KJ Noons: Josh Thomson the 'coward' doesn't belong in the ring with me

When the dust settled after the fight between K.J. Noons and Josh Thomson, which was the co-main event for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey on March 3, 2012 in Columbus, Ohio, Thompson had earned the chance to vie for the promotions lightweight strap against Gilbert Melendez.

He didn't, however, earn many new fans.

That's because the fight lacked quite a bit of luster as the fans booed throughout the contest. Even Thomson himself said he was disappointed in his performance and he didn't do one of the things he was supposed to do -- which is to entertain.

Eventually, Josh would go on to challenge "El Nino" for the Strikeforce 155-pound championship in a thrilling back-and-forth affair at Strikeforce: "Barnett vs. Cormier" on May 19, 2012, but would come up short in his bid to reclaim his title to the man that took it from him three years ago.

Noons, on the other hand, has not see action since dropping a unanimous decision to ‘The Punk," but says he is ready to get back into the swing of things and would love nothing more than to do it in his hometown of San Diego when Strikeforce returns for the first title defense of women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey taking on Sarah Kaufman.

He doesn't however, want it to be a rematch against the "coward," Josh Thompson. Make the jump to see what Noon's told "Just Scrap Radio" about signing on to fight "The Punk" one more time:

"Never. I'll never mention that guy's name come out of my mouth again. I never want to fight that guy. He doesn't even deserve to be in the ring ... coward."

Later, when asked if the promotion did indeed ask him to step into the Hexagon to face Thomson again, Noons backed off his previous statement a bit and says when it comes down to it, he will fight whoever they put in front of him:

"I don't know. I don't really feel good about talking bad about people. At the end of the day, it's whatever the fight promotion wants. Whatever they want to do. I just train and fight whoever they want. It doesn't really matter to me. I know it contradicts what I just said, but it's really up to them."

With the limited number of opponents at Strikeforce's disposal, Noons and Thomson may have another go at it, even if it isn't Noons' first choice. Should the scrappy lightweights be matched up one more time, it will be a chance for "The Punk" to redeem himself and put on a much more entertaining performance than their first encounter, even if he did get the win the first time out.

Then again, Thomson may have already found redemption. He did, after all, take Melendez, to deep waters in their trilogy bout in a fight many believed Josh won.

What say you, who would be a good return fight for KJ? Are you interested in seeing "Noons vs. Thomson" part deux?