STRIKEFORCE will hold a kick-off press conference on Tuesday, July 13 at Toyota Center in Houston to announce a live, SHOWTIME televised world championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event at Toyota Center on Saturday, Aug. 21.  Participating fighters will be available for photo opportunities and one-on-one interviews at Tuesday’s event.

STRIKEFORCE World Light Heavyweight (205 pounds) Champion “King” Mo Lawal will make the first defense of his belt against devastating striker Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in the main event.  The undefeated Lawal is a two-time NCAA Division I All-American and Big 12 wrestling champion for Oklahoma State University, while Cavalcante is a winner in five of his last six and coming off a devastating first-round KO win.

The co-main event will feature Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Tim Kennedy in a battle for the vacant STRIKEFORCE Middleweight (185 pounds) Title.  Souza) is a world-class submission specialist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and Kennedy is a United States Army Special Forces sniper with the 19th Special Forces outfit based in San Antonio. Extensive coverage of Kennedy’s grueling training regimen is featured in the August issue of Muscle & Fitness, currently on newsstands.

Undefeated heavyweight rising star Bobby Lashley will return to the cage against an opponent to be announced.  Lashley competed in both the WWE Raw and SmackDown! shows in ‘05 and ‘06.

Also on the televised portion of the card, former world champ KJ Noons will face Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Jorge Gurgel in a lightweight (155 pounds) featured bout.  Noons, who is also a professional boxer, has reeled off five consecutive victories.

A special pre-sale ticket purchase opportunity for the STRIKEFORCE event will take place for “STRIKEFORCE Insider” e-newsletter subscribers (http://STRIKEFORCE.com/insider.html <http://strikeforce.com/insider.html> ), beginning at 10 a.m. CT on Tuesday, July 13 until 10 p.m. CT on Thursday, July 15.  STRIKEFORCE Insiders will receive a special e-newsletter with the pre-sale code.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, July 16 at 10 a.m. CT at www.ToyotaCenterTix.com <https://mail.svse.net/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.toyotacentertix.com/> , by phone at 1-866-4-HOU-TIX, at select Houston area Randalls locations, and at www.strikeforce.com<http://www.strikeforce.com/> .  Tickets will be available at 9am on Monday, July 19 at the Toyota Center Box Office.