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Emelianenko’s Manager Thinks Fedor to Retire If He Loses to Dan Henderson

MMA fans are very excited for another intriguing Strikeforce heavyweight showdown in July when two legends collide: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson. For those that have not heard, Henderson has agreed to fight this bout at heavyweight, despite bein…

MMA fans are very excited for another intriguing Strikeforce heavyweight showdown in July when two legends collide: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson.

For those that have not heard, Henderson has agreed to fight this bout at heavyweight, despite being the current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion.

Lowkick.com’s Anton Gurevich compiled some interesting quotes from “The Last Emperor’s” camp, about eight weeks away from this historic fight.

Fedor explained why he decided to continue his fighting career, amidst rumors of retirement after consecutive losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

“Two mistakes in a row is not a coincidence. I didn’t want to make a third, so that’s why I considered retirement. But then, I discussed the situation with my trainers and my spiritual father,” the Russian heavyweight said.

Fedor continued, “When I returned home, I was fully convinced that it’s not the right time to retire, but to continue fighting.

“Our life is full of crossroads, and we always have to make the right decisions. I have no regrets about staying in the sport, and will continue fighting.”

Next, The Last Emperor spoke about the respect he has for his next opponent:

“Dan Henderson is a very exciting fighter; he’s a strong wrestler and is very quick with taking the fight from stand-up, down to the ground. He starts in stand-up, but then attacks like a tornado, often surprising his opponents by putting them on their back.”

Although, it would probably be fair to say that Fedor is not intimidated by Henderson’s credentials, noting that Henderson has had “fights where he had to sweat against relatively weaker competition.”

Vadim Finkelstein, a member of M-1 Global, and Fedor’s manager, also had something interesting to say.

How surprising is it that his statement is open for debate.

“I think if Fedor loses to Dan Henderson, he will retire from mixed martial arts,” Finkelstein stated.

But he wanted to be clear that regardless of what happens, retirement will be Fedor’s decision to make, and M-1 Global has no say in the matter.

“And like I said many times before, it will be his decision and we (M-1 Global) have no influence of any kind of whatever he decides to do. It’s up to him. But we hope for the best.”

Finkelstein said it would be a mistake to already consider Henderson the winner by default, though, since Fedor is training with intensity.

“Fedor is very motivated, and will be more than ready for this fight. He has a new goal, and is fully concentrated on reaching it.”

Fedor vs. Henderson goes down on July 30 at the Sears Centre, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

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Anderson Silva: Yushin Okami Trained with a “Loser” in Chael Sonnen

Believe it or not, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva isn’t a fan of one time contender Chael Sonnen. Who would’ve thought those weeks of trash talk last summer would rub the reigning champion the wrong way? Specifically, &ld…

Believe it or not, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva isn’t a fan of one time contender Chael Sonnen.

Who would’ve thought those weeks of trash talk last summer would rub the reigning champion the wrong way?

Specifically, “The Spider” went off on Sonnen when discussing his upcoming title defense against Yushin Okami; who already owns a disqualification win over Silva.

Silva recently stated that he felt that Sonnen did not deserve a rematch with the UFC’s longest reigning champion, and decided to flat out rip into Sonnen this time around when he was informed that Okami trained with the Team Quest standout recently.

Sherdog.com took the time to find the most noteworthy quotes from Silva during an interview with O Globo, Brazil’s second largest newspaper.

“You have to find the best people to train with, and I think [Okami] chose wrong,” Silva stated. “I’d never align myself with a loser, a loser in every sense.”

Apparently, Silva is getting fed up about hearing Sonnen’s name, despite the fact that the former two-time NCAA All-American wrestler has not fought since last August.

Silva submitted Sonnen in the fifth round of the aforementioned UFC 117 encounter, after hands down losing the four rounds prior.

The Spider explained his logic, saying “He didn’t win the fight [between us] and got caught doping. You want to be a champion? Get with good people, with winners.”

Silva even went as far as to say that Sonnen is not a top tier middleweight, indicating for the first time that Sonnen only gave the Brazilian a good fight due to Silva cracking his ribs during their fight.

“Moreover, Sonnen wasn’t a tough opponent for me. I was injured with cracked ribs and fought five rounds. If I hadn’t been injured, the fight would have been different.”

Despite his harsh criticism in Okami’s choice of training partners, he still expects the Japanese superstar to give him a good fight in a rematch of their 2006 showdown in the Rumble on the Rock tournament.

“I’m starting to feel like Brazil vs. Argentina, not the rivalry but the pressure. I’m trained not to feel pressure, to approach it as just one more fight. And I’ll have to train because [Okami] will be well-trained, just like the Argentines when they come to play here [in soccer].”

Okami vs. Silva will be the main event fight at UFC 134 on August 27, taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Stay tuned for when Uncle Chael fires back at Silva in the very near future.

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UFC 130 Results: Power Ranking the Top 15 Welterweights

UFC 130 may not have been the greatest card of all time, but a few fights helped to establish the contenders from the pretenders in their respective divisions. One example of this is Rick Story, a fighter who was not ranked in most folks top 20 welterw…

UFC 130 may not have been the greatest card of all time, but a few fights helped to establish the contenders from the pretenders in their respective divisions.

One example of this is Rick Story, a fighter who was not ranked in most folks top 20 welterweights coming in, pulling off a huge upset over Thiago Alves.

Alves fought for the UFC welterweight belt back in July of 2009, and despite only being 1-2 since then, he was still generally considered a top three welterweight fighter coming into the match up with “The Horror” Story.

This is a major shake up for the UFC’s welterweight division, so an updated power ranking for the top 10 most credentialed fighters in the division seems in order.

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Strikeforce: Alistair Overeem Predicts He Will Knock out Fabricio Werdum

Lowkick.com’s Anton Gurevich recently had the privilege to interview Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. Overeem is gearing up for a Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinal fight with Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist Fabricio…

Lowkick.com’s Anton Gurevich recently had the privilege to interview Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

Overeem is gearing up for a Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinal fight with Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist Fabricio Werdum.

This rematch takes between the two heavyweight takes place in Dallas, Texas on June 18; Werdum submitted Overeem with a kimura in their May 2006 meeting under the Pride banner.

Overeem is regarded as the eighth best heavyweight in the world by Sherdog, while Werdum is currently ranked the No. 3 heavyweight by the same highly regarded mixed martial arts website.

Despite this fact, there are a number of fans and critics alike who do not believe that “The Demolition Man” is worthy of top-10 status due to facing lackluster competition in recent years.

“The Reem” feels that a win over Werdum is not grounds to be ranked ahead of Fedor Emelianenko, however, he believes “that a win over Werdum will close the debate if I’m a top-10 fighter or not.”

Gurevich was curious if Werdum’s win over Emelianenko would make him overconfident, to which Overeem responded, “Werdum is a professional fighter and he will be confident but not overconfident.”

The Strikeforce title holder was also asked about Fabricio Werdum’s recent comments that “Alistair Overeem is my son.”

Overeem seemed more puzzled than offended by his next opponent’s statement.

“I heard him saying that I’m his son, but I don’t understand what he really means. I think he means that he’s superior than me, because he beat me a couple of years ago. I think it’s a lost in translation thing.”

Also the current K-1 World Grand Prix champion, Overeem said that he still has no plans of embarking on a boxing career.

“My goal is to become the best MMA fighter and that’s what my focus is. Boxing is a whole different sport and you shouldn’t take it lightly. If there are no challenges left in my career, then I can consider something like that.”

Overeem was quick to clarify “But for now, there are plenty challenges.”

Gurevich then asked Overeem how interested he was in fighting current UFC contenders Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, and Frank Mir; as well as reigning UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

“My main focus is on winning the Strikeforce tournament, so UFC is not on my mind right now,” Overeem said.

The Demolition Man continued, “I’ve always stated that the heavyweight division in Strikeforce has the best fighters and I still think so. But still, it would be foolish to say that the UFC heavyweight fighters are not good.”

Overeem described the aforementioned UFC heavyweight household names as “very dangerous fighters that can finish fights” and also stated that “those fighters are world class for sure.”

The Reem even offered a brief analysis of each fighter, all of whom he could encounter in the Octagon somewhere down the line:

“Carwin has great knockout power, Brock is a great wrestler and athlete, Frank Mir improved his standup and has a good ground game and the champion Cain Velasquez is very durable and has great wrestling.”

Finally, when asked for his prediction of knockout or submission in the fight against Werdum, Overeem simply responded “KO.”

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UFC 130 Main Card: Rashad Evans Picks Rampage Jackson over Matt Hamill

Despite the bad blood that exists between light heavyweight contenders Rashad “Suga” Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Evans still thinks that Rampage has what it takes to beat Matt “The Hammer” Hamill at the main…

In speaking with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Suga actually said that he is a fan of Hamill’s and would love to see him crack the top 10 among UFC light heavyweights with an upset in Las Vegas.

“But I think Rampage should get it done,” Evans admitted. “If he goes in there with his mind right, I think Rampage will win the fight.”

However, Evans was not ready to count Hamill out of the fight.

“It all depends though. I haven’t heard anything out of his camp, as far as how he’s mentally doing. Rampage is all mind. Sometimes if he goes in there and his mind isn’t right, it’s almost like he throws a tantrum just by not fighting the way he can.”

Both Rampage and Hamill have went on the record saying they expect a high-profile fight after posing a dominant win on Saturday, May 28.

Duff Holmes, Hamill’s trainer and manager, has stated that he thinks The Hammer deserves another crack at Jon Jones with a win against Rampage.

Hamill is the sole fighter to own a professional victory over “Bones,” although he was thoroughly being dominated by the current light heavyweight champion before Jones got disqualified for illegal “12 to 6” elbow strikes.

Holmes rationalized that a rematch would make sense since a documentary about Hamill’s life comes out around October, when Jones is expected to return to action.

The release of Hamill’s movie would only add to the hype of the title fight, Holmes added.

Of course, none of that matters unless Hamill can get past Jackson.

Evans, who beat Jackson via unanimous decision almost exactly one year ago (May 29, 2010), feels that Hamill is capable of beating Rampage the same way, but not without first modifying at least one aspect of his fight game:

“For Hamill to win, he’s going to have to bring his punches back,” Evans said. “One thing Hamill does is he leans on his punches. When he throws the jab, he leans on it. Rampage is very good at the counter punch because he catches whatever you throw and, if you don’t bring it right back, he’s going to hit where you just left that punch.”

Evans, one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the division, feels that Hamill would be making a mistake by keeping the fight standing for long. He isn’t banking on Hamill taking Rampage down at will, either.

“So, if Hamill is leaning on his jab, Rampage is going to catch it, he’s going to roll and he’s going to land the right. Can Hamill take Rampage down? Probably. But Rampage is hard to take down. He’s probably got the strongest hips I’ve felt at 205.”

While Evans gave Hamill plenty of credit, and at least a fighting chance to win, he stuck by his original pick of Rampage in the end.

Last time he (Rampage) was real quiet before a fight was when he fought Wanderlei Silva, and it didn’t turn out well for Wanderlei,” Evans said. “Looks like he might be focused for this one.”

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Tim Kennedy Goes off on Michael Bisping, Takes a Shot at Dan Hardy

Strikeforce middleweight Tim Kennedy was just another fighter in a long line of fighters calling out the UFC’s Michael Bisping a few weeks ago. However, in the past few days, the bad blood has reached a high point between Kennedy and Bisping. In …

Strikeforce middleweight Tim Kennedy was just another fighter in a long line of fighters calling out the UFC’s Michael Bisping a few weeks ago.

However, in the past few days, the bad blood has reached a high point between Kennedy and Bisping.

In an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, Matt Bishop picked Kennedy’s brain about why he has made this feud with “The Count” personal.

While this writer strongly suggests reading the interview in its entirety, the highlights from the conversation are plentiful.

Talking about Bisping’s most recent fight with Jorge Rivera at UFC 127, “The Hero” proclaimed:

“So I was watching that fight and dude, my blood just turned cold when I watched him knee Jorge in the head and then I watched him walk over to the corner and spit on them. I’m a martial artist, I’m a professional athlete, I’m a soldier and everything about that fight was disrespectful to everything I stand for.”

Just in case Kennedy was not clear enough with that statement, he added:

“He is everything I’m against. He cheats. And when I say cheats, I hate all cheaters. I hate guys that use steroids, I hate guys that grease, I hate guys that throw illegal punches, or say they got kicked in the groin so they can get a break, guys that throw illegal knees to the head. I hate them across the board equally.”

Still curious if Kennedy thought Bisping’s illegal knee to Rivera’s head was intentional?

“But the worst situation is when the cheater wins and now it’s like every single fighter out there is like, ‘Oh, I can knee a guy in the head and get a slap on the wrist and then I can go back in there and win the fight.’ That’s idiotic, it’s offensive and I personally take it as a big stain on the whole entire sport.”

Ouch, and Kennedy was not even close to done pouring the fuel on the fire from there.

Responding to Bisping’s comments to MMA Fighting (where he told Kennedy to go f**k himself), the Bronze Star recipient said it was going to take a lot more than that to rile him up:

“I’m an eight-year Green Beret, Ranger, sniper. I’ve been told a lot worse things to my face, so I’m not afraid to hear about it. I’d never say that to another person, I’d never say that to another colleague, I’d never say that to another fighter. So yet again, it’s just a demonstration of his character.”

When Bishop asked why Bisping had gotten under Kennedy’s skin to this extent, he responded:

“I don’t think there’s anybody in the sport that’s ever blatantly cheated as clearly as he has and then walks away with the win from it.”

Kennedy then basically said that he has a problem with everything Bisping says and does, as well as the way he fights.

With that in mind, how did Kennedy react to the possibility that Bisping is still a frontrunner to coach season 14 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and fight for a number one contender spot at the conclusion of the show?

“That’s absolutely asinine. He cheated! He should be punished. He then spit on the corner. He should be banned! He shouldn’t be rewarded! It doesn’t make any sense.”

All right, so it’s probably safe to say Kennedy will not be TiVoing too many episodes of TUF next season if Bisping does indeed end up as a head coach.

Kennedy also went on to say that he had a real problem with guys in MMA “misbehaving and getting rewarded for it”.

“Here’s the problem, you know. Let me give myself a mohawk, dye it red and go out there and talk some smack and then I’ll be fighting for six figures. Or let me illegally knee a guy in the head, spit on his corner and then give me a spot on ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’”

Clearly, Kennedy is not a big fan of UFC welterweight Dan Hardy either. He then clarified this discontent by adding:

“And then we’ll take Brian Stann a Silver Medal recipient, a war hero, a Marine captain. He’s had like 10 fights under the Zuffa banner between the WEC and the UFC but he’s fighting a newcomer to the promotion in Jorge Santiago. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Kennedy concluded this point by saying “let’s reward those that deserve rewarding”.

Is Tim Kennedy vs. Michael Bisping a real possibility for the first crossover fight between Strikeforce and the UFC?

Given the hype both fighters are giving it right now, coupled with the fact that Kennedy is willing to donate his fight purse to charity, this match up seems to be a distinct possibility in the near future.

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