Former Strikeforce middleweight title challengers “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and Tim Kennedy will square off in a featured matchup at Strikeforce: “Fedor vs Henderson” on July 30th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The bout was made official by the promotion in an announcement earlier this afternoon.

Kennedy had his four-fight winning streak snapped on August 21st when he challenged unsuccessfully for the then-vacant Strikeforce Middleweight Championship against Ronaldo “Jacaré” Souza. Lawler most recently faced Souza in January, but fell victim to a third-round rear-naked choke.

Lawler (18-7-0, 1 NC) has alternated wins and losses over his last six fights, with all three wins coming by way of knockout and two of the three defeats ending via submission. The hard-hitting former EliteXC and ICON Sport champion found early success in his title bout with Souza and hurt the champion with strikes, but ultimately succumbed to Souza’s superior ground skills in the third round. Lawler has posted an impressive 15 wins to date by knockout and should hold an advantage over Kennedy in the striking, but five of his losses have come by submission and Kennedy’s ground game is formidable.

Kennedy (13-3-0) fought to a close but Unanimous Decision loss to Souza last year and feels strongly that he did enough to win the fight. He rebounded from the tough loss with an impressive submission of Melvin Manhoef in March and has eyes on a second shot at Strikeforce title gold. The decorated Army Ranger now trains full-time after formerly competing in addition to his military duties. He has won four of his five fights in Strikeforce and his strong wrestling and ground skills may be enough to hand Lawler his second straight defeat.

Strikeforce: “Fedor vs Henderson” takes place on July 30th at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The event is headlined by a heavyweight bout between former PRIDE champions Fedor Emelianenko and Dan “Hendo” Henderson.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)