
Strikeforce was put in a difficult position when its lightweight champion,
Josh Thomson, suffered an injury that forced him to pull out of Saturday night's scheduled title fight with
Gilbert Melendez. Strikeforce responded to that difficult situation by announcing that Melendez will fight
Rodrigo Damm in a five-round fight for the interim lightweight championship. I think that's a mistake.
In MMA, five-round fights have a special status: Only title fights go five rounds, and that means they should be reserved for bouts that match top fighters against each other. With all due respect to Damm, he just hasn't accomplished enough to merit being in a title fight.