Jorge Gurgel
A total of eleven bouts have been made official for this January’s upcoming Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine event with the addition of a lightweight match featuring Jorge Gurgel (14-8) and promotion newcomer Adriano Martins (23-6).
The bout was added to the official card on Friday along with a several other previously identified bouts including a heavyweight match between Josh Barnett vs. Nandor Guilmino and a lightweight fight featuring Estavan Payan vs. Michael Bravo.
Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine, formerly referred to as Strikeforce: Champions, is expected to take place on January 12, 2013 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The event is headlined by a welterweight title match between defending champ Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine. The co-main event has heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier squaring off against promotion newcomer Dion Staring.
Gurgel is 1-3 in his last four matches and enters this fight on a loss having suffered a decision defeat at the hands of this past August under the Strikeforce banner. For Gurgel it was over a year between matches having earned his last victory in March 2011 by stopping Billy Vaughan in 44-seconds by submission.
Martins is 10-1 in his last ten matches with four straight wins under his belt. His last match came in March of this year under the Jungle Fight promotion earning a 62-second TKO finish over opponent Jimmy Donahue. Martins has earned eleven (T)KO finishes, two submission wins, and ten decision victories in his pro-career.