Strikeforce stumbles

UFC president Dana White must have given himself a hernia he’s laughing so hard. First, Affliction: Trilogy collapses under the weight of high expectations, now Strikeforce’s August 15 card is beginning to quietly crumble.

What was supposed to be a history-making event with four title fights is now down to just two. The headlining bout between Gina Carano and Cris “Cyborg” Santos for the first-ever women’s 145-pound belt is still a go. Likewise, the Strikeforce lightweight title is also up for grabs with current champ Josh Thomson meeting interim title-holder Gilbert Melendez on the card.

But heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem had to withdraw from his bout with Fabricio Werdum earlier this week after he re-injured the hand he busted up in a bar fight a few months back. Sources have suggested that the former UFC fighter could get a crack at an interim heavyweight title (Overeem hasn’t defended his belt since winning it in November 2007) if a high-caliber replacement is found.

And now, GracieFighter, is reporting that the first-ever Strikeforce welterweight championship bout between Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs is now off because Riggs has been hospitalized following a bad drug reaction. No information is given on the kind of drugs, legality of the drugs, or the symptoms of the reaction. Ordinarily I’d take this with a grain of salt until a more-legitimate source can confirm the story, but in this case it seems legit. GracieFighter is owned and operated by Cesar Gracie, Diaz’s trainer, who would be in a position to know if the fight is happening.

Update: Strikeforce executive Mike Afromowitz has confirmed with MMAjunkie that the fight is off, although it’s expected that a replacement for Riggs will be found. Still no word on Riggs’ condition, however.

Ed. note: I know of some Affliction fighters who have nothing better to do for the next couple of weeks.