Will Strikeforce Salvage What Is Left of Affliction Fight Card?

With Affliction: Trilogy cancelled, the one question that comes to mind is: "What about the other fights on the card fans wanted to see?"

The first fight that comes to mind is the co-main event, which was set to feature the U.S. debut of young phenom Gegard Mousasi taking on crafty veteran Renato Sobral.

Mousasi (25-2-1) had effectively cleaned out the middleweight division—outside of the UFC—and his move to the 205-pound division was the natural progression.

Taking on a fighter the caliber of Sobral (35-8), who many consider a top 10 light heavyweight, was a match many fans were very much looking forward to.

Perhaps Strikeforce can come to the rescue.

Sobral is the current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, and Mousasi has expressed interest in fighting for Strikeforce. Given that, moving the fight to, say, the Aug. 15 Strikeforce show, makes sense, given the title implications.

All of this would hinge on whether Affliction is permanently cancelling the event or just postponing it like they did with their second event "Day of Reckoning."

Another intriguing fight involved Vitor Belfort, the man most thought would end up fighting Fedor, and Jorge Santiago. Both are considered top 10 middleweight fighters, and the winner would have been unofficially crowned the best 185-pounder not fighting for the UFC.

It will be interesting to see where Belfort goes from here. Dana White has previously expressed interest in getting the former UFC fighter back in his organization. Belfort could find his way back home, or perhaps Strikeforce can lure him into their house.

Adding Belfort and Santiago to a division that already includes Cung Le, Robbie Lawler, Scott Smith along with Jake Shields and Nick Diaz (when they fight at a catch-weight) would make an already strong division suddenly much deeper.

Other fighters worth fighting over include heavyweights Paul Buentello, Gilbert Yvel and Ben Rothwell, welterweights Paul Daley and Jay Hieron and lightweight Japanese supestar Takanori Gomi.

With all the recent collaborating between Strikeforce and Affliction, a merger of some sort seems much more imminent.