Strikeforce’s “stacked” January card is way less stacked now with the removal of two title fights. Both Gilbert Melendez and Luke Rockhold weren’t able to recover from their injuries fast enough, so they had to pull out of their title defenses. Instead, it will be the welterweight bout that takes top billing on the January 12th card in Oklahoma City. Nate Marquardt will defend his belt against Tarec Saffiedine. Both finalists from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, winner Daniel Cormier and runner-up Josh Barnett, will be fighting on the card as well against slightly overmatched opponents.
The card actually does have a lot of depth though, and it will interesting to see which five fights actually make the main card. Here’s a look at how things stand right now:
Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine
Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring
Josh Barnett vs. Nandor Guelmino
Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle
Lorenz Larkin vs. Ronaldo Souza
Roger Gracie vs. Anthony Smith
Pat Healy vs. Jorge Masvidal
Ryan Couture vs. K.J. Noons
Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith
Mike Bravo vs. Estevan Payan
Jorge Gurgel vs. Adriano Martins