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[Cat--Smasher]

Coker: Strikeforce middleweight title shot could be in line for 'Jacare'-Brunson winner

Normally, Scott Coker doesn't like to be in the business of predicting what might or might not happen before a fight takes place

But Thursday, the Strikeforce CEO made a slight exception when he said the winner of Saturday's fight between middleweights Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (15-3 MMA, 5-1 SF) and Derek Brunson (9-1 MMA, 3-0 SF) could be next in line for champion Luke Rockhold (10-1 MMA, 9-0 SF).

Especially, it seems, if that winner is Souza, the former champ who lost the belt to Rockhold nearly a year ago.

Souza and Brunson meet in the co-main event of "Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman," which takes place at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego. The five-fight main card airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET. A four-fight preliminary card gets a broadcast on Showtime Extreme at 8 p.m. The card's main event is a women's bantamweight title fight between champion Ronda Rousey and former champ Sarah Kaufman.

"Luke Rockhold, our champion, has made it very clear he'd like to fight Jacare," Coker told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) following Thursday's pre-event press conference. "Last time, he won the fight, but he didn't do it in the style and the manner he wanted to do it. This is a tough fight for Jacare, and if he can get through Brunson, that's a fight we would probably would like to make happen."

Coker: Strikeforce middleweight title shot could be in line for 'Jacare'-Brunson winner | MMAjunkie.com

[disposableassassin]

Hi kids I'm Scott Coker everything I say is meaningless because I have no real power.

[Luc1an]

Strikewha?

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

Well, there isn't much else for Jacare to do if he gets past Brunson(who is a very good fighter) aside from running up against Rockhold in a rematch.

Brunson is something of a wildcard here because he's still somewhat new to the game and is still in the development stages. His raw skillset is very good and he's putting the right tools into place, but this is a frying pan/fire situation here for him. Brunson is a talent they should be building for the future, he needs a few more years to really nail down the finer points, but he has a bright future if they'd just build his name slowly, instead of cutting him off at the knees.

PS, there is NO WAY Brunson lost that Kendall Grove fight. He took it on short-notice and rode Kendall for the first two rounds and got robbed.

[Fe1]

How many fighters are there in the SF Middleweight division? 5? 6? Rockhold really doesn't have a whole lot of competition. I know Dana says there's no chance of UFC guys making the transition to Strikeforce but the UFC Middleweight division is so deep there are some really talented fighters that will never see a title shot. Sending them to Strikeforce might be best for everyone. With that said, Souza may be the biggest challenge that Rockhold can face in Strikeforce.