Already ladies and gentlemen, it's time to put on your tin hats and roll with the punches.

It's no secret that Strikeforce, a once admirable secondary option to the UFC in North America, is on it's last legs.

Showtime, Zuffa, Scott Coker and anyone else that gets a microphone stuck in front of their face in the coming months can say whatever they want. It won't change the fact that the fighters fighting in Strikeforce are like a bunch of dinosaurs staring at an asteroid about to decimate their home.

Strikeforce's demise is coming and there is nothing that can be done about it.

If there was any doubt, look no further than the cancellation of the Strikeforce event that was to take place on September 9, but had the plug pulled once Strikeforce Lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez withdrew with an injury.

No disrespect to Melendez, but if his drawing power was all that was keeping that card afloat, it wasn't in a good place to begin with.

Over the weekend it was discoverd that Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold is also injured and won't be able to make his scheduled title defense against Lorenz Larkin on November 3, the same event that already has a TBA in the opponent's slot for Daniel Cormier's main event fight after UFC heavyweight Frank Mir also withdrew due to an injury.

Knowing what you know about Strikeforce, mainly that it's a dog with rabies waiting to be put down by it's owners (ZUFFA or Showtime, whichever pulls the trigger first), if you were a fighter in Melendez, Cormier or Rockhold's position, would you rather fight or effectively go on strike and force the mercy killing to come quicker while you still have a chance to fight in the UFC at your full earning potential?

Most of Strikeforce's roster won't be transitioning over to the big leagues once this merger with the UFC eventually happens. Those unfortunate souls will fight whenever Strikeforce asks because they have bills to pay.

But Melendez, Cormier and Rockhold are big stars trapped in a small solar system just waiting to orbit into a bigger universe and higher tax bracket.

Why risk the win/loss record (potential cash earnings) by fighting the Pat Healy's, Lorenz Larkin's and any available large warm body ZUFFA can throw at you (in Cormier's case) when Showtime has shown that, if you just don't show up they may be inclined to show low-budget softcore porn instead?