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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Strikeforce has locked up another main event fighter to an extended contract, as they announced late Wednesday that middleweight Robbie Lawler has signed a new multi-year contract with the organization.
Lawler challenges for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship on January 29 in San Jose when he meets Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. Getting him locked up to a new deal was clearly an important move for the organization after the exit of Jake Shields following the end of his contract. But for Lawler, he's comfortable where he's at and is looking to follow up on a vicious first round knockout of Matt Lindland in December.
"Strikeforce has treated me good, and I am happy to re-sign with them," Lawler said. "They have given me an opportunity to fight for the title, and I'm looking forward to that and to fighting any and all of the top 185-pounders."
Lawler is 2-2 overall in Strikeforce. He knocked out Melvin Manhoef and Lindland, while suffering losses to Jake Shields and Renato "Babalu" Sobral.
Penick's Analysis: This is another good move on Strikeforce's part. Lawler is one of their best middleweights, and he's got a chance to capture their middleweight title. They've already lost one Champion in that division, so locking up Lawler for more years keeps him as one of their headliners for some time to come. With some of the complaints Lawler had over the last year and a half with getting booked in fights, I'm slightly surprised he wasn't looking to head back to the UFC, but Strikeforce continues to say 2011 will feature more fights more often, so if he's getting booked and is happy with his contract then that's what matters to him. His fight with Souza next month should be excellent.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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