SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Fabricio Werdum vs. Mike Kyle heavyweight bout has been bumped up to the Showtime portion of Saturday's Strikeforce telecast. FanHouse learned the news from Kyle on Thursday, and confirmed it with Strikeforce officials.The fight was originally scheduled to take place on the non-televised portion of the card, but once the Jesse Taylor vs. Jay Hieron fight was changed to a three-round non-title bout, there was enough time to add Werdum vs. Kyle to the main card.
Werdum will be making his Strikeforce debut on Saturday night. He has yet to fight since being released from the UFC following his October loss to Junior dos Santos. He holds notable UFC victories over Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera.
Kyle returned to Strikeforce in June, defeating light heavyweight contender Rafael "Feijao" Cavalacante via second-round TKO. The victory was seen as a huge upset considering Cavalcante was undefeated heading into the bout and was once scheduled to face Renato "Babalu" Sobral for the Strikeforce light heavyweight title.
Kyle is perhaps best known for landing an illegal soccer kick to the head of Brian Olsen at WEC 20 and connecting on several punches after Olsen was clearly unconscious.
Below is a look at the entire card, which airs live on Showtime beginning at 10:30 PM ET:
Showtime Card:
Gina Carano (7-0) vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (7-1)
Gilbert Melendez (15-2) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (18-5-1)
Renato "Babalu" Sobral (35-8) vs. Gegard Mousasi (25-2-1)
Jesse Taylor (13-3) vs. Jay Hieron (17-4)
Fabricio Werdum (11-4-1) vs. Mike Kyle (12-6-1)
Preliminary Card:
Mike Cook (7-4) vs. Scott Lighty (4-0)
David Douglas (4-1) vs. Justin Wilcox (5-3)
Alex Trevino (3-0) vs. Isaiah Hill (4-6-1)
James Terry (6-1) vs. Zac Bucia
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