Fedor Emelianenko's First Potential Opponents

Strikeforce hopes they can cash in on the lottery ticket that is Fedor Emelianenko after out negotiating the UFC on his services. To do that, they plan on using Fedor's fame to boost that of the rest of their franchise. This means Fedor will not get an immediate title shot against current Strkeforce Heavyweight Champion, Alistair Overeem. Instead, Fedor will be utilized on the same card as other less known fighters including Brett Rogers, Fabricio Werdum, and Overeem. Over a couple events, Strikeforce hopes that the added viewership Fedor will undoubtedly bring, will also mean a greater notoriety for their other fighters. Only after there has been some momentum on a heavyweight fight, Fedor will get his title shot.

So who then will Fedor face in the meanwhile? Strikeforce doesn't exactly have the deep roster of heavyweight fighters that the UFC does. They do however have a few guys that are just as legitimate as the other UFC contenders. Two of the leading guys Fedor may face in November are Brett Rogers and Fabricio Werdum.

Fabricio Werdum is a former UFC fighter who has faced top level talent. He has twice bested former UFC top contender Gabriel Gonzaga. He has beaten Brandon Vera, and has taken Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera and Andrei Arlovski each to a decision. Werdum has also beaten other contenders including Alistair Overeem (current Strikeforce Champ) and Fedor's brother, Aleksander Emelianenko. Werdum may be the better known fighter to UFC fans because of his short stint there.

Brett Rogers is still rather unknown. He punched his way on to the scene by stunning fight fans with a quick 22 second knockout of Andrei Arlovski in June. Beyond Arlovski however, his opponents are all relative unknowns, (with the exception of James Thompson, who is somewhat of a YouTube sensation for getting destroyed by Aleksander Emelianenko), but Rogers is the more imposing of the two fighters, and holds an undefeated record that intrigues some. Was his knockout of Andrei Arlovski (who does have a suspect chin) legit? Or a fluke? Sure Arlovski has certainly been knocked out before, but he is still a legitimate Heavyweight contender, and has the rare combination of supreme punching power, and master grappling skills.

I would prefer to see a match against Werdum, I think he is a better, more complete fighter than Rogers is at this point, but truthfully both fights intrigue me. They aren't the sexy names like Couture, Mir, Noguiera or Lesnar that the UFC has to offer, but they are worthy of similar stature as guys like Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin, or Cheik Kongo at this point in their respective careers.

The only question would be, is Strikeforce willing to let Fedor fight two matches prior to a title match to build up the promotions overall legitimacy, and then, in his last contracted match (Fedor only signed a 3 fight deal with Strikeforce), give him a title shot, and the opportunity for Fedor to be a free agent while holding their Heavyweight Title?

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.