BREAKING: Scott Coker Expects to Book Fedor vs. Overeem-Werdum Loser

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/02/14/scott-coker-expects-to-book-fedor-vs-overeem-werdum-loser/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter

Quote :

Two days after Fedor Emelianenko suffered his second consecutive loss and said in his post-fight interview that it might be time to walk away, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he expects Fedor to return rather than retire.

And Coker already has an opponent for Fedor in mind: The loser of the April 9 bout between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.

"If the fighter doesn't want to fight you're not gonna want him to fight," Coker told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. "If the fighter doesn't want to fight the promoter doesn't make him fight. And if he wants to retire then it's time to walk away. But I don't think that's the case ... and I think the loser of Overeem and Werdum, that would be a great fight for Fedor."

A Fedor-Werdum rematch has been discussed since the night in June when Werdum shocked the MMA world and submitted Fedor. And a Fedor-Overeem fight has been viewed since Fedor first signed with the promotion as the biggest fight Strikeforce could put together. So it's easy to see why Strikeforce would be eager to book either of those bouts.

But there are questions about how that would work, and those questions go beyond whether Fedor wants to fight anymore. One thing that's not clear is whether an Overeem-Fedor fight would be for Overeem's Strikeforce heavyweight title. The Overeem-Werdum tournament fight is a non-title match, which means that Overeem would still be the champion if he loses to Werdum. Coker has previously said that if Overeem didn't win the tournament, it would be the tournament winner who would fight Overeem for the Strikeforce heavyweight title. Coker may have changed his mind now that Fedor has been bounced out of the tournament.

It's also not clear where the Overeem-Werdum fight will take place. Coker said he expects to know soon.

"We don't have anything to announce today," Coker said of the venue for the April 9 card. "There's nothing solid, nothing guaranteed."

No matter what happens with the Werdum-Overeem fight, however, Coker seems excited not only about the prospect of the winner fighting Antonio Silva in the tournament semifinals, but also about the prospect of the loser fighting Fedor, whom Coker said will return to the cage, despite comments suggesting otherwise.

"I'm sure he wasn't feeling good and he said, 'Hey, is this really worth it?'" Coker said of Fedor's post-fight interview. "But I have no doubt he will be back."

And when he is back, either Overeem or Werdum is likely to face him next.

as i said before I would rather Fedor retires but if this fight was to be made, id expect it to be against werdum and i give Fedor a big chance of winning that rematch

will see if M-1 signs the contract.

what contract are you talking about?

I don't ever want Fedor to fight again.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

I don't ever want Fedor to fight again.

I would be ok with this

killerofchicken wrote:

what contract are you talking about?

they would have to agree on the fighter right? seems that way cause they have refused to fight reem before and i remember silva was trying to fight fedor and reem a while ago right and no one stepped up?

Fedor has never "ducked" Reem and to still think that at this point is insane for a poster of a place like this. But who cares. Fedor's career is over.

josh200612 wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

what contract are you talking about?

they would have to agree on the fighter right? seems that way cause they have refused to fight reem before and i remember silva was trying to fight fedor and reem a while ago right and no one stepped up?

fedor signed a 4 fight deal as i remember... i really don't know what ur talking about

killerofchicken wrote:

josh200612 wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

what contract are you talking about?

they would have to agree on the fighter right? seems that way cause they have refused to fight reem before and i remember silva was trying to fight fedor and reem a while ago right and no one stepped up?

fedor signed a 4 fight deal as i remember... i really don't know what ur talking about

do you not remember when Coker tried to set Fedor up against Reem and they said he is not a worthy opponent? Those guys are very hard to negotiate with everybody knows this. they are the ones that pick the fighter not the promoter.

josh200612 wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

josh200612 wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

what contract are you talking about?

they would have to agree on the fighter right? seems that way cause they have refused to fight reem before and i remember silva was trying to fight fedor and reem a while ago right and no one stepped up?

fedor signed a 4 fight deal as i remember... i really don't know what ur talking about

do you not remember when Coker tried to set Fedor up against Reem and they said he is not a worthy opponent? Those guys are very hard to negotiate with everybody knows this. they are the ones that pick the fighter not the promoter.

there was a lot of back and forth, a lot of finger pointing but at the end Fedor faced off against Werdum and Bigfoot, 2 very good opponents, no reason to turn down a reem fight if it were to happen

Not surprised by this, was talking after the fights about a complete consolation bracket.

at first they said Fedor would be the number one replacement, which is a load of BS!

killerofchicken wrote:

at first they said Fedor would be the number one replacement, which is a load of BS!

That would not look good. He lost, not spectacularly or completely, but still it's a loss.

GDPofDRC wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

at first they said Fedor would be the number one replacement, which is a load of BS!

That would not look good. He lost, not spectacularly or completely, but still it's a loss.

those were my thoughts, i dont care that its FEDOR when these other dudes duked it out against eachother for a chance at replacing an injured fighter

I wouldn't mind Fedor fighting Werdum, but he needs to stay away from 275lbs guys like Reem. I would hope Coker realizes this an offers Fedor some interesting fights at a CW of 240 or so. Fedor is not done unless he says so. He is still a top P4P fighter. I just don't think he is gonna fare well against big guys like Bigfoot, Brock, Cain, Carwin, Reem, etc. I wouldn't mind seeing him fight Hendo. I can't think of any other fights in SF right now for Fedor at HW besides Werdum????

bigbeastcardinal12 wrote:

I wouldn't mind Fedor fighting Werdum, but he needs to stay away from 275lbs guys like Reem. I would hope Coker realizes this an offers Fedor some interesting fights at a CW of 240 or so. Fedor is not done unless he says so. He is still a top P4P fighter. I just don't think he is gonna fare well against big guys like Bigfoot, Brock, Cain, Carwin, Reem, etc. I wouldn't mind seeing him fight Hendo. I can't think of any other fights in SF right now for Fedor at HW besides Werdum????

I agree but my list of guys that both dwarf him and have technique and ability to fully exploit that is smaller, very small actually.

A consolation bracket of 4 makes for decent fights down the road this year though. I also think Val should fight SDR after the first round is over to make the super mega #1 Alternate.

All 'ifs' though with fighters status not being clear, retirement and all.

I don't think Fedor "ducked" Reem in the past, but if I were he, I would begin the ducking process now. as beast said, Fedor vs guys his size.

Werdum off a loss is the perfect matchup. Sergei vs Barnett/Rogers loser is another option.

And if Hendo wants it, I'd be cool with that.

Maybe Fedor could use this chance to cut weight to 205. Fight Hendo if he wins SF title. Will never happen, but worth an internet post at least.

GDPofDRC wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

at first they said Fedor would be the number one replacement, which is a load of BS!

That would not look good. He lost, not spectacularly or completely, but still it's a loss.

It was pretty complete to me.

that cant be true because this tournament allegedly tied up their entire heavyweight division for a whole year

timthebim wrote:

GDPofDRC wrote:

killerofchicken wrote:

at first they said Fedor would be the number one replacement, which is a load of BS!

That would not look good. He lost, not spectacularly or completely, but still it's a loss.

It was pretty complete to me.

lol, Yeah but it wasn't completely cool.

If a guy loses and is out of the tournament, other than potentially Overeem if he loses and has to fight the winner, they should be able to fighting again one would think.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/2/15/1994946/fedor-not-ready-to-retire-will-keep-fighting
Fedor Not Ready to Retire, Will Keep Fighting
vk_valetudoru tweets:

Fedor just said he is not quitting, he will have "few more fights" ahead of him. Fedor is back to Russia, pics from airport.
Fedor - "I rushed to declare my retirement. I will fight more. Possibly, I will return to the Heavyweight Grand-Prix. I am capable of having a few more fights. I didn't make any analysis yet on why I lost. I need to recover, I can't see very well yet."

Vladimir Voronov, SAMBO coach - "It's very nice that Fedor still has his fighting spirit, he is ready to rip everyone apart right now. Yes, his eye is swollen, but it will heal. Most importantly for him is not to have any psychological pressure. After this, he will train with a triple effort."

Alexander Michkov, striking coach - "Fedor is capable to return to the tournament. Everybody stumbles; this is not the end of the world."

i doubt its the effort, its how he trains!

I hope he isn't being pushed into this. I want him to continue his career win or lose, but if he wants to move on to other things I think he should.