Masvidal’s management team released a statement following the bout saying that the fighter suffered the injury just weeks before the bout, but decided to remain in the main event rather than dropping off the card. In the first round of the five round title affair, Masvidal re-aggravated the hand, which left him to use only his jab as his primary weapon. Masvidal was hoping for additional treatment on his hand prior to the bout, but was told by the commission that it was too late.

According to “Gamebred” the strategy was to takedown Melendez, but due to his injured hand, couldn’t execute the game plan laid out by his American Top Team trainers. The end result was Masvidal ending up on the losing end of a 25-minute decision to lightweight champion Melendez in the title bout.

Masvidal will get his hand checked out by doctors in the coming days to determine the severity of the injury and whether or not it will keep him out of action for long. The California State Athletic Commission will also release their medical suspensions list, which could feature Masvidal due to his hand injury.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

News of the title-fight first surfaced today in an interview with Melendez’s coach, Cesar Gracie, while speaking with MMAFighting.

Masvidal’s victory over Noons was his second in a row since joining Strikeforce on a regular basis and his third overall in the promotion. The 26-year old Miami native holds a record of 22-6 including success against a number of notable opponents such as Satoru Kitoaka, Billy Evangelista, Yves Edwards, and Joe Lauzon.

The 19-2 Melendez has had his hands raised in five straight fights and owns wins under the Strikeforce banner over Clay Guida, Josh Thomson, Shinya Aoki, and most recently against Tatsuya Kawajiri this past April. His dominant performance against Kawajiri resulted in a TKO midway through the opening round of action, the eleventh strike-based stoppage of his career.

The only major Strikeforce event currently planned for the fall takes place on September 10 in Cincinnati, Ohio but is unlikely to host Melendez vs. Masvidal as the card already features the semifinal round from the World Grand Prix in addition to Mo Lawal vs. Roger Gracie and 185-pound champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza defending his belt against Luke Rockhold.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

However, if the 10-3 striker is able to get by Masvidal on June 18 at “Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum” it appears he will likely cross paths once again with Diaz, only this time with the outspoken welterweight title-holder cornering 155-pound champion Gilbert Melendez rather than personally playing the role of in-ring adversary.

Noons laid out the contendership plan in an interview on MMAWeekly Radio where he also revealed he was originally set for a crack at divisional gold last year before getting an opportunity to settle the score with Diaz.

Though victory over a fighter of Masvidal’s caliber is anything but guaranteed, the decision to set up a bout between Melendez and Noons would make sense given the history between camps, as well as his success at lightweight including four consecutive wins and TKOs of Yves Edwards and Jorge Gurgel.

Masvidal is 21-6 in his career and was most recently seen outpointing Billy Evangelista in March at “Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson”. In addition to the then-undefeated Evangelista the 26-year old holds wins over the aforementioned Edwards, Ryan Healy, Satoru Kitaoka, and Joe Lauzon.

PHOTO CREDIT – ELITEXC/STRIKEFORCE

The lightweight showdown was confirmed earlier today by Zuffa officials.

Noons (10-3) is returning to the lightweight division after a one fight stay at welterweight. Noons moved up in weight last October to settle a grudge with current Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. Despite fighting a bigger opponent, Noons put up a valiant effort in losing to Diaz by unanimous decision in a five round war. Before the loss to Diaz, Noons had been on a six fight win streak with victories over the likes of Jorge Gurgel, Yves Edwards, and the aforementioned Diaz. He was the first and last EliteXC Lightweight Champion and in his ten career victories, eight have come by way of (T)KO. Along with his MMA credentials, Noons also has pro boxing experience, posting a 11-2 decision in the squared circle.

Even though Noons might be a former professional boxer, don’t expect that to scare away Masvidal (21-6) from trading leather with him. The MMA veteran has been inconsistent in his last seven fights, posting a 4-3 record, but he is coming off a decision victory over the previously undefeated Billy Evangelista back in March. Masvidal has fought top competition throughout his MMA career, challenging top fighters such as Paul Daley, Joe Lauzon, and Toby Imada. He may not be known as a finisher, with a matching ten (T)KO career victories and 10 decision victories, but he’s a fighter who will no doubt challenge Noons in the striking department.

Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum is scheduled for June 18 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The event will be headlined by Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers vs. Josh Barnett, both of which are part of Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Grand Prix.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Five Ounces of Pain spoke to a Strikeforce official late Monday afternoon who confirmed the American Top Team product had been inked to a multi-fight deal after Masvidal mentioned the agreement was in place during a recent conversation with BuddhaSport.

“Let the world know I am going to knock out everybody they put in front of me. I don’t have an opponent yet but I want a big fight; you know. I want (Gilbert) Melendez or the next big name. No B level fighters. (Lyle) Beerbohm is good but nobody really knows him. I would like to get (Tatsuya) Kawajiri, that would be great,” said Masvidal when speaking on his future in the promotion.

Though “Gamebred” fought Daley at 170-pounds last weekend his statements clearly indicate he expects to head back to his regular division, lightweight, under the Strikeforce banner.

Masvidal is 20-6 in his career with two previous wins in Strikeforce – a decision over Ryan Healy in 2008 and a TKO of Matt Lee in 2007. He also holds past victories over UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon and always-tough MMA veteran Yves Edwards.

Comparably, Masvidal weighed in at 168.75 pounds and will be looking for a second consecutive win by beating the powerful striker. He is 20-5 in his career and most recently won a split decision over Naoyuki Kotani last April.

The evening’s main event between Keith Jardine and Trevor Prangley had no such stumbling blocks with both fighters actually coming in below the “205″ mark. Jardine registered in at 204.5 pounds, while sometimes-middleweight Prangley came in at 202.75 pounds.

Here is a complete rundown of results from the Shark Fights 13 weigh-in:

Pete Spratt (170.25 lbs) vs. Eric Davila (176.5 lbs)*
Karen Darabedyan (155.75 lbs) vs. Daniel Straus (152.75 lbs)
Devin Cole (233.25 lbs) vs. Aaron Rosa (241.75 lbs)
Paul Bradley (170.5 lbs) vs. John Reese (169.25 lbs)
Douglas Evans (144.25 lbs) vs. Ronnie Mann (144.75 lbs)
Brock Larson (170.75 lbs) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (169.75 lbs)
Joey Villasenor (185.5 lbs) vs. Danillo Villefort (184.5 lbs)
Paul Daley (171.75 lbs) vs. Jorge Masvidal (168.75 lbs)**
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (204.5 lbs) vs. Houston Alexander (202.25 lbs)
Keith Jardine (204.5 lbs) vs. Trevor Prangley (202.75 lbs)

* – Spratt agreed to a catch-weight bout with Davila
** – Daley will forfeit 10% of his “show” pay to Masvidal for the infraction

Set to be featured during the promotion’s inaugural event are lightweight tournament matches featuring Eddie Alvarez and Jorge Masvidal.

Alvarez, 16-2, a former BodogFIGHT welterweight champion, is slated to compete in a bout contested at 155 pounds against Daniel Morales, 5-1. Meanwhile, Masvidal, a veteran of Bodog, Strikeforce, and Sengoku, will take on jiu-jitsu black belt Diego Garijo.

Also scheduled for the card are three featherweight tournament bouts that will pit former Strikeforce veteran Nick Gonzalez (14-6) vs. Yahir Reyes (12-5), Estevan Payan (6-1) vs. Luis Palomino (9-4), and Joe Soto (4-0) vs. Ben Greer (11-4).

Former EliteXC bantamweight champion Wilson Reis has also been announced for the featherweight tournament, however, his involvement in now uncertain. Reis’ contract was one of 42 deal that were acquired by Strikeforce during its recent acquisition of select assets from ProElite.

Sources have revealed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com that Reis currently has exclusive contracts with both Strikeforce and Bellator and that a remedy of some sort will be in order.

Bellator’s April 3 event will be taped and will then air in a live-to-tape format the next night on ESPN Deportes. Deportes is the Spanish-language outfit of ESPN but sources have also indicated that Bellator is currently looking at potential announcers for an English-language version of its broadcast that would be accessible through the SAP button on a television set.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the news upon being contacted by Bellator Fighting Championships officials on Wednesday.

Bellator is expected to televise its first show on ESPN Deportes on Saturday, April 4. The promotion plans to build its launch around eight-man single elimination tournaments to be held at welterweight, lightweight, welterweight, and middleweight. While it has not been confirmed, Masvidal is expected to compete in Bellator’s 155 pound tournament.

Masvidal, a Cuban native who now resides in Miami, trains of Florida’s American Top Team and is considered one of the heaviest hitters at lightweight in the world. He is 16-3 in his pro MMA career and has competed for promotions such as Strikeforce, BodogFIGHT, and Sengoku. In recent years, Masvidal has recorded notable victories over the likes of David Gardner, Yves Edwards, Ryan Schultz, Ryan Healy, and Joe Lauzon.

“Jorge’s world-class skills and ability to beat the best in his division on any given night may be a surprise to some MMA fans, but not to those of us who have seen him fight,” Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney is quoted as saying in a press release.  “Jorge is a great example of today’s true world-class mixed martial arts fighter, possessing a complete set of skills across multiple disciplines; Jorge can beat you standing or on the ground and brings excitement to every fight he’s in.  He will be a major challenge to anyone in our 155 pound tournament.”

The announcement of Masvidal’s signing comes just days after the promotion revealed that it had signed EliteXC bantamweight champion Wilson Reis to be a part of its featherweight division.

Masvidal is a heavy-handed striker that trains out of American Top Team in Florida. The Miami native is 16-3 during a pro MMA career that began in 2003. He has competed for major promotions such as BodogFIGHT, Strikeforce, and World Victory Road’s Sengoku.

Masvidal is 2-0 in his last two fights and 10-1 in his last eleven fights with his lone defeat during that span coming against Rodrigo Damm at Sengoku 3 this past June. Since the loss, Masvidal has recorded a TKO win over former IFL lightweight champion Ryan Schultz at Sengoku 5 and a unanimous decision victory over Seung Hwan Bang at Sengoku 6.

His most notable wins have come against current UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon at Absolute Fighting Championships 12 and former UFC and EliteXC lightweight title contender Yves Edwards during a Bodog event in July of 2007.

Masvidal will join Eddie Alvarez as the core of the promotion’s lightweight division. Despite both having competed at the same time for the now-defunct Bodog promotion, the two have never faced each other.

Bellator, which is Latin for Warrior, will hold eight-man tournaments at featherweight (145 pounds), lightweight (155 pounds), welterweight (170 pounds) and middleweight (185 pounds). The single elimination tournaments will be televised over the course of 12 weeks on Disney-owned ESPN Deportes, a Spanish language version of ESPN.

According to a recent press release, each tournament winner will be able to earn up to $175,000 for three wins. Fighters eliminated from tournament competition will also be well-compensated with opening round winners receiving $25,000, semi-finalists getting $50,000, and finalists netting $100,000.

In addition to Alvarez and Masvidal, FiveOuncesOfPain.com was the first to officially report the signing of welterweight prospect Lyman Good to the Bellator roster. This site was also the first to report the imminent signing of EliteXC bantamweight champion Wilson Reis to the upstar promotion. Bellator also reportedly has interest in former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho and standout Cuban Judoka Hector Lombard.

This news comes via a report at Sherdog this afternoon.

Brito did clear the air that ESPN does not have plans to develop any MMA programming for its English-speaking networks. According to the report, fighters such as Jorge Masvidal as well as Eddie Alvarez have been approached in regards to appearing on what looks to be a reality television show largely focused on Hispanic fighters.

The report also indicates that the program is set to be a 12 week series that will focuse on the 145, 155, 170, and 185 lbs. weight classes. Each weight class will have an eight man tournament and non-tournament bouts will also be broadcast.

Problems arose Friday evening after the CSAC learned that funding had not been secured to pay the athletes who were to compete on the card.

“At the eleventh hour, the commission was informed there were insufficient funds to pay the fighters,” CSAC executive director Armando Garcia told Sherdog.com. “In the end, we had to cancel the event.”

Valor Fighting, the promotion behind WCO, made several last-minute efforts to save the event, but CSAC had already made the decision to close the event down.

CSAC’s Armando Garcia told Sherdog that he contacted h the San Diego Sports Arena box-office and that sales for the event were very low.

Despite the cancellation, fighters will receive 20% of their promised purses from the promotor due to CSAC policy. The deadline for payment is January 18.

If anymore mention is made of this story, Five Ounces of Pain will be on it.

Roufus has met all of his licensing requirements, but because this would have been his first pro MMA fight, CSAC executive director Armando Garcia explains that the skills evaluation “would be necessary to determine if Roufus would or would not be skilled enough to compete with Kerr.”

As for Roufus’ replacement, Garcia told MMAWeekly, “Kauai Kupihea has been presented as his replacement and has been tentatively approved. However, he has not completed his licensing requirements.”

Click here for the rest of the WCO/Valor Fighting “The Return” card, which will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Vernon “Tiger” White.

Read more at FiveOuncesofPain.com (www.FiveOuncesofPain.com).

Fighting in the main event will be light heavyweights Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Vernon “Tiger” White. Since his ugly UFC 74 submission win over David Heath, Sobral has picked up a submission victory over Rodney Faverus at the inaugural Platinum Fighting Promotions event last month in the Philippines. White, on the other hand, is coming off of consecutive TKO losses to Mike Whitehead and Marcelo Tigre.

Also on the main card, former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez will take on Mike Kyle, who will make his return after being suspended for illegally kneeing (and then continuing an assault on) Brian Olsen at WEC 20. Ricco, who also won in December at the PFP’s Philippines event, might have his hands full with the powerful, knockout-loving Kyle.

Mark Kerr looks to pick up his second win in as many fights under the WCO banner, this time against against Rick Roufus, a legendary kickboxer who will be making his MMA debut. If you haven’t seen Roufus fight Michael McDonald (both of their fights were cool), you’re missing out.

Tickets are still available for those in – or traveling to – the San Diego and run from $23.50 to $153.50. According to MMAJunkie, WCO executives have stated that a portion of the event’s ticket sales will benefit those families devastated by the recent wildfires in the area.

Here’s the January 12th WCO “The Return” card in its entirety:

• Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Vernon White
• Ricco Rodriguez vs. Mike Kyle
• Mark Kerr vs. Rick Roufus
• Jimmy Ambriz vs. Wesley “Cabbage” Correira
• Joe Riggs vs. Gustavo Machado
• David Loiseau vs. Leopoldo Serao
• Tiki Ghosn vs. J.J. Ambrose
• Virgil Zwicker vs. David Mejia
• Fabio Costa vs. Carlos Fuentes
• Georgi Karakahyan vs. Armando Sanchez
• Tony Sylvester vs. Cain Velasquez