03 | March | 2010 | MMA Highlight

Melendez vs Aoki, Mousasi vs King Mo, Shields vs Henderson all set for April

While the date of Fedor Emelianenko’s return is still uncertain, Strikeforce is moving ahead with plans for a monster CBS card in Nashville on April 17th, which is expected to feature three title fights. Along with the headlining middleweight title scrap between Dan Henderson and Jake Shields, MMA Weekly has reported that Gegard Mousasi will defend his light-heavyweight belt against top contender Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal. Mousasi, who is riding a 15-fight win streak, hasn’t officially defended his Strikeforce strap since winning it from Renato Sobral last August, but has scored wins over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (in a Strikeforce non-title fight) and Gary Goodridge (in a Dynamite!! 2009 squash match) since then. King Mo is 6-0 in his relatively short MMA career, and wrecked Mike Whitehead at his Strikeforce debut in December, but is facing a massive leap in competition against the Young Vagabond.

Also on the Shields vs. Henderson card, a lightweight title fight between Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez and DREAM champ Shinya Aoki has been booked, according to Sherdog; Aoki’s title will not be on the line. Melendez recently regained the Strikeforce belt in a rematch against Josh Thomson. Aoki became DREAM’s lightweight champ by submitting Joachim Hansen last October, then followed up that performance by breaking Mizuto Hirota’s arm.

Meanwhile, in the heavyweight division…

Alistair Overeem has confirmed that he’s likely to face Brett Rogers in a non-title fight slated for a May 15th Strikeforce event in St. Louis. Though Overeem is still the official heavyweight champion of Strikeforce, he hasn’t defended his title since winning it in November 2007. Overeem also said that an appearance at DREAM 13 on March 22nd is a possibility. For the record, Fedor Emelianenko’s management — who previously stated that they wouldn’t take a fight against Overeem unless he was drug tested leading up to the fight — now says they have no interest in a fight against Overeem whatsoever. “I personally think that Alistair Overeem did not reach the desired level to challenge Fedor,” Vadim Finkelchtein told sports.ru. “He beat a lot of no-name opponents in Mixed Martial Arts…He has nothing to offer for Fedor Emelianenko.”

Also on the May 15th card, Andrei Arlovski is expected to face Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Arlovski announced yesterday that he had signed a multi-fight, 16-month contract with Strikeforce; he plans to spend part of his training camp at Greg Jackson’s MMA Academy in Albuquerque. Arlovski hasn’t competed in MMA since his 22-second knockout loss to Brett Rogers last June, but participated in a four-round charity boxing exhibition against Fres Oquendo last Saturday.

With Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields meeting Dan Henderson in the headliner and light heavyweight title-holder Gegard Mousasi expected to meet Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal on the same card, Strikeforce’s April 17 return to CBS airwaves is likely to have a third title fight.

That’s if a lightweight fight between Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez (17-2 MMA, 7-1 SF) and Shinya Aoki (23-4 MMA, 0-0 SF), first reported by SI.com’s Josh Gross, is finalized for the card.

Although subsequent reports have suggested the fight is signed, sources close to Melendez’s camp told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) on Tuesday night they have not received bout agreements but plan to accept the matchup.

If signed, the fight is expected to be only for Melendez’s lightweight belt. (Aoki’s DREAM title would go un-contested.)

Although not officially announced, the April 17 event could be announced as early as today by Strikeforce officials. It takes place at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn.

Melendez makes his first title defense since reclaiming the belt from Josh Thomson via unanimous decision in December. Melendez won the belt from Clay Guida via split decision in 2006 and made his first title defense against Gabe Lemley two years later. He then lost his belt to Thomson. However, he won an interim title with a win over Rodrigo Damm and then defended it against Mitsuhiro Ishida to set up the rematch with Thomson.

Melendez has now four of his past five fights.

Aoki, a Japanese lightweight long ranked in the world’s top 10, makes his Strikeforce debut with six wins in his past seven fights. (The lone loss came to Hayato Sakurai in DREAM’s 2009 welterweight grand prix.) Aoki looks to add Melendez to a current win streak that includes victories over notables Vitor Ribeiro, Joachim Hansen and Sengoku champion Mizuto Hirota.

Aoki is the latest DREAM fighter to come stateside as part of a partnership between Strikeforce and DREAM. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker first told MMAjunkie.com about his desire for a Melendez vs. Aoki fight back in November and said it was one of the matchups he personally hoped to see after the DREAM deal.

March 3, 2010
Categories: All News, All Posts, MMA News . . Author: sanseth . Comments: Leave a comment