Fedor to Strikeforce?

After Affliction closed it's doors, MMA fans have been waiting to see what the future holds for many fighters. However, the one fighter on every one's mind is Fedor Emelianenko. For the last week, Dana White has been negotiating with M-1 Global to make Fedor a UFC fighter. However, M-1 Global has repeatedly refused to accept any deal that doesn't include co-promotions with M-1. Dana White has remained steadfast in his refusal to co-promote with any other fight organization. White indicated this weekend that it did not appear likely that Fedor would be signed by the UFC. It appeared that Emelianenko would be headed back to Japan where the competition is weaker and the fights are not televised here in the States. However, Strikeforce has reportedly made an offer for Fedor that includes paying him $1 million dollars per fight and allowing for co-promotion with M-1 Global.

I'd like to take a look at the implications that a deal like this holds for Fedor, Strikeforce, and the fans of the sport. This is a great deal for Fedor! This deal gives him a large purse for each fight and allows him to co-promote, while offering him quality heavyweights to match up against. Strikeforce currently lays claim to a heavyweight roster that includes Alistair Overeem, Paul Buentello, Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers. This would give him stiff competition for quite some time, while also allowing him to get the exposure of being a household name.

For Strikeforce this could go either way. On one hand, they're signing the man who is viewed by many as being the top heavyweight fighter in the world. On the other hand, they're paying one fighter $1 million dollars a fight which is similar to the contracts handed out by the now defunct Affliction MMA. Is this another case of a smaller MMA organization paying too much for their fighters, which will eventually lead to their downfall? For many reasons, I don't believe that it is. Strikeforce has been in the fight business a long time, opening their doors in 1985 as a kickboxing operation. They switched from kickboxing to MMA in 2006 and began promoting events. They have a stable of fighters that includes: Phil Baroni, Nick Diaz, Gina Carano, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Robbie Lawler, Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Joe Riggs, Kevin Randleman, Benji Radach, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Evangelista Santos, Frank Shamrock, Jake Shields, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Bobby Southworth, and Josh Thompson among others. Affliction was known for putting all of their eggs into one basket by signing a slew of top heavyweights, while leaving their other divisions to suffer with mediocre fighters. That is clearly not the case with Strikeforce. Affliction only had 3 shows scheduled over the course of an entire year. Strikeforce has put on 5 shows this year already and in 2008 had 8 shows. Strikeforce has been around a long time and is in no way a flash in the pan organization such as Affliction. Affliction or "the t-shirt guys" as Dana White called them, jumped into a pool without knowing how to swim. Strikeforce is led by Scott Coker, who has been swimming strong since 1985.

The biggest winner if this deal does happen is the fan of MMA. Strikeforce has deals with Showtime and CBS! That means that we could see Fedor Emelianenko fighting on FREE TV!!! While I would rather see Fedor fighting the top heavyweights that the UFC has on their roster, Strikeforce has the potential to make some very interesting fights that fans would love to see. Though, it appears there will be no Fedor vs Couture or Fedor vs Lesnar, Fedor vs Overeem or Fedor vs Rogers are a pretty good consolation.