MMAWeekly.com has now confirmed that Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced following Dream 13 on Monday in Japan that current SF poster boy—and arguably the best subpar league heavyweight MMA fighter in the world—Fedor Emelianenko will face off against Fabricio Werdum later this spring.
"M-1 Global and Strikeforce entered into a three-fight contract exclusive for Fedor to fight in a co-promotion between Strikeforce and M-1 Global, and as you know we did the first fight on Nov. 7 in Chicago," Coker told MMA Weekly.
"Fedor is now scheduled to fight in June toward the end of the month in America against Fabricio Werdum.
"I've heard the rumors as well [about Fedor vs. Hidehiko Yoshida], and as I know more I will let the media know in America, and let the media know here, but I believe that's just a rumor."
Normally it would blasphemous to mention the name Emelianenko—and that of a man who is possibly the No. 2 greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, Joe "The Brown Bomber" Louis in the same sentence, yet I feel it is applicable and somewhat appropriate in this case.
During his heyday in the early '40s, the legendary Louis, similar to counting sheep, faced a fresh new subpar opponent at the incredible and somewhat astounding rate of one per month.
Not one of these men were ever considered contenders, much less worthy of being in the ring with the murderous puncher and world champion.
So the cruelness of history, along with sportswriters and well-meaning scribes of the day who were not unlike myself, hard critics, correctly labeled this "motley stew" of offals "Joe Louis' Bum of the Month Club."
Today we have a much better alternative to the sometimes monotonous sport of boxing; it's known to this writer as cagefighting, or to some others, who hold a more conservative attitude, as MMA, or mixed martial arts.
The majority of caged warriors who compete in this sometimes-barbaric bloodsport are possibly the best complete or "well-rounded" fighting athletes that the world has to offer—and the best ones all have one thing in common, they fight for the world's premier promotion, the UFC.
There have also been fighters who, "back in Louis's day," would have undoubtedly been labeled as "bums"; however, for the sake of this article we will use the term "mid-level challengers" and mention that they tried their best.
Yet, thanks to the bitter cold north wind, those notorious "tomato cans" have long since come and gone, rolled away into the gutter like so much of yesterday's trash.
Incredible as it may seem, most of those names can also be found adorning the cover of the "well-hyped" and "well-padded" record of Russian-born Emelianenko.
These men had extremely horrifying nicknames, but sadly the handles didn't correctly describe the extent of their ferociousness.
Fighters such as "The Pitbull" Arlovski, The "Maine-iac" Sylvia, and laughable monikers such as (Bubble Gum) "Babalu" Sobral, or Matt "The Law" Lindlund, not to mention the never-ending smorgasbord of terrified unknown Japanese fighters.
It truly mystifies and mummifies most of Emelianenko's "zombie-like" fanbase that its so-called Emperor, sometimes known as "The Last Emperor," could face so many UFC exiles and "has been"-type fighters and still somehow remain undefeated.
Wow!
It's becoming blatantly obvious to this writer that the atrocious list of "all but forgotten" fighters mentioned above represents nothing less than an MMA version of the Brown Bomber's "Bum of the Month Club."
Don't get me wrong here, please; I'm not suggesting Emelianenko's skill is anywhere near that of the great Joe Louis...but I am sure that you see my point, and surely you can also understand my comparison.
A strange coincidence? I think not.
And so now, ladies and gentleman, if you will, you can quietly add the latest Strikeforce "world-beater"—the "almost-famous" UFC exile Mr. Werdum—to the above list.
Have a nice day.
