In a statement released on the M-1 Global’s Russian website, MixFight.ru, on Tuesday Vadim Finkelstein, president of M-1 and manager to Fedor Emelianenko, confirmed the heavyweights participation in the upcoming Strikeforce tournament.
With the announcement from M-1, “The Last Emporer” looks set to return to a Strikeforce cage to square off with Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in February in the opening round of the promotions eight-man heavyweight tournament.
Vadim Finkelstein, president of M-1 Global: “I am very pleased to collaborate with Showtime and Strikeforce, as well as Mr. and Mr. Cocker Hershmanom personally. Together we can create a tournament that should go down in history as the greatest MMA tournament in the heavyweight division. The purpose cooperation between the M-1, Strikeforce and Showtime is the development and growth in popularity of MMA across the world. This sport is beyond the scope of individual organizations. Our partnership enables us to arrange fights the best fighters in the world with each other. From this agreement will benefit everyone – especially the fans, who want to see Fedor in as often as possible ”
“This year we are holding the Grand Prix on the same system, on which were held last tournament M-1 Selection. This Grand Prix is expected to a series of exciting battles, which attract many viewers around the world”
Fedor Emelianenko: “After his fight with Werdum, I trained hard, I can not wait until I again find myself in a cage. Strikeforce has in its ranks the best heavyweights of the world, and through collaboration with the M-1 Global, I have the opportunity to meet with them in tournament format “
(translated using Google Translate)
Fedor and Silva will meet in the quarter-finals of the heavyweight tournament on February 12th at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ at a yet-to-be announced Strikeforce event.
Also unconfirmed for the tournament will be bouts featuring Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett and Fabricio Werdum vs. Brett Rogers.
And just to throw some speculation as to which fighters could take the last sport in the tournament, it wouldn’t surprise us to see one or two M-1 Global heavyweights involved as part of their negotiations with Strikeforce.