After Zuffa purchased Strikeforce during its most recent game of MMA Monopoly (it was right beside the WFA, two spots before Free Parking), one of the more discussed topics was what would go down with Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global. If you’re new to the sport, then you might not know that UFC boss man […]
After Zuffa purchased Strikeforce during its most recent game of MMA Monopoly (it was right beside the WFA, two spots before Free Parking), one of the more discussed topics was what would go down with Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global. If you’re new to the sport, then you might not know that UFC boss man Dana White and the Russian star’s management aren’t exactly bestest buddies .
Of course, Fedor hasn’t exactly been bolstering his bargaining position by losing back-to-back fights to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva, but despite his recent setbacks, people are still keen to see him tussle. For example, when reports surfaced stating Strikeforce was trying to put together a fight between Dan Henderson and Fedor, we, like many others, were pretty damn happy. Well, the good news is that Zuffa apparently is going to do their part to git r done as well. White reported this week at the UFC 129 pre-fight festivities (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote) :
“Lorenzo’s working on it,” White said Thursday. “Me getting anywhere near that thing? You’ll never see that fight.”… “I’ve been out of it,” White added. “Me involved in that situation would only make matters worse. The great thing about this company and the way we do things – there’s a lot of people I butt heads with. Lorenzo can handle it, and then I can handle stuff. (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva handles stuff.”
Yes, feel free to wipe your forehead, as it’s looking more and more like this bout will happen. Speaking of UFC 129, to bet on any of the fights head here.
One of this week’s hottest topics has been regarding recent reports that Fedor Emelianenko is considering taking on newly minted Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson, later this year. Hendo’s into it, the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker apparently said there’s been “preliminary” discussions about it, so maybe this thing’s gonna happen right?
Well, maybe not. Of course […]
One of this week’s hottest topics has been regarding recent reports that Fedor Emelianenko is considering taking on newly minted Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson, later this year. Hendo’s into it, the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker apparently said there’s been “preliminary” discussions about it, so maybe this thing’s gonna happen right?
Well, maybe not. Of course if you’ve followed the career of Fedor over the last few years, then you know that trying to bank on anything regarding the Russian star is as uncertain as what’s going to come out of Chael Sonnen’s mouth next. Why are we shatting on the Hendo vs. Fedor talk? (A fight that yes, would be totally awesome) Well, it seems like Fedor’s management M-1 Global, has no effin idea why anyone is talking about the potential super fight to begin with.
According to a report from MMA Junkie today, M-1 Global’s Evgeni Kogan says “There have been no discussions with us,” about the fight, and that further, “Any discussions have been solely on the other side of the Atlantic.” Wow; a denial that includes a geography lesson as well.
Kogan reportedly went on to say that from his point of view at least, Fedor meeting Hendo is “not a fight that makes any sense,” and that it’s more likely that the heavyweight will face the loser of the upcoming Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum tilt, next.
Huh. Maybe Fedor’s content to keep rolling with the big boys from here on out after all?
After watching Stephan Bonnar grind out consistently exciting, if not bloody fights throughout his 5 year UFC career, the no brainer is to stay tuned for his Main Card TUF 12 Finale bout against Igor Pokrajac. But who is Pokrajac and is watching a fight with Bonnar against a virtual unknown worth not tuning […]
After watching Stephan Bonnar grind out consistently exciting, if not bloody fights throughout his 5 year UFC career, the no brainer is to stay tuned for his Main Card TUF 12 Finale bout against Igor Pokrajac. But who is Pokrajac and is watching a fight with Bonnar against a virtual unknown worth not tuning in to the if anything, *interesting line-up Strikeforce has put together
About an hour after the TUF 12 Finale card begins on Spike TV, Strikeforce will be airing its card onShowtime with a match-up between an aging Matt Lindland, who at 40 years old can be summed up as an Olympic wrestler with a spotty MMA record (he’s also a politician) and Robbie Lawlor, whose recent losses were met at the hands of notables, Jake Shields and Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Lawlor should grind out the win against Lindland via TKO, but despite the odds stacked against Lindland, he does put in the effort to keep the fight interesting.
Up next on the Strikeforce lineup would be former UFC Welterweight Paul Daley, the guy who got kicked out of the promotion for sucker punching Josh Koscheck after the 3rd round bell. To this day we don’t know exactly what kind of trash-talking Kos did to provoke the punch, but Kos does admit he said something pretty vile. Daley is facing a fellow striker in Scott Smith. The wild nature of Smith’s style and Daley’s technical skills will make for a standup slugfest that should leave Smith on the ground in a TKO.
Finally, the long-awaited rematch, 10 years in the making or that’s what the hype tells us, is the Main Card event between Dan Henderson and Renato “Babalu” Sobral. Henderson is a wrestler who’s developed a powerful right hand and Babalu is a crazy jiu-jitsu artist. The fight should go the 3 rounds, as neither fighter is expected to submit and overall this should be a good one.
Let’s skip back over to the TUF 12 Finale. Let’s face it, you can’t claim anyone on this card is at the tail-end of his career. In addition to Stephan Bonnar versus Igor Pokrajac which should be nothing short of a stand-up and possibly blood-shed war, we have Demian Maia paired up against Kendall Grove that may end with Grove tied up in Maia’s masterful jiu-jitsu, but watching “Da Spyda” trying to use his long legs in defense against Maia won’t be boring.
Also on the TUF 12 Main Card are Welterweights Johny Hendricks and Rick Story. Hendricks is from the hailed wrestling Team Takedown and has yet to take a loss in his pro MMA-career. Rick Story is no joke either, as a Southpaw with a four fight win-streak in the UFC. The fight should go a full three grinding rounds leaving Hendricks the victor.
Both Strikeforce and UFC seemed to be very considerate offering some great fights at no cost (if you already pay for cable) but with the fights overlapping, thank goodness we live in a world of “why choose?” when we have those extra special features like DVR and Tivo to enjoy.
It wasn’t long ago that things were in play to have Dan Henderson become the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion; with Jake Shields ready to test free agent waters, what better way to find a new waist for the belt then to have him fight the former Pride champ? (At 183 and 205lbs lets not forget- […]
It wasn’t long ago that things were in play to have Dan Henderson become the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion; with Jake Shields ready to test free agent waters, what better way to find a new waist for the belt then to have him fight the former Pride champ? (At 183 and 205lbs lets not forget- guess that was kind of a big deal…) Of course, other than flooring Shields in the first round Hendo didn’t make out so well, and spent most of the next 20 minutes scrambling from his back.
Well, with Shields now officially exited from the promotion (and likely walking towards the monolithic UFC door), Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker has announced that they will put together a middleweight tourney to crown a new champ at 185. Naturally, one would think Henderson is a lock for the competition, but in a recent interview on MMA Weekly Radio, Coker stated this:
“Dan I believe when I talked to him over the weekend, I talked to Jordan, his manager, and they said they probably want to fight at 205 instead of 185,” said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker when appearing on MMAWeekly.com Radio. “(They) felt that the weight cut was too much, and Dan would welcome to fight Babalu again, Gegard Mousasi, for a 205-pound contender’s bout.”
Huh. Of course, as Coker mentioned, there a few interesting options for Hendo at 205 and since “Babalu” Sobral recently called for a rematch with the accomplished wrestler, why not? (Hendo beat Sobral by Majority Decision in 2000, back when the acronym ‘MMA’ meant nothing to 90% of the population). Maybe Henderson vs. “King Mo” Lawal down the road? Former teammates? We’d be watching.
