Strikeforce officials today officially announced a six-bout preliminary card for the Jan. 30 "Strikeforce: Miami" event, but one final piece of the fight card puzzle has been pulled from the table.
Junior pepa seed has learned from sources close to the event that heavyweight Yohan Banks (2-1 MMA, 2-0 SF) was not approved by the Florida State Boxing Commission as an opponent for Bobby Lashley (4-0 MMA, 0-0 SF), and the former WWE star is still without an opponent for the event.
An FSBC representative said the decision to decline Banks as an opponent for Lashley was made based on a review of the fighters' records, at which point the commission "determined that the bout was not competitive."
Banks has fought twice under the Strikeforce banner in bouts contested on the promotion's "Young Guns" events, a now-defunct series that served as the predecessor to the current prospect-based "Challengers Series" events. Banks most recent outing was a 19-second knockout win over Michael Diaz in September 2008.
Meanwhile, Lashley has earned four-straight wins since turning pro in December 2008. While Lashley is often criticized for his performance in a lackluster March 2009 decision win over Jason Guida, the massive heavyweight's remaining three wins have all come by stoppage – and in a combined time of 4:22.
While Strikeforce now has one hole to fill, the organization did officially announce a six-bout preliminary card. In addition to four main fights, the promotion added Michael Byrnes (0-2 MMA, 0-0 SF) vs. David Zitnik (3-5 MMA, 0-0 SF) and Hayder Hassan (2-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) vs. Ryan Keenan (3-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) to the evening's non-televised schedule.
Just 19 years old, Byrnes made his professional debut one year ago. The lightweight was dealt stoppage losses in each of the contests, including an April loss to Marcelo Cabral with just one second left on the clock in the first round.
Meanwhile, Zitnik seeks to bounce back from an April 2009 loss to Steven Tamburo. After opening his career in 2006 with three-straight defeats, Zitnik has since bounced back to a resepctable 3-2 in his past five outings.
An American Top Team product, Hassan debuted professionally in February 2009 with a nine-second TKO win over Kenny Allen. Hassan followed up the win with a second victory in April, but he suffered his first loss to Julio Gallegos in September 2009. The Strikeforce bout will mark his first action since the defeat.
A Team Gracie Orlando product, Keenan seeks to keep his undefeated mark intact. Keenan debuted professionally in 2008, and all three of his wins have come by stoppage. His highest profile victory to date came in a February 2009 over "The Ultimate Fighter 6" cast member Blake Bowman.
Strikeforce also officially announced the long rumored heavyweight contest between Herschel Walker (0-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) and Greg Nagy (1-1 MMA, 0-0 SF).
With the changes to the card, "Strikeforce: Miami" now includes:
MAIN CARD
Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis (for vacant welterweight title)
Champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Marloes Coenen (for women's featherweight title)
Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef
Bobby Lashley vs. TBA
Greg Nagy vs. Herschel Walker
PRELIMINARY CARD (un-aired)
Jay Hieron vs. Joe Riggs
Pablo Alfonso vs. Marcos da Matta
Michael Byrnes vs. David Zitnik
Sabah Homasi vs. John Kelly
David Gomez vs. Craig Oxley
Hayder Hassan vs. Ryan Keenan
As soon as a replacement is known i will bring it to you.
Shout out to John Morgan
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