Strikeforce heads to the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Saturday, Jan. 12 with three championship fights.
Also, Strikeforce Heavyweight GP winner Daniel Cormier will return to action on the card with all four fights airing on Showtime. The televised fight card is below:
- Gilbert “El Niño” Melendez (champion) vs. Pat Healy for the STRIKEFORCE lightweight title
- Luke Rockhold (champion) vs. Lorenz Larkin for the STRIKEFORCE middleweight title
- Nate Marquardt (champion) vs. Tarec Saffiedine for the STRIKEFORCE welterweight title
- Daniel Cormier (Grand Prix champion, OSU All-American) vs. Dion Staring
“We’ve built an absolutely stacked card for Oklahoma City and the SHOWTIME viewers,” STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker said. “We have three awesome title fights featuring some of the best fighters to ever grace the STRIKEFORCE cage. Plus, we have Daniel Cormier, one of the fastest-rising heavyweight stars today, returning to his roots in Oklahoma to fight Dion Staring. January 12 is going to be a really special night.”
There are rampant rumors that this will be the final Strikeforce event as there is a report that Strikeforce women’s champion Ronda Rousey has signed with the UFC. Also, there’s probably no coincidence that the rest of the Strikeforce champions are all fighting on this card as well.
Tickets for STRIKEFORCE® go on sale to the public on Friday, November 16 at 12 p.m. CT and are priced at $150, $100, $70 and $50. Tickets are available at the Chesapeake Energy Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations, at Ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000.
Strikeforce will air live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast), while preliminary fights will be shown live on Showtime Extreme at 8 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on West Coast). Additional fights scheduled for the event are expected to be released shortly.