After Fedor Emelianenko’s loss to Fabricio Werdum last summer, the Russian’s camp started renegotiating their deal with Strikeforce and Showtime. Fans and critics alike felt a bit of annoyance that a fighter could come off a loss and then demand a reworking of his contract.
With the announcement that Fedor and Strikeforce have finally come to an agreement, “The Last Emporer” will step into the cage on Feb. 12 against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the opening quarter final round of the promotions World Grand Prix heavyweight tournament. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is confident that he’s struck a solid deal with the Russians camp, signing a four-fight extensions, feeling both sides will maintain a long healthy relationship in the future.
“It’s multi-fights, multi-year, and I think that for the next two years, he’s going to be fighting for Strikeforce in conjunction with Showtime. These fights have to be co-promotions with M-1. I think that M-1 did a good job negotiating their deal, so we’re going to be partners for a long time…I think [the tournament] was something that actually he wanted to do. I got the call saying, ‘Hey, we want Fedor in the tournament.’ Guys, let me tell you, I’m a fan still. I’ve seen him for the last 10 years. Let’s face it: Anytime a guy like Fedor enters the cage … it’s a special occasion. To have him in our tournament, I was just excited and so happy…I feel confident that the way the contract’s structured is solid, and no one’s going anywhere. If anybody’s going to renegotiate, it’s going to be Coker. I’m joking, I’m joking. It’s all good. Everybody’s happy now. Let’s just keep it that way.”
Coker was a guest of the Sherdog Radio “Beatdown” show recently, you can listen to the full interview (beginning at 54:18) with the Strikeforce CEO at the second link.