Tag: Strikeforce

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 […]

fedor

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…

Fabricio Werdum: ‘If I Beat Fedor On That Night, I’m going to Be Better Than Him On That Night’

(Video courtesy YouTube/TheShoot)
The majority of MMA fans and media feel that Fabricio Werdum will likely lose his fight against Fedor Emelianenko on Saturday night. Apparently nobody gave Werdum the memo.
"I know it’s going to be hard but …

(Video courtesy YouTube/TheShoot)

The majority of MMA fans and media feel that Fabricio Werdum will likely lose his fight against Fedor Emelianenko on Saturday night. Apparently nobody gave Werdum the memo.

"I know it’s going to be hard but I know that I can [beat Fedor]," he explains.

Although he is confident about his chances this weekend, Werdum has no illusions of grandeur.

"If I beat Fedor on that night,  I’m better than him that night. I don’t consider myself better than anybody else," he says. "I just know that I have a place on the top. I think to beat Fedor is like having 10 belts in the house."

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Strikeforce’s Middleweight Tournament Could Be All Kinds of Epic

(Jason "Mayhem" Miller, shown here with two of the countless enemies he’s made over the years.)
Losing your middleweight champ to the UFC after his contract runs out? Disaster. But Strikeforce plans to turn their lemons into lemonade with a…


(Jason "Mayhem" Miller, shown here with two of the countless enemies he’s made over the years.)

Losing your middleweight champ to the UFC after his contract runs out? Disaster. But Strikeforce plans to turn their lemons into lemonade with an upcoming eight-man tournament that will crown a new champion in their deepest division. Here’s what King Coker had to say about the MWGP he’ll put together if Jake Shields splits the scene:

Coker told MMAjunkie.com he is considering eight fighters for a potential tournament to begin at an event planned for Aug. 21: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Robbie Lawler, Tim Kennedy, Dan Henderson, Nick Diaz [Ed. note: Nick’s already the Strikeforce welterweight champ, so he’d be trying to scoop up his homey’s belt and rule over a second weight class] and "Mayhem" Miller. Additionally, the winner of a June 26 bout between Scott Smith and Cung Le is under consideration for a tourney spot, as is the winner of an upcoming World Victory Road/Sengoku bout between Kazuo Misaki and champ Jorge Santiago. The tournament would take place over two events, the Strikeforce CEO said. Houston is targeted for the first event, though the promotion has not confirmed a city or venue.

A two-event tournament means that the semi-finals and finals could potentially be held on the same night, Japan-style. And looking at that lineup, we see a lot of potential for sick matchups and serious grudge-settling. Think about it…

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Fedor Emelianenko Not Interested in What Critics Say

Just days away from this Saturday’s Strikeforce tilt between Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum, the customary round of pre-fight interviews with the competitors, has once again left the internet littered with more tonnage of ‘what does the future hold for Fedor?’ Granted, it’s nowhere near the amount of coverage Fedor was receiving when he was […]

fedor

Just days away from this Saturday’s Strikeforce tilt between Fedor Emelianenko and Fabricio Werdum, the customary round of pre-fight interviews with the competitors, has once again left the internet littered with more tonnage of ‘what does the future hold for Fedor?’ Granted, it’s nowhere near the amount of coverage Fedor was receiving when he was a free agent last year, when countless keyboards were turned into dust due to overuse.

If Emelianenko wins Saturday then all signs (and we say this with a heavy bias hoping it will happen) point to “The Last Emperor” meeting Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. After that, and depending on the result, who knows what Fedor and his management will do next. Fedor’s decision not to sign with the UFC last year, sparked a lot of criticism from certain circles (like a certain outspoken UFC executive whose last name rhymes with Night), who maintain that the former Pride champion is no longer interested in fighting MMA’s cream of the crop (sorry-we tried to think of some reference utilizing borsch). So what does Fedor think of his critics (thanks to MMA Weekly for the quotes)?

“As far as my reaction, I don’t have any reaction,” Emelianenko stated. “I don’t really have reactions to any compliments people tell me, nor criticism. It’s not something that’s that important to me. I have more important goals in my life than seeking out the Internet to see what people are saying about me.”

So there you have it; who’s willing to put money down on Fedor signing with the UFC now? To bet on this Saturday’s bout head here.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabricio Werdum Predictions

Strikeforce Emelianenko vs Werdum takes place Saturday, June 26th, live on Showtime at 10:00 PM EST. Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabricio Werdum Currently the odds show Fedor as a -800 favorite and Werdum as a +500 underdog. Fedor’s record is 31-1 and his one loss is controversial. Fedor is arguably the best pound for pound fighter […]

Strikeforce Emelianenko vs Werdum takes place Saturday, June 26th, live on Showtime at 10:00 PM EST.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabricio Werdum

Currently the odds show Fedor as a -800 favorite and Werdum as a +500 underdog.
Fedor’s record is 31-1 and his one loss is controversial. Fedor is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world and is ranked as the number one fighter in the world today.

We saw what Dos Santos did to Werdum. Fedor has similar big punching power and Werdum’s chin is suspect. Could Werdum possess the skills to defeat Fedor? He does. In Fedor’s fight with Nogueira he basically dominated. Nog has shown to be a much tougher fighter in terms of ability to take damage then Werdum has. So its a mild comparison, but the best comparison due to very highly regarded heavyweight jiu-jitsu ability and above average stand up strikers.

My final on this match is that Fedor’s power is too much for Werdum and his ability to avoid getting into submissions really reduces Werdum’s advantage like he did against his fight against Nog.

Bodog has Fedor at -800 and Werdum at +500
If you want to bet Fedor, Intertops has Fedor at -667 and Werdum at +450

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs Jan Finney

Cyborg has a record of (9-1) in her fights and is a major favorite against Jan Finney who has a record of (8-7). The odds for this fight have Cyborg favored at -2500 and Finney a big underdog at +1200.

This is worth avoiding, but Cyborg will win. She is just too good and there is maybe 1 other fighter out there who even stands a chance of putting up a good fight.

Cung Le vs Scott Smith

Cung Le recently fought Scott Smith and was soundly winning the fight before he was caught with one punch from Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith that put Le on queer street. The odds for this fight have Cung Le who has a record of (6-1) with the lone loss to Smith at -400. Scott Smith who has a record of (17-6), a win over Cung Le already is the underdog at +260.

Cung Le was literally man handling Scott Smith in their fight with all kinds of kicks and punches including spinning backfists and spinning kicks. It was when Cung due to being out of shape and ring rust that he was hit with one left hook that wobbled Le, then Smith hit Le with another left that put him on the canvas. Then Smith followed with punches on the ground and Big John McCarthy stopped the fight.

In this fight Cung Le will have better conditioning and thus will be able to last for that last 2-3 minutes in the 3rd round.

Intertops has Cung Le at -333 and Scott Smith at +250

Josh Thomson vs Pat Healy

(16-3) -500 (23-15) +360
This is a really intriguing matchup as Pat Healy is a real dog of a fighter with a record of 23-15. Fighters tend to have problems with Healy’s wrestling and top control and just the constant pressure he puts on people. My personal opinion of Healy is that he is an extremely underrated fighter who has lost at key moments that have caused setbacks in terms of becoming a more popular fighter. Thompson is the better striker and is good at getting up from the ground, but due to injuries a year or so ago, is conditioning has suffered or appear to have suffered. Healy on the other hand is hungry and with being a severe underdog, I have no problems at all taking Pat Healy here on the winning side. Could Josh Thomson win via decision? Sure. Can he win via TKO? I don’t think so.

I’m taking Pat Healy here. Intertops has Healy at +300

Video: Fedor Doesn’t Like Watching MMA and Doesn’t Think He’s the Best Fighter

(Video courtesy YouTube/Strikeforce)
Strikeforce released this pretty generic Q&A video interview with Fedor Emelianenko  ahead of his bout with Fabricio Werdum this weekend. Although it sounds like it’s being conducted by Napoleon Dyn…

(Video courtesy YouTube/Strikeforce)

Strikeforce released this pretty generic Q&A video interview with Fedor Emelianenko  ahead of his bout with Fabricio Werdum this weekend. Although it sounds like it’s being conducted by Napoleon Dynamite, the interview actually featured some solid answers from "The Last Emperor".

For those of you too lazy to press play, here’s what Fedor had to say:

On whether or not  he is a fan of the sport:
"I really like MMA as a sport itself and I like to be in this sport and I like to develop myself, but I don’t like to watch fights."

On how his ground game matches up with Fabricio Werdum’s:
"I cannot say anything right now; we’ll see that during the fight."

On where Werdum’s jiu-jitsu stacks up against other fighters he’s faced:
"Speaking about his ground technique, I think his technique is approximately the same as Nogueira at the time [when I faced him] and Babalu [when I fought him]."

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