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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
While Strikeforce continues to work out the details of a middleweight tournament in the wake of Champion Jake Shields' departure, the tournament will simply crown the next challenger to the belt.
The organization announced late Friday that they will crown a new Champion for the now vacant belt on their August 21 event in Houston, Texas, as Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Tim Kennedy will face off for the belt.
Jacare entered Strikeforce last December, submitting Matt Lindland in the first round of their bout on the Strikeforce: Evolution card on Showtime. He has since added a decision victory over Joey Villasenor in May.
Kennedy is riding a very impressive three fight win streak since returning from an extended layoff due to Army commitments throughout 2008 and early 2009. He's won four straight overall.
His last three wins have all been by submission. One was due to punches as Nick Thompson tapped to strikes, and then he finished then undefeated Zak Cummings with a north/south choke before pulling off a very impressive first round rear naked choke against the always tough Trevor Prangley in June.
Strikeforce is still planning on a middleweight tournament to take place over the course of a number of events throughout the rest of the year, and that tournament will determine the first challenger to this fight's winner.
Strikeforce: Houston is expected to air on Showtime from the Toyota Center, and will be headlined by a Light Heavyweight Title bout between Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante.
Penick's Analysis: I've had a lot of negative things to say about recent moves that Strikeforce has made or has talked about making, but I'm fully on board with this fight. If you're going to take two guys from that middleweight division and crown a new Champion, these are the correct two and it should make for an excellent fight for this Showtime card. This is a great opportunity for Kennedy, who gets another step up in competition against Jacare, and it should be a very entertaining bout.
RELATED STORY: STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Strikeforce "Houston" official for August 21, tickets go on sale next week: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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