Strikeforce

On a conference call today concerning the Strikeforce® Heavyweight Grand Prix Final scheduled for May 19, fighters Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez fielded questions from the media.
Melendez answered the burning question of his future as a fighter.  Specifically his multi-year contract with Strikeforce® and his one-time goal of being the number one Lightweight in the world: “Obviously, to be the number one guy in the world, you’ve got to be a champion in the UFC. I have changed my goals.

In a recent interview with MMA Weekly, when asked about a return to the UFC, Josh Barnett said, “I’d love to go over there and beat everybody up and sit on top of that pile too. I believe I’m the best heavyweight out there in the world, so what better way to prove it than to punch everybody else in the face first”.
On a conference call today with Showtime and Strikeforce about the Strikeforce® Heavyweight Grand Prix Final scheduled for May 19, Barnett indicated other plans, which did not

A report has surfaced today that Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey will make her first title defense later this summer against former champ Sarah Kaufman. Tentatively set for August, there is not a confirmed date nor location as of yet.
Rousey is of course the most talked-about topic in WMMA currently, utilizing world-class Judo skills to slam her opponents and submit them seemingly at will. The first American woman ever to win an Olympic medal in Judo, Rousey

Gina Carano recently answered the biggest question concerning her MMA career, but it does not seem that fans should get excited to see her fight anytime soon. Her newfound success in the film industry is seeming to reduce Gina Carano’s urge to get back into the cage. When asked if she has made an official announcement on her fighting career, she stated the following in an interview on craveonline.com:
“No, I haven’t. I think it’s really nice for me to get into this new career. I know I

The ongoing investigation into Zuffa, LLC’s purchase of Strikeforce has come to a close. There had been talk for months that the Federal Trade Commission was looking into the purchase and seeking to determine if the purchase constituted a monopoly in the mixed martial arts world.
The text from the FTC’s letter closing the investigation is below:
The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition has been conducting a nonpublic investigation to determine whether Zuffa, LLC’s

On Saturday, January 7, Strikeforce presented their first fight card of 2012. The main event saw Luke Rockhold successfully defend his Strikeforce Middleweight crown against Keith Jardine. In the co-main event, Robbie Lawler recovered from an illegal knee, ending his fight against Adlan Amagov with a knee of his own.
In all, there were nine fights on the card. Of the eighteen competitors, eight escaped without a medical suspension, ten other fighters weren’t so lucky.
Strikeforce Medical

Heading into Saturday night most fans and pundits had Luke Rockhold as the favorite over Keith Jardine in Rockhold’s first defense of his Strikeforce Middleweight title.  With that being said, it’s doubtful that many had Rockhold breezing through the fight as easily as he did.
It seemed as if whenever Rockhold threw a strike it landed and the post-fight numbers reflected that as Rockhold connected on 75 percent of his strikes, especially those that ended the fight at the 4:26 mark of Round

Strikeforce will make its 2012 debut on Saturday from the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. The main event of the card will feature a Middleweight title bout as Luke Rockhold defends his title against Keith Jardine, who will be making his Middleweight debut on the card.
The fighters stepped on the scale earlier this evening at the HRH Lounge inside the Hard Rock. 
The fighters will compete on Saturday, with the preliminary card beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. The main card will begin at 10:00

The Strikeforce Heavyweight division shrank by one more fighter today as Shane del Rosario signed with the UFC. The signing was initially reported via Iridium Sports Agency’s twitter account.
Del Rosario enters the UFC with a record of 11-0, with eight wins coming via knockout and three by way of submission. The deepest Del Rosario has ever gone in a fight was 1:07 into the second round.
The last time Del Rosario competed was back in February of this year when he earned a submission victory over Lavar

Jorge Masvidal was looked upon as the fighter that was going to put Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez to the test. While he did take the champion to the five round limit, you would be hard pressed to say he put him to any type of test. Yes, Melendez’s face was far more marked up than that of Masvidal, but the stats told another story as Melendez outstruck Masvidal 145 to 109 and delivered far more power strikes, landing 94 to Masvidal’s 21.
Questions after seeing Gilbert