Strikeforce: Fedor will get "top competition" but immediate title shot not definite

by Dann Stupp on Aug 03, 2009 at 5:10 pm ET
Although negotiations with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world's top MMA promotion, fell apart last week, Fedor Emelianenko will still face "top competition" in Strikeforce, company executive Mike Afromowitz today told MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com).

Emelianenko, a former PRIDE champion who owns a 30-1 career record (and 24-fight win streak), was announced as Strikeforce's latest signing today. Afromowitz confirmed it's a three-fight deal.

And although the organization, arguably the UFC's biggest rival, will give him top heavyweight opponents immediately, Afromowitz said Emelianenko will not necessarily fight for the title or an interim belt in his promotional debut.

According to today's announcement, that debut will come in the fall (most likely October) at a Showtime-televised event.

Although current champion Alistair Overeem (29-11) recently pulled out of an Aug. 15 title defense with Fabricio Werdum (11-4-1) due to injury, and though there's been rumblings about the potential creation of an interim title since Overeem hasn't defended his belt since winning it 21 months ago, Emelianenko isn't guaranteed a championship fight his first time out.

"Not necessarily," Afromowitz said when asked about the possibility. "Fedor is the top heavyweight in the world, (but) I wouldn't say that's definite that he's fighting for the title."

However, he balks at talk that Emelianenko can't find quality opponents outside of the UFC.

"He will get top competition in Strikeforce as he would've in the UFC," Afromowitz said. "There are a lot of potential opponents you could put in front of him that could give him very tough fights right now.

"I think there are three, four, five fights we could put in front of him now."

One such fight would be with undefeated Brett Rogers (10-0), who quickly disposed of former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at a June Strikeforce event. Rogers now owns nine first-round stoppages in 10 pro fights; only an April fight with Ron Humphrey went past the first round, and Rogers still ended it just 98 seconds into the second round.

Emelianenko had been slated to fight Josh Barnett at the Aug. 1 "Affliction: Trilogy" event. However, Barnett was denied a license for the pay-per-view fight when he failed a drug test due to an anabolic steroid, the California State Athletic Commission announced two weeks ago. Affliction briefly explored possible replacements before cancelling the show and its promotional arm altogether. Rogers was one of the names mentioned as a possible replacement.

"You saw a lot of interest in that fight with Rogers," Afromowitz said. "Overeem is a top-10 guy, too. Fabricio is another guy (who could fight Emelianenko). They're all tough opponents."

However, with Emelianenko now under contract, expect the organization to bolster its heavyweight division even further as its recently done with other weight classes.

That could open the door for even more possibilities.

"I think the heavyweight division is the one we're really building right now," Afromowitz said. "We've got good talent there now, and we'll keeping adding to it. ... It's a continuous process, but the heavyweight (division) will be a focal point."

In recent years, Emelianenko has come under fire for what many consider a lack of quality competition. That was no doubt the case from 2006 to 2007, when – after a series of high-profile super-fights – he fought and defeated Mark Coleman (a 42-year-old fighter he had already beaten once before), Mark Hunt (a kickboxer with just seven pro fights), Matt Lindland (a middleweight) and Hong Man Choi (who owned a 1-0 career record).

But even convincing recent victories over Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski (two former UFC title-holders) hasn't completely swayed public opinion. And last week, when UFC president Dana White said a deal with Emelianeko was unlikely because of the fighter's manager's demands that the UFC must co-promote with his M-1 Global brand, many said Emelianeko was simply ducking the UFC's impressive list of top-10 heavyweights.

In time, though, Afromowitz said fans will get their wishes.

"Fedor is going to fight top guys," he said. "Every Strikeforce fight will count."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15717/strikef ... finite.mma

The top competition is not in Strikeforce.

They have 3 guys: one who could become a big star somedays (Rogers), one who would be lucky to pass a piss test (Overeem) and one who couldn't hack it in the UFC (Werdum).

The top competition is in the UFC, period.

Really? Who would you say is good enough to face Fedor these days in the UFC? All I can come up with is Brock Lesnar. Couture and Noguiera are over the top and wouldn't be any real threat to Fedor. Sad part is that the HW division in MMA in general is pretty weak compared to other weightclasses.

Listen, I was a huge Fedor fan up until this point. I've followed his career from his first fight in Pride. But all of these M-1 negotiations have left a bad taste in my mouth, and you gotta remember he's not the victim of M-1, he's practically owner of it. Brock Lesnar isn't the only good competition for Fedor, and he would crush Fedor now anyways. I think someone like Couture is more suited for Fedor, Fedor's not exactly in his early twenties either, and Randy handled himself well against Brock, so I think he can do the same, if not better with Fedor. I think Cheick Kongo would be a good fight for Fedor, or even Cro-Cop, or Nogeuira, who he previously fought in Pride and couldn't finish, so to compare UFC's roster with anyone elses is seriously a joke. Who wants to see Verdum vs. Fedor? Listen to the crickets chirp....

Cheick Kongo could win if he gets a lucky punch. If Fedor takes it to the ground its over in a few seconds. Don't get me wrong I*m no Fedor fanboy. I really don't like him but I think it didn't really matter where he went as the HW class isn't what it used to be. The HW are quite boring to be honest.

Who in the hell is good enough to fight Fedor these days in StrikeForce's practically non-existent Heavyweight division? It's the "cool thing" to knock the UFC's heavyweight division amongst Internet fans, but the fact of the matter (something most prefer to be oblivious to) is the UFC has the best Heavyweight division to offer right now.

As for who the UFC has good enough to fight Fedor? Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture and Frank Mir, for one. Anyone who says Couture is washed up is simply making excuses to justify Fedor running off to fight guys not in the Top 10 rather than fighting the Top 10; ironic, because these same people were screaming for Couture vs. Fedor a couple of years ago. Couture hasn't lost a step.

Then there's Shane Carwin, who is coming up the ranks and can pose serious problems for anyone on the scene right now. You also have Junior dos Santos, who is one of my favorites to keep up to date on and follow. Santos not only absolutely demolished Fabricio Werdum (one of Fedor's possible next opponents), but he's going to demolish CroCop, who (for some retarded reason) the Internet actually believes can challenge Lesnar. Even Cain Velasquez is still in the running, despite Kongo exposing his glass chin.

So, in essence, the UFC has 6 different prospects Fedor could fight. StrikeForce, on the other hand, really only has one in Brett Rogers, who hasn't quite (but will in the future) climbed to the Top 10. It will be a miracle if Overeem fights in America, because I have my doubts as to whether he could pass a piss test.

And Fabricio Werdum? Give me a fucking break.

Ok, Junior Dos Santos is one of those fighters that has a bright future with a few more fights under his belt. Sadly his inexperiance showed when he fought against Cheick Kongo and had major problems finnishing the fight. If he where to go up against Fedor today he would loose pretty quickly.

Shane Caewin is another nig prospect bad just as Junior Dos santos he is quite inexperianced and wouldnt last long against Fedor.

Noguiera is a great fighter but the UFC rules makes it hard for him as the ref will stop the fight as soon as he doesn't defend himself. In pride he could lie on the ground and take punishment for a long time until his opponent got tired and made a small mistake. Just look at his fight Frank Mir, he wasnt out of it but the ref stopped the fight anyway.

Saying that Couture still has it is an opinion, an opinion that I just don't agree with.

Frank Mir just dont have what it takes to go up against Fedor. really can't add much more than that.

So what do we have left? Brock Lesnar, now that would have made a great fight.

So what do we have then we have Brett Rogers in Strikforce and Brock Lesnar in the UFC. Which just goes to show that the HW division is crap at the moment. And doesnt really make me go ahh anymore. Thank god there are other weightclasses where we can get to see proper fights.

Exactly, and people will know his name when he beats CroCop. Junior is the most overlooked and underrated fighter in the division right now.




How do you know? People didn't think Mark Hunt would last long against Fedor, and Shane Carwin is three times stronger and better on the ground than Hunt.

Carwin will be in the Top 10 in 2010. He has dangerous hands, solid wrestling and a good chin. He can and will give anyone problems.




The ref stopped the fight, and rightfully so, because he wasn't intelligently defending himself. A ref letting someone get their head bashed in without the fighter defending himself/herself is both irresponsible and NOT in the best interest of the fighter's safety. At the end of the day, safety is the most important thing, and if a fighter isn't protecting himself/herself, the fight is over.

I don't care what PRIDE did or didn't do. PRIDE is dead, and the beatings Nog took in PRIDE have caught up with him.




Go watch the Lesnar fight. At this point, Randy Couture has been Lesnar's toughest opponent to date, and the only one who really controlled and threatened Lesnar.




He has much more than Fabricio Werdum.




No it doesn't, and if the Heavyweight division doesn't look the best it has in years, you obviously aren't watching enough.

Lesnar is a phenomenal addition to the UFC Heavyweight division. Not only is he athletically head-and-shoulders above most of the roster, but he has the best ground and pound game in the division and is one of the primary reasons people are talking about the Heavyweight division again.

Don't forget Alistair Overeem guys, he's pretty bad ass and I think he'd give Fedor a run for his money.

That fight will probably only happen in Japan, because I seriously doubt he'd pass a piss test.