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TYRON
WOODLEY-ANDRE GALVAO FIGHT
TO REPLACE LUKE ROCKHOLD-MATT LINDLAND BOUT
ON SATURDAY,
OCT. 9, IN SAN JOSE, CALIF.
Training Injury Sidelines Rockhold
Nick Diaz
Risks Welterweight Title Against KJ Noons; Sarah Kaufman Defends
Lightweight Belt Against Marloes Coenen Live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m.
ET/PT
 NEW
YORK
(Sept. 22, 2010) – A matchup of welterweight prospects, Tyron
Woodley (8-0), of St. Louis, Mo., and
Andre Galvao (5-1) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will
replace the fight between Luke Rockhold and Matt “The Law”
Lindland on STRIKEFORCE: Diaz vs. Noons II on
Saturday, Oct. 9, at HP Pavilion in San Jose,
Calif., live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on
the West Coast).
The middleweight
bout between Rockhold and Lindland was called off after Rockhold
sustained a shoulder injury last Saturday while training at American
Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose. The extent of the injury is
not yet known.
“The fight
between Tyron and Andre is a great matchup between two young
fighters looking to take their careers to the next level,”
STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker said. “We wish Luke a speedy
recovery and are confident he will soon enough rejoin our growing
crop of top prospects.”
Woodley and
Galvao are two of MMA’s fastest-rising 170-pounders and both possess
the talent, ability and dedication to one day fight for a world
title. The highly touted fighters will be making their respective
televised debuts on a STRIKEFORCE championship series fight card on
SHOWTIME after having appeared on STRIKEFORCE Challengers.
The unbeaten
5-foot-9, 28-year-old Woodley of St. Louis, Mo., is a two-time
All-American NCAA wrestler for the University of Missouri. He fought
three times on the Challengers series, winning his last on a
hard-fought split decision over Nathan Coy in his first start
of the year on May 21 in Portland, Ore. Woodley triumphed by
submission in both his 2009 outings on STRIKEFORCE Challengers,
finishing Rudy Bears with an arm-triangle choke and Zach
Light with an arm-bar on Nov. 20 and Sept. 25, respectively.
Woodley, who
turned pro in February 2006, is a member of American Top Team. He
won his initial start for STRIKEFORCE with a first-round submission
(Brabo Choke) over Sal Woods in a non-televised, undercard
bout on June 6, 2009, in St. Louis.
Galvao, a
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist, is coming off a third-round TKO
(punches) over Jorge Patino in an undercard bout last Aug. 21
at STRIKEFORCE: Houston. In his fight before last, he triumphed via
controversial split-decision over Luke Stewart during a
STRIKEFORCE Challengers event last March 26 in Fresno, Calif.
The 5-foot-7
Galvao, who turns 28 on Sept. 29, is 2-0 in 2010. His only defeat
came on a split decision to Jason High in the DREAM
Welterweight Grand Prix on July 20, 2009. Before going pro in August
2008, Galvao earned countless Jiu-Jitsu titles in international
competition for Brazil, including a gold medal at the World
Championships in ‘08.
The postponement is a setback for Rockhold, an up-and-coming
middleweight on a six-fight winning streak.
“There’s not
much I can do. Injuries are part of the game,’’ Rockhold said. ‘But
I feel bad for Matt, the fans, STRIKEFORCE, everybody. I’d been
working really hard and was really focused on this fight. Hopefully,
I will be OK soon and Matt and I can get it on in the future.’’
In the Oct. 9
main event, STRIKEFORCE World Welterweight (170 pounds) Champion
Nick Diaz (22-7, 1 NC) will defend against KJ Noons
(9-1) in an eagerly awaited grudge rematch. STRIKEFORCE Women’s
Welterweight World Champion Sarah Kaufman (12-0) will
risk her 135-pound belt a second time when she faces No. 1 contender
Marloes Coenen (17-4) in the co-feature
A third fight on
SHOWTIME will match former STRIKEFORCE belt-holder Josh Thomson
(17-3) against Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (15-3-1) in a
battle of world-ranked lightweights.
Tickets are on
sale at
Ticketmaster.com, at the HP
Pavilion ticket office, or by phone at (800) 745-3000.
Doors will open
at 4 p.m. PT. The first live, non-televised fight is at
4:30 p.m.
About
STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com)
is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on
Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie"
event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in
California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which
pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a
sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE,
sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts
programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading,
world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its
mixed martial arts (MMA) series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May
2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE,
partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an
entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of
the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009,
STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage
live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion
has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS
Television Network. |
