While Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen square off for the Strikeforce Women’s Lightweight (145-Pound) Championship on January 30th, recent Strikeforce signee and top title contender Erin Toughill will also be in action on the same night.

Toughill will headline Freestyle Cage Fighting 39 against rumoured opponent Romy Ruyssen of France. MMAFighting.com first reported on the proposed fight earlier this week. FCF 39 also features the first round of the FCF Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix.

Toughill (10-2-1) debuted in mixed martial arts in 1999 and split her time between MMA and boxing until late 2006. She became W-Fusion and ReMix Golden Gate Japan Champion in 2001 and later knocked out Miwako Ishihara and current Strikeforce title challenger Marloes Coenen to advance to the finals of the 2004 Smackgirl World ReMix Grand Prix. Toughill was controversially disqualified in the tournament final and competed just once more before retiring from MMA and boxing in 2007.

With women’s mixed martial arts finally beginning to receive mainstream media attention, Toughill returned to the sport in November of 2008 and picked up a trio of victories for the Palace Fighting Championship promotion. She has since signed a seven-fight, multi-year deal with Strikeforce and is expected to face the winner of the Santos/Coenen bout later in 2010. In the interim, the talented striker will compete at FCF 39.

Ruyssen (1-1-0) has comparatively limited experience in MMA, but the native of France has competed in a variety of grappling and jiu-jitsu competitions and possesses an excellent ground game. She made her MMA debut in December 2007 and picked up a quick submission win over Nadia van der Wel, then put on a very solid showing against Marloes Coenen in August 2008.

Though Ruyssen eventually succumbed to a rear naked choke late in the second round of the bout with Coenen, she gave the Dutch standout a tough fight that earned praise from observers. Ruyssen has kept busy in grappling tournaments and submitted Miesha Tate at the 2008 World Championships of Grappling in Switzerland. Her return to MMA will be a tough one, but Ruyssen showed in her fight with Coenen that she can compete with the best.

Bout agreements are expected to be made final shortly and the fight will likely be contested at 150 or 155 pounds. It will be one of at least five women’s bouts on the FCF 39 card, which also features the opening round of the eight-woman FCF Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix. MMARising.com exclusively revealed the tournament brackets earlier this month.

FCF 39 takes place on January 30th at the FireLake Grand Casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)