A heavyweight bout that has been rumored for the last week is now official as Josh Barnett will meet Nandor Guelmino on the January Strikeforce card.
Strikeforce officials made the bout official and it’s not clear if the fight will be on the main card or preliminary card of Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine on January 12th in Oklahoma City.
Barnett (31-6) has not been in the cage since losing to Daniel Cormier in the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix in May and that was his first lost since 2006 in Pride.
Prior to the fight with Cormier, he had won eight in a row, which included wins over Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov in the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament.
Guelmino (11-3-1) will be making his Strikeforce debut in this bout and is currently on a seven fight winning streak, with five of those wins coming by stoppage.
After starting his career 2-2-1, he has gone 9-1 in his last ten fights and nine of his career victories are by stoppage, with six of those wins coming by submission.
Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine will take place on January 12th from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City and will be headlined by Nate Marquardt defending the Strikeforce welterweight title for the first time when he takes on Tarec Saffiedine.