Nitesh Dutt
CSNBayArea.com
Since Zuffa LLC., parent company of the UFC, purchased Strikeforce back in March, fans of the sport have been guessing which prized Strikeforce fighters would end up under contract with the UFC.
The short list is beginning to become a tad bit longer.
After the post-fight press conferences for UFC Live on VERSUS 6, UFC President Dana White told the media present that the UFC was working hard to bring Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez to the UFC. Melendez, the current Strikeforce Lightweight champion, would become the second titleholder in the past several months to leave Strikeforce and join the internationally popular promotion. Welterweight champ Nick Diaz being the other.
As for a possible title fight with Jorge Masvidal? That’s still likely to happen. Both fighters have stated to have a common interest in a bout, but Melendez said on Twitter that the move to UFC “would be awesome” after word of White’s comments were public.
El Nino’s desire to be the best in the world is what will lead him to the UFC. It is feasible that his first match could be a title unification bout, but Melendez has also stated that he is willing to fight his way to the top and earn a title shot.
So, where does this leave Strikeforce’s lightweight division? The same place that all of Strikeforce is. That is, strolling along and waiting to hear their future fate.
UFC fans have been clamoring for heavyweights Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem and Antonio Silva to make the move since the purchase. Overeem recently signed and will fight Brock Lesnar in December. Welterweight champion Nick Diaz was highly rumored to be making the move and eventually did, he will face B.J. Penn later this month. It now seems highly likely that next in-line to make the move is Melendez.
I’m not counting Jake Shields or Dan Henderson, because both of their contracts were up before they signed with the UFC.
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