With Fabricio Werdum Sidelined, Fedor Emelianenko's December Opponent Remains a Mystery

It’s looking more and more likely that the rumored December/New Year’s Eve fight pitting former PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion and formerly top-ranked Pound-for-Pound fighter Fedor Emelianenko against an as-yet-unnamed opponent will be more style than substance. Alistair Overeem has already declined the potential match-up. It’s also recently been confirmed that Fabricio Werdum, the man that shocked the world and handed Fedor the first legitimate loss of his career when he caught him in a triangle and forced Emelianenko to tap out, has undergone successful elbow surgery and will be out for the next several months. Even though Werdum and his manager recently stated that a return in early 2011 was possible, a fight in December is definitely a no-go.

The surgery was to remove some bone fragments from Werdum’s elbow, and according to a report on Sherdog.com, Werdum is feeling great and is already doing physical therapy. Even as a massive Fedor fan, I’m really looking forward to seeing Fabricio Werdum back inside the Strikeforce cage. I admit that I like many others unfairly judged Werdum to be a UFC cast-off that had seemingly no chance against the best Heavyweight Mixed Martial Artist ever. Werdum shocked the world and  proved that he belongs near the top of the Heavyweight rankings, and I can’t wait to see how he capitalizes on this massive victory. Whether it’s an immediate rematch with Fedor or a fight with Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, I think Werdum’s return fight will generate quite a lot of interest and should be very exciting.

But who should Werdum face, really? It seems that everyone would like to see an immediate rematch, but in all honesty, I think the most logically sound next fight for Werdum is against Overeem. Werdum did the impossible; he deserves his shot at the gold. The Fedor rematch will always be available, even if Werdum loses to Overeem it will still be a huge money-maker. If Werdum does lose, he still pulled off one of the biggest upsets ever seen in MMA. In fact, I think Werdum could lose his next five fights and people would still want to see the rematch. It’s just too good of a story to not see a second chapter. And if Werdum somehow beats “The Demolition Man”, which I assure you is no small task, then the added bonus of Fedor/Werdum 2 being for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship should inspire even more interest in the fight.

But where does this leave Fedor Emelianenko? I’ll be honest here: he’ll probably fight a can in Japan or Russia, just to rebuild some of that momentum. Is it a cheap move? Yes indeed it is. And the negatives far outweigh the positives. He’ll lose some credibility by beating a can instead of jumping back into the mix with Strikeforce’s best, that’s for sure. Just like beating an overstuffed Matt Lindland or an overmatched Hong Man Choi, fighting in December without any real meaning won’t do any real good. And he could lose again, of course. Stranger things have happened, like Fedor losing in the first place. And that would certainly be detrimental to his career. Or he could even develop an injury or re-injure a preexisting one, forcing him to sit on the sidelines with the Strikeforce roster perhaps even further passing him by.

So I’m officially coming out against Fedor Emelianenko fighting in December. There are way too many risks and not enough rewards, even when you consider that it’s one of my favorite fighters fighting again. This is a crucial point in Fedor’s career: for the first time there’s actual evidence supporting the cynic’s theory that Fedor was never all that he was cracked up to be. Point blank: Fedor needs big wins over serious competition, not a gimme fight to pad out his record and get him back in the W column.

But what do you think, fans and friends? How interested are you in a December Fedor fight now that both Werdum and Overeem are not available?