Mousasi-St. Preux Targeted for Dec. 17 Strikeforce

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Dream light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi will return to the Strikeforce cage on Dec. 17, as the former Strikeforce titleholder locks horns with rising prospect Ovince St. Preux.

The promotion announced the news Tuesday afternoon via Twitter, hinting that more details would follow.

Though the date and location of the yet-to-be-named Dec. 17 show have yet to be revealed by Strikeforce, several matches have been speculated to take place, including a lightweight title clash pitting Gilbert Melendez against Jorge Masvidal.

Mousasi won the Strikeforce light heavyweight strap in 2009, knocking out Renato Sobral in just 60 seconds. The Iranian-born Dutchman would lose the championship in his first defense, however, falling by unanimous decision to Muhammed Lawal in April of last year.

Mousasi rebounded from the defeat with two-straight victories, beating Jake O''Brien and then Tatsuya Mizuno to capture Dream's light heavyweight belt.

After fighting Keith Jardine to a draw at Strikeforce “Diaz vs. Daley” in April, the 26 -year-old most recently defended his Dream title for the first time, knocking out Hiroshi Izumi on July 16.

St. Preux has been perfect in his Strikeforce career thus far. The 28-year-old former University of Tennessee linebacker has not lost since 2009, rattling off eight-straight victories -- five of which came in the Strikeforce cage.

The Haitian-American fought a total of six times in 2010, and St. Preux closed out last year with wins over Antwain Britt and Benji Radach on Nov. 19 and Dec. 4, respectively.

The light heavyweight then returned to the cage only four weeks later to outpoint Ron Humphrey on Jan. 7. Most recently, St. Preux forced Joe Cason to submit to punches on July 22 at Strikeforce Challengers 17.