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The Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” weigh-ins took place earlier this evening at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.

Jerron Peoples was the only fighter on the card to miss weight, and man, he wasn’t even close. His opponent Roger Bowling, who hit his 170 mark just fine, agreed to a 179 lbs. catchweight just prior to the weigh-ins, but Peoples couldn’t even make that, coming in at 180.5. He was given extra time to cut to 179.

Update: Jerron Peoples failed to make 179 and the fight will now be fought at a 181 lbs. catchweight, much closer to the middleweight limit than the welterweight limit. Peoples was fined 20% of his purse.

The weigh-in results:

• Gilbert Melendez (155) vs. Jorge Masvidal (155)
• Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (145) vs. Hiroko Yamanaka (145)
• Gegard Mousasi (206) vs. Ovince St. Preux (206)
• Billy Evangelista (156) vs. K.J. Noons (156)
• Caros Fodor (156) vs. Justin Wilcox (156)
• Roger Bowling (170) vs. Jerron Peoples (180.5)
• Devin Cole (248) vs. Gabriel Salinas-Jones (265)
• Fernando Gonzalez (186) vs. Eddie Mendez (186)
• Chris Brown (170) vs. Herman Terrado (170.5)

Fighters in non-title fights are allowed to weigh in one pound over the weight class limit.

Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” will take place tomorrow, Dec. 17, at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California and will air live (tape delayed on West coast) on Showtime at 10:30pm ET/PT.

More Strikeforce weigh-in pics at CombatLifestyle.com

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Of Strikeforce’s top four champions in 2011, only lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez remains in the organization following the Zuffa buyout. Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson and Nick Diaz have all left Strikeforce for greener pastures in the UFC.

While Melendez insists he’s focused on an “underrated” Jorge Masvidal, he has made no bones about it — the UFC is where he wants to be so he can prove he’s the number one lightweight in the world.

“It’s obvious it’s something we’ve been talking about. I think it’s inevitable,” he said of a future move to UFC. “I think some of the top fighters need to go to the UFC. And I’m one of those guys, so it’s in the works. Things have been talked about. Am I in [the discussions] all the time? Am I the one talking to them? No. But there’s some dialogue going on and I mean, the goal is to be the UFC champion at the end of the day. The goal is to be No. 1 in the world at the end of the day. And the only way to do that is by getting the UFC title.”

“The goal is to be No. 1 in the world, you know what I mean?” he said. “If I have to beat Jorge, if I have to beat someone else, if I have to beat five more people before that, then so be it. But, the sooner the better. I think I deserve the chance at the UFC title. So, if I can get it as soon as possible that would be great. If not, I’ll have to keep winning and keep working hard. If I feel like I have to constantly prove myself in this MMA industry, then so be it. It’s inevitable. I’m coming for that spot.”

When Strikeforce’s demise seemed inevitable, Dana White matter-of-factly declared that he wanted to bring Melendez over ASAP, however now that the tide has turned and it looks like Strikeforce might have a future after all, Dana has unfortunately changed his tune about Melendez moving to the UFC.

“The guys that are in Strikeforce are staying in Strikeforce,” the fight executive said on Saturday. “Strikeforce lives.”

“Gilbert Melendez and all the guys that are in the Strikeforce show and with Showtime, I will make this right,” White said. “They will be happy to be there. Believe me. I’ve got this thing worked out. I’ve got it figured out. It’s going to be good for everybody. It’s going to be good for the fighters, it’s going to be good for Showtime, and it’s going to be good for Strikeforce. Trust me, I got this.”

That may be good news for Melendez’s bank account, but unless Dana White plans to do some crossover fights (doubtful), it’s not good news for Melendez’s goal to be universally recognized as the number one lightweight in MMA. It’s not really good for the fans either who want to see if Melendez has what it takes to beat the Frankie Edgar’s of the world.

The situation may be out of his control, but the best thing Melendez can do is put on the kind of performance against Jorge Masvidal this weekend that makes Dana White salivate for a Frankie Edgar vs. Gilbert Melendez title fight and hope everything works out like it should.

Image via Esther Lin for Strikeforce/Showtime

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On this week’s edition of Pro MMA Radio, Joseph Benavidez stopped by to talk about the UFC’s new flyweight division. MMA Mania’s Jesse Holland also joined the show to help Larry Pepe recap UFC 140 and preview Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal.”

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It’s been a long time since Cris Cyborg defended her Strikeforce women’s featherweight title. While lengthy contract negotiations are partially to blame, a lack of credible challengers in the women’s 145 lbs. weight class has also been a factor. In fact, it’s been so difficult to find Cyborg opponents, she told Tatame last month that Strikeforce asked her if she could make 135 lbs. where there are more known fighters like Miesha Tate, Sarah Kaufman and emerging star Rhonda Rousey.

Actually there’re still two weight divisions: 135lbs and 145lbs. It’s already hard for me to drop to 145lbs, I gotta work a lot and they’re thinking about one division only, they asked me if I could do it. I can try, it’s not impossible. Let’s see… I guess that, in the future, there’ll be some news.

There’s no real news yet, but Cyborg reiterated on a Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” conference call earlier today that she’s definitely up for trying.

“It’s going to be difficult but I’m going to try to make the move if there’s more work for me there,” Santos said on Tuesday.

“I want to try to do both categories if possible, but I know there is more opportunity at 135,” she added.

If my memory serves me right, Cyborg had trouble cutting down to 140 lbs. at one point, but if she can do it, should would undoubtedly became a major factor in the women’s bantamweight division where a rivalry between Miesha Tate and Rhonda Rousey recently emerged.

Of course, this all becomes a moot point if Strikeforce doesn’t survive past their February deadline to extend their contract with Showtime. Dana White stated last weekend that he has a “very good feeling” about it and Scott Coker continued to express his optimism earlier this afternoon, but until a deal is actually finalized the future of women’s MMA remains in question.

Image via CombatLifestyle.com

Update: Another interesting tidbit from the conference call today. Strikeforce is now looking at a March event for the finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. Daniel Cormier’s injured hand is delaying the final bout with Josh Barnett. What’s interesting is the date. It seems they’re planning an event without the Showtime extension locked in.

Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” takes place on Saturday, Dec. 17., at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California and will air on Showtime at 10:30pm ET/PT. The latest Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” fight card can be found in our fight cards section.

Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” will take place on Saturday, Dec. 17, and air on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT. The Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” fight card can be found in our fight cards section.

Gilbert Melendez’s run at the UFC lightweight title will have to wait. Instead of following Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson and Nick Diaz over to the UFC this winter, Strikeforce announced today that he and Jorge Masvidal will headline their upcoming December card in San Diego.

Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” is scheduled to take place at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California on Saturday, Dec. 17, and will air on Showtime at 10pm ET.

Melendez will put his Strikeforce lightweight title up for grabs against Masvidal in the main event. Other match-ups official for the card include Cris Cyborg vs. Hiroko Yamanaka and Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux. KJ Noons is also expected to compete on the card. Gina Carano was believed to make her long awaited return on the card, but she was not included in the announcement. Neither was Keith Jardine who is expected to make his middleweight debut.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public this Saturday, Oct. 15, at 10am PT and will be priced at $175, $125, $75 and $45. They can be purchased at the Valley View Casino Center box office, online at ValleyViewCasinoCenter.com and Ticket Master, by phone at 800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster outlets.

The latest Strikeforce “Melendez vs. Masvidal” fight card and event info can be found in our fight cards section.

Image via Esther Lin for Strikeforce/Showtime

Update: KJ Noons is now expected to fight Billy Evangelista on the card.

I’m out of town this weekend and short on time so I figured I would do a quick news round-up for you guys instead of bunch of posts. Enjoy your weekend!

— Dana White is not a fan of ESPN. He’s never been happy with the amount of coverage they’ve given the UFC in the past and claims it’s only going to get worse now that they’ve signed a deal with FOX (a competing network to ESPN’s big sister ABC). Of course being Dana, he couldn’t leave at just that. From his uncensored Twitter account.

ESPN always hated us and now they hate us more now that we are on FOX. They canceled my int next week for UFC Rio Fuk ESPN

@jimrome is the only good thing about ESPN

No love for the MMA Live crew I guess.

— A Strikeforce lightweight title fight between Gilbert Melendez and Jorge Masvidal has been targeted for a Dec. 17 Strikeforce event. The date appears to be solid, but the venue and location is still unknown.

— Michael Bisping’s reaction to his TUF 14 coaching rival Jason “Mayhem” Miller getting arrested.

so miller gets nicked for getting his sister in a headlock, but she escapes. 2 things, thats gay and I guess I don’t worry about guillotines

— Jon Jones said he had a lot more to prepare for with Shogun Rua than Rampage Jackson.

“It’s obvious that his hands… he has a really nice left hook, right uppercut, he has a nice right hook. So, it’s just his hands. He knocked out many people with his hands, and I’m prepared for that. Before that I was preparing for a guy like Shogun, who has knockout power in both hands, vicious knees, vicious high kicks, vicious low kicks. I had a lot more to be worried about. In this fight I have to worry about two things, so I feel I’m way more than prepared for those two things.”

— Mike Whitehead has reached an agreement with Clark County prosecutors to make a no-contest plea in his sexual assault case.

— Luis Ramos has signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC and will fill in for an injured Mike Swick at UFC 134. He’ll face Erick Silva who is also making his promotional debut. Shoot Media has a video update on Mike Swick’s injury. In short, he tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee.

— Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira made some controversial statements about training with gay fighters. From an interview with UOL Esportes via BE:

“I have no prejudice against the gays, but I wouldn’t train with someone who’s gay. I have no malice, I don’t take our physical contact as (something) sexual. But what if the gay person has that malice of having physical contact with me, of staying there grappling? I would have no problems having a gay student in my academy, but I would rather not train with him.”

— Chris Cisneros has replaced an injured Rick Hawn in Bellator’s season five welterweight tournament.

— Despite losing two straight, the UFC has offered Charles Oliveira a four-fight contract extension which he has verbally accepted. They apparently see enough potential in him to keep him on board.

— Russian prospect Rasul Mirzaev is facing serious charges after he got into an altercation with 19-year old Ivan Agafonov outside a Moscow night club. Mirzaev reportedly got into an argument with Agafonov when he saw him talking to his girlfriend. The altercation resulted in Agafonov smacking his head against the sidewalk when Mirzaev knocked him down with a single punch. Agafonov died in the hospital four days later. Mirzaev has since been detained, but hasn’t been charged yet. The investigation is still ongoing. Mirzaev had an offer on the table from Bellator, but never signed the paperwork.