In February 2010, Strikeforce set out to create an elite tournament of top heavyweight fighters. 8 men were supposed to battle it out to determine who was the greatest heavyweight possibly in all of MMA. However, nearly 2 years later, the tournament has yet to be completed and most of the heavyweight division has been sent to the UFC. Additionally, the winner of the Grand Prix has to fight one more time in Strikeforce before heading to UFC. That one fight could be against the international star Fedor Emelianenko. According to a Sunday January 8th report by MMAJunkie.com, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker made the following comments about a possible return by Fedor:
"That's interesting. I'm not sure what Fedor has planned. I haven't spoken to M-1. I know (M-1 executive) Steve Bash was in the audience tonight, but we haven't had that conversation yet."
Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Lavar Johnson and a host of other heavyweights from Strikeforce have already been signed to UFC fights. This leaves Coker in a bind to figure out which fighter will face the Grand Prix winner between Josh Barnett or Daniel Cormier.
Fedor is an interesting possibility because he can still draw a crowd and has seemed to get back on track with victories overseas against Jeff Monson and Satoshi Ishii. He appears to be back to his winning ways. However, Fedor has lost his last 3 fights with Strikeforce and is hated by Dana White. But, a win over Barnett or Cormier could give Fedor a small chance at a UFC fight.
With the UFC importing Strikeforce's heavyweight division, the influx of talent will keep the division thriving and provide interesting matchups that MMA fans have wanted to see over the last few years. An international UFC event could produce solid numbers if Fedor is on the card. Emelianenko would have to put a few more victories together overseas and defeat the Grand Prix winner before Dana will event put his hatred aside and take a "business" look at the once legendary fighter.
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