Coenen-Tate, King Mo-Roger Gracie Added to Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson

Strikeforce and Showtime on Saturday made official a pair of bouts for its July 30 card outside Chicago.

Women’s welterweight champion Marloes Coenen will defend her title against Miesha Tate on the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson card at the Sears C…

Strikeforce and Showtime on Saturday made official a pair of bouts for its July 30 card outside Chicago.

Women’s welterweight champion Marloes Coenen will defend her title against Miesha Tate on the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson card at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a northwest Chicago suburb. In addition, the promotion made official a light heavyweight bout between Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Roger Gracie.

Both fights will take place on the main card in support of the headlining superfight between light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson and heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko.

Coenen fights for the first time since defeating Liz Carmouche at Strikeforce’s March event in Columbus, Ohio. There, she stopped Carmouche with a fourth-round triangle to win in a fight that Carmouche was mostly dominating. It will be her second defense of the title after winning it against Sarah Kaufman in October.

Coenen was originally scheduled to face Tate in march in Columbus, but an injury kept her out and Carmouche stepped in on late notice to fill the void.

And Lawal will return for the first time in nearly a year, since losing his light heavyweight title in his first defense against Rafael Cavalcante, the first loss of his career. Gracie comes in unbeaten at 4-0, all by submission. But he has fought just once in the last year – a submission win over Trevor Prangley in January.

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson will air live on Showtime.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Fedor vs Henderson: Henderson’s Trainer Says Henderson "Might Finish" Fedor

After capturing the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title at the tender age of 40, Dan Henderson will look to make history once again, as he takes on former Pride FC heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson. Arguabl…

After capturing the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title at the tender age of 40, Dan Henderson will look to make history once again, as he takes on former Pride FC heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson. 

Arguably one of the most anticipated bouts of the year, the two competitors have agreed to meet at heavyweight.

Henderson’s tranier, Daniel Woirin, spoke highly of the American and told TATAME.com that although his belt isn’t at stake in this bout, Henderson is still training hard and is extra motivated to challenge Emelianenko.

“He’s very glad about fighting Fedor,” Woirin said.

“Dan Henderson has nothing else to prove, he has fought the best fighters in the world. He likes new challenges and he’s very excited about this fight and I’m sure he’ll be good to go.”

After suffering back-to back losses for the first time in his career, Emelianenko will be looking to overcome the recent setback and defeat Henderson, in hopes of adding yet another legendary name to his resume.

For Henderson, defeating a legend like Emelianenko will only build his resume, as well and reestablish himself as one the pound-for pound fighters at 40 years-old. But for this bout, a championship is not as important for either man as pride is.

Woirin said anything can happen in this bout but he expects Henderson to not only beat, but finish his opponent. 

“Coming from two losses, Fedor wants to show superiority and finish the bout quickly,” he said.

“On the other hand, Dan has a pretty heavy hand, and might finish the bout at any minute. I guess it’ll be a very explosive bout, and it won’t last until the end.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Fedor Emelianenko: Dan Henderson Is Like a Tornado, But It’s All About the Match-Up

Strikeforce Fedor vs. Henderson poster MMA
(The official ‘Fedor vs. Henderson’ poster, via Strikeforce. Click for full-size version.)

By Anton Gurevich

MMA legends Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko and Dan “Hendo” Henderson will meet on July 30th at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Emelianenko and Henderson share numerous MMA titles, and are widely considered two of the most influential fighters in the sport.

Currently 1-2 in his Strikeforce campaign, Fedor stands at the crossroads of his career, after suffering a devastating defeat against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva earlier this year. The thirty-four year old Russian announced his retirement, but later changed his mind and declared that he would continue fighting. Here’s some of the most important quotes from the Russian media over the past weeks, with Fedor Emelianenko talking about what could be the biggest fight of his illustrious MMA career…

Continue reading this article on Lowkick.com

Strikeforce Fedor vs. Henderson poster MMA
(The official ‘Fedor vs. Henderson’ poster, via Strikeforce. Click for full-size version.)

By Anton Gurevich

MMA legends Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko and Dan “Hendo” Henderson will meet on July 30th at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Emelianenko and Henderson share numerous MMA titles, and are widely considered two of the most influential fighters in the sport.

Currently 1-2 in his Strikeforce campaign, Fedor stands at the crossroads of his career, after suffering a devastating defeat against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva earlier this year. The thirty-four year old Russian announced his retirement, but later changed his mind and declared that he would continue fighting. Here’s some of the most important quotes from the Russian media over the past weeks, with Fedor Emelianenko talking about what could be the biggest fight of his illustrious MMA career…

Continue reading this article on Lowkick.com

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.     

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Strikeforce News: Fedor vs. Henderson Confirmed for Heavyweight Bout on July 30

It seems that negotiations appear to be resolved, as the long-awaited superfight between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson is scheduled for July 30.  According to MMAjunkie.com, the superfight between the two former Pride FC stars, is confi…

It seems that negotiations appear to be resolved, as the long-awaited superfight between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson is scheduled for July 30. 

According to MMAjunkie.com, the superfight between the two former Pride FC stars, is confirmed to be contested at heavyweight, as opposed to initial reports speculating the bout would be at catch weight. 

The website reports that Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced to a media roundtable earlier today.

However, there did appear to be some confusion after Coker announced that the bout would take place at 220 lbs.

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Dan Henderson, took to his Twitter account to address the fans. 

“Incorrect,” Henderson wrote…

“Ask [Coker] to show it to you because the [bout agreement] we have doesn’t say that, and furthermore it was never discussed. What is the point?”

While MMAJunkie.com cannot determine a reason for the confusion, Strikeforce officials insisted both fighters will compete at heavyweight, along with a 265-lb weight limit.

Emelianenko will look to rebound with a win over Henderson, as the Russian has suffered back-to back losses for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Dan Henderson is only a month removed from capturing Strikeforce light heavyweight gold after earning a knockout victory over former champion, Rafael ‘Feijao” Cavalcante at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson. 

MMAJunkie also can confirm a location for the bout, as the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, IIlinois, will be the destination. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 130 Results: Top 10 One-Punch Knockouts of 2011 So Far

2011 is not even halfway through and we already have 10 awesome one-punch KOs to show for it. We have also been treated to some amazing head-kick KOs (thank you, Steven Seagal), but please, let us not forget the one-punch knockout. Usually fighters…

2011 is not even halfway through and we already have 10 awesome one-punch KOs to show for it.

We have also been treated to some amazing head-kick KOs (thank you, Steven Seagal), but please, let us not forget the one-punch knockout.

Usually fighters notch knockouts due to an accumulation of punches, but these come from some of the lucky few who’ve done the job with a single throw of a fist.

How many more great one-punch knockouts are we going to get to see this year?

This is what we have so far.

Begin Slideshow