Jorge Gurgel Signs With Strikeforce

SAN JOSE, CA—Lightweight (155 lb. limit) fan favorite and seven-time UFC veteran, Jorge Gurgel (12-5),

has signed an exclusive agreement to compete for world championship mixed martial arts (MMA) fight

promotion, Strikeforce. 

“I am excited.  To me, this is like a new start.  I’m coming in fresh.  I’m re-motivated and excited to mix

things up in Strikeforce,” said the 31-year-old Gurgel, a native of Brazil, who relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio a

decade ago. 

Since his professional debut six years ago, Gurgel has emerged as one of the most dangerous players in

the sport’s 155 lb. division by consistently bringing to the cage a go-for-broke style of stand-up fighting

despite his status as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt capable of producing submissions against opponents

of any caliber. 

If his rough house approach has said anything about Gurgel, it is that he is willing to trade blows with any

and all comers.

“I’ve said it before and I will say it until the end of my career – My job is to get a name, date, and a location,”

asserted Gurgel.  “That’s why I have a manager.  Different fighters do this for different reasons and I respect

that.  I don’t call people out.  I just like to fight.  I do not care.”

To succeed in Strikeforce’s lightweight division that is loaded with top talent beginning with reigning world

champion, Josh “The Punk” Thomson, Gurgel will need to adjust his game and make use of his entire skill

set, including his expertise in submissions, when necessary.

“I make some bad decisions because I have too much fun.  I have never used my Jiu Jitsu in the UFC,” he

said.  “All of my fights in the UFC have been slugfests. People always tell me after my fights that they know

I can be one of the top contenders in my weight class.  They ask me why I don’t use my Jiu-Jitsu.  I have

so much fun standing up and I completely think I’m winning all the time.”

To his credit, Gurgel has taken calculated steps towards making himself a super force on his feet in order to

accommodate his partiality for punching and kicking.  To prepare for each of his last several bouts, he has

ventured to Boston, Massachusetts the home of Muay Thai master and Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter”

season four trainer, Mark DellaGrotte.  The mentor of UFC superstar Kenny Florian, DellaGrotte has also

trained the likes of Stephan Bonnar, Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis, and Patrick Cote. 

“I’m going to do a lot of things differently in Strikeforce,” said Gurgel.  “I will always bring the same intensity

and I’m always going to fight 110 percent.   I just want to be able to use everything that I know.”

About Strikeforce:

Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made

history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California

state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record

crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for

ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company

unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” Since then, it has co-produced the first

SHOWTIME PPV mixed martial arts event in history with its world championship “Shamrock vs. Baroni” card

on June 22, 2007 followed by the first-ever mixed martial arts event at the world-famous Playboy Mansion on

September 29, 2007. On April 12th of this year, Strikeforce launched the first-ever 52 week MMA series on

one of the four major television networks in The U.S. – NBC.

Contacts:

Mike Afromowitz, Strikeforce – mafromowitz@strikeforce.com

- From Strikeforce with a little editing from us (color, etc...)

(11/27/08)