Fedor fighting in May, Not on April's CBS Card

After weeks of doubt about the fighter's once-expected participation, Fedor Emelianenko will not, in fact, fight in April during Strikeforce's return to CBS airwaves.

According to a report from MMAFighting.com, M-1 officials today said at M-1 Selection Eastern European press conference that Emelianenko will fight Fabricio Werdum – but not until May.

Strikeforce officials have not confirmed plans for the April show, but as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported on Wednesday, it could move to Showtime (or be delayed altogether) now that Emelianenko won't be involved.

As part of his contract with Strikeforce, Emelianenko's fights have to air on CBS rather than its premium-cable partner, Showtime, which has a fraction of the audience.

If it does go on, Strikeforce's April show is likely to take place April 17 in Nashville, Tenn., though Tennessee Athletic Commission Executive Director Jeff Mullen told MMAjunkie.com the organization hasn't officially requested the date. A long-expected bout between Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields and UFC veteran/recent signee Dan Henderson would likely take the event's headline slot, and a likely bout between Strikeforce 205-pound champ Gegard Mousasi and Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal could take the co-main-event slot.

Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz on Wednesday said the organization hopes to have the event details locked in by week's end.

As for Emelianenko's involvement, MMAjunkie.com reported on Wednesday that it had been downgraded from questionable to "unlikely." With M-1's confirmation that Emelianenko will fight in May, a recently rumored May DREAM meeting with Alistair Overeem now also would appear likely.

Emelianenko (32-1 MMA, 1-0 SF), a longtime PRIDE champion who made his Strikeforce debut with a November 2009 victory over Brett Rogers, and his M-1 management team previously mentioned Werdum (13-4-1 MMA, 2-0 SF) as the Russian's likely next opponent. The former UFC fighter is 2-0 in Strikeforce with wins over Mike Kyle and Antonio Silva.

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So it could be Werdum or it could be Overeem?

Either opponent is good. Werdum has the best grappling pedigree in MMA right now while Overeem the best striking pedigree. Overeem also has the best suppliments.

It would be nice if Fedor starts fighting more. I could be wrong but it seems like he fights every 10 months to a year? I understand that it is important for him to be on CBS rather than Shotime though. Strikeforce is running the show good by not planning and rushing everything so fast. I need my Fedor fix is all I am saying.

Fedor also hurts his hands slamming them into men's faces at 200 mph.

Fedor sucks anyways, no big loss.

Yeah, when he landed that shot on Rogers, I told everyone in the room that he had to of broken his hand again. I'm glad he didn't this time.

Fedor's timelines drive me nuts.

As long as Fedor is fit and healthy I am willing to wait.

boomer sooner wrote:

Yeah, when he landed that shot on Rogers, I told everyone in the room that he had to of broken his hand again. I'm glad he didn't this time.

Fedor's timelines drive me nuts.

He did hurt his hand...

Wolfgangsta wrote:

boomer sooner wrote:

Yeah, when he landed that shot on Rogers, I told everyone in the room that he had to of broken his hand again. I'm glad he didn't this time.

Fedor's timelines drive me nuts.

He did hurt his hand...

Actually he did. Recently he was training to compete in the Russian Combat Sambo Championship and once again he injured his hand.


Aleks ended up winning it. He beat Baby Fedor in the finals. -

excuses, excuses. He needs to fight more. I know he has injured his hand a few times, but that still doesn't count for all of the elapsed time between all f his fights the past three years. I could be wrong and please correct me if I am, but didn't he say he wanted to start fighting 2-3 times a year last year? I honestly can't remember if that was him or not.

Maybe he should throw his punch differently instead of hitting people with the index finger knuckle.

Farmer1906 wrote:

Maybe he should throw his punch differently instead of hitting people with the index finger knuckle.

didn't we say this last year also? Man this Fedor stuff is like Groundhog day.