Josh Thomson
Cable network to air fights leading up to grand prix finals
In a buildup to the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Finals on May 19, Showtime will air four nights of Strikeforce replays leading into the live card next Saturday.
The promotion and cable network recently announced an aggressive promotional programming schedule for next week as a prelude to the heavyweight tournament finale and lightweight title fight that will air live.
The card takes place at HP Pavilion next Saturday with a main card that airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern. The preliminary card will air live on Showtime Extreme at 8 p.m. The main event is a five-round heavyweight tournament finale between Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier. In the co-main event, lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez defends his title against Josh Thomson in a rubber match trilogy fight.
Next week’s Showtime lineup of Strikeforce replays is below:
Monday, 10 p.m. Eastern: Melendez-Thomson II, December 2009 (Showtime).
Wednesday, 10 p.m. Eastern: Melendez vs. Tetsuji Kato, September 2007 (Showtime).
Thursday, 10 p.m. Eastern: Barnett vs. Sergio Kharitonov, plus Cormier’s upset victory over Antonio Silva in the tournament semifinals, September 2011 (Showtime Extreme).
Friday, 10 p.m. Eastern: Melendez-Thomson I, June 2008 (Showtime Extreme)
In addition, Showtime has posted full-length fights from every stage of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament, plus the first two Melendez-Thomson fights. Those fights can be viewed online through the links below.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson I
Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez II
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Silva
Andrei Arlovski vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum
Daniel Cormier vs. Jeff Monson