Gilbert Melendez, Sr., the manager and father for Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, told MMAjunkie.com that his son will not require surgery. "El Nino" suffered a bad tear of his AC joint in preparation for a planned bout with Pat Healy.

Melendez and Healy were scheduled to face off earlier this year, but the entire card was cancelled after Melendez was removed. His father said no target date for his return has been confirmed.

"There's no definite yes," Melendez said. "It all depends if his body is healing on time as we anticipate. We'll know (more) in mid-November."

Melendez (21-2) is won 11 of his 12 Strikeforce bouts. He is working with the current chief of orthopedic surgery for the Oakland Raiders and a team physician for the Golden State Warriors to recover from the injury.

Strikeforce has discussed putting several of its champions on a card in January after cancelling a pair of events to finish 2012.

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