JOSH BARNETT VS. NANDOR GUELMINO ADDED TO 'STRIKEFORCE: CHAMPIONS'...

Strikeforce's final event will serve as Josh Barnett's final obligation to the promotion.

Sources close to the fighters today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Barnett (31-6 MMA, 2-1 SF) is targeted to meet fellow heavyweight Nandor Guelmino (11-3-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) on the Showtime-televised main card of "Strikeforce: Champions."

The event, which features prelims on Showtime Extreme, takes place Jan. 12 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

It's expected to be Strikeforce's final event.

Barnett, 35, makes his return after a unanimous-decision setback to Daniel Cormier in the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, which took place in May.

The ex-UFC champ broke his hand in the first round of the five-round fight and was benched for several months as he recovered. Prior to meeting Cormier, he hadn't lost in six years over eight bouts.

Guelmino, 36, recently extended his current win streak to seven with a decision victory over Emil Zahariev at a fight card in Slovenia. The Austrian fighter has earned six of his 11 career wins by submission and three by knockout. Notably, he suffered a first-round TKO loss to ProElite vet Andreas Kraniotakes in 2009.

The latest "Strikeforce: Champions" card now includes:
Champ Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine - for welterweight title
Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring
Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle
Josh Barnett vs. Nandor Guelmino*
Ryan Couture vs. K.J. Noons
Pat Healy vs. Jorge Masvidal*
* - Not officially announced

http://mmajunkie.com/news/2012/11/josh-barnett-vs-nandor-guelmino-added-to-strikeforce-champions

Guelmino is on a 7 fight win streak but is should be a pretty easy win for Barnett.

Should be decent, im think Josh plays it smart and wins.

WAR Barnett

You're telling me you couldn't get a better opponent than someone who lost to Kraniotakes?

It's obvious they're giving Barnett a gimme in an attempt to sign him on to the UFC coming off of a win.

The SF card has gotten pretty solid in the last couple days.

Hopefully Barnett goes in, subs this guy in round one, and then joins up with the ONE FC Network.

wekka wrote:You're telling me you couldn't get a better opponent than someone who lost to Kraniotakes?

It's obvious they're giving Barnett a gimme in an attempt to sign him on to the UFC coming off of a win.

I hope ONE or GLORY/DREAM can offer a better deal to Josh like they did with Bibi to bring him back to Asia.