Prangley steps in for 'Babalu'

Strikeforce on Tuesday announced that Trevor Prangley has stepped up to fill the void left by injured Renato "Babalu" Sobral, and will square off in a light heavyweight rematch with AnthonyRuiz at the world-famous Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday.

Prangley effectively utilized his strength to wear Ruiz down and set up an armbar submission in the first round of their initial meeting during Strikeforce "Tank vs. Buentello" at Fresno, Calif.'s Save Mart Center on Oct. 7, 2006.

The 36-year-old Prangley is a former South African National Wrestling Champion and Olympic team alternate. After leaving his homeland to pursue more sophisticated training in his chosen athletic discipline, he went on to earn two-time All-American honors and place as Junior College Nationals runner-up at North Idaho College (NIC).

Prangley's start will be his first since his runner-up finish in Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives, the first sanctioned MMA tournament in California history on Nov. 16, 2007.

Ruiz is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jeremy Freitag on July 26. The 30-year-old native of Modesto, Calif. has emerged victorious in 12 of his last 15 bouts.

Ruiz made his first dent in the world of Strikeforce by defeating light heavyweight champion Bobby Southworth in a non-title matchup on Nov. 16, 2007. He moved on to win his next five straight fights before losing a decision to Southworth in their championship bout rematch on June 27.

Strikeforce At The Mansion II will be headlined by a showdown between 2006 Pride Fighting Championship Grand Prix winner and Top 10 world ranked middleweight Kazuo Misaki and 25-year-old former UFC star Joe Riggs.

Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson will return to action in a non-title matchup with Lion's Den prodigy Ashe Bowman.

Top 10 lightweight Mitsuhiro Ishida will make his way from the battlegrounds of Japan to face former NCAA Division I wrestler and Team AKA fighter JustinWilcox.

Twenty-four-year-old Cory Devela will bid for his eighth consecutive victory when he takes on what is arguably his most dangerous challenge to date, heavy-handed UFC veteran Terry Martin, in a middleweight contest.