Strikeforce in Dallas Gets Gina Carano, Overeem vs. Griggs, and Del Rosario vs. Cormier

Gina Carano

Strikeforce on Saturday night held its first major event under the ownership of Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC. The promotion used its telecast on Showtime to promote its next big event, the second half of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinal bouts on June 18 in Dallas.

Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will face Fabricio Werdum in a non-title bout on the card as part of the Grand Prix. The other quarterfinal bout will be Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers.

Strikeforce on Saturday night also announced additional participants for the event.

The promotion confirmed the participation of former women’s middleweight champion Gina Carano, although they didn’t name an opponent for the former American Gladiator.

They did announce two additional heavyweight bouts, however.

Alistair’s brother, Valentijn Overeem, will fight on the Dallas card, facing Chad Griggs. Overeem (29-25) is coming off of a win over Ray Sefo at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva. That was Valentijn’s first fight under the Strikeforce banner. Griggs (10-1) defeated Gianpiero Villante on that same fight card. The winner is likely to be considered one of the top alternates should one be needed in the Heavyweight Grand Prix.

The other heavyweight announcement included two of Strikeforce’s rising talents, Shane Del Rosario and Daniel Cormier. Both fighters are undefeated and coming off wins on Strikeforce Challengers events. Del Rosario (10-0) defeated Lolohea Mahe in his last bout, while Cormier scored a victory over Devin Cole.