Earlier this week MMA Junkie conducted an interview with Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson in which we learned the fighter's lingering leg injury could cost him an Aug. 15 fight interim champ Gilbert Melendez.

Despite subsequent reports stating that Thomson wouldn't be pulled from the card, a source close to the negotiations today told MMA Junkie he hasn't been medically cleared for the fight, and Melendez will instead meet Mitsuhiro Ishida.

Strikeforce executive Mike Afromowitz has since confirmed the bout will remain a five-round title fight with Melendez's interim belt up for grabs.

StrikeForce: Carano vs Cyborg headlined by Gina Carano vs Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (for Strikeforce's first-ever 145-pound women's title), takes place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., and airs on Showtime.

Thomson, who defeated Melendez for the title in mid-2008, initially was slated to rematch his former training partner earlier this year. However, Thomson broke his leg during a training session in April, which forced the cancellation of the bout and prompted a new booking of Melendez vs Rodrigo Damm for the interim belt. Melendez won the April fight via second-round knockout.

"I broke it right at the ankle, so I had to have some plates put in with some screws," Thomson told MMA Junkie Radio earlier this week. "It was a double break in the fibia. I had a break in the lower part of the bone and a break in the upper part of the bone. I got eight screws and a plate put in.

"It was kind of a nasty break. The good thing is it wasn't a jagged break. There was no compound fracture."

Thomson said the leg wasn't 100 percent, but he felt he could still continue. However, he was supposed to meet with a doctor this week to get final approval for the Aug. 15 bout. It appears it didn't come through.

Taking his place is Ishida, a former PRIDE fighter who signed a non-exclusive deal with Strikeforce in 2008. Ishida's lone Strikeforce appearance came in September 2008 at StrikeForce: Playboy Mansion 2, where he defeated rising prospect Justin Wilcox via quick first-round submission. However, after putting together four wins in five fights, Ishida recently suffered a TKO loss to Mizuto Hirota at a May Shooto event.

The Ishida vs Melendez bout is actually a rematch from their first meeting in December 2007. Melendez, undefeated at the time, suffered his first career loss when Ishida scored a controversial unanimous-decision win at the YARENNOKA! OHMISOKA! 2007 New Year's Eve 2007 event in Japan.

Source: mmajunkie.com