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Scott Coker Says Fedor vs. Werdum II Possible

(photo courtesy Esther Lin/ Strikeforce)
Last night the Earth was without oxygen for just a second, as thousands upon thousands of MMA fans worldwide gasped in unison, while seeing Fedor Emelianenko tap out to Fabricio Werdum’s first round triangle-choke. Yes, many acknowledged the skills of Werdum heading into the bout, but few expected him to hand […]

(photo courtesy Esther Lin/ Strikeforce)

Last night the Earth was without oxygen for just a second, as thousands upon thousands of MMA fans worldwide gasped in unison, while seeing Fedor Emelianenko tap out to Fabricio Werdum’s first round triangle-choke. Yes, many acknowledged the skills of Werdum heading into the bout, but few expected him to hand Fedor his first ‘legit’ loss in over 30 fights (some may have been hoping- right Dana?)

So, what the eff is next for “The Last Emperor” now? The script seemed to be that Fedor would beat Werdum and then fight Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. Well, considering that the winner of last night’s bout was supposed to fight Alistair, Fabricio is a lock for a title shot right? And Fedor will have to look elsewhere in the Strikeforce heavyweight division? Umm, seems not necessarily….

In a few reports today, it looks like the general ‘vibe’ stemming from last night’s post-fight press conference, is that Strikeforce is open to giving Fedor a rematch with Werdum. Both men said they’re willing, and while discussing the promotion’s heavyweight picture, Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker was quoted saying this (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote):

“To me, Fabricio and Fedor is going to be a mega-fight that we should promote,” Coker said. “I also think that Fabricio vs. Alistair, the rematch against our champion, is something Alistair is going to want and would be another big fight. I think that the fight between Fedor and Alistair should still happen, as well.”

So, while Coker didn’t commit to an immediate rematch, he didn’t say that Alistair vs. Werdum was a lock either….Guess only time (with M-1 Global’s two huge cents in there) will tell.

Cung Le Expecting “Another Great Fight” with Scott Smith

Heading into tomorrow’s Strikeforce card the pre-fight spotlight has largely been targeted on the Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum match-up. Guess when you’re one the sport’s best and more intriguing fighters like Fedor is, people tend to talk about you a lot (not that “The Last Emperor” gives a damn of course). Saturday’s event has […]

Heading into tomorrow’s Strikeforce card the pre-fight spotlight has largely been targeted on the Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum match-up. Guess when you’re one the sport’s best and more intriguing fighters like Fedor is, people tend to talk about you a lot (not that “The Last Emperor” gives a damn of course). Saturday’s event has several other interesting bouts scheduled (including “Cyborg” Santos vs. Jan Finney), but the fight that definitely has a chance of grabbing the Jeff Spicoli “awesome; totally awesome” award is Cung Le vs. Scott Smith II.

Through the first two rounds of their first bout last December, Le was on cruise control, battering Smith with his trademark, makes you cringe, kicks. Of course, Smith came back to pull out the walk off KO homer in the third round, making the fight an instant classic. Well, speaking to MMA Weekly Radio this week, here is some of what Le had to say about trying to avenge his one and only loss.

“I’m very grateful to Scott Coker and Strikeforce for making this fight happen. I think it was a very exciting fight, especially what happened at the end, and I think its going to be another great fight.”

“Not only does he have ‘hands of steel,’ he definitely has a ‘head of steel.’

Thought we throw Le’s nice little zinger in there. Last time out Le concedes had been spending a lot of time on the movie set rather than the gym and was a little rusty; it will be interesting to see how he looks tomorrow night. To bet on the fights head here.

Yoshihiro Akiyama Says “I’ll do my Best” at UFC 116

If you think you’re depressed about Wanderlei Silva dropping out of UFC 116, due to having three broken ribs and a trashed knee, talk to Yoshihiro Akiyama. Going off various reports this week, it sounds like “Sexyama” (wonder who came up with that nickname?) is rife with grief, about not being able to fight Silva […]

If you think you’re depressed about Wanderlei Silva dropping out of UFC 116, due to having three broken ribs and a trashed knee, talk to Yoshihiro Akiyama. Going off various reports this week, it sounds like “Sexyama” (wonder who came up with that nickname?) is rife with grief, about not being able to fight Silva any longer. First there were reports that he was less than enthralled about fighting replacement Chris Leben next Saturday, and in a more recent report from MMA Fighting, the fighter’s management reportedly informed the outlet that Akiyama has been suffering from depression and had stopped training…wow. Talk about wanting to fight someone…

The report went on to say that Akiyama still wasn’t sure he was going to even show up for UFC 116, before passing a long an update from the middleweight’s blog, which apparently stated:

“I had various choices but … I’ll do my best in my fight!”

This jives with MMA Junkie’s report yesterday that Akiyama had finally agreed to take the fight. Just spit balling here, but if Akiyama had outright refused to fight Leben and pulled a no show at UFC 116- the chances of the Japanese fighter remaining on good terms with Dana White and the UFC brass, would be what? 1%? Or is that being too generous?

At any rate, as we noted earlier in the week, we’re thinking Leben vs. Akiyama could be pretty sweet. To bet on UFC 116 head here.

Report: Keith Jardine Cut by UFC

If like thousands of other fans your introduction to MMA came via “The Ultimate Fighter” program, then your passion for the sport has been fed by a steady diet of bouts featuring dudes like Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, Rashad Evans, Chris Leben, Josh Koscheck etc, etc, etc. Of course, belonging on that list is Keith […]

If like thousands of other fans your introduction to MMA came via “The Ultimate Fighter” program, then your passion for the sport has been fed by a steady diet of bouts featuring dudes like Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, Rashad Evans, Chris Leben, Josh Koscheck etc, etc, etc. Of course, belonging on that list is Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine, who since competing in the second season of TUF in 2005 has been one of the Octagon’s main fixtures, fighting 13 times. It’s no wonder that Jardine has become such a recognizable figure- so much so- hopes around the world were dashed when it turned out he wasn’t the Techno Viking after all…

Well, after incurring his fourth consecutive loss to Matt Hamill at the recent TUF 11 Finale, MMA Fighting is reporting that Jardine has been cut by the UFC. According to the report, UFC President Dana White has confirmed with the outlet that the light-heavyweight has in fact been released. Due to Jardine’s lengthy stint in the promotion, which let’s not forget, included wins over former champions Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell, one can understand the following statement from White:

“It sucks,” White said. “I have nothing but respect for him and I hope to see him back soon.”

Of course, there will be folks who don’t agree with the decision, as Jardine is right up there in terms of bang for your buck entertainment value, but as a result, there’s no doubt that a fighter of his stature will land a decent gig somewhere soon.

Fedor Clarifies Recent Comments; “Did Not Want to Offend the UFC”

Earlier in the week we touched on the fact that while making the pre-Fabricio Werdum-fight, media rounds, having the spotlight once again on Fedor Emelianenko has reignited the ‘will Fedor ever sign with the UFC’ speculation. Naturally, yet again, this has fed more rampant ‘where does Fedor rank all time?’, ‘could he beat the UFC’s […]

Earlier in the week we touched on the fact that while making the pre-Fabricio Werdum-fight, media rounds, having the spotlight once again on Fedor Emelianenko has reignited the ‘will Fedor ever sign with the UFC’ speculation. Naturally, yet again, this has fed more rampant ‘where does Fedor rank all time?’, ‘could he beat the UFC’s best heavyweights?’ and ‘why does Dana White love to make Fedor fans cry?’ discussion.

Of course, part of the reason for this has been due to various comments “The Last Emperor” has made himself. In a recent teleconference Fedor reportedly stated “I’m not a UFC fan”, before adding that “there seems to be negativity in a lot of their shows.” This, coupled with other recent statements where Fedor’s admitted he doesn’t give a flying eff about his critics or what they say, probably punted a lot of people’s hopes that he may still, someday, face Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin, etc.

Well, in an interview this week with MMA Fighting’s Ben Fowlkes, Fedor had this to say, when asked to clarify what’s the difference between how Strikeforce and the UFC promote the sport.

“I did not want to offend the UFC in any way. What I meant is, I don’t like to watch fights in general. My main concern is what kind of culture I bring, myself.”

Interesting. Now is that just clarifying or backing off? Emelianenko went on to say that when his deal with Strikeforce is done, the UFC will have an opportunity to offer him “a contract that may be interesting to me.” Huh. And around and around we go…

Report: Yoshihiro Akiyama Not Down with Chris Leben as New Opponent

Yesterday, after finding out an injured Wanderlei Silva would no longer fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116 (dude has broken ribs and a knee that requires surgery- guess we’ll give him a pass…this time), our childish temper tantrum soon subsided with news that Chris Leben would be Silva’s replacement. After all, Leben’s a damn entertaining […]

Yesterday, after finding out an injured Wanderlei Silva would no longer fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116 (dude has broken ribs and a knee that requires surgery- guess we’ll give him a pass…this time), our childish temper tantrum soon subsided with news that Chris Leben would be Silva’s replacement. After all, Leben’s a damn entertaining fighter who also likes to slug it out, so, really things could be worse right?

Well, if a report from Fighters Only Magazine is accurate, Akiyama apparently doesn’t agree with our above sentiment. Citing a story from a South Korean blog called Daum.net, it appears as though the judo star isn’t exactly thrilled about facing Leben (to put it lightly). Why? Here’s a snippet.

“If there is to be a replacement I was hoping for a big name,” he added, “I spent one year preparing hard for this fight and this news has come as a big disappointment, my motivation has waned. I do not know yet what will happen. .. In the worst case, I will not take part in the [UFC 116] event. We are working hard to resolve this issue.”

Now, we struggle mightily with English much less Korean, so well have to take Fighters Only Magazine’s word / translation on this. Knowing Dana White, like we all think we know him, what do you think his response will be to Akiyama’s “worst case” scenario. How much of an understatement is ‘not good?’