| 17 May 2010
Despite not even appearing on the card, all everyone (including us here) want to take about after Saturday's Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery event is Fedor Emelianenko. That's because after Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem made quick work of challenger Brett Rogers, all the talk has turned to a potential Overeem-Emelianenko tilt. The Bloguin network's two best MMA bloggers, yours truly and Sean Malone of North Texas Fisticuffs, delve into this matter.
1) Now that Alistair Overeem has re-established himself as a force in Strikeforce's heavyweight division, will his long sought-after fight versus Fedor Emelianenko finally take place?
Jeff Fox: It should happen, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will happen - at least not as soon as people are hoping. Overeem has stated (to this very website) that he is available to Strikeforce only until September, after which time he will be preparing for and competing in the K-1 Grand Prix. With Fedor's next fight not happening until the end of June, the chances of him fighting Overeem some time this calendar year seems slim to none. Plus Fedor's management seem hell-bent on avoiding a fight with Overeem which is being speculated as not due to any fear of Alistair, but rather the avoidance of Fedor being crowned the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, which would further contractually obligate him to compete in the promotion.
Sean Malone: This fight has to happen in order to legitimize the Strikeforce heavyweight division, and to a lesser extent, the entire promotion. While the likelihood of a Overeem-Emelianenko fight this year seems unlikely given the scheduling conflicts you touched on, this fight has to be at the top of the priority list for Strikeforce in 2011. After all, why court and sign the most dominate heavyweight in the game today and not have him fight for your own title? Hopefully, in light of Overeem’s dominate performance on Saturday night the public demand will be too much for M-1 and Strikeforce to ignore.
2) Does Fedor need this fight with Overeem to secure his legacy?
JF: Definitely. Fedor's reputation has taken a big hit in recent times, with his dodging of Overeem and his spurning of the UFC's advances making it appear, rightly or wrongly, that he is avoiding facing top competition. The fact of the matter is he hasn't been a promotion's champion (other than holding the mythical WAMMA World Heavyweight Championship) since he defended his Pride Heavyweight Championship in 2006. He'll be 34-years-old in a couple of months - the time is now to get a few, final big fights in to cap off his career.
SM: Couldn’t agree more. Fedor’s legacy is all that he has to look back on in his career. Without a title, aside from his Pride title, what else do you measure Fedor’s career against when all is said and done? While Fedor has earned more than enough accolades for his performances in the past, the fact that his team couldn’t come to terms with UFC, and the plethora of viable heavyweight challenges, a fight with Overeem would silence a large number of the critics who look at Fedor with two skeptical eyes.
3) If Fedor's camp refuses to fight Overeem, should Strikeforce look to part ways with him?
JF: Absolutely. Strikeforce has already damaged their brand by allowing M-1 Global to muscle in and co-promote events with them. They have basically let M-1 and Fedor take their promotion hostage, something Dana White and the UFC wisely refused to do. If the man widely regarded as the best heavyweight in the world (and of all-time) fights in your promotion but refuses to fight your champion, he is cheapening your heavyweight belt. He is making his mythical WAMMA belt hold more value than your heavyweight belt does. One fighter can not be made more important than your promotion. Plus, if Fedor doesn't agree to fight him, Overeem is sure to disappear to Japan once again, as there really is no other fighter in Strikeforce that would be worth his time to fight.
SM: I agree, but I would be curious to see what the financial impact of signing Fedor has done to Strikeforce’s bottom line. Aside from his appearance against Brett Rogers, and his impending fight with Fabricio Werdum, what has Fedor and M-1 Global done to help promote Strikeforce? Like you pointed out, all they seem to have done is hold the promotion hostage. Not fighting for the Strikeforce title is a slap to the face of the promotion, and the fans. Fedor may be an all-time great, but failure to fight the best will surely tarnish his legacy. The sport of boxing has long damaged itself with such posturing, Strikeforce would be wise to not let Fedor and his sycophants/management team do the same to mixed martial arts.
4) If Overeem and Fedor finally do meet in the cage, who comes out victorious (other than the fans)?
JF: I never, ever count on Fedor Emelianenko to lose a match - however, I wouldn't be shocked if Alistair Overeem did beat him. He is much bigger, stronger and (possibly) athletic than The Last Emperor, not to mention that he is also an elite-level striker. While Fedor has shown in the past (most recently in his fight versus Brett Rogers) that he can take a beating and still come out victorious, all it really takes is one punch to win a match. On the flipside, we really don't know how good of a MMA fighter Overeem is - he really has never fought any top level fighters in a MMA match. So my pick would be for Fedor to win, but I'm not putting any money on it.
SM: Arguably, a Fedor-Overeem fight would be the biggest in the sport not to feature Brock Lesnar. It would be an interesting clash of styles while it lasts. So who wins in the battle of skill versus brawn? It's a "pick 'em" type match up, but all things considered I would have to pick Fedor to win a hard-fought battle. I just think Fedor's skill set would carry him to a victory.
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