Strikeforce
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker wants to re-sign Fedor Emelianenko despite third straight loss
Aug 1, 2011 - 12:00:36 PM Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker wants to re-sign Fedor Emelianenko despite third straight loss

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Both Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson competed in their final contracted fight for Strikeforce last Saturday night, and logically it would seem that both are likely done in the organization.

For Henderson, his third straight stoppage win has his stock at a high, and it would be sensible for him to make a return to the UFC now that Zuffa has taken control of Strikeforce. Meanwhile, Fedor has lost three straight fights, and it would make sense for the organization to move on from his services, especially with the baggage that comes with co-promoting with M-1 Global.

However, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker hopes he can keep them both in the Strikeforce cage, and would like to re-sign each fighter after what he felt was one of the organization's top fights ever.

"As far as fighting in Strikeforce, I hope we have them both back," Coker said in an interview with MMAFighting.com. "If you look at that fight, I think it stands right up there. If you look back at the history of Strikeforce, which is relatively a newer company, I think the ones that stand out in my mind are, in our early days, Frank Shamrock fighting Cung Le – that was an unbelievable matchup. And Nick Diaz fighting Paul Daley this year – unbelievable fight.

"And tonight, I think this one probably tops those two. So arguably one of the best fights in the history of our company."

Whether either returns to the organization is something that will need to be worked out over the next several months, and there's no guarantee that Fedor will continue fighting. But if Coker gets his wish, he'll see each return to the Strikeforce cage before the end of the year.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: As far as his take on Saturday's fight being better than Diaz-Daley in April, I don't agree with that at all. It was a great back and forth fight with an incredible finishing sequence, but it also had several minutes of stalled action on the cage, whereas Diaz-Daley was nearly five minutes of non-stop back and forth action with both fighters landing strikes, hurting the other and recovering before Diaz finally got the stoppage. When it comes to re-signing both of them, I don't know how likely it is that either of them return to the organization. Henderson is not going to get the type of money from Strikeforce - under Zuffa - as he did when he left the UFC. The money for him is in the UFC, as are the biggest fights for him, and I think that's where he'll end up. M-1 Global's negotiating power is at its lowest since Fedor signed on with the organization, and if he's going to fight again in Strikeforce it's going to be at a greatly reduced price. Still, with Zuffa now in control of Strikeforce, I sincerely doubt that they have much of a desire to renegotiate with M-1 moving forward.