NEW YORK (July 21, 2009)–- STRIKEFORCE Heavyweight Champion Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem has re-injured a hand and will not be able to defend his title against Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on Saturday, August 15.

The other three STRIKEFORCE world championship fights remain intact: Gina Carano will collide with Cris Cyborg in the main event and the first STRIKEFORCE women’s 145-pound championship fight in history.

Nick Diaz and Joe “Diesel” Riggs will revisit their bitter rivalry in the first-ever STRIKEFORCE welterweight (170 pounds) championship matchup and Josh “The Punk” Thomson will risk his lightweight (155 pounds) belt against former champion Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez.

A replacement bout for the scratched heavyweight fight will be announced soon.

Tickets for STRIKEFORCE: “Carano vs. Cyborg,” priced from $30, are on sale at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and the official STRIKEFORCE website (www.STRIKEFORCE.com).

HP Pavilion doors will open for the event at 5 p.m. The first preliminary bout will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The live SHOWTIME telecast of STRIKEFORCE: “Carano vs. Cyborg” will begin at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (tape delayed on the west coast).

After co-promoting two events live on SHOWTIME in 2007 and 2008, STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on the premium cable television network.