Two long-awaited fights, Gina Carano (picture) vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos and Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson, will happen at Strikeforce on August 15.Strikeforce announced the fights during Saturday's "Lawler vs. Shields" broadcast on Showtime.
Fans have been asking for Carano (7-0) to meet Santos (7-1) since the two began to make their mark in women's MMA through the EliteXC promotion. Santos has won her last seven fights. Santos last victory was over Hitomi Akano in April, in a fight where she came in seven pounds overweight. Carano's fight was a unanimous decision over Kelly Kobald at EliteXC: Heat last October on CBS.
Josh Thomson (16-2) won the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship over Gilbert Melendez (14-2) but has yet to defend it due to injuries. They were scheduled to meet in April, but Thomson suffered a broken leg. Melendez won the interim title at the event and he'll receive his chance to unify the titles in August.
