Strikeforce cancels Saturday night’s card after Melendez injury

Strikeforce was set to have a fight card this Saturday night at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento but the card has been canceled after lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez suffered an injury.

Kyle Terada/US PRESSWIRE

Strikeforce officials announced the decision early Monday morning via a press release and did not say what type of injury that Melendez suffered, which caused him to pull out of the fight.

Once the organization found out of Melendez withdrawing from the fight, they informed Showtime and the premium cable channel decided that they would not show the fight card.

“When SHOWTIME informed us that it would not be airing the event, we made the difficult decision to cancel Saturday’s card in Sacramento,” STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker said.

“Without a television partner, we simply could not move forward with this event. We wish Gilbert a speedy recovery and will work diligently and quickly to reschedule the fighters affected by this news on upcoming cards.”

Refunds are available to anyone that purchased tickets at the point of purchase.