A middleweight bout between Trevor Prangley and Robbie Lawler is close to being finalized for Strikeforce: "Evolution" on Dec. 19 in San Jose, Calif. News of the bout was reported by MMAWeekly.com.

The Showtime televised event, Strikeforce: "Evolution," is headlined by a lightweight title unification bout between Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson and interim lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.

Prangley emerged as the leading candidate to face Lawler after the previous two options fell through. The first option, Benji Radach, was unable to gain medical clearance to begin training following surgery on his right hand this past April. Then, newly-signed K-1 and MMA veteran Melvin Manhoef  pulled out of the running to face Lawler due to the fact that he has a previous fight commitment in Japan on Dec. 31.

Prangley (22-5) is currently riding a five-fight winning streak, with his most recent win coming over Marcus Sursa at Shark Fights 7 on Nov. 28. He has not been defeated since losing to Jorge Santiago in November 2007. Prangley sports a 3-1 record in four fights with Strikeforce, scoring wins in the promotion over Falaniko Vitale and Anthony Ruiz (x2).

During his eight-year career, Prangley has fought for other notable promotions such as SportFight, Bodog Fight, MFC and the UFC. The American Kickboxing Academy product holds other notable career wins over the likes of Chael Sonnen, Andrei Semenov (x2), Matt Horwich, Travis Lutter and Yuki Kondo.

Lawler (16-5) hasn't fought since losing to Jake Shields via first-round submission at Strikeforce "Lawler vs. Shields" in June. Prior to the loss, he was on a six-fight unbeaten streak (five wins and one no contest), which included wins over Joey Villasenor, Frank Trigg, Murilo Rua and Scott Smith.