When Strikeforce takes the stage this Saturday night at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri it will do so with a main card featuring several highly ranked fighters in their respective divisions.  The event will air live on Showtime as Strikeforce looks to have its logo embossed on the Mt. Rushmore of mixed martial arts promotions.

In the headliner, "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler will take on Jake Shields in a battle of contrasting styles.  Lawler hasn't lost since 2006, his last five wins a result of his powerful striking.  Shields is a submission expert and brings an eleven fight winning streak of his own to the fight, dating back to 2004.  What's interesting about this contest is that neither of these fighters are likely to shy away from the other's strength.  A stoppage is likely, it's just a matter of whether Lawler can knock Shields out before Shields locks him up in a choke or an armbar.

In Andrei Arlovski's first fight since his devastating knockout defeat at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko he takes on the powerful Brett Rogers.  "The Pitbull" Arlovski was riding a five fight winning streak and was briefly winning the fight over Fedor before being caught with a great right while attempting a flying knee.  Rogers is 9-0 in his professional career, his last fight a second round TKO after landing dozens of knees to the face of opponent Ron Humphrey.  Rogers is listed at 265lbs, Arlovski at 240.  Someone is likely to get hit extremely hard.

Nick Diaz looked impressive in April in a TKO win over an aging Frank Shamrock.  It was Diaz' fourth consecutive TKO victory but getting his fifth will be a tough task.  His opponent, Scott Smith, is a scrapper with a lot of heart and a solid chin.   Smith took a beating and was all but finished in his last fight before catching Benji Radach with a shot that sent Radach to the canvas.  Diaz has long reach and his striking has been an impressive compliment to his very solid ground game.  Smith has proven on many occasions that he should never be taken lightly.

The controversial and outspoken Phil Baroni takes on versatile veteran Joe Riggs in another main card bout.  Baroni's primary reputation is for his boxing skill and knockout power but he's an accomplished wrestler as well, having trained with former Pride and UFC heavyweight champ Mark Coleman.  Riggs is a veteran of forty professional fights in weight classes ranging from heavyweight down to welterweight.  Of his thirty victories, fifteen have come by submission and thirteen by (T)KO reflecting the multiple dimensions in his skill set.

Kevin Randleman returns to the cage after a year-long layoff to square off with Mike Whitehead at 205lbs.  Randleman is almost freakishly athletic for a man his size but he has lost seven of his last ten.  He'll need every bit of his power and athleticism if he intends to beat the much younger Whitehead, whose only losses have come at the hands of some of mma's best fighters of the last decade, most recently Renato Sobral last July.

The Strikeforce undercard looks like this;

Rafael Cavalcante vs. Mike Kyle
Jesse Finney vs. Josh Baumgartner
Tyron Woodley vs. Sal Woods
Scott Ventimiglia vs. Lucas Lopes
Pat Benson vs. Dave Lehr Cochran
Booker DeRousse vs. James Wade