Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010 | 10:14 a.m.
Rising Strikeforce prospect Luke Rockhold has been forced to pull out of a middleweight fight against Matt Lindland on Oct. 9 because of a shoulder injury he sustained while training.
A welterweight bout between Tyron Woodley and Andre Galvao will replace the Rockhold-Lindland bout on the main card of the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II event in San Jose, Calif., which will be aired on Showtime.
Rockhold (7-1) has been on a tear since late 2008, posting six consecutive first-round finishes under the Strikeforce banner.
The 25-year-old fighter has fought just once, however, in 2010.
"We wish Luke a speedy recovery and are confident he will soon enough rejoin our growing crop of top prospects," said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker in a released statement.
The welterweight matchup still will feature some of Strikeforce's top prospects, especially Woodley (8-0), a former All-American NCAA wrestler at the University of Missouri.
Fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla. with American Top Team, Woodley has finished seven of the eight opponents he's faced since turning pro in 2006.
He'll look to neutralize the ground game of submission specialist Galvao (5-1), who is coming off an impressive TKO win over Jorge Patino in August.
Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II features a welterweight title fight between defending champion Nate Diaz and top contender K.J. Noons.
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting
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