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Alistair Overeem Says Fedor is a “Little Bit Out of the Picture”

Many MMA fans continue to try to make sense of the sport’s landscape, just two days removed from Fedor Emelianenko’s stunning loss to Fabricio Werdum. Fedor’s first defeat in a decade just wasn’t supposed to happen; not against Werdum, despite the Brazilian’s ever increasing abilities. Really, when you think about it, Fedor was kind of […]

alistair overeem

Many MMA fans continue to try to make sense of the sport’s landscape, just two days removed from Fedor Emelianenko’s stunning loss to Fabricio Werdum. Fedor’s first defeat in a decade just wasn’t supposed to happen; not against Werdum, despite the Brazilian’s ever increasing abilities. Really, when you think about it, Fedor was kind of effed with this fight either way. If he won, Fedor’s critics would say all he had done was beat a guy that got bombed out by Junior Dos Santos. Someone, “The Last Emperor” could have elected to fight, if he hadn’t ‘dodged’ tough competition in the UFC…But, Fedor lost, so here’s more on the flip side of that undesirable coin…

For many of Fedor’s critics, Saturday’s result was likely proof that the Russian legend’s reign as the world’s #1 P4P fighter has long been over (beating Hong Man Choi just didn’t do it for a lot of people…). Of course Alistair Overeem was also adversely affected by Saturday’s result, as now the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion may never face Emelianenko, in what could have been the promotion’s biggest fight to date. Speaking to Sherdog.com, the Dutchman had this to say, when asked about Fedor’s future:

“Fedor’s a little bit out of the picture,” said Overeem. “He has one more fight on his (Strikeforce) contract and I don’t know against who he’ll fight. He might retire after that anyway. He might retire now. He’s the X-factor.”

Out of the picture huh? Not surprising considering Overeem also claims that Fedor turned down a fight with him in May. MMA is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ sport, but, we’re thinking Fedor still has some big wins in him yet. Check out the entire Overeem interview here.

Chuck Liddell Concedes “Not Taking Shots Like I Used To”

Over the last few weeks MMA fans have seen two of the sport’s greatest legends take losses in Chuck Liddell, and more recently, Fedor Emelianenko. Of course, there are some huge differences in each storyline, as Fedor hadn’t lost since December, 2000, (and that was due to a cut he incurred seconds in) while Liddell […]

Over the last few weeks MMA fans have seen two of the sport’s greatest legends take losses in Chuck Liddell, and more recently, Fedor Emelianenko. Of course, there are some huge differences in each storyline, as Fedor hadn’t lost since December, 2000, (and that was due to a cut he incurred seconds in) while Liddell has been stopped three times in a row (with the losses to Rich Franklin and Rashad Evans in particular being of the ‘dude he’s f—ked up’ variety).

While UFC Prez Dana White made it abundantly clear following Liddell’s UFC 115 loss to Franklin, that “The Iceman” would never fight in the UFC again, the former champ hasn’t really done a ton of media much less talk about whether or not he’s hanging up the gloves. Well in a recent interview with MMA Canada.net, which featured a lovely looking woman asking the questions, and as a result, some rather interesting / understandable choices regarding camera work, Liddell had this to say about his latest loss (thanks to MMA Fighting for the tip):

“I’ve been an aggressive fighter my whole life,” he said. “It’s one of those things that it’s hard to change after so long. I probably should have been more conservative, protect myself a little more. I guess I’m not taking shots like I used to.”

Yes. Unfortunately not. In terms of retiring? Chuck was pressed on the question a couple of times but wasn’t saying much, other than he’s “going to talk to Dana.” It’s all still sounding very familiar no? To watch the entire interview head here.

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.