A heavyweight bout appears all but set for the upcoming Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal event, set for next month, between Devin Cole (19-9-1) and Gabriel Salinas-Jones (5-0-1).
The bout was reported by MMAjunkie.com on Tuesday night, who confirmed with sources close to the bout that both men had verbally agreed to the matchup and that official agreements would be signed soon.
Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal is scheduled to take place on Dec. 17 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California and features two title bouts on the main card. Lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez defends his title against Jorge Masvidal and Women’s Featherweight champ Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos defends her title against Hiroko Yamanaka.
Cole makes his third appearance in a Strikeforce cage having gone 1-1 in those two appearances and is 1-2 in his last three. Most recently he earned a unanimous decision over Shawn Jordan at last July’s Strikeforce Challengers 17 event. Cole debuted versus Daniel Cormier last January at SF Challengers 13, losing by unanimous decision to the Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist.
Salinas-Jones is undefeated in six pro-bouts, having made his debut with Strikeforce this past July on the preliminary card of the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson event. On the Illinois card, Salinas-Jones earned a third round submission win over Bryan Humes.