Strikeforce officially added a lightweight bout for the upcoming Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event featuring K.J. Noons (9-2) and Jorge “Gamebred” Masdival (21-6).
Both men will square off in the cage on June 18 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. No announcement was made on whether the fight would make the Showtime broadcast or not. They do state that Noons is facing “off against fellow contender” Masvidal, possibly meaning that this bout is a No. 1 contender fight for a shot at the Strikeforce title and title holder, Gilbert Melendez.
Noons hasn’t fought since last October when he lost his rematch with Nick Diaz in a welterweight title bout at the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II event. After the bout Noons revealed that he had suffered a broken jaw and hand in the fight. Previous to that loss he had earned six straight victories, including a win over Diaz, fighting from 158 lb catchweight bouts to welterweight (the EliteXC lightweight title was fought at 160 lbs). Noons will make his lightweight debut with Strikeforce when he meets Masvidal.
Masvidal is 2-2 in his last four fights, trading wins for losses. He fought Billy Evangelista this past March at the Feijao vs. Henderson event, earning a unanimous decision. The win allowed him to bounce back from a 171.75 lb catchweight loss to Paul Daley at the Shark Fights 13 event in September. Masvidal took part in Bellator’s season one lightweight tournament, losing to Toby Imada in the semi-finals.