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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Though he was pulled from a fight with Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, Tarec Saffiedine will still be fighting on July 30 in Illinois.
According to a report from MMAWeekly.com, Saffiedine will take on Scott Smith in a welterweight bout on the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson event, coming to the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Ill. and airing live on Showtime.
Saffiedine was pulled from the fight with Santos and was replaced by Paul Daley on this same card. He fights for the first time since January, where he had a three-fight winning streak in Strikeforce snapped against Tyron Woodley. In a fairly close fight, Saffiedine ended up losing a decision in that bout.
Smith takes his second fight in the welterweight division, and will hope for a better outcome than his 170 lb. debut. Taking on Daley in December, Smith lost his second straight fight, getting knocked out cold by a vicious left hook as he charged in on the Brit. He's now lost three of his last four fights.
The July 30 event is headlined by the heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson.
Penick's Analysis: This fight makes a lot more sense for Saffiedine than the Santos fight did. Smith may be nearing the end of his career with the level of abuse his body has been put through during the entirety of his fight career, and specifically in his last several fights, but he's still got the punching power to stop a young prospect cold. For Saffiedine, this is a fight against someone that has a recognizable name for Strikeforce's fanbase, and a chance for him to put on an impressive performance over that name. It should be an entertaining fight for the fans outside of Chicago next month.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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