The Weekly Wrap: July 25 - July 31

Strikeforce Card Scrambled

Strikeforce booked four title fights to bolster its Aug. 15 card in San Jose, Calif., headlined by a women’s championship match between Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. By week’s end, all of them -- with the exception of the Carano-Santos showdown -- had fallen through in one form or another.

The latest example in a string of bad luck was Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson pulling out of a defense against interim titleholder Gilbert Melendez. Doctors would not clear him to fight due to hairline fracture in his leg that was recently surgically repaired. Strikeforce announced Mitsuhiro Ishida, the first man to hand Melendez a loss in December 2007, will replace Thomson. The winner will face Thomson when he recovers. This marks the second time the Thomson vs. Melendez rematch has been postponed due to a Thomson injury.

It was also announced that the planned heavyweight and welterweight championship fights were either scratched or being altered.

Heavyweight titlist Alistair Overeem pulled out of his defense, his first since winning the belt in November 2007, against Fabricio Werdum due to a nagging hand injury. Werdum expects to fight on the show, though a replacement has yet to be named.

Strikeforce added a light heavyweight title fight between Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Gegard Mousasi, which will likely push the heavyweight bout off the televised portion of the event.

At welterweight, Joe Riggs pulled out of a welterweight championship fight with Nick Diaz due to a medical complication. Former International Fight League titleholder Jay Hieron has signed to replace Riggs in the fight.