Galvao-Stewart Targeted for March 26 Strikeforce ‘Challengers’

D. Herbertson/Sherdog.com

Seven-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Andre Galvao will meet Luke Stewart in a welterweight match at a Strikeforce “Challengers Series” show tentatively scheduled for March 26 in Fresno, Calif., according to a source from within Stewart’s camp.

The 29-year-old Stewart has spent his entire professional career inside Strikeforce but has not competed since he succumbed to strikes against former World Extreme Cagefighting champion Joe Riggs in November 2008. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Ralph Gracie, the San Francisco-based Stewart holds victories against EliteXC veteran Jeremiah Metcalf and UFC castaway Jason Von Flue. All six of his victories have come by knockout, technical knockout or submission, five of them inside one round.

One of the most decorated ground fighters ever to enter the MMA arena, the 27-year-old Galvao has not fought since he dropped a controversial split decision to Jason High in the Dream welterweight grand prix semi-finals last summer. A three-time medalist at the Abu-Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships, he opened his MMA career with three consecutive submissions against Metcalf, Mikey Gomez and John Alessio -- a man who had gone the distance with both Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves.