...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Strikeforce's January 12 event will officially be their last, as the organization announced on Thursday that it will be the final Strikeforce event on Showtime.
Headlining the night's card is the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship bout between Nate Marquardt and Tarec Saffiedine.
"Since 2009, Showtime has been a great partner and we appreciate its support of Strikeforce and our athletes," Scott Coker, Strikeforce CEO, said in a press release on Thursday night. "For our final event, we've loaded the card with some outstanding fights. This is going to be a memorable night for the sport of mixed martial arts."
The card will take place from Oklahoma City, and the event will air in the middle of a free preview weekend from Showtime, making it available to nearly 80 million homes.
Much of the card has been set for some time, but there have been a couple of shakeups. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza had stepped in to face Lorenz Larkin in place of Luke Rockhold on the card, but he'll now meet the UFC's Ed Herman, who transitions over for one fight in the Strikeforce cage. According to several reports, Larkin suffered a knee injury which will keep him out of action for several months.
Additionally, Jorge Masvidal is officially out of his bout with Pat Healy, though Healy's expected to remain on the card.
"We are proud of our association with Scott Coker and the entire Strikeforce team," said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Showtime Sports. "From Gina Carano to Ronda Rousey, Fedor Emelianenko to Daniel Cormier, Nick Diaz to Gilbert Melendez, Showtime Sports and Strikeforce have built some of the biggest stars in the sport and have produced many of the most watched and most intriguing fights in the history of MMA. We look forward to another night of competitive and explosive Strikeforce fights on Showtime on January 12 in OKC.”
Penick's Analysis: This was expected, and with Ronda Rousey's impending debut, Derek Brunson stepping in on next week's UFC 155 card, and Robbie Lawler getting a fight in the Octagon, it was only a matter of time before an official announcement was made. I'm intrigued by the Ed Herman-Jacare Souza fight, and I'm glad Herman stepped up for that fight. It gives Jacare a known UFC opponent, so if he's impressive in the fight it will be as if it happened inside the Octagon. That's smart, and if he loses, Herman gets a boost by defeating a highly respected opponent. We'll be seeing the UFC pick and choose a number of fighters from the Strikeforce roster in the coming months, and though several will make their way to the Octagon, there's likely to be a mass trimming of the roster with Strikeforce closing up shop.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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