What's Next for the Current Men's Strikeforce Champions?
A review of the men's Champions for Strikeforce and who they may fight next
Strikeforce has been working hard to build their brand as an MMA promotion for several years now, seemingly making major progress in the past 12-18 months. From their historic Carano vs Cyborg event in August 2009 to the signing of Fedor Emelianenko and Fedor's debut in November 2009, the debut of Dan Henderson in April 2010 and the emergence of young stars like Jacare Souza, Gegard Mousasi, King Mo Lawal, Brett Rogers and more, they continue to build on their current momentum.
The Championships of Strikeforce have been an interesting topic over the history of the organization, but they did not have a welterweight champion until 2010 and the heavyweight champion's first title defense came 2 1/2 years after winning the belt. We take a look at the 5 men's division in Strikeforce to see who could be fighting the reigning champions later in 2010.
Strikeforce Lightweight Division
Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez has been in the news a lot in the past week. While appearing on "Inside MMA" Melendez called out fellow Top 10 MMA Lightweight Eddie Alvarez, the reigning Bellator Lightweight Champion. However, unlike many cries for a specific fight in MMA, Melendez was met with a positive response from Alvarez, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney and later Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. When and where will it happen? That one is up in the air with Bellator currently in the middle of their second season and ongoing lightweight tournament. Meanwhile Melendez was dominant in defeating DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki on the CBS-televised Strikeforce: Nashville event. With Josh Thomson not having fought since his loss to Melendez in December 2009, not many names remain as possible title contenders. Billy Evangelista is one man to take a look at going 10-0-0-1 in his career with a 6-0-0-1 record fighting with Strikeforce.
Strikeforce Welterweight Division
Nick Diaz is a damn good fighter, but as a person this guy is a freaking wreck. After not showing up for his drug tests before his schedule fight with Jay Hieron at Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg in August 2009, he became the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion by defeating Marius Zaromskis at Strikeforce: Miami in January 2010. Hieron seems the logical choice since he was supposed to fight for the title in August and is 2-0 fighting for Strikeforce.
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Strikeforce Middleweight Division
Reigning Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields won the belt by defeating Jason "Mayhem" Miller then successfully defended the belt in Dan Henderson's Strikeforce debut. Shields, a natural welterweight, now appears headed to the UFC to contend for Georges St-Pierre's belt. Should Shields vacate his belt look for Jacare Souza, Tim Kennedy, former champ Cung Le, Robbie Lawler, Henderson, or another to be mentioned in the same sentence for a fight for the Strikeforce Middleweight belt. With the middleweight division arguably the deepest Strikeforce has to offer along with the heavyweight division, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has also expressed the possibility of an 8-man tournament to crown a new champion if Shields chooses to sign with the UFC.
Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Division
"King Mo" Lawal became the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion at the April 17 event on CBS where he handled former champ Gegard Mousasi in a unanimous 49-45 decision. King Mo's next opponent is TBD and with a rather thin 205 pound division in Strikeforce the next #1 contender in the Light Heavyweight Division may be a surprise when announced. A few names to consider could be Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante who defeated Antwain Britt at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery, Trevor Prangley, who scored a draw against Karl Amoussou, Amoussou, who despite the draw with Prangley has an impressive 12-2-2 career record, or a newly-signed free agent.
Strikeforce Heavyweight Division
Current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem made his first title defense at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery on May 15th by dominating Brett "The Grim" Rogers. The win not only was an impressive title defense against a tough heavyweight, but it may set up the biggest fight of Overeem's MMA career against Fedor Emelianenko. Of course Fedor needs to first get past the dangerous Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum on June 26, but even a fight with Werdum would make sense given the fact that Werdum submitted Overeem in 2006 while the two fought for PRIDE.
By Luke Jernigan
ProFighting-fans.com Director of Marketing