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Barnett-‘Mondragon’ Australia Bout Scheduled for Impact FC, Not Strikeforce
Despite rampant rumblings that Strikeforce was headed to Australia, it is instead a new upstart promotion headed down under in July.
Word circulated Wednesday that the San Jose-based Strikeforce was preparing a July card in Australia that would feature a heavyweight bout between Josh Barnett and Brazilian brawler Geronimo "Mondragon" dos Santos. However, Sherdog.com has confirmed that this fight will happen but not under the Strikeforce banner. Instead, Barnett and dos Santos will meet up for new promotion Impact Fighting Championship.
"The confusion regarding Strikeforce was unfortunate. I in no way ever asserted that Impact FC has anything to do with Strikeforce,” said Impact FC co-owner and event organizer Thomas Huggins. “This all stemmed from confusion in an interview with Geronimo that was published on Tatame's website, which they and Geronimo quickly cleared up.
"It was never Geronimo's intention to cause the confusion. Hopefully Scott and the people over at Strikeforce weren't inconvenienced by it."
Brazilian site Tatame published an interview with dos Santos in which the Bahia native stated that he would meet Josh Barnett in Strikeforce in Australia in July. However, in a follow-up piece with the site later in the day, "Mondragon" said that he misspoke, and in fact that if he was victorious against Barnett, he expected to sign a deal with Strikeforce.
Huggins told Sherdog that the Barnett-dos Santos bout has been signed for the promotion's second card at the Brisbane Entertainment Center in Brisbane, Australia, on July 10. The promotion will debut July 3 with an event at Trusts Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, and a third event is planned for July 18 at the Sydney Entertainment Center. This card will be offered live on pay-per-view in North America, and in addition to a live fight card, will include the best fights from the promotion's first two events.
Huggins also disclosed that the promotion is in talks with television networks in Brazil, the United Kingdom and Australia to broadcast its events internationally, but could not confirm the status of those negotiations at this time.
Despite rampant rumblings that Strikeforce was headed to Australia, it is instead a new upstart promotion headed down under in July.
Word circulated Wednesday that the San Jose-based Strikeforce was preparing a July card in Australia that would feature a heavyweight bout between Josh Barnett and Brazilian brawler Geronimo "Mondragon" dos Santos. However, Sherdog.com has confirmed that this fight will happen but not under the Strikeforce banner. Instead, Barnett and dos Santos will meet up for new promotion Impact Fighting Championship.
"The confusion regarding Strikeforce was unfortunate. I in no way ever asserted that Impact FC has anything to do with Strikeforce,” said Impact FC co-owner and event organizer Thomas Huggins. “This all stemmed from confusion in an interview with Geronimo that was published on Tatame's website, which they and Geronimo quickly cleared up.
"It was never Geronimo's intention to cause the confusion. Hopefully Scott and the people over at Strikeforce weren't inconvenienced by it."
Brazilian site Tatame published an interview with dos Santos in which the Bahia native stated that he would meet Josh Barnett in Strikeforce in Australia in July. However, in a follow-up piece with the site later in the day, "Mondragon" said that he misspoke, and in fact that if he was victorious against Barnett, he expected to sign a deal with Strikeforce.
Huggins told Sherdog that the Barnett-dos Santos bout has been signed for the promotion's second card at the Brisbane Entertainment Center in Brisbane, Australia, on July 10. The promotion will debut July 3 with an event at Trusts Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, and a third event is planned for July 18 at the Sydney Entertainment Center. This card will be offered live on pay-per-view in North America, and in addition to a live fight card, will include the best fights from the promotion's first two events.
Huggins also disclosed that the promotion is in talks with television networks in Brazil, the United Kingdom and Australia to broadcast its events internationally, but could not confirm the status of those negotiations at this time.
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