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Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE (pt. 1 of 2) What should Strikeforce do with Fedor Emelianenko's final contracted fight? Perez, Bacior, Hobaugh, Marsh and Hansen
How should Strikeforce handle the situation with Fedor with one fight remaining on his contract?
ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Fedor Emilianenko should either rematch Fabricio Werdum after his recent loss to Werdum, or, maybe a rematch with Brett Rogers; or even yet, a fight against Antonio "Big Foot" Silva. As far as the recent rumblings of putting Fedor against Champion Alistair Overeem, that would just devalue their belt due to the fact that Fedor lost, and in terms of ranking, he should not be the number one contender for that belt. That would be suicide for Strikeforce.
MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
When it comes to Fedor, you have to give him a fight against someone other than Werdum or Overeem. You simply can not let this man dictate your company, especially when he is no longer the #1 heavyweight. You have to give Werdum his shot at the belt, if you set up a Werdum-Fedor rematch, Overeem is without an opponent for a while again. If Fedor gets the shot, your organization looks like a joke, and you face the potential scenario of a free agent champion.
ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
What choice do they have? They need to hold on to and build on the
relationship with CBS. A large event on CBS can draw more than a
million viewers. That is still a business that can make money. IF
THEY ARE RUN CORRECTLY!!!! How hard is it to see the production
value is sophomoric compared to the UFC? How about the announcers?
That said, Emelianenko and Dan Henderson both have lost recently. I am of the opinion that the failures of these two most popular fighters will be the end of this company. I think within one year, this company will be bankrupt and the UFC will find a place for only a few of the most popular fighters.
GRIFFIN MARSH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Logic says a bout with Big Foot. A rematch with Werdum would be detrimental to the company, while giving Fedor a title shot could possibly be just as tragic. A bout with Antonio Silva is safe and could offer fans an entertaining fight. It would also allow Fedor to retire, if he so chooses, without putting Strikeforce in any kind of major jeopardy.
RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Well, of course they should give the winner of their #1 contender fight the title shot that they announced he would get. So, Werdum vs. Overeem. It's a fight that the guys at Zuffa could market into a main event, but the clown college running Strikeforce are scared shitless to even ask their evil overlords at Showtime to clear as a main event. So if you do that fight, where does that leave Fedor? There are two smart options.
Either 1.) a meaningless fight versus Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva or 2.) a meaningless but potentially marketable rematch with Andrei Arlovski. Strikeforce won't be harmed if Fedor defeats Bigfoot or Arlovski, because they don't have anything invested in Bigfoot or Arlovski and can just cut either guy after a loss. And if either of those two fighters defeat Fedor, then they have someone they can sell as only the second man to beat Fedor. Plus, they can then sell their heavyweight division as being so good that "The only two men to ever defeat Fedor fight here," or something along that line.
UPCOMING ROUNDTABLE QUESTIONS
• How should Strikeforce handle the situation with Fedor with one fight remaining on his contract?
• What do you think about the UFC 119 and 120 cards with Mir-Nogueira II and Bisping Akiyama as their respective headliners?
• What are your early thoughts on how Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez match up in their UFC 121 showdown?
[Fedor Emelianenko art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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