Former EliteXC middleweight title challenger
Joey Villasenor will meet
Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos at ShoMMA "Strikeforce Challenger Series 2" on June 19 at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz made Sherdog.com aware of the matchup on Tuesday.
Based out of Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts in Albuquerque, N.M., Villasenor (26-6) has not competed in almost a year. A casualty of EliteXC’s demise, the 33-year-old last appeared at EliteXC “Primetime” in May 2008, when he stopped
Phil Baroni on first-round strikes. It took Villasenor a mere 1:11 to put away the UFC veteran. He has rattled off three consecutive victories since his 2007 defeat to
Murilo "Ninja" Rua and holds key wins against UFC veteran
David Loiseau and Sengoku middleweight champion
Jorge Santiago. Between Dec. 15, 2002 and April 11, 2006, Villasenor won 15 fights in a row.
Santos (16-12), who put down roots at the famed Chute Boxe Academy, has remained on the sidelines since he suffered a gruesome arm injury in a technical knockout loss to
Siyar Bahadurzada at Sengoku “Fifth Battle” in September. The 31-year-old Brazilian has dropped three of his past four bouts but has tested himself against some of the sport’s elite fighters, including
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua,
Gegard Mousasi and
Melvin Manhoef.
The event will mark the San Jose, Calif.-based promotion's second appearance in the state of Washington. It follows the February 2008 card at the Tacoma Dome, which saw supersized South African
Jan Nortje smash fellow K-1 veteran
Bob Sapp in just 55 seconds.
The second edition of ShoMMA will also feature Washington natives
Dennis Hallman and
Cory Devela, as well as UFC veteran
Jorge Gurgel against yet-to-be-named opponents. Afromowitz told Sherdog.com that, despite reports of slated bouts pitting Gurgel against
Conor Heun and
Lyle Beerbohm against
Duane Ludwig, only Gurgel has been officially confirmed for the card.
Jordan Breen and Loretta Hunt contributed to this report.