Fedor, and Werdum, and Overeem. Oh My! Making Sense of Strikeforce's Heavyweight Division
By: Chad Edward Posted On: July 1, 2010 at 5:56am
All the pieces were in place. “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1) had done the impossible beating “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (31-2) in 69 seconds at Strikeforce/M-1 Global in San Jose Saturday. In the audience, a stunned Strikeforce heavyweight champion “Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (31-11) sat mouth agape in shock. He had predicted an Emelianenko knockout victory over the Brazilian who had also tapped him out in a Kimura at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute in Osaka in 2006.
A rematch was in the making!
But, for Strikeforce President Scott Coker, it wasn’t the rematch that everyone expected. Werdum has built an audience on CBS and in the UFC and had just dethroned the top-ranked heavyweight. The exciting Dutch kickboxer, Overeem, cemented his North American marketability by dominating “Grim” Brett Rogers (10-2) last month. But as a title matchup between Werdum and Overeem left the station full-steam ahead, Coker derailed the fight by tossing out that he’ll probably rematch Werdum and Emelianenko, possibly on a pay per view card.
It might be the first non-title fight ending conclusively, uncontroversially, and frankly anti-climacticly to ever get immediately rematched. Does Emelianenko deserve a rematch?
Strikeforce’s heavyweight division is Bizzaro World. Rogers gets knocked out by Emelianenko and earns a title shot versus Overeem. Werdum taps out Emelianenko and…earns a rematch versus Emelianenko? And, where does that leave Overeem?
Of course, Coker has dollar signs in his eyes. Strikeforce thinks a rematch between Werdum and Emelianenko will generate pay per view buys based on the hype around Werdum’s upset. But, Emelianenko has been a consistent pay per view failure in North America, topping out at around 100,000 buys. And now you can’t even sell the mystique of Emelianenko being the world’s top heavyweight. To the general public who have to plunk down $44.95 for a pay per view card, he’s now just another Russian fighter.
But, Coker is right that Emelianenko is the biggest name Strikeforce has. And, all signals coming from Stary Oskol are that Emelianenko’s next fight is his last in Strikeforce. So, why not get the most from his last fight with a pay per view card?
That’s a short-term view. That’s running a fight promotion fight-to-fight rather than creating a league, which is to date the only MMA model to consistently succeed in North America. The league model is the UFC’s model.
After Emelianenko, Werdum, and Overeem, it seems like Strikeforce’s next ranked heavyweight is former EliteXC champion “Bigfoot” Antonio Silva (13-2). Why not legitimize Strikeforce’s heavyweight title with the natural Overeem-Werdum title fight on a card that also gives Silva an opportunity to impress versus Emelianenko? Then you’ve used Emelianenko to potentially make another big name the way Werdum has made his name bigger with his win. And, Werdum and Silva will be around for awhile; Emelianenko, who knows?
No, I don’t think Silva can beat Emelianenko. But I also didn’t think Werdum had the proverbial snowball’s shot either. Fighters wither fast. No one realized at the time that “Rampage” Quinton Jackson’s (28-8) knockout of “Iceman” Chuck Liddell (21-8) at UFC 71 in Las Vegas in 2007 was the beginning of the end for the MMA legend. If that’s the case with Emelianenko, why not spread the king-making around your heavyweight division and create another marketable name out of Silva?
Silva’s camp, American Top Team, doesn’t feel empowered to ask for the fight versus Emelianenko after Silva lost a unanimous decision to Werdum at at Strikeforce/M-1 Global west of Chicago last November. ATT also thinks Silva has the inside track for a title fight versus Overeem if the Werdum-Emelianenko matchup goes forward, and they’re quite content to fight Overeem for the title.
But, Overeem versus Silva is another consolation prize for the Strikeforce title. Werdum is the obvious top contender in the division and the hype behind the Werdum-Emelianenko fight was that the winner would fight Overeem for the title. Overeem was even flown in, interviewed for a prediction during the broadcast, and put on screen after the fight.
It’s time to order Strikeforce’s heavyweight division so casual fans can follow. Hell! So, I can follow. An Overeem-Werdum title fight will produce a legitimate champion to contrast with the UFC’s heavyweight champion and an Emelianenko-Silva fight is both legitimate after Emelianenko’s loss and smart for Strikeforce, giving Silva the opportunity to become another marketable name for Strikeforce.
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Comments
Werdum built an audience in the UFC ? lol
@The Guy
That’s your comment? About two words that have little to do with the point of the article?
Strikeforce is in a critical period not just for it’s heavyweight division but for it’s very survival. There are a number of interesting odds and angles concerning Silva, Overeem, Fedor, Werdum and the heavyweight divison in general.
First, if you matched Fedor with Overeem there are a number of problems. To begin, both have lost to Werdum so no matter who would win I believe most people would recognize Werdum as the uncrowned champion. Second, what if Fedor beat Overeem and, as most expect, Fedor walks from Strikeforce? That would make Fedor the second current Strikeforce title holder to leave the organization with title in tow (preceeded by Jake Shields).
Second, is Fedor/Werdum II. From a fan’s perspective I believe that Fedor should have a chance to avenge his only real loss and I think even as a businessman Coker believes this makes sense BUT it should be on CBS (or Showtime if a deal with CBS would fall through) not on PPV as Fedor has not been shown to be a PPV draw as the above article points out.
Silva makes sense for Overeem as many people believe that ‘Big Foot’ bested (or at least should have gotten a draw) Werdum in their match-up last November. Coupling that with a decisive win over Arlovski back in May should put Silva, at least in theory, on Stikeforce’s radar for Overeem. However, if Coker goes with Werdum/Overeem, then I think it makes sense to match Silva and Fedor together.
Finally Strikeforce has got to get Overeem to keep a name and profile here in the states and fight as often as they can get him. I say this as the Zuffa marketing machine is constantly pushing it’s heavyweight crop of Lesnar, Carwin, Velasquez, JDS, Mir and others. Not to mention if you have seen recent episode’s of ‘Pride’ on Spike they let you know that “their” guys (Shogun, Liddell, Big Nog) have already beaten the Strikeforce champ.
In ending, I think if Strikeforce plays it’s cards right they can come out with a nice landscape of credible heavyweights. Rogers/Arlovski II (could be kind of a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match), Fedor/Werdum II, Overeem/Silva along with the devlopment of Bobby Lashley and new signings of Valentijn Overeem and past Werdum conquerer, Sergei Kharitonov, could make Strikeforce’s heavyweight division a truly entertaining one.