Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will make his Strikeforce debut against Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier on November 3rd in Oklahoma City. The news was annouced via press release by Strikeforce officials.
The event will take place at the Chesapeake Energy Arena and will air live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT (delayed on the west coast).
The co-main event will feature current Strikeforce middleweight champ and training partner of Cormier, Luke Rockhold, who makes his third consecutive title defense against undefeated rising Kung Fu prospect Lorenz Larkin.
Mir (16-6) is coming off a TKO loss to Junior dos Santos at UFC 146. Mir was granted the title shot after it was clear that Alistair Overeem would not be able to fight. Mir had won three consecutive fights prior to the loss including a highlight reel submission win over MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Cormier (10-0) is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over long time MMA veteran Josh Barnett in the finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. Cormier entered the tournament as a replacement for Alistair Overeem.
Rockhold (10-1) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Tim Kennedy in July which was his second title defense since taking the belt away from Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in September. He’ll be taking on Lorenz Larkin (13-0, 1NC) who defeated Robbie Lawler via unanimous decision at the same event. The lone blemish on Larkin’s record is a TKO loss that was turned into a no-contest when his opponent “King Mo” Lawal tested positive for a steroid.
Tickets for Strikeforce: Cormier vs. Mir go on sale to the public on Friday, September 14 at 10 a.m. CT. Tickets are available at the Chesapeake Energy Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations, at Ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. Ticket prices will be announced in the coming days.
Stay tuned to ProMMAnow (www.prommanow.com) for more Strikeforce news and coverage.