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Should Fedor retire following his TKO loss to Bigfoot? If not, who would you match him up against when he returns?
RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
I don't see the need for Fedor to retire. I do see the need for him to start training with elite training partners if he wants to have a chance of reclimbing the heavyweight ladder, though.
If Fabricio Werdum loses to alistair Overeem, Werdum is the obvious next opponent. If Overeem loses to Werdum, Strikeforce would be crazy to match up their champion (coming off a loss in a non-title fight) with Fedor (coming off of two losses). It is already ridiculous for Overeem's belt to not be on the line in the tournament; but if Overeem loses to Werdum and is booked to fight Fedor, that means their champ will be facing a man coming off of not one but two losses. So booking Fedor vs. Overeem would leave Strikeforce with two options: 1.) Their champ coming off a loss defends his title to a fighter coming off of two losses, or 2.) Scheduling their champ into a non-title fight. And Overeem loses that non-title fight, that means their champ will have lost two fights in a row (and would still be their champion).
So, after Werdum (if he loses to Overeem), who's next?
Arlovski? No.
Rogers if he loses to Barnett? Maybe.
Cormier? Too soon.
del Rosario? Too soon.
Barnett if he loses to Rogers? Yep.
ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Fedor should retire when he wants to. If that time is now, so be it. I'd like to see what he could do if he moved to the U.S. and started training with an established team (e.g., Greg Jackon's) instead of training in Russia with a bunch of nobodies. It's possible that he's just past his prime and it wouldn't matter, but it's also possible the better training would reinvigorate his career. If Fedor does keep fighting and he wants to cut to 205 pounds, I'd put him in with the winner of Strikeforce's upcoming light heavyweight title fight between Dan Henderson and Rafael Feijao. If he stays at heavyweight, I'd pit him against the loser of Werdum vs Overeem.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I don't think he should retire just based on that fight. A lot of guys get beat like that, and don't retire. If Fedor doesn't have the desire anymore, he should definitely retire. As for an upcoming fight, I'd match Fedor up against the loser of the Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum fight. You either get the rematch with Werdum, or a long-awaited fight between Overeem and Fedor.
JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
I think the consensus feeling is that Fedor needs some type of change to his training regimen. He's only lost two fights in a row, so if he wants to keep fighting he should keep fighting. Unfortunately, whether he actually wants to retire or not may not matter, because he'll likely be encouraged and nudged towards returning by his management and his coaches, who rely on him as their draw and a major source of income for all of them. So, he's very likely to return to the cage, and has said this week that he rushed to discuss retirement after the loss on Saturday.
That brings us to who he should face. The loser of Overeem vs. Werdum in April makes sense, but if it's Overeem they have a whole host of issues that could come with that fight. They'd have to make that fight for the title, because if Overeem were to lose two straight non-title fights the belt would have zero meaning, as compared to the very little meaning it has right now. But that means that Fedor would be getting a title shot with two straight losses.
If it's Werdum then it is Strikeforce's most perfect fight for Fedor, as the chance for him to avenge that loss is easy to sell. They could also go another route, with Fedor taking on the Barnett vs. Rogers loser. Strikeforce has some options in this department, it just depends on how April 9 goes down.
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