When UFC 151 was cancelled, the repurcussions were immense, have been felt since, and will be talked about for years. It was impossible to miss the comparison with the announcement that Saturday’s Strikeforce was cancelled.
Arianny Celeste releasing a single was generated perhaps 20 times the interest, or more.
In short, no one cared.
This is the official announcement.
STRIKEFORCE® announced this evening that its event planned for Saturday, Sept. 29 at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, Calif. has been cancelled. STRIKEFORCE lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, who was set to defend his title against Pat Healy, sustained an injury in training that forced his withdrawal from the card.
Without the Melendez-Healy title bout, SHOWTIME®, which determines which fights are televised on the premium network, decided that it would not air Saturday’s scheduled event.
When SHOWTIME informed us that it would not be airing the event, we made the difficult decision to cancel Saturday’s card in Sacramento, STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker said. Without a television partner, we simply could not move forward with this event. We wish Gilbert a speedy recovery and will work diligently and quickly to reschedule the fighters affected by this news on upcoming cards.
Refunds for tickets purchased are available at point of sale.
Jake Shields tweeted an image of Melendez’ separated shoulder:
