Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was interviewed by MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani just before UFC 146 and they covered a lot of different Strikeforce subjects. After talking about Daniel Cormier and the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, Coker moved onto the topic of his lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, and what to do with him. Basically, it looks like Pat Healy is next if he gets through Mizuto Hirota on July 14th (transcribed by MMA Mania):

"With Gilbert, we're going to take a look at what Pat Healy does next. We don't know who he's fighting next (it's Hirota now) but we're going to definitely put him in there with someone tough to see how he does. By the time Gilbert fights again, either we're going to sign somebody to come in and fight him or we're going to take another look at Pat and see if he's the right guy."

Helwani brought up that Eddie Alvarez is an impending free agent, and Coker stated that he wants him to come in and fight Melendez:

"Come on over to Strikeforce, (Eddie Alvarez), let's do the Melendez fight. That would be fantastic. I think that he's a guy who is extremely talented that we would love to have in Strikeforce to fight Gilbert. It would be great. ... If he is a free agent and he is really free of any contractual relations, make the call. Eddie, come on down, let's put the Melendez fight together."

Coker also talks about the possibility of Cris Cyborg facing off with Ronda Rousey at 135 when her suspension is up, if he had any worries about signing welterweight title challenger Nate Marquardt, and the Strikeforce middleweight title bout between Luke Rockhold and Tim Kennedy. You can check out the video below the jump.



