The winner between Lawler-Lindland and Daley-Smith could earn title shots with the victory

Dec. 4 in St. Louis will hold a lot of implications for four men.

The main event of the evening on said card will feature a special attraction pitting legends and former champions Dan Henderson and Renato “Babalu” Sobral against one another. While this bout has already been promised an immediate title shot against current light heavyweight kingpin Rafael Cavalcante (who defeated Muhammed Lawal last August for the promotion’s title), two more title shots may be waiting on the wings for two men.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker recently revealed that the winners of Robbie Lawler/Matt Lindland and Paul Daley/Scott Smith could be in line for a title shot in their respective weight classes.

Robbie Lawler, the former Icon Sport middleweight champion is in desperate need of a win, and an impressive one at that. Since entering the San Jose based promotion in June of last year, “Ruthless” has lost two of his last three bouts, albeit against top flight competition in Jake Shields and Renato Sobral. Sandwiched in between the losses was an impressive come-from-behind knockout victory over K-1 striker, Melvin Manhoef. The native of Holland battered Lawler with leg kicks galore, before releasing his guard and opening him up for a right hook to the jaw, knocking him down before Robbie followed up with some telling ground-and-pound blows.

Lindland is in the twilight of his career. The 40-year-old co-founder of Team Quest, like Lawler, has lost two of his last three matches. A first round knockout loss to current UFC contender Vitor Belfort and submission loss against current Strikeforce champion Ronaldo Souza blemish his record in recent performances. Matt was able to halt the two-fight losing skid with a third-round TKO win over prospect Kevin Casey last May at the Strikeforce Challenger Series 8 show, where the two men served as the main-event of the evening.

The two middleweights, should one win, could face the aforementioned title holder “Jacare” in the foreseeable future, most likely in the early goings of 2011.

Paul Daley, the most well off of the bunch heading into his Strikeforce debut this December. Despite still carrying a trail of controversy following his bout with Josh Koscheck in his final appearance in the worlds largest mixed martial arts organization at UFC 113 last May, he has since gone on to win his next two fights following the decision loss. Wins over PRIDE veteran Daniel Acacio and American Top Team product Jorge Masvidal anchor Daley’s most recent accolades.

Scott Smith, the proverbial comeback kid, will make his welterweight debut when he meets Daley this December. Beginning his career as a heavyweight, Smith eventually pared down to the middleweight division where he has found most of the success in his career. With knockout power in either punch, “Hands of Steel” has made a habit of knockout out his opponents. His victims include former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le, as well as UFC veterans Benji Radach and Kyle Noke.

These two welterweights, who have an affinity for punching people in the face, should provide an action packed fight which will produce the next contender for the welterweight title–more so for Daley, who is considered among one of the world’s best in the 170-pound division, and Smith can already account a loss to the champion in Nick Diaz.

So, MMA peeps, what do you think of the potential title challengers? Who would you rather see each respective champion face next? Would you like to see Diaz vs Smith II? Or would you be in favor for a Daley vs Diaz clash? Or how about Lawler, does his knockout power overcome Lindland’s wrestling pedigree in this middleweight fight? Who will come out victorious? Sound off in the comment section below.