In a unsurprising turn of events, Nick Diaz was taken off the August 15th Strikeforce event card yesterday due to being absent for a drug screening in order to be licensed for a bout against Jay Hieron. The bout went through some previous changes as it was set to be a second showdown between Joe Riggs and Nick Diaz. Riggs pulled out of the event due to a reaction to prescription drugs, and Diaz was left without an opponent. The Affliction demise set the stage for Hieron to take on Diaz, but now Diaz has been taken off the card due to what is perceived as marijuana use. Check out all the details here.

Jesse Taylor (13-3) has now been added to the card in place of Nick Diaz, and he'll face Jay Hieron (17-4) on short notice. Taylor is coming off an impressive victory at DREAM 10 over judoka Dong Sik Yoon in July. Taylor won that bout due to an injury sustained by Yoon. Taylor has managed to rattle off seven straight wins outside of the UFC after blowing his chance of battling it out in the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter by kicking out a window of a limo in an alcohol-induced rage and losing to C.B. Dolloway in his return via Peruvian Neck Tie. Most notably, he defeated Drew Fickett in October of 2008 at welterweight.

Hieron is currently on a five fight win streak following a knockout loss to current UFC fighter Brad Blackburn at an IFL event back in June of 2007. He became the IFL welterweight champion on December 29th, 2007 by defeating BJJ black belt Delson Heleno in the IFL Grand Prix Finals, and he defended that belt against Mark Miller in April of 2008, winning via TKO in the first round. His most recent win came over Jason High in January at Affliction: Day of Reckoning in which he knocked out High at the 1:04 mark of the first round.

This proves to be a much more interesting style match-up, but probably not as appealing to the casual fan base. Diaz would have likely needed to work off his back against Hieron, and it wasn't exactly a good style match-up for him, provided Hieron worked a take down gameplan. Taylor, on the other hand, has the size and wrestling to turn the tables on Hieron.

Hieron has shown some explosiveness in his striking along with a brutal ground and pound style from his wrestling base. He was a national Junior College wrestling champion with Nassau Community College, but he was kicked off the Hofsta University wrestling team for testing positive for marijuana. He began dealing drugs thereafter and was later charged with a felony for dealing. After cleaning up his act, he turned to boxing and has managed to make the transition from straight boxing and wrestling to MMA quite well. He trains out of Xtreme Couture with the help of Shawn Tompkins and Randy Couture to continue improving his techniques.

Taylor also has a solid wrestling background as he was a two-time All-American and state champion in 2004 in junior college. He qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament and placed 3rd in the PAC 10 under Cal. State Fullerton in his junior college stint. He trains out of Team Quest with the likes of Matt Lindland, Dan Henderson, and Rameau Sokoudjou.

It's definitely a tough fight to pick. I believe this will be at welterweight, so Taylor should come in with a beefier physique, therefore having more weight to lean on Hieron. Hieron is going to have a tough time if he can't manage to get Taylor out of top control, so the upset factor is definitely there. Hieron is far more explosive however, and in some of his more recent battles, he's shown some devastating punching. It could produce boring action, but there is a solid chance we'll see some quick-paced action as well.