Sherdog.com is reporting that Strikeforce is planning on bumping the next two Heavyweight Grand Prix matches from their April 9th card and replacing them with a couple of title bouts. No reason was given and Strikeforce refused to provide a comment or confirmation on the rumor. No date has been given as to when those matches may actually occur.
Instead of the originally scheduled Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers and Fabricio Werdum vs. Alistair Overeem fights the promotion is quietly prepping a lightweight title match between champ Gilbert Melendez and Tatsuya Kawajiri and a welterweight title match between Nick Diaz and either Paul Daley or Tyron Woodley.
Josh Barnett and his licensing issues is one possible reason for the delay though when asked about it he claimed that he has heard nothing about it. Instead he said that he is moving forward as though the April 9th date is still on and that if the fight does get pushed that he will have to readjust his training camp. No other fighters have commented on the report as of late Monday night.
The first set of quarterfinals fights took place in East Rutherford, New Jersey on February 12th and saw Fedor Emelianenko suffer his 3rd career loss as Antonio Silva was able to top him via doctor stoppage. The event also saw Sergei Kharitonov advance in the bracket by TKOing Andrei Arlovski in the first round.
