(Tyron Woodley vs. Andre Galvao, 10/9/10)
In the wake of Evangelista Santos’s recent injury withdrawal, undefeated welterweight contender Tyron Woodley will step up to replace him against Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, July 30th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Despite our impassioned pleas to give Woodley a shot at the gold, the fight will reportedly be a non-title affair.
That shouldn’t come as a big surprise, considering Zuffa’s hatred of Paul Daley; the company likely wants to avoid any situation in which they might have to refer to him as a “champion.” So maybe Woodley will get a shot at Strikeforce’s now-vacant welterweight title if he wins this fight. And at that point, Strikeforce’s 170-pound division will be so thin and cleaned out that their welterweight belt will have about as much prestige as a goddamned Burger King crown.
Woodley has won six fights under the Strikeforce banner, most recently a decision over Tarec Saffiedine in January. Meanwhile, Daley will be looking to dust himself off after getting TKO’d by Nick Diaz in April.
One fight that won’t be on the 7/30 card is the scheduled light-heavyweight battle between BJJ scion Roger Gracie, and former Strikeforce champ Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal. Gracie has withdrawn due to a foot injury, and both fighters have agreed to meet at the September 10th event instead.
