With lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez confirmed to be missing out on an appearance at Strikeforce’s final event on January 12th, his intended opponent Pat Healy now has a new opponent.
That will come in the shape of former No.1 contender Jorge Masvidal who’s coming of a win over Justin Wilcox back in July.
While Masvidal is a respected opponent this will surely be a disappointment for Healy who had compiled a five-fight winning streak in the Strikeforce cage to work his way up to a title shot, but now won’t get the chance to fight for the belt and won’t be anywhere near the top of the division if and when he moves over to the UFC.
The good news however is that due to having sidestepped this show, Melendez next fight should be in the UFC and that’s something fans have been wanting to see for a long time.
Currently on a seven-fight unbeaten run and ranked as one of the top three lightweights in the world, ‘El Nino’ could well walk straight into a title bout at 155lbs, or at the very least a No.1 contender fight.
