Tag: Strikeforce

What is certainly to be a fun lightweight matchup for fans was announced Tuesday night on Fuel TV’s “UFC Tonight” program pitting Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone (19-5) and former Strikeforce fighter K.J. Noons (11-6) against one another for this May’s upcoming UFC 160 event.

The bout marks yet another crossover matchup between fighters of the UFC and fighters from the former Strikeforce promotion.

UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Silva II is expected to take place on May 25, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will see UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez defend his title versus Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva in a rematch, while former champ Junior dos Santos takes on Alistair Overeem in the co-main event.

‘Cowboy’ was in action just a few weeks ago at UFC on FOX 6 having suffered a first round loss to Anthony Pettis after ‘Showtime’ landed several kicks to Cerrone’s liver. The defeat ended back-to-back wins for Cerrone who KO’d friend Melvin Guillard at UFC 150 and a decision over Jeremy Stephens at UFC on FUEL TV 3.

Noons will make his Octagon debut at the May show and will look to pick up just his second win in six matches having gone 1-4 in five previous matches. One loss was for the Strikeforce welterweight title while two others were lightweight title eliminators. Noons appeared at the final Strikeforce event losing by split decision to Ryan Couture last month.

Another UFC vs. Strikeforce match is in the works as rising middleweight Constantinos “Costa” Philippou (12-2, 1NC) looks set to welcome former Strikeforce champ Ronaldo ‘Jacaré’ Souza (17-3, 1NC) at the recently identified UFC on FX 8 event.

The event was named by Tatame while the Philippou vs. Souza match was confirmed by MMAFighting.com.

UFC on FX 8 will be headlined by another UFC vs. Strikeforce match as former UFC champ Vitor Belfort takes on the final Strikeforce title holder Luke Rockhold. The event is expected to take place on May 18, 2013 at the Arena Jaraguá in Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil. Philippou vs. Souza is expected to appear on the FX broadcasted main card.

Philippou has won five straight and is 5-1 since joining the UFC back in the spring of 2011. Most recently the Cyprus born fighter earned a third round TKO finish over Tim Boetsch at UFC 155. The previous Octagon wins include victories against Riki Fukuda, Court McGee, Jared Hamman and Jorge Rivera.

Souza was in action last month at the final Strikeforce event facing UFC fighter Ed Herman during the Showtime broadcast. ‘Jacaré’ would make short work of ‘Short Fuse’ with a first round submission win. The victory was the third in a row for the submission ace since losing the 185-lbs strap to Rockhold.

Another UFC vs. Strikeforce match is in the works as rising middleweight Constantinos “Costa” Philippou (12-2, 1NC) looks set to welcome former Strikeforce champ Ronaldo ‘Jacaré’ Souza (17-3, 1NC) at the recently identified UFC on FX 8 event.

The event was named by Tatame while the Philippou vs. Souza match was confirmed by MMAFighting.com.

UFC on FX 8 will be headlined by another UFC vs. Strikeforce match as former UFC champ Vitor Belfort takes on the final Strikeforce title holder Luke Rockhold. The event is expected to take place on May 18, 2013 at the Arena Jaraguá in Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil. Philippou vs. Souza is expected to appear on the FX broadcasted main card.

Philippou has won five straight and is 5-1 since joining the UFC back in the spring of 2011. Most recently the Cyprus born fighter earned a third round TKO finish over Tim Boetsch at UFC 155. The previous Octagon wins include victories against Riki Fukuda, Court McGee, Jared Hamman and Jorge Rivera.

Souza was in action last month at the final Strikeforce event facing UFC fighter Ed Herman during the Showtime broadcast. ‘Jacaré’ would make short work of ‘Short Fuse’ with a first round submission win. The victory was the third in a row for the submission ace since losing the 185-lbs strap to Rockhold.

While in London for a press conference for this weekends upcoming Fuel TV event, Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White confirmed plans by the promotion to pit the final Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold (10-1) against former UFC contender ‘The Phenom’ Vitor Beflort (22-10) in the main event of a future UFC event in Brazil.

No news has surfaced at this time as to when that event might take place but it’s believed to be in the second-quarter of the year placing it likely in April or May.

It’s very likely that the bout will determine the next No. 1 contender to challenge UFC middleweight title holder Anderson Silva.

Rockhold has won nine straight inside the Strikeforce cage which includes winning the 185-lb title along with two title defenses. The California fighter was last in action this past July when he successfully defeated Tim Kennedy by decision. Rockhold won the title back in September 2011 by winning a unanimous decision over former champ Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza. Rockhold had been scheduled to fight Lorenz Larkin’s this November and this past January, but a nagging shoulder injury forced him off both cards.

Belfort put a temporary stop to Michael Bisping’s middleweight title aspirations last month after dispatching of ‘The Count’ via second round TKO. ‘The Phenom’ landed a head kick, which sent Bisping to the mat, and finished things with some ground-and-pound. The win followed a loss at light heavyweight where Belfort challenged division champ Jon Jones in a title match last September at UFC 152. Belfort took the fight on short notice and came up short losing by fourth round submission to ‘Bones’ at the Toronto show.