Japanese superstar Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will not face King of the Cage veteran Federico Lopez in a preliminary matchup at Strikeforce “Heavy Artillery” on May 15 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker said on Thursday.
Sherdog.com reported on Thursday that a previously-planned eight-man light heavyweight tournament has been scrapped by the Japanese promotion, leaving the event with only four confirmed bouts on its current roster.
Stirikeforce and the Japan-based Dream have a strategic alliance where they share talent between the two promotions. Melvin Manhoef, Dream welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis, and Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki have all competed in the U.S.-based Strikeforce in the last few months. Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz is expected to compete against Japanese star Hayato Sakurai at Dream 14 as well.
Coker said Strikeforce “Heavy Artillery” will now host five fights airing live on Showtime and six to seven non-televised bouts on the undercard.
Strikeforce “Heavy Artillery” features two heavyweight bouts pairing former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski against Antonio Silva and Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem defending his title against Brett Rogers.