Strikeforce: KJ Noons vs Jorge Masvidal booked for June 18 in Dallas

Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez may be dreaming of an eventual UFC "superfight," but he's still got some unfinished business in his own backyard.
That's because the promotion today announced that 155-pound contenders KJ Noons and Jorge Masvidal will hook 'em up at the upcoming Strikeforce: "Overeem vs. Werdum" event at the American Airlines Center on June 18 in Dallas, Texas.
And the winner could have a legitimate argument for being next in line to challenge for "El Nino's" belt.
Noons (10-3) saw his six-fight winning streak come to a halt when he was picked apart by Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz in their championship rematch contested at 170-pounds back in October. "King" Karl owned two previous wins for the Strikeforce promotion, a split decision over Conor Huen in "Los Angeles" followed by his second round slaughter of Jorge Gurgel in "Houston."
Can he get back to his winning ways against Masvidal?

After coming up short in a unanimous decision loss to Paul "Semtex" Daley under the Shark Fights banner, "Gamebred" (21-6) made a successful Strikeforce debut opposite Billy Evangelista back in March, punching his way to a sweep on the judges' scorecards despite a less-than-enthusiastic response from the Columbus crowd.
The Bellator and Sengoku veteran will have a chance to turn that around -- and stake his claim to the Melendez throne -- with an impressive win over Noons next month.
Strikeforce: "Overeem vs. Werdum" will feature the continuation of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix as division champion Alistair Overeem tries to eliminate Fabricio Werdum while fellow PRIDE veteran Josh Barnett takes on the hard-hitting Brett Rogers.
For the current Strikeforce fight card and line-up for the June 18 event in the "Lone Star State" click here.