...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Next Saturday's Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley event on Showtime has suffered a hit to the main televised card, as MMAFighting.com reports that Mike Kyle has been forced out of a bout with Gegard Mousasi with an injury.
Kyle broke his hand in training, per the report, taking him out of the fight just over a week before the event.
Strikeforce is currently looking for a late replacement opponent to meet Mousasi, but none has been found as of Thursday afternoon.
Should he stay on the card, Mousasi will fight in Strikeforce for the first time since last April's CBS event in Nashville, where he was defeated by Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal by unanimous decision, losing his Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship.
The "Diaz vs. Daley" takes place from the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, Calif. next Saturday, April 9, headlined by the Welterweight Championship bout between Nick Diaz and Paul Daley.
Penick's Analysis: This is an unfortunate blow to the televised card, as even if they find a replacement to meet Mousasi it won't be as good of a matchup, and certainly won't be as relevant to Strikeforce's light heavyweight division. That said, this card still has Daley vs. Diaz and an excellent lightweight rematch between Gilbert Melendez and Tatsuya Kawajiri, so things could be worse, but last minute scratches always hurt, especially on televised cards. For Kyle's sake, hopefully the hand heals up quickly and he can get back into the cage soon.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.