Those of you who have been holding your breath waiting for a superfight between the UFC lightweight champion and Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez can finally exhale, because it is not happening anytime in the near future.
During the press conference after UFC 140, UFC President Dana White made it clear that Strikeforce will continue operations, according to MMAWeekly.com.
White also stated that the fighters who are under contract with Strikeforce will remain under contract with Strikeforce, and the partnership the promotion currently has with Showtime will remain for the near future.
Of course, the biggest question surrounding keeping Strikeforce in business was whether or not current lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez would be brought over to the UFC, like many fans have been looking forward to for quite a while.
White stated that Melendez will not be seen inside the UFC Octagon anytime soon but also stated that he would “make it worth Melendez’s while.”
In the past, White has made it very clear that the UFC would never co-promote a fight with another promotion. While White did not come straight out and state that we would not see any Strikeforce fighters in the UFC, he did state “Strikeforce is completely separate,” and there are plenty of interesting matchups to be made within the promotion.
Melendez is currently slated to defend his title on Dec. 17 against No. 1 contender Jorge Masvidal.
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