Penick's Take
PENICK: Fedor Emelianenko's loss to Fabricio Werdum quite possibly the best thing to happen to Scott Coker
Jun 27, 2010 - 10:09:37 AM PENICK: Fedor Emelianenko's loss to Fabricio Werdum quite possibly the best thing to happen to Scott Coker

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Fedor Emelinanenko's shocking submission loss in the first round of his bout with Fabricio Werdum Saturday night may have killed the potential for some major super fights in the heavyweight division down the road, but in the long run it may have been the best thing to happen to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker.

Of course, that's if he handles this new opportunity correctly.

What Saturday's fight proved was the maxim that you can't build to a fight in this sport. You can't control what happens in the cage, and Strikeforce made a mistake in not making a more concerted effort to put the bout with Alistair Overeem together.

But with Fedor's loss, their "co-promoting" partners in M-1 Global no longer hold the leverage. Mistakes were made in promoting Fedor between the two organizations, most egregiously not getting this fight on CBS, but Strikeforce can move forward and operate with their interests in mind instead of bowing to M-1 and their demands.

Coker can now put a Heavyweight Championship bout together between Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem that is legitimately between the two fighters now at the top of the heap in the division. It's not a pay-per-view draw, but it's certainly CBS worthy, provided they use the footage of these fights and do a better job in promoting it than they have previous events on the network.

Without M-1 Global being a thorn in his side, Coker has a chance to really make Strikeforce a viable and longterm #2 promotion. The pay-per-view they were ultimately trying to build to, in my opinion, would have been a bust. They would have tried to stack a card for later this year, leaving their hopeful CBS return without any major fights, they could have faced impossible demands from both Fedor and Overeem's camp from a monetary standpoint, and with the recent fights for both fighters being on Showtime they likely wouldn't have broken 100K buys.

If they move forward without the goal to get to pay-per-view, and they can concentrate on simply putting on fights that are enjoyable and make sense, they can keep that spot to themselves.

Unfortunately, it's already sounding like they will be going down the wrong path.

After the fights last night, talk began of an immediate rematch. Of course, M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelchstein was at the forefront of that call because Werdum was the first fighter to beat Fedor, but to compile the issues with that was Coker's idea of how that fight would take place.

"That should be a pay-per-view fight," Coker said during the night's post fight press conference. "[Werdum vs. Emelianenko II] is a fight fans are going to want to see. He dethroned the king."

Considering it would once again leave Alistair Overeem without an actual challenger for his Title, Coker is saying that things will happen all in good time.

"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 he fight between Fedor and Alistair should still happen, as well.

"A lot of it is going to depend on what M-1 wants to do. They will have some say."

This is where Coker is already heading down the wrong path in this situation. They won the Fedor sweepstakes in 2009, but got more than they bargained for in needing to deal with M-1 Global. With Fedor's loss, the unbeaten mystique is gone. He's still one of the best fighter's in the history of the sport, but Strikeforce has the opportunity to move forward as a company without being tied down with a name bigger than the organization.

But, to their detriment, they appear headed right back to the drawing board with M-1 still directing the situation. Coker needs to realize what this loss affords him and his company, and he needs to move forward in looking out for their interests instead of those of M-1 Global.

As for what to do with Fedor - put him against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. If he wins that fight and Strikeforce decides they want to re-sign Fedor and continue to work with M-1, you can still get a bout between Fedor and Overeem, or a rematch with Werdum depending on who holds the Championship. But don't put this rematch together immediately and certainly don't put it on pay-per-view.

Move forward with your company and take this Fedor loss in stride.