Adieu Strikeforce, Hello UFC
| Name | Record | Weight (Rank) | Transaction Info (Date) | Fight Card | Opponent (Rank) |
| Paul Daley | 30-12-2 | 170 (27) | Cage Contender via Bellator | CC16, Feb 23 | Patrick Vallee (223-MW) |
| Patrick Vallee | 9-4-1,2NC | 170 (223-MW) | Signed by Cage Contender, Jan 10 | CC16, Feb 23 | Paul Daley (27) |
| Rousimar Palhares | 14-5-0 | 185 (27) | Suspended by UFC 9-months, Jan 10 | TBD | TBD |
| Joey Beltran | 14-8-0, 1NC | 205 (62) | Suspended by UFC 9-months, Jan 10 | TBD | TBD |
| Junior Assuncao | 13-5-0 | 135 (42) | Signed by Legacy FC | LFC 19, Apr 12 | Chris Jones (135) |
| Chris Jones | 8-1-0 | 135 (135) | Signed by Legacy FC, Jan 10 | LFC 19, Apr 12 | Junior Assuncao (42) |
| Bull Lawal | Pro Debut | 185 (NR) | Signed by Legacy FC, Jan 8 | LFC 19, Apr 12 | Jabari Shakur (NR) |
| Will Brooks | 8-0-0 | 155 (39) | Signed by Bellator | BFC 87, Jan 31 | Ricardo Tirloni (137) |
| Benson Henderson | 18-2-0 | 155 (1) | Re-Signed by UFC, 8 fight contract, Jan 12 | UFC Fox 7, Apr 20 | Gilbert Melendez (3) |
| Gilbert Melendez | 21-2-0 | 155 (3) | Signed by UFC, Jan 12 | UFC Fox 7, Apr 20 | Benson Henderson (1) |
| K.J. Noons | 11-6-0 | 155 (56) | Signed by UFC, Jan 13 | TBD | TBD |
| Josh Janousek | 8-1-0 | 185 (NR) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | UFC Fox 6, Jan 26 | Michael Kuiper (94) |
| Kurt Holobaugh | 9-1-0 | 145 (205-LW) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Sean Spencer | 9-1-1 | 185 (166-WW) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | UFC Fox 6, Jan 26 | Rafael Natal (93) |
| Daniel Cormier | 11-0-0 | 265 (4) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | UFC Fox 7, Apr 20 | Frank Mir (6) |
| Gegard Mousasi | 33-2-2 | 205 (11) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Gian Villante | 10-3-0 | 205 (57) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Roger Gracie | 6-1-0 | 185 (14) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Tim Kennedy | 15-4-0 | 185 (20) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Lorenz Larkin | 13-0-0, 1NC | 185 (22) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Luke Rockhold | 10-1-0 | 185 (4) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Ronaldo Souza | 17-3-0, 1NC | 185 (4) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Jason High | 16-3-0 | 170 (36) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Nate Marquardt | 33-11-2 | 170 (11) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Tarec Saffiedine | 14-3-0 | 170 (10) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Bobby Voelker | 24-8-0 | 170 (NR-I) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | UFC 158, Mar 16 | Patrick Cote (58-MW) |
| Ryan Couture | 6-1-0 | 155 (54) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Pat Healy | 29-16-0 | 155 (14) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Adriano Martins | 24-6-0 | 155 (57) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Josh Thomson | 19-5-0, 1NC | 155 (19) | Signed by UFC, Jan 15 | TBD | TBD |
| Jason Sampson | 9-1-0 | 135 (95) | Signed by Legacy FC, Jan 15 | LFC 19, Apr 12 | Steven Peterson (120) |
| Alexei Roberts | 9-3-0 | 155 (415) | Signed by Cage Warriors | CWFC 52, Mar 9 | Paul Redmond (269) |
The third and largest wave of fighters to crossover from Strikeforce to UFC went down on Monday. There is a huge influx of talent here, especially in the middleweight class with five Top 25 fighters bolstering the roster. Although I'm truly sad to see Strikeforce end (and end the way that it did), I'm excited to finally see such great potential bouts.
One signing that stands out to me is that of Will Brooks to Bellator. Brooks' rise in the 155 ranks came out of nowhere when he pummeled Kitaoka at Dream 18. I was truly astonished at his ability to handle the Japanese veteran, almost as astonished as when I saw he was signed by Bellator. Bellator's had a horrible bit of press lately with the attention brought upon the legality of their contracts. Hopefully Brooks had a decent attorney to carefully look over his. All said, it's great to see him fight regularly on a nationally viewed channel like Spike. Good luck Brooks, count me in as a fan.
Here are a few interesting bouts with fighters who signed during my hiatus:
RFA 6, Jan 18 on AXS.TV
Toby Imada 30-17-0 (161-LW) vs James Krause 18-4-0 (106-WW)
Brock Larsen 35-7-0 (206-MW) vs Eduardo Pamplona 15-3-0 (NR-I)
Dustin Ortiz 9-2-0 (35-FLY) vs Aaron Ely 4-1-0 (29-FLY)
Dakota Cochrane 13-3-0 (79-LW) vs Deivison Ribeiro 23-7-0 (166-LW)
Respect in the Cage, Jan 19 non-televised
Cody Bollinger 13-3-0 (178-FW) vs Isaac Gutierrez 5-3-0 (NR)
Imperium MMA Pro 1, Jan 19 non-televised
Ewerton Teixeira 1-0-0 (NR) vs Claudio Junio (pro debut)
I'll be looking for this on a ZP compilation...
CFA 9, Jan 19 non-televised
Alexis Vila 11-2-0 (12-BW) vs Josh Sampo 8-2-0 (3-FLY) @ 125
This Championship FA card is pretty stacked for a regional card, hopefully you can find this online somewhere. Vila goes back to flyweight after a couple losses in Bellator at bantam.
Please check out past issues
MMA Transaction Wire: January 1-9, 2013
MMA Transaction Wire: August 10-14
MMA Transaction Wire: August 4-10
MMA Transaction Wire: August 2-3
MMA Transaction Wire: The July Round-Up - Is Sengoku back?!
MMA Transaction Wire: July 28-31
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