Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza vs. Luke Rockhold Booked For September 10th Strikeforce Card

Luke Rockhold will make his return to the cage after being sidelined for over 18 months with various injuries, and his return match will be against the best middleweight Strikeforce has to offer. Middleweight champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza will put his title up for grabs on September 10th against Mr. Rockhold. MMAWeekly has it:

Six straight wins have earned American Kickboxing Academy middleweight Luke Rockhold a title shot against Strikeforce champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza on September 10.

The date for the fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the match-up on Sunday. Rockhold also announced the fight via his Twitter account.

"I feel healthy, I feel ready, and I feel I have all the tools to take his belt. It's on," Rockhold wrote.

Rockhold had won six fights in a row before going down with a shoulder injury while training for an October 2010 matchup with Matt Lindland. He was also scheduled to face Tim Kennedy earlier this year, but withdrew from that fight as well. Jacare is coming off a third-round submission victory over Robbie Lawler in January, which was his first defense of the title he picked up with a decision win over Tim Kennedy last August.

The card still doesn't have a location or venue, but this is the second fight added to the event so far. Earlier this week, it was announced that Josh Thomson will welcome Maximo Blanco to the promotion on September 10th as well.

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (14-2-1)
Win Robbie Lawler  - Submission (Rear naked choke) Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg
Win Tim Kennedy  - Decision (Unanimous) Strikeforce: Houston
Win Joey Villasenor - Decision (Unanimous) Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery

Luke Rockhold (7-1)
Win Paul Bradley  - TKO (Knees to the body) SF Challengers 6
Win Jesse Taylor  - Submission (Rear naked choke)  SF Challengers 4
Win Cory Devela  - Submission (Rear naked choke) SF Challengers 2