Tim Kennedy vs. Jason "Mayhem" Miller III slotted for "Strikeforce: Columbus"

A middleweight bout between Tim Kennedy (12-3 MMA, 3-1 SF) and Jason "Mayhem" Miller (24-7 MMA, 1-1 SF) is expected to part of March's "Strikeforce: Columbus" event.

A source close to one of the fighters told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) bout agreements are being finalized for the potential co-headliner.

The March 5 event takes place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus as part of Strikeforce's Ohio debut.

The night's main card, including an expected championship headliner between light-heavyweight titleholder Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante and Dan Henderson, airs on Showtime.

Kennedy and Miller fight for the the third time. Back in 2003, a little-known Kennedy upset Miller via decision at Extreme Challenge 50 in Utah. But four years later in the second and final HDNet Fights-promoted show, Miller survived a deep rear-naked-choke attempt and ultimately enacted his revenge with a decision victory of his own. The two fighters, who initially was rumored for a Jan. 29 meeting, now meet in the rubber match.

Kennedy, who recently has struggled to get opponents, fights for the first time since an August decision loss to Ronald "Jacare" Souza for the interim middleweight title. Prior to the defeat, the former IFL fighter won four consecutive fights, which included submission victories over Strikeforce's Nick Thompson, Zak Cummings and Trevor Prangley.

Miller, meanwhile, had campaigned for a Jan. 29 grudge match with Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. But with the fighters unable to agree on a catchweight for the fight, Diaz instead was booked for a title defense against Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos at the upcoming event.

Miller, a 10-year vet, made his Strikeforce debut in November 2009 and suffered a decision loss to Shields for the vacant middleweight belt. However, he's since rebounded for a TKO win over Tim Stout at "Strikeforce: Nashville" and a submission victory over Kazushi Sakuraba at DREAM.16. The host of MTV's "Bully Beatdown" is now 7-2 (with one no-contest) over the past four years.