Strikeforce
STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Fedor Emelianenko says he rushed to declare retirement, will fight again
Feb 15, 2011 - 10:10:34 AM STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Fedor Emelianenko says he rushed to declare retirement, will fight again

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Fedor Emelianenko was a little hasty in discussing retirement after his loss to Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva last weekend, and now that he's back home in Russia he has changed his mind.

"I rushed to declare my retirement," Fedor said upon returning to Russia, in comments made to ValeTudo.ru. "I will fight more. Possibly, I will return to the Heavyweight Grand Prix.

"I am capable of having a few more fights. I didn't make any analysis yet on why I lost. I need to recover, I can't see very well yet."

Emelianenko's eye was swelled shut after he sustained a beating from Silva in the second round of their headlining bout on Showtime on Saturday in New Jersey, prompting cageside doctors to stop the fight.

Following the loss, Fedor spoke to Gus Johnson and the crowd while in the cage.

"Maybe it's the last time in the cage," he said. "Maybe it's high time. [I've] had a beautiful sporting life, maybe it's God's will."

But he's now looking to return to action, and his Sambo coach Vladimir Voronov commented on Fedor's new outlook.

"It's very nice that Fedor still has his fighting spirit, he is ready to rip everyone apart right now," Voronov said. "Yes, his eye is [swelled], but it will heal. Most importantly for him not to have any psychological pressure. After this, he will train with a triple effort."

His striking coach Alexander Michkov weighed in as well, saying "Fedor is capable to return to the tournament. Everybody stumbles, this is not the end of the world."

Penick's Analysis: In our poll put up on Sunday, most fans believed that Fedor would return for at least one more fight, and indeed that will happen. Depending on what happens in the Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum fight, Fedor could go up against one of them later in the year. Strikeforce will have some issues if Overeem loses and that's the fight they put together, as the status of Overeem's Strikeforce title will be a point of contention for fans and pundits. There won't be any issues if it's a rematch with Werdum, however, and if Werdum loses to Overeem the rematch is the best option for Strikeforce with Fedor returning. It's not unexpected for Fedor to change his mind, I'm just slightly surprised he changed his mind so quickly.