conference call. In case you missed it, MMA Nation has complete coverage of the proceedings.

- Of course, the two big takeaways from the meeting were the announcement of Strikeforce's new broadcast deal and the promotion's plans to shut down the heavyweight division.

- Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez minced no words when he recently spoke about his gameplan for Jorge Masvidal on Saturday: "I'm willing to take it to that dark place. I think a lot of fighters aren't willing to take it there."

- Dallas Winston dropped off another fight dissection for Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal. Today's edition: K.J. Noons vs. Billy Evangelista.

- In the wake of Donald Cerrone's recent encounter with Nate Diaz, Jonathan Snowden examines why why we love (or love to hate) the Diaz brothers.

- Brock Lesnar has found himself in hot water after a recent hunting trip to Canada went awry.

- Jason "Mayhem" Miller's trip to Holland has apparently gotten pretty wild.

- We often think off MMA fighters as tough guys incapable of fear or worry, when in reality they're only human. Social Psychology Quarterly published a recent article on the subject and it's a fascinating piece to read. See why one fighter said, "You are wondering if they are thinking of this incredible move that is really going to kill you... This sport is not golf; you can't get hurt or killed playing golf."

- A sparring match between former Super-Bantamweight Champion boxer Daniel Ponce De Leon and Kevin Hoskins turned full-blown MMA after a late punch ignited the youngster. (HT: Bad Left Hook)

- Ben Thapa breaks down Frank Mir's grappling career in this fantastic career retrospective. Read as he asks: Is Mir now the top dog in MMA grappling? 

- The bizarre story of Junie Browning hit another curveball on Thursday as the former UFC fighter implored the U.S. embassy to help him escape the Thai mafia.

- We'll leave you with a replay of MMA Nation's own Luke Thomas and Nate Wilcox hosting a uStream roundtable over at Bloody Elbow. Check it out for all the Jim Beam, Coke, and MMA goodness you could ask for.