List of Strikeforce champions

Strikeforce is an American mixed martial arts organization. Strikeforce crowns champions in the lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight divisions, and also women's welterweight (135 lb) and middleweight (145 lb) divisions.

File:Strikeforce World Title Belt.jpg

Strikeforce World Championship belt, produced by belt maker Orlando Roman of ChampionCraft

File:Strikeforce Women's belt.jpg

Strikeforce Women's World Championship belt, produced by belt maker Orlando Roman of ChampionCraft

Strikeforce Champions[]

Heavyweight Championship[]

206 pounds (93 kg) to 265 pounds (120 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Alistair Overeem def. Paul Buentello	November 16, 2007 Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives	San Jose, CA	def. Brett Rogers on May 15, 2010 at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery
The title was vacated on July 29, 2011 when Overeem was released from the organization.^[1]

Light Heavyweight Championship[]

186 pounds (84 kg) to 205 pounds (93 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Bobby Southworth def. Vernon White	December 8, 2006 Strikeforce: Triple Threat	San Jose, CA	def. Anthony Ruiz on June 27, 2008 at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson
2	Renato Sobral	November 21, 2008 Strikeforce: Destruction	San Jose, CA
3	Gegard Mousasi	August 15, 2009 Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg	San Jose, CA
4	Muhammed Lawal	April 17, 2010 Strikeforce: Nashville	Nashville, TN
5	Rafael Cavalcante	August 21, 2010 Strikeforce: Houston	Houston, TX
6	Dan Henderson	March 5, 2011 Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson	Columbus, OH

Middleweight Championship[]

171 pounds (78 kg) to 185 pounds (84 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Frank Shamrock def. Phil Baroni	June 22, 2007 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni	San Jose, CA
2	Cung Le	March 29, 2008 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le	San Jose, CA
The title was vacated on September 17, 2009 when Le stepped down due to filming obligations.^[2]
3	Jake Shields def. Jason Miller	November 7, 2009 Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers	Hoffman Estates, IL	def. Dan Henderson on April 17, 2010 at Strikeforce: Nashville
The title was vacated on July 1, 2010 when Shields left Strikeforce and signed with the UFC .^[3]
4	Ronaldo Souza def. Tim Kennedy	August 21, 2010 Strikeforce: Houston	Houston, TX	def. Robbie Lawler on January 29, 2011 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg

Welterweight Championship[]

156 pounds (71 kg) to 170 pounds (77 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Nick Diaz def. Marius Žaromskis	January 30, 2010 Strikeforce: Miami	Sunrise, FL	def. K.J. Noons on October 9, 2010 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II def. Evangelista Santos on January 29, 2011 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg def. Paul Daley on April 9, 2011 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley
The title was vacated on June 9, 2011 so Diaz could challenge for the UFC title.^[4]

Lightweight Championship[]

146 pounds (66 kg) to 155 pounds (70 kg)

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Clay Guida def. Josh Thomson	March 10, 2006 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie	San Jose, CA
2	Gilbert Melendez	June 9, 2006 Strikeforce: Revenge	San Jose, CA	def. Gabe Lemley on March 29, 2008 at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le
3	Josh Thomson	June 27, 2008 Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson	San Jose, CA
	Gilbert Melendez def. Rodrigo Damm for interim title	April 11, 2009 Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz	San Jose, CA	def. Mitsuhiro Ishida on August 15, 2009 at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg
4	Gilbert Melendez (2) (def. Josh Thomson for undisputed title)	December 19, 2009 Strikeforce: Evolution‎	San Jose, CA	def. Shinya Aoki on April 17, 2010 at Strikeforce: Nashville def. Tatsuya Kawajiri on April 9, 2011 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley

Women's Division[]

Women's Featherweight Championship[]

136 pounds (62 kg) to 145 pounds (66 kg)

Formerly known as the Women's Middleweight Championship and the Women's Lightweight Championship

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Cristiane Santos def. Gina Carano	August 15, 2009 Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg	San Jose, CA	def. Marloes Coenen on January 30, 2010 at Strikeforce: Miami def. Jan Finney on June 26, 2010 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum

Women's Bantamweight Championship[]

126 pounds (57 kg) to 135 pounds (61 kg)

Formerly known as the Women's Welterweight Championship and the Women's Featherweight Championship

No.	Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
1	Sarah Kaufman def. Takayo Hashi	February 26, 2010 Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs. Hashi	San Jose, CA	def. Roxanne Modafferi on July 23, 2010 at Strikeforce Challengers: del Rosario vs. Mahe
2	Marloes Coenen	October 9, 2010 Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II	San Jose, CA	def. Liz Carmouche on March 5th, 2011 at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson
3	Miesha Tate	July 30, 2011 Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson	Hoffman Estates, IL

Defunct Championships[]

Middleweight U.S. Championship[]

170 pounds (77 kg) to 185 pounds (84 kg)

Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
Eugene Jackson def. Ronald Jhun	December 8, 2006 Strikeforce: Triple Threat	San Jose, CA

Lightweight U.S. Championship[]

145 pounds (66 kg) to 155 pounds (70 kg)

Name:	Date:	Location:	Defenses:
Josh Thomson def. Nam Phan	December 8, 2006 Strikeforce: Triple Threat	San Jose, CA	def. Nick Gonzalez on June 22, 2007 at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni

Tournaments[]

Weight Division	Champion	Runner-up	Date	Location	Event
Middleweight	Jorge Santiago	Trevor Prangley	November 17, 2007	San Jose, California	Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives
Women's Welterweight	Miesha Tate	Hitomi Akano	August 13, 2010	Phoenix, Arizona	Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor
Heavyweight

References[]

↑ "STRIKEFORCE RELEASES ALISTAIR OVEREEM". MMAFighting.com. http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/07/29/strikeforce-releases-alistair-overeem/. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
↑ "LE STEPS DOWN; SHIELDS VS. MILLER FOR 185 BELT". MMAWeekly.com. http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=9607&zoneid=2. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
↑ "SHIELDS RELEASED BY STRIKEFORCE, UFC DEAL EXPECTED". MMAWeekly.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-04. http://web.archive.org/20100704205932/www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=11921&zoneid=13. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
↑ Martin, Damon (June 9, 2011). "Nick Diaz Vacates Belt to Face GSP at UFC 137". http://mmaweekly.com/nick-diaz-vacates-belt-to-face-gsp-at-ufc-137-strikeforce-will-crown-new-welterweight-champion. Retrieved June 9, 2011.