Hills and Valleys: The ups and downs of Josh Thomson

The former Strikeforce lightweight champ Josh Thomson is facing off with Gesais "JZ" Cavalcante on Saturday. It's one more chance for Thomson to get back to a hill, after a career filled with hills and valleys.

Hermes Hill: After beating Gerald Strebendt at UFC 44, Thomson won a majority decision over Hermes Franca at UFC 46. That set him up for a bout with Yves Edwards.

Valley of the Flying Head Kick: Edwards disposed of Thomson in the first round. After that loss, Thomson fought one bout in Pride before heading to his new home, Strikeforce. Thomson lost his first Strikeforce bout, a title scrap with Clay Guida. Though Guida moved to the UFC not long after this bout, Thomson became a Strikeforce mainstay.

Title Shot Hill: After the Guida loss, Thomson worked his way back to another title shot with submission wins over Harris Sarmiento, Rocky Johnson and Duane Ludwig. In 2006, he won a unanimous decision over Nam Pham, and followed that up with a submission of Nick Gonzalez and TKO of Adam Lynn. 

Mt. Champion: On June 27, 2008, Thomson squared off with old friend Gilbert Melendez for the Strikeforce lightweight belt. Thomson all five rounds on the judges' cards. 

Valley of the Broken Ankle: Strikeforce gave Thomson a non-title bout with Ashe Bowman at the promotion's second Playboy Mansion show. After that, they scheduled a rematch between Thomson and Melendez for April of 2009. While training for that fight, Thomson broke his ankle, pushing the fight back to August. When August came, Thomson was still not fully healed. Strikeforce then moved the bout to December. 

No More Belt Valley: When Thomson and Melendez finally did meet, they put on a five-round war, considered by many to be the fight of the year in 2009. Melendez came away with the unanimous decision and the Strikeforce lightweight championship belt. 

Comeback Hill: Thomson won his next bout after losing his championship belt, a bout with Pat Healy. Thomson pulled off a late submission to secure the win.

This brings us to Thomson's bout with Cavalcante. Do you think it will be a hill or valley for the former champ? 

Palm Cheap Prepaid Cell Phones Reverse Phone Lookup Australia Wireless Broadband Internet

Feds to Telecoms: Stop Upgrading so We Can Wiretap More Easily [Wiretapping]

Current law mandates that telecoms allow the government to snoop on you when deemed necessary. But with blazing advances in what telecoms offer, the government is left behind. They want to catch up. Their solution? Tougher law. More »

Cognizant Tech Solutions Kelly Carlson Cheap Wireless Internet Michelle Rodriguez

Mama's Boys Throwaway Montage

Here is a throwaway montage from the upcoming video Mama's Boys. Looks like the video will be real good.

Wireless Cell Phone Providers Anna Paquin Ali Campoverdi Radha Mitchell

Beyonce Says She's 'A Feminist, In A Way'

Singer also talks about retiring alter ego Sasha Fierce and starting a family, in You magazine.
By James Dinh

Beyoncé
Photo: Michael Caulfield/ Getty Images

Whether it's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" or the Destiny's Child classic "Independent Women," most of Beyoncé's catalog consists of strong female-empowerment anthems. So it's no surprise that the singer considers herself to be a feminist.

In an interview with the U.K.'s You magazine, the pop star opens up about the importance of female companionship, not needing to hide behind Sasha Fierce and her much-talked-about baby plans.

"I think I am a feminist, in a way. It's not something I consciously decided I was going to be; perhaps it's because I grew up in a singing group with other women, and that was so helpful to me," she told the magazine. "It kept me out of so much trouble and out of bad relationships. My friendships with my girls are just so much a part of me that there are things I am never going to do that would upset that bond. I never want to betray that friendship, because I love being a woman and I love being a friend to other women."

Most recently, Beyoncé has certainly made her share of female friends in the industry. In the past year, the singer has collaborated with Lady Gaga ("Video Phone" and "Telephone") and Alicia Keys ("Put It in a Love Song").

While the singer might always have female besties, there's one thing she's cut out of the picture: alter ego Sasha Fierce. Earlier this year, the pop star revealed that she "killed" Sasha, and now she said the alter-ego absence is due to her newfound self-awareness.

"I don't need Sasha so much anymore, because these days, I know who I am. It takes time to figure out who you are, and I am still discovering different things about myself. As I am exposed to different experiences, I think, 'Oh, I like this. I didn't know I liked this,' " she explained. "That's the journey of life that is so exciting. More and more, I know who I am, I know what I like, I know what I want, and that makes me feel so free."

In fact, B already has her eye on some personal life goals. "My ambition is to continue to learn about the world and to eventually have a family," she said. And while Beyoncé remained coy about when she and husband Jay-Z will expand the Carter family, she hinted that there's really "no dates, no times" to motherhood. "It will happen when I am ready."

What is your favorite Beyoncé female-empowerment anthem? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Related Photos

• What Beyonce Might Be Like At Home

Related Artists

• Beyoncé

Cell Phone Plans Cell Phone Reviews Naomi Watts Lily Allen

Playboy Goes Non Nude For iPad

Soon the official Playboy iPad App will be revealed but certain other elements won’t be. What we’re trying to say is that in order to follow Apple’s very strict anti-obscenity rules Playboy has agreed to keep their app for the iPad tablet device entirely non-nude and tasteful. With no nudity allowed Playboy may just have [...]

Earthlink Nelly Furtado Search Engine Optimization Software Karolína Kurková

Foreign Policy: To Grasp Washington, Watch 30 Rock

A running joke during the special live taping of NBC's sitcom, 30 Rock, this past Thursday, was the enhanced visibility of star Tina Fey's flaws. David Rothkopf of Foreign Policy argues that during campaign season, Washington's flaws become visible as well.

Michael Michele Kelly Hu Reverse Phone Lookup Free Cell Phone Plans

Movie Monday

As you’ve likely heard me say before, Mondays are bad for me. They’re the busiest day of the entire week at the office and most of the time I’m trying to catch up with chores at home from being away all weekend. The former still applies, however having kept close to home this weekend I [...]

Cosmote Mobile Telecom Michelle Trachtenberg Free Prepaid Cell Phones Image Search

(Another) Last Chance for Middle Fork Rafting

We’re down to our second Middle Fork deadline of the season–first we were told we’d be done on Oct 3rd, then we got a little extension to the 1oth.� As far as we know, this is the real deadline, so this weekend is your last chance for class IV white water rafting in 2010! Bookmark [...]

Angelina Jolie Rebecca Mader Leelee Sobieski Novell