On paper the Strikeforce heavyweight division is probably one of the deepest for the promotion with big names like champ Alistair Overeem, Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, and Fabricio Werdum, while also including a few strong up-and-comers like Daniel Cormier and Lavar Johnson.
The problem with the entire division is trying to actually book fighters into the cage and trying to determine some sort of ranking structure for the division.
In the UFC fans know that the next likely #1 contender will likely be one of three fighters, formers champ Brock Lesnar or Frank Mir, or possibly Shane Carwin who could earn another title shot.
You can’t do that with the Strikeforce division as there are any number of reasons why the logical #1 contender, being Fabricio Werdum, might not get the next title shot.
The recent news that Strikeforce and M-1 Global are working towards signing a bout between Fedor vs. “Bigfoot” Silva seems like the right way to go. Fedor wanted a rematch with Werdum to avenge the only real loss of his career, but it makes more sense for him to fight Silva instead. Strikefroce CEO Scott Coker recently noted that he’d been wanting to book a Fedor vs. Overeem match.
This bout, if it happens, almost feels as if Strikeforce is offering Fedor a chance to fight for the title next by winning, like they are trying to get him into the title fight against Overeem. It would be easy to imagine that both Strikeforce and M-1 Global would push for that fight next with a win, and timewise it makes sense Overeem has already stated he’s looking to defend his title in the Spring.
In our eyes, a loss by Fedor would see him get his rematch with Werdum, while a win would earn him the next title shot. While a win for Silva probably will more likely earn him another fight before seeing a title bout. Facing someone like Cormier or Johnson seems like something Strikeforce would do to keep him occupied.
What about Overeem? His last title defense was against Brett Rogers, who he destroyed in the first round of their fight, and came into the fight after a loss to Fedor. Sure both he and Overeem were to have fought before his loss to the Russian, but getting a title shot after a loss makes little sense.
If Overeem defends his title this year it will likely be the only time he does it as he’s sure to enter next falls K-1 tournament to defend his Grand Prix championship. This leaves him unavailable to defend his title and leaves the entire division in the lurch trying to determine who gets the next title shot, whenever that could come.
There are still so many issues that could pop up with the division that could really throw a wrench into the entire mess.
One issue is M-1’s involvement with the division. Right now they’ve only got one fighter representing their brand in Fedor, whose to say that as part of their negotiations with Strikeforce that they don’t get to insert some of their fighters into the division. Then where does everybody stand if something like that happens?
The Darkhorse question that still remains is the status of “The Baby Faced Assassin” Josh Barnett, ranked highly among the worlds heavyweights. Currently he is still trying to get himself re-licensed after serving a years suspension for a positive steroid test. Once, and if, he can get clearance to fight again, he’ll certainly make an impact among the Strikeforce heavyweights but we’ll just have to keep waiting till that time to find out.
It’s probably easier to throw a dart at a board with photos of all the Strikeforce heavyweights to determine who fights who, instead of trying to put fights together that make sense. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what further drama unfolds in the coming year for the Strikeforce division to see what happens next.