Courtesy of a vicious visit from the injury bug, “Strikeforce: Champions” has been quickly renamed “Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine.” While the once-promising fight card now features just one title tilt instead of three, the roster is coming along quite nicely.
The January 12th event, which is heavily rumored to be Strikeforce’s final show, showcases a championship affair between Nate Marquardt (Pictured) and challenger Tarec Saffiedine.
Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma hosts the festivities.
Showtime Extreme will broadcast the night’s prelims at 8PM ET/PT, while Showtime airs the main card at 10PM ET/PT.
Here are the athletes expected to perform in OKC:
Estevan Payan vs. Michael Bravo
Jorge Gurgel vs. Adriano Martins
Ryan Couture vs. K.J. Noons
Trevor Smith vs. Tim Kennedy
Roger Gracie vs. Anthony Smith
Pat Healy vs. Jorge Masvidal
Nandor Guelmino vs. Josh Barnett*
Lorenz Larkin vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
Mike Kyle vs. Gegard Mousasi
Danie Cormier vs. Dion Staring
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Nate Marquardt (Strikeforce welterweight champion)
* – Not officially announced