List of Strikeforce champions

Strikeforce World Championship belt

Strikeforce Women's World Championship belt

Strikeforce was an American mixed martial arts organization. It crowned male champions in the lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, and female champions in featherweight and bantamweight.

Men's champions

Heavyweight Championship

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

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Alistair Overeem def. Paul Buentello	Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives San Jose, CA, USA	November 16, 2007	1. def. Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery on May 15, 2010 in St.Louis, Missouri, USA
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	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Bobby Southworth def. Vernon White	Strikeforce: Triple Threat San Jose, CA, USA	December 8, 2006	1. def. Anthony Ruiz at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson on Jun 27, 2008 in San Jose, CA, USA
2	Renato Sobral	Strikeforce: Destruction San Jose, CA, USA	November 21, 2008
3	Gegard Mousasi	Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg San Jose, CA, USA	August 15, 2009
4	Muhammed Lawal	Strikeforce: Nashville Nashville, TN, USA	April 17, 2010
5	Rafael Cavalcante	Strikeforce: Houston Houston, TX, USA	August 21, 2010
6	Dan Henderson	Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson Columbus, OH, USA	March 5, 2011
The title was vacated on September 19, 2011 when Henderson signed with the UFC.^[2]

Middleweight Championship

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

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Frank Shamrock def. Phil Baroni	Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni San Jose, CA, USA	June 22, 2007
2	Cung Le	Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le San Jose, CA, USA	March 29, 2008
The title was vacated on September 17, 2009 when Le stepped down due to filming obligations.^[3]
3	Jake Shields def. Jason Miller	Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers Hoffman Estates, IL, USA	November 7, 2009	1. def. Dan Henderson at Strikeforce: Nashville on Apr 17, 2010 in Nashville, TN, USA
The title was vacated on July 1, 2010 when Shields left Strikeforce and signed with the UFC.^[4]
4	Ronaldo Souza def. Tim Kennedy	Strikeforce: Houston Houston, TX, USA	August 21, 2010	1. def. Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg on Jan 29, 2011 in San Jose, CA, USA
5	Luke Rockhold	Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov Cincinnati, OH, USA	September 10, 2011	1. def. Keith Jardine at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine on Jan 7, 2012 in Las Vegas, NV, USA 2. def. Tim Kennedy at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy on Jul 14, 2012 in Portland, OR, USA
The Strikeforce Middleweight title was vacated after the Strikeforce banner was dissolved into the UFC on January 12, 2013.

Welterweight Championship

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

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Nick Diaz def. Marius Žaromskis	Strikeforce: Miami Sunrise, FL, USA	January 30, 2010	1. def. K.J. Noons at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II on Oct 9, 2010 in San Jose, CA, USA 2. def. Evangelista Santos at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg on Jan 29, 2011 in San Jose, CA, USA 3. def. Paul Daley at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley on Apr 9, 2011 in San Diego, CA, USA
The title was vacated on June 9, 2011 when Diaz signed with the UFC.^[5]
2	Nate Marquardt def. Tyron Woodley	Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy Portland, OR, USA	July 14, 2012
3	Tarec Saffiedine	Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA	January 12, 2013
The Strikeforce Welterweight title was vacated after the Strikeforce banner was dissolved into the UFC on January 12, 2013.

Lightweight Championship

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

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Clay Guida def. Josh Thomson	Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie San Jose, CA, USA	March 10, 2006
2	Gilbert Melendez	Strikeforce: Revenge San Jose, CA, USA	June 9, 2006	1. def. Gabe Lemley at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le on March 29, 2008 in San Jose, CA, USA
3	Josh Thomson	Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson San Jose, CA, USA	June 27, 2008
-	Gilbert Melendez def. Rodrigo Damm for interim title	Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz San Jose, CA, USA	April 11, 2009	1. def. Mitsuhiro Ishida at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg on Aug 15, 2009 in San Jose, CA, USA
4	Gilbert Melendez	Strikeforce: Evolution San Jose, CA, USA	December 19, 2009	1. def. Shinya Aoki at Strikeforce: Nashville on Apr 17, 2010 in Nashville, TN, USA 2. def. Tatsuya Kawajiri at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley on Apr 9, 2011 in San Diego, CA, USA 3. def. Jorge Masvidal at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal on Dec 17, 2011 in San Diego, CA, USA 4. def. Josh Thomson at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier on May 19, 2012 in San Jose, CA, USA
The Strikeforce Lightweight title was vacated after the Strikeforce banner was dissolved into the UFC on January 12, 2013.
Gilbert Melendez, the final title holder received an immediate title shot against the UFC Lightweight Champion at UFC on Fox 7.

Women's champions

Women's Featherweight Championship

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

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

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Cristiane Santos def. Gina Carano	Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg San Jose, CA, USA	August 15, 2009	1. def. Marloes Coenen at Strikeforce: Miami on Jan 30, 2010 in Sunrise, FL, USA 2. def. Jan Finney at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum on Jun 26, 2010 in San Jose, CA, USA 3. NC vs. Hiroko Yamanaka at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal on Dec 17, 2011 in San Diego, CA, USA
Santos was stripped of the title on January 6, 2012 after testing positive for anabolic steroids in a post-fight drug test.^[6]

Women's Bantamweight Championship

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

Formerly known as the Women's Welterweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Sarah Kaufman def. Takayo Hashi	Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs. Hashi San Jose, CA, USA	February 26, 2010	1. def. Roxanne Modafferi at Strikeforce Challengers: del Rosario vs. Mahe on Jul 23, 2010 in Everett, WA, USA
2	Marloes Coenen	Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II San Jose, CA, USA	October 9, 2010	1. def. Liz Carmouche at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson on Mar 5th, 2011 in Columbus, OH, USA
3	Miesha Tate	Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson Hoffman Estates, IL, USA	July 30, 2011
4	Ronda Rousey	Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Columbus, OH, USA	March 3, 2012	1. def. Sarah Kaufman at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman on Aug 18, 2012 in San Diego, CA, USA
The title was vacated on December 6, 2012 when Rousey became the first UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion.^[7]

U.S. Championships

Middleweight U.S. Championship

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

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Eugene Jackson def. Ronald Jhun	Strikeforce: Triple Threat San Jose, CA, USA	December 8, 2006

Lightweight U.S. Championship

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

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Josh Thomson def. Nam Phan	Strikeforce: Triple Threat San Jose, CA, USA	December 8, 2006	1. def. Nick Gonzalez at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Baroni on Jun 22, 2007 in San Jose, CA, USA

Tournament Winners

Event	Date	Division	Winner	Runner-up
Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives	Nov 17, 2007	Middleweight	Jorge Santiago	Trevor Prangley
Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor	Aug 13, 2010	Women's Welterweight	Miesha Tate	Hitomi Akano
Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier	May 19, 2012	Heavyweight	Daniel Cormier	Josh Barnett

References

↑ "STRIKEFORCE RELEASES ALISTAIR OVEREEM". MMAFighting.com. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
↑ http://mmaweekly.com/shogun-rua-tabbed-to-welcome-dan-henderson-back-at-ufc-139
↑ "LE STEPS DOWN; SHIELDS VS. MILLER FOR 185 BELT". MMAWeekly.com. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
↑ "SHIELDS RELEASED BY STRIKEFORCE, UFC DEAL EXPECTED". MMAWeekly.com. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
↑ Martin, Damon (June 9, 2011). "Nick Diaz Vacates Belt to Face GSP at UFC 137". Retrieved June 9, 2011.
↑ http://mmaweekly.com/cris-cyborg-santos-stripped-of-title-end-of-the-145lb-division
↑ Dana White Media Scrum, Post-UFC 154 (18:30)

Strikeforce Final Champions

Heavyweight	Alistair Overeem

Light Heavyweight	Dan Henderson

Middleweight	Luke Rockhold

Welterweight	Tarec Saffiedine

Lightweight	Gilbert Melendez

Women's Featherweight	Cristiane Justino

Women's Bantamweight	Ronda Rousey

Strikeforce Heavyweight Champions

Alistair Overeem

Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champions

Bobby Southworth Renato Sobral Gegard Mousasi Muhammed Lawal Rafael Cavalcante Dan Henderson

Strikeforce Middleweight Champions

Frank Shamrock Cung Le Jake Shields Ronaldo Souza Luke Rockhold

Strikeforce Welterweight Champions

Nick Diaz Nate Marquardt Tarec Saffiedine

Strikeforce Lightweight Champions

Clay Guida Gilbert Melendez Josh Thomson Gilbert Melendez (ic) Gilbert Melendez

Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Champions

Cristiane Santos

Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champions

Sarah Kaufman Marloes Coenen Miesha Tate Ronda Rousey

Mixed martial arts champions

Current champions for active organizations	UFC Bellator MMA ONE WSOF Pancrase Shooto KOTC Deep Invicta FC SFL

Legacy champions for defunct organizations	Pride FC Strikeforce IFL EliteXC Cage Rage Dream Hero's WEC SRC

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