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After a long wait, Strikeforce heavyweight Roger Gracie looks set to make his promotional debut on the still-unannounced May 15th show according to a report from MMAJunkie.com, citing sources close to the event. The likely opponent is former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin "The Monster" Randleman, but nothing has been confirmed at this point.
Gracie is undefeated (2-0) in his young MMA career, having submitted veterans Ron Waterman and Yuki Kondo in 2006 and 2008, respectively, in his only previous professional outings. He was also the 2005 Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission champion and holds black belts in jiu-jitsu and judo. Assuming Gracie does fight on May 15th, it will be almost two years to the day since his last MMA fight.
While Randleman is the expected opposition for Gracie, former Pride and UFC veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou could find himself across the cage from Gracie should the negotiations with Randleman fall through.
Both fighters are on two fight losing streaks, as Randleman lost a decision to Mike Whitehead in his Strikeforce debut at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields and followed that up with another decision loss to Stanislov Nedkov at a Sengoku event late last year. Sokoudjou's losses have at least been to higher quality opponents, losing by TKO to Gegard Mousasi at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers despite a game performance, and then again by TKO to Ikuhisa Minowa at the K-1 Dynamite! show this past New Year's Eve during the conclusion of the Dream Super Hulk Tournament.
The May Strikeforce show is also expected to be headlined by Alistair Overeem defending his heavyweight title against Brett Rogers, and a featured heavyweight bout between Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Silva. The Gracie/Randleman bout will be on the televised portion of the card.
Pelkey's Analysis: Well its about damn time. Gracie was rumored for two different Strikeforce events since his signing last year, but neither came to fruition. Assuming this one does, its a nice addition to the May card, as the name Gracie still commands attention in the MMA world. Even without the Fedor/Werdum fight on this card, this is a heavyweight heavy card and should go a long way towards establishing not only depth, but also a pecking order in the division going forward. Strikeforce's biggest obstacle is depth throughout their divisions, but with Gracie finally debuting, Overeem making his return, and the Arlovski signing, this now gives Strikeforce two legitimate divisions along with middleweight. Hopefully this card doesn't hit any snags in the next two months.
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