Strikeforce to retire HW division

Strikeforce has announced it will retire its heavyweight division at some point in 2012 and focus heavily on its lighter weight classes and women’s divisions as part of a new deal with U.S. cable TV channel Showtime announced on Thursday.

The winner of the current heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, which sees Josh Barnett take on Daniel Cormier in the final some time in the first quarter of 2012, will then fight one more time before the division is closed.

Strikeforce is owned by a subsidiary of Zuffa, LLC, which owns the UFC. The two promotions have been running concurrently but no longer in competition since Zuffa purchased Strikeforce in March.

On a conference call Thursday, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and UFC president Dana White both hinted that the final heavyweight fight in the promotion’s history will be against a top-level fighter from the UFC. It is expected that all remaining heavyweights under contract with Strikeforce will then move to the UFC.

The new deal officially begins with a scheduled event on Jan. 7 in Las Vegas headlined by middleweight champion Luke Rockhold defending his belt for the first time against Keith Jardine. Showtime will broadcast 6-8 events in 2012, with main cards featuring four or five fights as usual. Gone will be the smaller Strikeforce Challengers shows and the focus on up-and-coming talent will instead be on preliminary cards that will now air on Showtime Extreme.

Coker said that the Canadian television the organization has with Super Channel will continue so viewers in Canada, who do not have access to Showtime, will be able to watch the events on that specialty channel.

White also said the demand for women’s MMA remains strong and Strikeforce will continue to carry both divisions.

Said White, jokingly: “We’re keeping one division and Cyborg.”

Cris (Cyborg) Santos defends her women’s 145-pound belt this Saturday against Hiroko Yamanaka in the co-main event of Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal in San Diego. Gilbert Melendez, who White said is very excited about remaining in Strikeforce and defending his belt, does so in the main event against Jorge Masvidal.

James Brydon is the editor and lead writer for sportsnet.ca's MMA section.