KJ Noons (8-1) will make his Strikeforce debut on June 16 when he faces Conor Heun (8-3) at Strikeforce: Los Angeles.

Noons, a former professional boxer who is known for his devastating striking skills, won the lightweight title of the now defunct EliteXC organization with an impressive TKO win over current Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. Although Noons went on to defend his belt with a first-round TKO of Yves Edwards, he was later stripped of the title after being unable to agree to a rematch with Diaz.

Noons took some time away from his preparations to face Heun to talk to FiveKnuckles.com about his past with EliteXc, his future with Strikeforce, and his decision to return to MMA.

FiveKnuckles.com: How are you doing? Getting excited to make your Strikeforce debut?

KJ Noons: "I'm Feeling good, I got a nice little run in and all the hard training in and now I'm just chilling. I'm excited, I fought for Scott [Coker] before you know as a kickboxer. It's exciting and I'm ready. I've have watched film on Conor Huen and he looks really good. He's got a great camp and coaches and it should be a good fight. He's just all around a good fighter. You have to be ready for everything. I just want to fight, I want to fight whoever Strikeforce wants me to fight."

FiveKnuckles.com: During your time with EliteXC, you defeated Nick Diaz and were then offered a rematch. How come that fight didn't happen? Did you turn the fight down?

KJ Noons: "I never turned a fight down. Back in EliteXC, it came down to them wanting a rematch, which is fine, but they wanted to pay him three times more money. I basically said, make it even or you can go screw yourself. You know what I'm saying? That was the whole argument. It wasn't like I didn't want a rematch. I just didn't want to get paid three times less against a guy I already kicked the shit out of. I want people to be excited when they watch a fight."

FiveKnuckles.com: Are you doing MMA full-time now? Why decide to come back now?

KJ Noons: "I can still box if I want to but I'm fully committed to MMA. It was just a good time to come back. I had to fulfill some boxing bouts last year, EliteXC went under and it felt like a good time to take a break from MMA and box. Now, Strikeforce is in the driving seat and it's looking good. I left MMA two years ago and it's grown big-time. I think it's a great time to come back. I have a bunch of fights scheduled in 2010 and I'm ready to go."

FiveKnuckles.com: You have an extensive stand-up background and success in many different combat sports, what do you find yourself working on these days?

KJ Noons: "Well, I'm 13-1 in kickboxing, 12-2 in pro boxing and 7-1 in MMA. I work on wrestling and my ground game all day. All day long. I work on it a lot. I think I'm definitely up to par with my ground skills but I practice a little bit of everything and my conditioning is pretty good. I like to wear a person down, figure out their weakness and knock them out. I primarily train down in Southern California. I fight at lightweight but when I'm not training I walk around at 185 pounds."

FiveKnuckles.com: Going into a fight, do you have a game-plan you stick to or...