Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming title defense against Fabricio Werdum at the "Carano vs. Cyborg" event from the HP Pavilion on August 15 after re-aggravating a previous hand injury.
MMAmania.com confirmed the change with Strikeforce officials earlier today.
Overeem has yet to defend his heavyweight crown after capturing it with a second round submission win over Paul Buentello way back in 2007. "Demolition Man" has since been employed in Japan, racking up a 3-0 record in MMA (1 NC) and a 1-1 record under the K-1 banner during that span.
Werdum holds a second round submission win over the hulk from Holland when they tangled at PRIDE: "Total Elimination Absolute" in May 2006. Now it looks as if he'll have to wait for his chance to make it two straight while Overeem nurses a bum hand.
Unfortunately with just over three weeks until fight night, Strikeforce officials have been forced to scratch the bout altogether and are currently in the process of finding a replacement fight for the main card.
We'll bring you more information on a potential replacement as soon as it becomes available.
Strikeforce: "Carano vs. Cyborg" will feature a 145-pound title fight between female fighting sensation Gina "Conviction" Carano and her nemesis Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos as well as a lightweight title unification bout between reigning champ Josh "The Punk" Thomson and interim champ Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez.
For all the latest on the August 15 event click here.
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