Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker: "We Don't Need Fedor Emelianenko to Take the Next Step"

The future for Fedor Emelianenko in strikeforce remains one of the most hotly-debated topics of the year, mostly due to the fact that both sides still have not been able to come to a deal ever since Emelianenko shockingly lost to Fabricio Werdum back in June of this year. Some have called for an immediate rematch with Werdum, some have called for Fedor’s retirement. Some insist that Fedor’s loss was one bump in an otherwise flawless road, others contend that Fedor was never all that good and the loss to Werdum simply proved this. In a new interview, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had some very interesting insights into the situation.

Here’s what the soft-spoken head honcho had to say in a recent interview with MMA Fighting, with text transcriptions courtesy of MMA Mania: “Do we need him to take the next step? I would say no. But was it a good move for the company? I would say yeah… These are the four things I look for [as a promoter]: Do you have drawing power at the gate? Do you move the needle for TV ratings? Can you obtain media? Are you going to be able to create the buzz for a big event? Fedor does all those things… Next year (2011) will be a big step for him even though he’s been fighting for such a long time… The guy’s a legend in the sport but a lot of the everyday fans here don’t know who he is yet. So, by the end of 2011, people will know who Fedor Emelianenko is.”

Even as a Fedor Emelianenko super-fan, I have to admit that he’s been unable to truly break into the mainstream despite Strikeforce’s best efforts. I won’t go as far as the doomsayers and say that Fedor will never be marketable and American fans will never embrace him, but I do think it’s a work-in-progress given things like Fedor’s stoic persona and his inability to communicate with American fans without a translator. And his loss to Werdum and the increasingly-longer breaks he takes in-between fights certainly doesn’t help.

But all hope is far from lost. Remember, this is a man I and many others consider the greatest MMA fighter of all time. His career may be winding down, but now more than ever he’s got an incredible chance to face top-level competition. Not since the glory days of PRIDE have there been so many lucrative potential match-ups for Fedor, and that does indeed take into account the fact that he’ll probably never compete in the UFC. Fedor was one of Strikeforce’s biggest acquisitions and remains one of its best assets, he’s still got plenty of time to capture the hearts and minds of American MMA fans and become the big draw every Fedor fan knows he can be.

In the end, I’m taking Coker’s comments in stride and I don’t think he meant to disrespect Fedor when he said them. Strikeforce doesn’t need Fedor to survive, but it certainly doesn’t hurt keeping him around and making sure they get the most out of him for as long as they have him. Strikeforce has grown to the point where one fighter does not make them or break them, and they should be commended for that. But they haven’t yet gotten to the point where they can do without a highly-ranked, widely-respected star if they have access to him. Strikeforce still needs Fedor Emelianenko, even if how much they need him has dwindled a bit.

At least, that’s how I see things, fans and friends. What about you? What’s your take on the matter?