Walker

I found this interesting:

"Drew Fickett to replace Joe Riggs at Friday's Strikeforce show
by Dann Stupp on Jun 26, 2008 at 10:52 pm ET
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Veteran fighter Drew Fickett (34-5) has agreed to be a late replacement for Joe Riggs (27-10) at Friday's "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson" event, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to the event.

Riggs was set to meet Strikeforce prospect Luke Stewart (5-1) in a main-card bout. However, the California State Athletic Commission would not clear the 25-year-old to fight.

Friday's event, which features a headline bout between Strikeforce world lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez and top contender Josh Thomson, takes place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

The main card, including the Fickett-Stewart fight, airs live on HDNet.

Riggs had been scheduled to fight for the first time since injuring his back at a February Strikeforce event. The bout was halted after Riggs was injured during a hip toss from opponent Cory Devela. He had spinal surgery soon after the bout. It was his third back procedure in 12 months. However, doctors predicted a quick recovery time after the latest surgery, which helped relieve pressure on his sciatic nerve.

However, it's believed the back injury wasn't the reason the commission declined to approve him for the bout.

Fickett, a veteran of the UFC and other top organizations, recently fell out of favor with EliteXC when he pulled out of a June 14 title fight with Jake Shields. However, much to the amazement of EliteXC officials, he fought at a Rage in the Cage event on June 7.

Fickett, who made his Strikeforce debut in March with a first-round submission of Jae Suk Lim, will go for his sixth consecutive victory.

MMAjunkie.com will have more information on this story later tonight.

For the latest "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson" fight card, check out the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com."

From:
http://mmajunkie.com/news/4668/drew-...force-show.mma


This is after pulling this regarding his "pull out" of the other ELITE fight:
http://mmamania.com/2008/06/16/drew-...ubt/#more-6856


So he claims he pulled out for a injury on the 14th but fights on the 7th and now he is given another shot so quickly...

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