Strikeforce just did great big monster numbers this past Saturday for Cyborg-Carano, which was one of the most highly-anticipated MMA fights in history, being built up from before EliteXC went under. It's a good damn thing that both ladies made weight, because pretty much everything went wrong with the rest of the card, losing fighters to injury, marijuana, and everything else you can think of. Now it looks as though we may be looking at an honest-to-God Strikeforce curse, as the snakebit promotion just lost another main event.
MMA Junkie is reporting that Ms. Cyborg's husband, Mr. Cyborg, is injured and forced to pull out of the main event of Strikeforce's Sept. 25th show against Tim Kennedy.
Strikeforce executive Mike Afromowitz today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the organization learned of the injury over the weekend (when Evangelista's wife, Cris "Cyborg" Santos, defeated Gina Carano for Strikeforce's 145-pound women's title) and that the search is underway for a replacement.
The injury was first reported by The Fight Network, citing a source close to Showtime.
The upcoming event, set to air on Showtime, takes place at the SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby, Okla.
Although the event is only about a month away, the only other fight currently booked for the card, which is the third held under the recently established "Strikeforce Challengers" series, is Paul Bradley (11-1) vs. Zak Cummings (10-0).
"We'll have a lot more fights soon," Afromowitz said. "We know the event is coming up soon (and is) only about a month away."
Santos, a veteran of organizations such as Cage Rage and PRIDE, was set to make his second Strikeforce appearance at the upcoming event. The Brazilian, though, has struggled lately with four losses in his past five fights, including a close split-decision defeat to Joey Villasenor at Strikeforce's June event.
The extent of his injury is not currently known, though Afromowitz said the organization hopes to have him back in the organization by year's end.
Kennedy, meanwhile, enters the fight with 10 wins in his past 11 fights, the lone blemish coming to notable Jason "Mayhem" Miller in late 2007 (Kennedy won their original meeting in 2003). The IFL veteran recently made his Strikeforce debut and scored a second-round submission victory over Nick Thompson in June (though Thompson protested the stoppage).