The Strikeforce promotion has officially announced an upcoming lightweight title fight for champ Gilbert ‘El Niño’ Melendez (19-2), who will take on top contender Jorge ‘Gamebread’ Masvidal (22-6) on December 17.
The announcement was made on the promotions website Strikeforce.com on Tuesday night, inviting fans and media to an official press conference for the event this Thursday in San Diego.
Tickets for the Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Mazvidal event are set to go on sale starting Oct. 15, with the show taking place on December 17 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.
The Presser announcement also confirmed a women’s featherweight title defense by Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos vs. Hiroko Yamanaka, and a light heavyweight bout featuring Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux.
Also announced by the promotion to the card via Twitter (@Strikeforce) is the participation of former welterweight contender KJ Noons (10-4), with an opponent to be named shortly.
Melendez will have to finish this fight first before he gets a chance to move over to the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion despite UFC President Dana White’s talk of getting him over “ASAP”. ‘El Niño’ has won five straight including a recent first round TKO win over Tatsuya Kawajiri last April in San Diego. All five of those past victories have involved the Strikeforce lightweight title, with three wins by (T)KO and two by decision.
Masvidal earned a shot at the Strikeforce belt by earning a unanimous decision over KJ Noons this past June at the Overeem vs. Werdum event. That was ‘Gamebread’s’ second straight win and puts him at 3-1 in his last four. The other victory came in March with his return to the lightweight division, another decision victory this time against Billy Evangelista at the Feijao vs. Henderson event. The loss in that stretch was a welterweight fight with Paul Daley at a Shark Fights 13 show one year ago. Daley earned a unanimous decision in that match.