Former dual Pride FC middleweight and welterweight champion, Dan Henderson, will likely make his Strikeforce debut a meaningful one, taking on current 185-pound champion Jake Shields at the promotion's upcoming April event.
No word from Strikeforce officials as of yet; however, Shields confirmed to MMAWeekly Radio on Tuesday that "It's a done deal" following months of speculation regarding the proposed match up.
"It's a go now. We finally worked it out a few days ago. It's a done deal, it's been agreed upon by both parties as far as I know, and I think it's set to go. I have a date (and) venue, but they told me to hold that back. Hopefully CBS. I think it's CBS. There's a slight possibility of Showtime because they're still (working it out). I don't know the rest of the card or any of that yet. But me and Dan's on, and I'm hoping it's on CBS."
This more than likely does not come as a big surprise -- Shields was number one on Henderson's hit list when he recently signed a four-fight, 16-month contract. And after his most recent (and emphatic) performance, knocking out Michael Bisping on the main card of UFC 100 back in July 2009, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 coach will likely be itching to achieve similar results in front of a major television audience on CBS.
Shields, on the other hand, will be out to prove that his current 13-fight win streak is no fluke. Prior to a decision win over Jason "Mayhem" Miller back in November, Shields stopped eight straight opponents with a mix of submissions and technical knockouts.
He essentially cleaned out the entire 170-pound division not competing inside the Octagon, forcing the former Elite XC welterweight champion to move up a weight class in search of stiffer competition.
It's safe to say that he's now found it in "Hollywood."
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more on this match up, as well as the still-developing next Strikeforce event on CBS (date, city and venue all still TBD), as it becomes available.
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