MMA Worldwide

The Future of Fedor

Posted by Connor Bell on the 4 August 2009 | View Comments

After the internal collapse of Affliction the big question was, where would Fedor go? Now that the answer has come about with his recent signing with Strikeforce a new question has come about, why Strikeforce? Fedor’s people were in negotiations with Dana White and the UFC late last week when news broke out Monday that they had failed and Fedor switched sides for the rivaling promotion.

Many are upset about this because hardcore mma fans considered a match up between “The Last Emperor” and Brock Lesnar to be the wet dream of the century and surely it would help heal the wound left by the failed Josh Barnett fight. The UFC was willing to let Fedor do just about whatever he wanted except co-promote with M-1 Global, which Fedor is a co-owner of.

This seems reasonable since the UFC has no reason to co-promote with another organization, which is really only known because of its one famous fighter. The UFC is with out a doubt top dog in the mma world and holds arguably around 90% of the best talent in their weight classes. It doesn’t really need any “help” from another organization, which has a shady track record and a list of other organizations it’s co-promoted with that have gone under: Bodog Fight, PRIDE, and now Affliction. Strikeforce however, is willing to do whatever it takes to have the #1 fighter in the world come to their organization, but now that they have him what’s the next step?

Fedor has signed on for a three-fight deal, which is perfect because Strikeforce only has a few top heavyweights for him to compete with. The most talked about is Brett Rodgers. The crossover from the failed EliteXC promotion has a 10-0 record with all of his wins coming very quickly by way of TKO or KO, even his one submission was by strikes. Although Brett has been fighting on some big cards recently and has the exposure, what he hasn’t had is a challenge. The only big name fighter he’s gone up against was former UFC Champ and Fedor victim, Andre Arlovski, and he finished him faster then Fedor did.

Next on the list is current Strikeforce Champion Alistair Overeem. The PRIDE veteran spent the majority of his time at light heavyweight, but at 6’5 and 250 pounds he has done very well at heavyweight and would be game for a title defense against Fedor. Which would probably make the Strikeforce Champion the #1 heavyweight in the world.

Also in the mix is Fabricio Werdum. The Chute Box fighter has had some experience against top competition and had a mixed record of success in the UFC (where he was recently let go). He’s fought talent such as Andrei Arlovski, Gabriel Gonzaga, Rodrigo Nogueira, and he choked out Fedor’s brother Aleksander Emelianenko. However he recently was pummeled by Junior dos Santos so it’s questionable where Fabricio stands in the pecking order.

The move to Strikeforce seems like the best thing for the mma superstar at the moment. He gets the freedom to fight in Japan and his native Sambo competitions as well as co-promote with his company M-1 Global. Apart from that, the national exposure that he’ll get in America by being on Showtime and CBS will hopefully help him gain millions of new fans and make him an everyday name for people who aren’t hardcore fans of the sport. By moving to Strikeforce Fedor’s solidified his job security while giving himself the opportunity to finally grow in popularity with the American fans so that a deal with the UFC can be met later on in the future if both sides can come to an agreement. Dana White may not be happy right now but he’ll come around, he re-signed Tito Ortiz after all.