On Saturday, June 18, Strikeforce traveled to Dallas, TX to present an event that was headlined by two quarterfinal bouts in their World Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament. In the first of those two bouts, Josh Barnett forced Brett Rogers to tap due to an arm triangle choke.
The second bout featured a rematch between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.
The two had previously met in 2006 during a Pride tournament with Werdum taking the win in that bout via submission. Werdum had no luck enticing Overeem to the ground in Saturday’s meeting, and Overeem took the unanimous-decision win.
The card also featured Jorge Masvidal defeating KJ Noons in a bout that left Noons’ face bloody and swollen. With his performance, Masvidal moved himself into the mix for a shot at Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.
Daniel Cormier continued his ascension of the Strikeforce heavyweight ranks with a unanimous decision win over MMA veteran Jeff Monson and Chad Griggs took little time in dispatching Valentijn Overeem with a quick first-round TKO.
With their wins, Overeem and Barnett move on to the semifinals of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament with Overeem facing Antonio Silva and Barnett meeting Sergei Kharitonov. No date has been set for the semifinal bouts.
The promotion did announce that they expect to crown a champion in the tournament by February, 2012.
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