Immediately after Strikeforce was erased from the MMA landscape, fans started clamoring over which fighters should get promoted to the UFC. Well, debate no longer. Several athletes received the bump to the big leagues on this week’s edition of FUEL TV’s UFC Tonight.
Ronda Rousey, Gilbert Melendez and Daniel Cormier have already been issued their first UFC assignments. So, moving on…
Lightweights:
Josh Thomson, Ryan Couture, K.J. Noons, Pat Healy, Adriano Martins and Kurt Holobaugh
Welterweights:
Tarec Saffiedine, Nate Marquardt, Roger Bowling, Jason High and Bobby Voelker
Middleweights:
Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Tim Kennedy, Roger Gracie and Lorenz Larkin
Light Heavyweights:
Gegard Mousasi (Pictured)
These are the only Strikeforce fighters that have been confirmed for the initial transition. However, that doesn’t mean others didn’t make the cut or the UFC won’t call others up from the bullpen in the coming weeks.