Finally, some good news for Strikeforce’s probable swan song.
MMAjunkie.com has reported that Jorge Masvidal will be stepping in to replace the injured Gilbert Melendez against Pat Healy, effectively saving the January card from suffering the same fate as Strikeforce’s cancelled November show.
What was originally billed as a night of championship bouts quickly fell apart at the seams, as nagging injuries to middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez forced both fighters to withdraw from the event. Now, with just over a month until fight night, the only remaining title bouts will be feature welterweight champ Nate Marquardt facing Tarec Saffedine and Heavyweight Grand Prix champion Daniel Cormier squaring off against Dion Staring– hardly the caliber of headlining title contests needed to persuade Zuffa and Showtime that the Strikeforce brand is worth saving.
Masvidal himself fell victim to the cancellation of the November 3rd show; he was originally slated to fight Bobby Green, but, in the wake of the event’s scrapping, was forced to consider possible overseas moves before the opportunity arose to replace the injured lightweight champion. Said Masvidal about participating in what is expected to be the final event before Strikeforce shuts its doors, “I just hope that if it’s completely and utterly dead, I want to go to Strikeforce’s funeral […] I know a lot of fighters want to be on that January show, so if I get on it, I’ll be very thankful.”
‘Strikeforce: Champions’ is set to take place on January 12th, 2013 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. Stay tuned to ProMMANow.com, as we follow the development of the final Strikeforce card.