Mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Pat Healy has answered the call, stepping up on short notice for the injured Josh Thomson to take on Maximo Blanco in a lightweight bout at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Sept. 10, 2011, according to Sherdog.com.

"Punk" was forced to withdraw late last week because of a clown foot, casting doubt on whether or not the Sengoku standout would make his highly-anticipated promotional debut in "Queen City."

"Bam Bam" to the rescue.

Healy, who actually dropped his Strikeforce debut to the aforementioned Thomson via submission little more than one year ago, is currently riding a two-fight win streak. He upset Lyle Beerbohm via decision and most recently bested Eric Wisely on the scorecards just last month.

No rest for the wicked.

Blanco (8-2-1) has spent his entire professional career competing on the Japanese circuit. "Maxi" has finished seven of his eight contests by way of technical knockout and is currently in the midst of a six-fight win streak, including a unanimous decision victory over Won Sik Park at Sengoku "Soul of Fight" late last year.

Strikeforce: "Barnett vs. Kharitonov" features the second leg of the promotions heavyweight grand prix tournament with Josh Barnett battling Russian bomber Sergei Kharitonov and Daniel Cormier locking horns with Antonio Silva.

In addition to the two heavyweight grand prix bouts, middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza will defend his title against the returning Luke Rockhold, while other intriguing match ups pitting Muhammed Lawal vs. Roger Gracie and Mike Kyle vs. Gegard Mousasi will also be featured on the card.


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