List of Strikeforce champions

Strikeforce was an American mixed martial arts organization. It crowned male champions in the lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, and female champions in featherweight and bantamweight.

Strikeforce Men's World Championship belt
Strikeforce Women's World Championship belt

World champions

Heavyweight Championship

206 pounds (93 kg) to 265 pounds (120 kg)

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Alistair Overeem
def. Paul Buentello		 Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives
San Jose, CA, USA 		November 16, 2007

1. def. Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery on May 15, 2010

The title was vacated on July 29, 2011 when Overeem's contract was absorbed by the UFC.[1]

Light Heavyweight Championship

186 pounds (84 kg) to 205 pounds (93 kg)

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Bobby Southworth
def. Vernon White		 Strikeforce: Triple Threat
San Jose, CA, USA		 December 8, 2006

1. def. Anthony Ruiz at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson on Jun 27, 2008

2 Renato Sobral Strikeforce: Destruction
San Jose, CA, USA 		November 21, 2008
3 Gegard Mousasi Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg
San Jose, CA, USA 		August 15, 2009
4 Muhammed Lawal Strikeforce: Nashville
Nashville, TN, USA 		April 17, 2010
5 Rafael Cavalcante Strikeforce: Houston
Houston, TX, USA 		August 21, 2010
6 Dan Henderson Strikeforce: Feijão vs. Henderson
Columbus, OH, USA 		March 5, 2011
The title was vacated on September 19, 2011 when Henderson signed with the UFC.[2]

Middleweight Championship

171 pounds (78 kg) to 185 pounds (84 kg)

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Frank Shamrock
def. Phil Baroni		 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni
San Jose, CA, USA		 June 22, 2007
2 Cung Le
 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le
San Jose, CA, USA		 March 29, 2008
The title was vacated on September 17, 2009 when Le stepped down due to filming obligations.[3]
3 Jake Shields
def. Jason Miller		 Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers
Hoffman Estates, IL, USA 		November 7, 2009

1. def. Dan Henderson at Strikeforce: Nashville on Apr 17, 2010

The title was vacated on July 1, 2010 when Shields left Strikeforce and signed with the UFC.[4]
4 Ronaldo Souza
def. Tim Kennedy		 Strikeforce: Houston
Houston, TX, USA 		August 21, 2010

1. def. Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg on Jan 29, 2011

5 Luke Rockhold
 Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov
Cincinnati, OH, USA 		September 10, 2011

1. def. Keith Jardine at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine on Jan 7, 2012
2. def. Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy on Jul 14, 2012

The Strikeforce Middleweight title was vacated after the Strikeforce banner was dissolved into the UFC on January 12, 2013.

Welterweight Championship

156 pounds (71 kg) to 170 pounds (77 kg)

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Nick Diaz
def. Marius Žaromskis		 Strikeforce: Miami
Sunrise, FL, USA 		January 30, 2010

1. def. K.J. Noons at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II on Oct 9, 2010
2. def. Evangelista Santos at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg on Jan 29, 2011
3. def. Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley on Apr 9, 2011

The title was vacated on June 9, 2011 when Diaz's contract was absorbed by the UFC.[5]
2 Nate Marquardt
def. Tyron Woodley		 Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy
Portland, OR, USA		 July 14, 2012
3 Tarec Saffiedine
 Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA		 January 12, 2013
The Strikeforce Welterweight title was vacated after the Strikeforce banner was dissolved into the UFC on January 12, 2013.

Lightweight Championship

146 pounds (66 kg) to 155 pounds (70 kg)

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Clay Guida
def. Josh Thomson		 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie
San Jose, CA, USA		 March 10, 2006
2 Gilbert Melendez Strikeforce: Revenge
San Jose, CA, USA		 June 9, 2006

1. def. Gabe Lemley at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le on March 29, 2008

3 Josh Thomson Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
San Jose, CA, USA		 June 27, 2008
- Gilbert Melendez
def. Rodrigo Damm for interim title		 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz
San Jose, CA, USA		 April 11, 2009

1. def. Mitsuhiro Ishida at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg on Aug 15, 2009

4 Gilbert Melendez (2) Strikeforce: Evolution
San Jose, CA, USA		 December 19, 2009

1. def. Shinya Aoki at Strikeforce: Nashville on Apr 17, 2010
2. def. Tatsuya Kawajiri at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley on Apr 9, 2011
3. def. Jorge Masvidal at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal on Dec 17, 2011
4. def. Josh Thomson at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier on May 19, 2012

The Strikeforce Lightweight Title was unified with the UFC Lightweight Title on April 20, 2013, when Benson Henderson defeated Melendez at UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez.

Women's Featherweight Championship

136 pounds (62 kg) to 145 pounds (66 kg)

Formerly known as the Women's Lightweight Championship and the Women's Middleweight Championship

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Cris Cyborg
def. Gina Carano		 Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg
San Jose, CA, USA		 August 15, 2009

1. def. Marloes Coenen at Strikeforce: Miami on Jan 30, 2010
2. def. Jan Finney at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum on Jun 26, 2010
NC. vs. Hiroko Yamanaka at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal on Dec 17, 2011

Cyborg was stripped of the title on January 6, 2012 after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.[6]

Women's Bantamweight Championship

126 pounds (57 kg) to 135 pounds (61 kg)

Formerly known as the Women's Welterweight Championship

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Sarah Kaufman
def. Takayo Hashi		 Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs. Hashi
San Jose, CA, USA		 February 26, 2010

1. def. Roxanne Modafferi at Strikeforce Challengers: del Rosario vs. Mahe on Jul 23, 2010

2 Marloes Coenen Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II
San Jose, CA, USA 		October 9, 2010

1. def. Liz Carmouche at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson on Mar 5th, 2011

3 Miesha Tate Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson
Hoffman Estates, IL, USA		 July 30, 2011
4 Ronda Rousey Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey
Columbus, OH, USA		 March 3, 2012

1. def. Sarah Kaufman at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman on Aug 18, 2012

The title was vacated on December 6, 2012 when Rousey became the first UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion.[7]

U.S. champions

Middleweight U.S. Championship

170 pounds (77 kg) to 185 pounds (84 kg)

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Eugene Jackson
def. Ronald Jhun		 Strikeforce: Triple Threat
San Jose, CA, USA		 December 8, 2006
The Strikeforce Middleweight U.S. title was vacated after the Strikeforce banner was dissolved into the UFC on January 12, 2013.

Lightweight U.S. Championship

145 pounds (66 kg) to 155 pounds (70 kg)

No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Josh Thomson
def. Nam Phan		 Strikeforce: Triple Threat
San Jose, CA, USA		 December 8, 2006

1. def. Nick Gonzalez at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni on Jun 22, 2007

The Strikeforce Lightweight U.S. title was vacated after the Strikeforce banner was dissolved into the UFC on January 12, 2013.

Tournament winners
Event Date Division Winner Runner-up
Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives Nov 17, 2007 Middleweight Jorge Santiago Trevor Prangley
Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor Aug 13, 2010 Women's Welterweight Miesha Tate Hitomi Akano
Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier May 19, 2012 Heavyweight Daniel Cormier Josh Barnett

See also

References
  1. "STRIKEFORCE RELEASES ALISTAIR OVEREEM". MMAFighting.com. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  2. "Shogun Rua Tabbed to Welcome Dan Henderson Back at UFC 139 - MMAWeekly.com". mmaweekly.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  3. "LE STEPS DOWN; SHIELDS VS. MILLER FOR 185 BELT". MMAWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  4. "SHIELDS RELEASED BY STRIKEFORCE, UFC DEAL EXPECTED". MMAWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-04. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  5. Martin, Damon (June 9, 2011). "Nick Diaz Vacates Belt to Face GSP at UFC 137". Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  6. "Cris 'Cyborg' Santos Stripped of Title, End of the 145lb Division? - MMAWeekly.com". mmaweekly.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  7. Dana White Media Scrum, Post-UFC 154 (18:30)
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