Former Pride Champs Fedor, Dan Henderson Excited for Strikeforce Superfight

Filed under: ,

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - Today's MMA landscape is vastly different than when Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson fought in Pride.

And while a superfight between the two former Pride champs was not beyond the scope of possibility five years ago thanks to the promotion's open-weight philosophy, it never happened.

On Wednesday, both Fedor and Henderson said fighting each other, as they'll do in the main event of Saturday's Strikeforce card outside Chicago, is something they never really considered until it came up earlier this year.

"Maybe it crossed my mind (in Pride), but Dan was in the light heavyweight division, so I never really thought about it hard," Fedor (31-3, 1 NC, 1-2 Strikeforce) told MMA Fighting through his translator after a workout at the Chicago Marriott Northwest, just down the street from the Sears Centre Arena in which they'll meet in Saturday's main event.

Henderson (27-8, 2-1 Strikeforce) said it wasn't until he signed with Strikeforce after leaving the UFC in 2009 that he looked at it as a possibility. And even now, Henderson believes a big reason for the fight happening, apart from Fedor being upset in the promotion's heavyweight tournament, is a lack of challengers for his light heavyweight title.

"Honestly, I haven't given it much thought," Henderson told MMA Fighting. "When I first signed with Strikeforce, the media and the fans were talking about it just because we were both in the same organization now. There wasn't a huge amount of depth (at heavyweight) at the time, so it was a possibility. But that's about all I thought about it - just being a possibility. After my last fight, with the lack of a No. 1 contender at light heavyweight, I think that's why this fight came about."

Henderson, who was a welterweight and middleweight champion in Pride and fought for the Japanese promotion exclusively between December 2000 and February 2007 before returning to the UFC, said beyond making light of it after beating Wanderlei Silva for the Pride middleweight title, such a superfight with Fedor was, not surprisingly, never really on the table.

"There were a ton of guys in Pride and a lot of depth in the different weight classes there," Henderson said. "They weren't limiting you to just the one weight class, but it was never offered to me and never even talked about in Pride. I think I made a joke about fighting at heavyweight after I won my second belt against Wanderlei, but that's about all it was - a joke. I didn't really plan on going to heavyweight to fight Fedor."

But now that the fight is a reality, both said they are primed for the opportunity to knock off a fellow legend.

"I'm excited about it for sure," Henderson said. "The opportunity to fight a legend like that and really test myself against him - he looks like he's in good condition for this fight - I'm excited."

And though Fedor wouldn't say what Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has said - that this could be the biggest fight in the promotion's history - the always reserved heavyweight legend admitted to being excited for the fight. It's a win that may be more crucial for him than Henderson since he's coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his long career.

"I won't comment on the organization's (biggest fight) - that's up to the fans and everyone else," Fedor said. "But the fight with Dan - I respect Dan a lot. He's a very famous title fighter. I'm looking forward to it - I have a lot of respect for Dan."

Henderson said he plans to come in in the 205-pound range for the fight. He said he believes Fedor ramping up his training camp for this fight has helped make a noticeably slimmer version of the Russian superstar.

"He seems a little trimmer," Henderson said. "I'm sure he's 5, 6, 7 pounds lighter. Not a huge amount. But I probably think it's just a matter of him actually training a little bit harder for this one. The last few fights, it didn't look like he was really focused on his training. He's probably in better shape now, which probably isn't the best thing for an opponent to be. But that's the Fedor I want to fight, is him being in shape."

Fedor and Henderson fight as the main event of Strikeforce's card Saturday at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, a northwest suburb of Chicago. The main card, which also features a women's 135-pound title fight between champion Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, as well as a middleweight scrap between former title challengers Tim Kennedy and Robbie Lawler, airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/07/27/former-pride-champs-fedor-dan-henderson-excited-for-strikeforce/

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

Matt Mitrione vs. Cheick Kongo Added To An Increasingly-Amazing UFC 137 Card

The two men who gave two of the best performances of the recent and amazing ?ufc on Versus 4? card have tentatively been scheduled to step inside the cage with one another. In one corner will be Matt Mitrione, the fast-rising Heavyweight that is a former ?Ultimate Fighter? member and has been taking the lower-tier [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/07/15/matt-mitrione-vs-cheick-kongo-added-to-an-increasingly-amazing-ufc-127-card

Royce Gracie Royler Gracie Ryan Gracie Peter Graham

Stefan Struve To Tower Over Pat Barry at UFC on Versus 6

The shortest fighter in the UFC’s heavyweight division is going to meet its tallest on October 1. That’s right, Pat Barry, in all his tighty whitey glory, is taking on “The Skyscraper” Stefan Struve at UFC on Versus 6. The UFC announced the match-up earlier this evening. ?Verbal agreements are in for a titanic battle [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/81HwSyA6lMY/

Lee Hasdell Musse Hasselvall Daiki DJ taiki Hata He Peng

DREAM Moves to Three 5-Minute Rounds; Uno vs. 'Lion' Inoue Booked for DREAM.17

Filed under: ,

DREAM, Japan's leading promotion is finally ready to return in full force as on Wednesday, event producer Keiichi Sasahara officially announced DREAM.17 for Sept. 24 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama Japan.

The event, which is expected to feature the opening round of DREAM's Bantamweight World GP, has only one fight at this stage. Two generations of Shooto champions will clash with Caol Uno and "Lion" Takeshi Inoue meeting in a featherweight attraction.

Sasahara also announced a rule change for DREAM, bringing the promotion slightly closer to the unified rules of mixed martial arts.

DREAM will be moving to the unified rules round structure of three 5-minute rounds for non-title fights and five 5-minute rounds for title fights. Until now, aside from the Sengoku vs. DREAM matches at Dynamite 2010, DREAM has employed the PRIDE Bushido round structure of one 10-minute round followed by one 5-minute round for non-title fights and one 10-minute round followed by two 5-minute rounds for title bouts.

Caol Uno, a former Shooto welterweight (154 lbs) champion and two-time UFC title contender, will come into the bout on the heels of his impressive victory over slugger "Wicky" Akiyo Nishiura. The decision over Nishiura in May marked Uno's first victory since May 2008.

"Lion" Takeshi Inoue, a former two-time Shooto lightweight (143 lbs) champion, employed his impressive counter-striking to pick up his first DREAM win on May 29, 2011 against DEEP ace Koichiro Matsumoto.

Although not officially announced, Sasahara also hinted that Satoru Kitaoka, former Pancrase and Sengoku champion, will also be making his promotional debut at DREAM.17.

DREAM.17 will be the first numbered event of the year for DREAM and will take place almost exactly one year after DREAM.16, which was held on Sept. 25, 2010 in Nagoya. Due to financial difficulties and the March 11 Japan earthquake, DREAM has only managed two down-scaled "Fight for Japan" events in 2011 until now.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/07/27/dream-moves-to-3-x-5-minute-rounds-caol-uno-vs-lion-takeshi/

Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber

Overeem out of Strikeforce HWT GP, but still fighting for Zuffa

The Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix has been very solid so far, but if there's one complaint it might be the amount of time it's taking to progress.

Zuffa, looking to speed things along, scheduled the semifinals for Sept. 10. Alistair Overeem says he can't fight in September, so now in a surprising move, Zuffa has dumped him from the tournament.

It's a shocking development, involving the guy who most still felt was the favorite to win the whole thing and eventually secure a fight with UFC champion Cain Velasquez down the road.

Instead, it'll be Daniel Cormier who steps up and faces Antonio "Big Foot" Silva.

The story picked up steam this afternoon when Overeem appeared on AOL.com's MMA Hour.

"What's going to happen next? I don't know. I've had some threats of cutting me out of the tournament if I don't participate. I don't know if they're going to do it. Personally, I don't like to be threatened. If people start talking like that then?be my guest, but then I'm really not going to sing to their tune," Overeem said.

"For them to unilaterally declare, okay, [September 10] is going to be the second round, which I never agreed on, and then threaten me if I don't want it, it?doesn't really show a lot of respect,"

It was more than "a lack of respect," there were actions behind the words. Overeem is out, but that doesn't mean he's getting booted from the Strikeforce roster. He's the Strikeforce heavyweight champ and UFC president Dana White pointed out that Overeem's still with the company.

"Sept. 10 was the date Showtime wants us to go, so it's the date we've got to go. It's unfortunate that Alistair is unavailable, but situations like this are why there are alternates in the tournament," White told MMAjunkie. "Overeem is under contract, and when his pinky toe heals up, we'll get him another fight," White said.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Overeem-out-of-Strikeforce-HWT-GP-but-still-fig?urn=mma-wp4782

Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle

Top 5 Best Moments Of Bellator 47

Bellator 47 was a solid event through and through, with several entertaining finishes and a few hard-fought wars of attrition. The finals of the Bellator ?Summer Series? Featherweight tournament were decided at Bellator 47, and several other fighters shined in non-tournament bouts. But which stars shined brightest, and what moments will fans be talking about [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/07/24/top-5-best-moments-of-bellator-47

Joe Hybrid Duarte Aldrin de Jesus  Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman 

Marquardt signs with the U.K.?s Bamma

Nate Marquardt isn't waiting around for the UFC to change its mind. The elite middleweight has decided to fight for one of the biggest international promotions, Bamma in England.

Bamma is highly successful promotion in the U.K. The next scheduled card comes in early September. That includes 185-pound title fight with Frank Trigg challenging Tom Watson. Paul Daley has been a big draw in the past as well for Bamma.

Through BAMMA P.R., Marquardt had this to say:

"Offers came in from several fight promotions, but we felt that BAMMA was definitely the best fit. They put on high-quality shows, stack their cards with top-level fighters, and sign those fighters to multi-fight deals.  They are also the only fight organization in the UK that implements PED testing," Marquardt said. "To be honest, that is one of the main reasons that we chose BAMMA. I want to prove to my fans and to the world that I'm the real deal and that I belong on top."

Liam Fisher from Bamma jumped at the chance to sign Marquardt.

"As soon as we received word that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission lifted Marquardt's suspension we jumped at the chance to sign him. He is a top ranked contender and an asset to any promotion. Words cannot express how excited we are that Marquardt is now fighting under the BAMMA banner," said Fisher.

Marquardt is expected to speak at length about the signing tonight on ESPN's MMA Live.

Marquardt and his management team spoke with U.S.-basedBellator, arguably the No. 1 non-Zuffa owned MMA promotion in the country, but nothing officially materialized.

Bellator was hoping to set up a fight between Marquardt and the promotion's unstoppable champion Hector Lombard. Lombard lashed out again at Marquardt on a local Miami-area radio station.

"He's getting offered more money than me, more money than anybody and he doesn't want to take the fight," Lombard told 790 the Ticket in Miami. "They offered him a one-fight deal. They didn't offer him any contract, a one-fight deal. Way more money than he was making in UFC."

It was previously thought that Marquardt may have turned down the deal because he was asked to enter a Bellator middleweight tournament and work his way up the ladder to get Lombard.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Marquardt-signs-with-the-U-K-s-Bamma?urn=mma-wp4948

Kotetsu Boku  Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar Lorenzo Borgomeo 

Voelker beats Bowling, Kaufman bloodies Carmouche at entertaining Challengers event

The Strikeforce Challengers series made its return to Showtime this weekend with their first ever event from Sin City and a card featuring a number of entertaining scraps including a pair of strike-based stoppages and Sarah Kaufman’s re-assertion as a force to be reckoned with. Broadcast live from the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/07/22/strikeforce-challengers-17-live-results-and-play-by-play/

Bao Ligao  Josh Barnett  David Baron  Phil Baroni

Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Silva And Sergei Kharitonov vs. Josh Barnett Rumored for September 10

With a series of shocking developments and interesting finishes, the first round of strikeforce?s World Heavyweight Grand Prix is now in the history books. Four men survived the first round: Sergei Kharitonov, Antonio Silva, Josh Barnett, and Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. We even know what second-round fights will take place: Overeem faces Silva while [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/07/15/alistair-overeem-vs-antonio-silva-and-sergei-kharitonov-vs-josh-barnett-rumored-for-september-10

Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha ChonanÂ