After his last title defense, Luke Rockhold appeared set to make his next title defense against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, but that is not the case.
According to MMA Weekly, Rockhold will defend his Strikeforce middleweight title against Lorenz Larkin.
The bout will be the co-main event of the November 3rd Strikeforce card in Oklahoma City, which will be headlined by Daniel Cormier taking on former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.
Rockhold (10-1) is on a nine fight winning streak and recently defeated Tim Kennedy in his second title defense by unanimous decision.
In the post fight press conference, it seemed as Strikeforce was looking to have Kennedy’s next title defense come against Jacare. Rockhold defeated Jacare for the title and both fighters were interested in the rematch.
Larkin (13-0, 1NC) started his career with 12 straight victories before facing former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal earlier this year. The fight was originally a knockout victory for Lawal, but Lawal tested positive for a banned substance and the fight was declared a no contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
He recently moved down to the Strikeforce middleweight division and won his middleweight debut against former middleweight title contender Robbie Lawler.
Strikeforce: Cormier vs. Mir takes place on November 3rd from the Chesapeake Energy Arena and the main card will be shown on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Stay tuned to TheMMAReport.com for updates on this fight card.