Strikeforce’s final event features loaded card

When the Ultimate Fighting Championship purchased its closest competitor in March 2011, it seemed like a matter of time until the organization pulled the plug on Strikeforce in the same way it did with other smaller organizations it acquired in the past.

The UFC kept Strikeforce around for awhile, but the outcome that had been anticipated for a year and a half became official Thursday, when it was announced Strikeforce’s Jan. 12 card in Oklahoma City will be the final event in the company’s history.

“For our final event, we’ve loaded the card with some outstanding fights,” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said. “This is going to be a memorable night for the sport of mixed martial arts.”

The card will feature one title bout and most of the stars currently under contract with the company. Then the organization will fully merge into the UFC.

Nate Marquardt will defend the welterweight belt against Tarec Saffiedine, and heavyweight stars Daniel Cormier and Josh Barnett will each be in action.

Cormier will fight Dion Staring, and Barnett meets Nandor Guelmino. Former light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi will fight Mike Kyle, while former middleweight champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will meet Ed Herman, a UFC fighter who crosses over just for the night.

Las Vegan Ryan Couture is also scheduled to meet KJ Noons at lightweight as part of the event.

One of the main reasons Strikeforce remained in operation was to fulfill a long-running deal with Showtime.

It’s not yet known whether the cable network will look to remain in the MMA business.

■ LAB RAT – When the UFC was looking to promote a fight between Alistair Overeem and heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos earlier this year, company officials maintained that dos Santos insisted on fighting Overeem because the matchup was personal to the champion.

That was never the case. It was all part of promoting what appeared to be the bigger-money bout.

But Overeem tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone and was replaced by Frank Mir at UFC 146 on May 26. Now, dos Santos will defend the belt against Cain Velasquez, the man he took the title from last year, in the main event of UFC 155 at the MGM Grand on Saturday.

While not naming Overeem specifically, dos Santos made it clear who he felt deserved the shot.

“I prefer to fight against clean athletes, a real professional,” dos Santos said. “Cain Velasquez is one of these guys. He’s a real professional fighter, and that’s a good challenge for me. I know he’s very tough, and I know how hard I have to train to face him. And other guys, they just say things. But there is nothing behind the words.

“I think guys like me and Cain Velasquez are made in a gym. And the other guys are made at a laboratory.”

■ WORKING HOLIDAY – Melvin Guillard was supposed to be back home in New Orleans for Christmas. Instead, he finds himself in the final days of training camp, preparing once again to fight Jamie Varner.

The two were supposed to meet on Dec. 15 at the Hard Rock Hotel, but Varner pulled out of the fight because he said he was vomiting in the locker room.

So the fight was rescheduled for Saturday night on the UFC 155 card.

“I didn’t go home for Thanksgiving with my family because I was training for the fight, and now I can’t go home for Christmas because I have to go and train for this same fight again,” Guillard said. “But it’s work, and I’ve missed Christmas before for a fight. It has put a damper on it, but that’s OK, because that just fueled my fire.”

Guillard remains skeptical that Varner was too sick to fight the first time, though several sources have indicated Varner was vomiting and yet still asked the commission to allow him to fight.

Guillard doesn’t care.

“I was mad, bro,” he said. “The only good thing that comes from this is I got my show money, and now I’m going to get show money again next week, and my win money and a knockout of the night bonus, because I’m knocking this punk out for making me cut weight for nothing.”

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.