(Roger Gracie submitting Kevin Randleman. Photo by Esther Lin)
Just last weekend, Strikeforce fighter, and ADCC champion, Roger Gracie (4-0) was forced to cancel his next cage appearance due to a nagging injury. Gracie had been scheduled to meet Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal (7-1) at the upcoming July 30, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson event.
Now it appears that the two have agreed to reschedule their fight for Sept.10 with bout agreements being issued to both fighters according to MMAWeekly.com.
The Sept. 10 event is currently labeled as Strikeforce 36, but will certainly be renamed once the event headliner is identified. No venue or location has surfaced concerning the card but several bouts are already in the works for the fall event. They include a middleweight title defense by champ Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza against Luke Rockhold, a lightweight bout between Josh Thomson vs. Maximo Blanco, and a light heavyweight match featuring Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle.
Gracie has won four straight winning all of his pro bouts since making his debut back in December 2006. The submission specialist had hoped to make several more appearances in the Strikeforce cage this year, having already submitted Trevor Prangley last January at the Diaz vs. Cyborg event.
Lawal looks to get back into the win column after suffering the first loss of his career, as well as losing the Strikeforce light heavyweight title, to Rafael Cavalcante last August via third round TKO. It was ‘King Mo’s’ third Strikeforce bout having stopped Mike Whitehead by KO in a heavyweight bout in his debut, and then defeating Gegard Mousasi for the Strikeforce strap.
Lawal has been sidelined for most of the year since his loss last August having undergone surgery to his knee and then the time to rehab the injury.