Strikeforce plans to give Fedor Title Shot, but not right away...

Strikeforce head guy, Scott Coker stated Tuesday that recently signed Fedor Emeiianenko, will not get title shot against Alistair Overeem in his first match with the promotion. Coker did say he plans to get Fedor in a match this fall, but said he thinks they need to build the fight up a bit before giving the WAMMA champ a shot at the Strikeforce heavyweight title.

This is the exact opposite tactic that Dana White suggested he would have done with Fedor had he signed with the UFC. White suggested that he would give Fedor an immediate shot at Brock Lesnar's title in his first match with the UFC, even asking reporters if they thought Fedor needed a 'tune up fight" or something. The UFC has that luxury though, if Fedor came in, fought Lesnar for the title in the biggest pay per view in MMA history, and won, they could easily set up the new biggest pay per view event in MMA history with a Fedor vs Couture match for the title. That dream is dead though.

For Strikeforce however, this is probably a good move for them as a promotion. No one expects anyone within the Strikeforce heavyweight ranks to give Fedor and trouble, but that is largely in part because their fighters are relatively unknown to MMA fans. Coker believes Alistair Overeem is a great heavyweight plagued only by the fact many fans know little about him. Coker will use Fedor oon the same card as Overeem to scure a large viewing audience and in turn, educating MMA fans who Overeem is.

From Tapout Radio via MMANews.com:
“The very first fight that Fedor fights will be on Showtime, and then the roll-out of television from there forward hasn’t been determined 100%, but his first fight will be on Showtime. Fedor and Alistair Overeem should be an amazing fight, and people that haven’t seen Alistair, you know, he’s an amazing fighter.. said Scott Coker"

"I think we should do a couple of fights and build that one up, and then let their champion fight our champion, and let’s see what happens. We’re hoping that Alistair will be ready to fight in the Fall, and we can put him on one of the cards with Fedor, and not fight against each other but fight against someone else, and let’s build that fight up.”

Fedor signs with Strikeforce

Well, the dream of Fedor fighting the top heavyweights in the world appears to be dead for the moment. Fedor Emelianenko, and his M1 handlers have decided to sign with Strikeforce. M1 issued a statement refuting early reports of a 6 fight $30 million dollar deal offered by Dana White and the UFC. Sports Illustrated also dicredited those early reports, M1 also added that the offer from the UFC was less than what Fedor was currently making per fight.

Tough to determine what was actually offered. On the one hand, the UFC has every reason to leak a huge dollar offer to try to show their fans that they did "everything" they could to land the world's best heavyweight fighter. On the other hand, M1 would have all the motivation in the world to go public with a lower than advertised offer to explain why Fedor would choose a smaller promotion over the UFC.

Who knows, at least with Strikeforce Fedor's fights will be free to those who have Showtime. Its tough to see much opposition for him however, current heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem would seem to offer little challenge to someone of Fedor's stature. They do have Brett Rogers (of Arlovski KO fame), as well as Bob Sapp. Sapp would be a walk in the park for Fedor, but is a big name, Rogers is still rather green, but could be an interesting bout. Certainly no Lesnar, Couture, Mir, or Noguiera though.

Here is the portion of the report from Sports Illustrated (click to read full article):

"We tried everything that we could possibly do to get Fedor into the UFC, we went above and beyond," said White, who drew a line in the sand over the proposal of co-promotion. "I have been able to sign the best fighters in the world over the last 10 years into the UFC."

However, "it does not give us a chance to do what we as a company, including Fedor, are wanting to and planning to do," said the fighter's long-time manager and partner, Vadim Finkelchtein.

Rumors of a six-fight, $30 million deal from the UFC were shot down by Emelianenko's camp. Sources inside M-1 Global told SI.com that the UFC offer was for half as many fights at a rate less than what Emelianenko currently receives from his promotional company.

Emelianenko's reply to the UFC the following day didn't need translation. Addressing a small contingent of media gathered at a makeshift press conference in Anaheim, Calif., Emelianenko wore a pullover emblazoned with the EA Sports logo, a clear dismissal of White's decree that fighters wishing to compete in the UFC would refrain from signing a deal with the video game giant.

UFC 100 Results

Brock Lesnar had a good strategy going in to his fight against Frank Mir... Do not get overly aggressive, take your time, and use your size to wear out, and sap the energy out of your opponent. It worked, in round 2 of the scheduled 5 round fight, Brock had tired out Frank Mir enough, sat on him while inflicting baby punches long enough, that Frank Mir attempted to make a move, and paid the price. Lesnar capitalized with a few real damaging punches, and the fight was stopped, Lesnar unifying the 2 UFC heavyweight titles.

Lesnar came to the ring in predictable fashion. The guy has 0 personality/originality, so he went to the "tough guy" playbook, and predictably came out to "Enter Sandman" by Metalica. He strutted around, looked the part of the schoolyard bully, and after the fight, didn't disappoint those who are in to that sort of thing. As Mir's corner helped him up, Lesnar ran over, bumped Mir, and talked more trash as the crowd booed, he then proceeded to rip the event's sponsor, and tell us what he would do to his wife later in the night. Hopefully he doesn't break grandma's hips.

Dana White needs to get his pet on a leash. The guy is not house broken, he is too stupid to decipher the difference between the world of "sports entertainment" where performers sell story lines and that of real competition where athletes and world class fighters compete in tactical battle, and for the most part show sportsmanship along the way.

It appears Dana White agreed. Lesnar, in a post fight press conference, apologized to the promotion, apologized to Bud Light, and sort of apologized to Frank Mir. Like everything else about Lesnar however, talk is cheap, lets see how he behaves in the future... hopefully he will take lessons from some of the other athletes that fought on this night, guys like GSP, Dan Henderson, and even his opponent, Frank Mir, who even in defeat, and even after the spectacle Lesnar created, showed great sportsmanship, and refrained from sinking to Lesnar's level.

Strikeforce August 15th 2009

While Strikeforce is hyping the Gina Carano/Cris Cyborg fight on their August 15th card, the more exciting match may be Joe Riggs vs Nick Diaz. This is a rematch to the pair's UFC match in 2006, which Riggs won by unanimous decision. While the fight took place in the octagon, it spilled over to a local hospital where both fighters crossed paths after the event, and police were called to end that one. It goes without saying then that there is some unfinished business between these two guys, and that this match could end up being match of the night.

The heavyweight title fight could also be one to watch as Alistair Overeem defends his title against Fabricio Werdum. Like Diaz and Riggs, this will be a re-match for Overeem and Werdum's Pride fight where Werdum submitted Overeem with a kimura the first time around. While looking like one of the more imposing heavyweights in Mixed Martial Arts, Overeem stands 6'5 and is a ripped 250 pounds, he may not be as accomplished a fighter as Fabricio Werdum. Werdum last competed for the UFC in a 4 fight deal that was highlighted with wins over top contenders Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon “The Truth” Vera. Previous to his UFC stint, Werdum also subitted Russian stud, Aleksander Emelianenko, brother to (bigger stud) Fedor Emelianenko.


Strikeforce Card:
Gina “Conviction” Carano (7-0) VS Cris “Cyborg” (7-1)
Joe “Diesel” Riggs (30-10) VS Nick Diaz (20-7)
Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem (29-11) VS Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum (11-4-1) *Strike Force Heavy Weight Title
Josh “The Punk” Thomson (16-2) VS Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (15-2) *Strike Force Light Weight Title

Carwin or Velazquez next for Lesnar?

UFC 104 is set to pit two undefeated heavyweight contenders in a match that will likely earn the winner a shot at Brock Lesnar's title.

Cain Velasquez (6-0) stands 6' 1" and weighs in around 240 pounds. Velasquez has superior ground game skills, is relentless when he smells weakness, and will attack, attack, attack to finish a fight. His last fight against Kongo was a complete domination for 3 rounds, credit going to Kongo for lasting all three rounds. Velasquez man-handled Kongo, pulling off pretty much everything he wanted to do. Still, he is smaller than Lesnar, and while Kongo was a big opponent, Velasquez has not yet seen anything like Brock in terms of size and explosiveness.

Shane Carwin, who is currently 11-0, including an impressive knockout in the 1st round of Gabriel Gonzaga, is probably the better match-up against Lesnar. At 6' 3" tall and weighing 265 pounds, he nearly equals Brock in size and stature, in fact he his 5XL gloves are bigger than Brock Lesnar's 4XL gloves. Carwin has a top amateur wrestling pedigree as well, and boasts some serious knockout power. Most of his fights end in the first minute or so of the fight, but it remains to be seen if he can stay off his back in a match against Lesnar.

Shane Carwin commented about Brock Lesnar's behavior following his victory over Frank Mir on his personal site www.shane-carwin.com:

“I cannot say I was surprised by anything that night other then Brock’s reaction to beating a very tough Frank Mir. Frank is a legend and a great guy who got out powered not out classed. The sponsor issue, you need to talk to your manager not the fans or Dana. The flipping off of the fans that just lined your pocket with millions of dollars is just LAME. He may be a Champion but he has a long ways to go before he earns the respect of a Champion. The fans are why we do this Brock, this sport is not about fat paychecks and drama it is about hard work and sacrifice for a shot to do what you did last night. It doesn’t matter how much money you make if you can’t earn your peers respect and the respect and love of the greatest sporting fans in the world. We have no scripts in this sport, no pre-determined earning amount and no pre-determined outcomes. It doesn’t matter if you win or loose it matters how you win or loose…. This is the greatest sport int he world and most of the athletes in it deserve the love and respect they get and some just dont get it.

From leaving the venue all the way to the Airport I have had fans of the sport ask me to take out Brock Lesnar for them. The thing is I have a very tough fight ahead of me that IMO is every bit as tough and talented as Brock … we are at the top of the HWT division and anyone we fight moving forward is going to be a real test. Cain is nothing short of a super athlete with amazing wrestling and he trains with one of the best camps in the country. I am sure Joe Silva told Cain the same thing he told us, winner gets the title shot. Cain is not looking past me he is looking right at me as the person that is in his way from potentially one of the greatest opportunities of his life and mine. I have said what I have to say about Brock. He will make sure the world knows who he is and what he is all about. I ask that you my fans and the fans of Cain give this fight its due. You would never see two rising undefeated stars put together in Boxing so enjoy this fight. Two warriors with wills to win and the skills to do so are going to show those watching UFC 104 what the future of the sport will look like.”