Gilbert Melendez vs Jorge Masvidal title fight in the works for later this year

Strikeforce may have fired its heavyweight champion and let its welterweight champion run off to the UFC but its finally found some work for its lightweight champion.

Consensus number three ranked 155-pound destroyer Gilbert Melendez will return to the hexagon once again to take on his only legitimate San Jose based challenger in number 21 ranked Jorge Masvidal.

MMAFighting.com brought word of the pending match-up earlier today. An exact date has not yet been nailed down but the parties involved have been notified to stand by for sometime late this year.

Melendez hasn't seen the inside of a cage since a successful April 9 defense of his title against Japanese "Crusher," Tatsuya Kawajiri. That win marked "El Nino's" fifth in a row and created a matchmaking conundrum for his Zuffa employers.

That is until a contender stepped up to the plate this past June.

You'll likely never confuse Jorge Masvidal with an unstoppable force but he's more than qualified to challenge for the lightweight championship ... in Strikeforce, at least.

He returned to 155-pounds earlier this year against Billy Evangelista and looked better than ever. Once he ran through K.J. Noons three short months later, it was clear he's no fluke.

But is he on the level of Melendez?

That much remains to be seen and we'll have to wait until sometime later this year, likely November or December, to find out. That's because Strikeforce has no plans to run an event in October at this time and with the full schedule that month overflowing with UFC events, it makes sense to wait until snow is on the ground.

Joy joy, right Maniacs?