Fedor Emelianenko - Image: Zuma Press

Here’s the deal: so long as Fedor – considered by many to be the best MMA fighter on the planet – isn’t in the UFC, there’ll be a whole segment of fans who won’t be happy with any of the opponents he faces. To them, it’s Brock or bust. Or at least Randy Couture or something! Having Fedor in Strikeforce is like keeping a whale in a fish bowl. But that’s not entirely fair. There are a few moderately interesting fights in that bowl, and Brett Rogers is one of them.

I’ll admit, it isn’t because I think Brett Rogers has a decent chance of winning the fight. He’s got a puncher’s chance, which against Fedor is complicated even more by the fact that he can put you on your back before you even get that punch.

The reason I’m into this match is because it’s a great underdog story. You could take Brett Rogers’ tale and turn it into a Rocky style movie one day (or Rocky 2 movie if he actually manages to win). You see, two years ago no one had even heard of Brett ‘the Grim’ Rogers. Even after he began to climb the rankings with knockout wins on EliteXC’s short lived CBS shows, he was still generally ignored as a prospect. At one point he ended up back at his old job at Sam’s Club rotating tires because he wasn’t getting fights.

Then Strikeforce picks him up and booked him against former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski. Up until that point Brett’s biggest opponent had been James Thompson of puss-eared Kimbo fight fame, and everyone saw it as throwing Rogers to the wolves. But Rogers didn’t just win … he destroyed Arlovski in 22 seconds. And suddenly Rogers found himself on everyone’s heavyweight top ten list.

Here’s where Fedor comes into the picture. The Russian was set to fight Josh Barnett at a show earlier this month but Barnett failed a pre-event steroid test. Another opponent was needed, and Brett Rogers was at the center of many people’s chatter. Even Fedor and his management chimed in, saying Brett Rogers was the opponent they’d like to fight. Unfortunately, instead of replacing Barnett with Rogers, the entire event was canceled.

And that brings us to today. While not as dramatic as a last second replacement fight would be, Brett Rogers will get his shot at Fedor sometime in November (Strikeforce is being secretive of the date to try and keep the UFC from organizing a competing event). And while the guy probably doesn’t stand that much of a chance against Fedor, there’s something pretty exciting about seeing him get an opportunity after all the crap he’s had to go through. And if there’s ever a guy who embodied the harsh MMA reality that anything can happen in a fight, it’s a power puncher like Brett Rogers.

Post from: EveryJoe

Strikeforce announces Fedor vs Brett Rogers

Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg - Image: Showtime Sports

The fight in question is Gina Carano versus Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos. Gina as a former muay thai fighter turned mixed martial artists who some of you might recognize from her time on the new American Gladiators show where she played ‘Crush’. Cris Cyborg is the most feared female in mixed martial arts … a muscled beast of a woman from Brazil who has won five of her seven MMA fights via knockout. The two will be squaring off for the Strikeforce 145-pound title in a fight that many have been anticipating for over a year.

The two originally circled each other in the now-defunct EliteXC league where Gina proved herself as a ratings powerhouse and Cyborg burned through the division with ease. The company folded before a fight could be set up, but Strikeforce stepped in and picked up both women’s contracts. This Saturday at 10pm on Showtime, the two will face off in what has been dubbed ‘Beauty and the Beast’ by many in the media.

Also on the card is a fight between former UFC light heavyweight contender Babalu Sobral and rising star Gegard Mousasi. Babalu was cut from the UFC after refusing to release a chokehold on a tapping opponent and has gone 4-0 since then with wins over Bobby Southworth (for the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt) and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. Gegard Mousasi is possibly the hottest prospect in mixed martial arts right now, coming into the event with a 12 fight win streak. He just won the DREAM middleweight tournament in Japan, a kickboxing bout against K-1 star Musashi, and then knocked out a super-heavyweight Mark Hunt for good measure.

Also on the televised portion of the card, Jesse Taylor (best known for getting kicked off the 7th season of The Ultimate Fighter) will face Jay Heiron, and Gilbert Melendez and Mitsuhiro Ishida will have a rematch for the Strikeforce lightweight belt. All in all it’s a great night of fights and it’s free if you get Showtime. Yeah, that’s like saying ‘It’s free if you pay 5 bucks’, but when you’re an MMA fan, getting events for less than 40 bucks is cause for excitement.

As mentioned yesterday, the UFC is trying to crush this card by replaying UFC 100 on Spike the same night, so if you don’t get Showtime or just wanna bounce back and forth between events, that is also an option.

Post from: EveryJoe

Gina Carano vs Cris Cyborg This Saturday

UFC 100 - Image: UFC

So what’s the occasion for the UFC to be so nice about giving away it’s content? Rival promotion Strikeforce is running it’s own MMA show this Saturday on Showtime, and the UFC has a long history of counter-programming it’s competition. While some see that as dirty pool, for those with DVRs it just means twice as much action!

Here’s the fights from UFC 100 that will be shown on Spike: Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir (UFC Heavyweight title unification bout), Georges St Pierre vs Thiago Alves (UFC Welterweight title fight), Dan Henderson vs Michael Bisping (Ultimate Fighter 9 coach fight), Stephan Bonnar vs Mark Coleman (previously unaired), Jon Jones vs. Jake O’Brien (previously unaired), and Shannon Gurgerty vs. Matt Grice (previously unaired).

As for the Strikeforce card, I’ll be breaking that down more later today but it features Gina Carano vs Cris Cyborg (for the Strikeforce Women’s 145 pound title), Babalu Sobral vs Gegard Mousasi, and Gilbert Melendez vs Mitsuhiro Ishida 2 (for the Strikeforce lightweight title). This is a great card as well and if you happen to get Showtime and want to check out some more non-UFC action, I highly recommend it. Those of you who took my advice and checked out the WEC last Sunday already saw a great night of fights and this card is looking like it will be just as good.

Post from: EveryJoe

UFC 100 replay on SpikeTV this Saturday

Nick Diaz - Image: Showtime Sports

Why did Nick skip out on the testing? Because he knew he would fail. Nick has never kept his pot smoking a secret and has paid for it several times in his career. In 2007 he was suspended for six months after a post-even drug test revealed he was baked out of his mind during a fight. And another fight was called off in 2008 because he told the commission he smoked marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Once again, Nick Diaz’s camp isn’t trying to hide the fact that he’s been smoking pot. Their claim is that they had ‘an informal arrangement’ with the former head of the California State Athletic Commission where Nick’s medical marijuana card (related to Attention Deficit Disorder) allowed him to smoke. Unfortunately for Nick, the former head was forced out over a sex scandal and the new people in charge never got the memo.

So rather than submit his pee and risk another suspension, Diaz decided not to show for the tests. His pot smoking damages his career yet again, and Strikeforce loses one of their more popular stars for their big card this weekend.

Post from: EveryJoe

Nick Diaz Off Strikeforce Card Over Pot

Fedor Emelianenko - Image: Zuma Press

The reason behind Strikeforce’s coup? They agreed to the one sticking point that the UFC wouldn’t: co-promotion. Fedor’s management and various other staff made it very clear that they wouldn’t work with the UFC unless they were treated as full promotional partners. For the UFC, this meant changing their entire business model and handing over up to half of their pay per view revenue simply for the right to feature Fedor.

For the UFC, it would have been an absurd acquiescence. But for Strikeforce it was no big deal. They regularly co-promoted with other companies in the past, and since they’re not raking in over 40 million bucks a pay per view, there wasn’t a huge amount of pesky money in the way to make Fedor’s demands unreasonable. In a way, demanding a co-promotion with Strikeforce makes so much sense that I have to wonder if Fedor’s team even expected or cared if the UFC agreed to the same terms. They already had their next promotional goal lined up, and now they’ve locked in the exact deal they wanted.

What having the #1 fighter in the world will mean for Strikeforce is debatable. This isn’t the first hopeful promotion that has signed Fedor hoping he would take them to the next level. He has been a common ingredient in the downfall of many promotions, mainly because those that sign him tend to forget how hard it is to make money off the guy. He may be a badass in the cage, but he’s still a chubby boring man who can barely speak English. That may have worked out okay for Chuck Liddell (insert rimshot here), but I have my doubts Fedor is the game-changer everyone thinks he is. The rubble of the last promotion he worked with is still smoldering and companies are still courting him like he poops giant golden eggs. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself … again.

Post from: EveryJoe

Fedor Snubs UFC, Signs With Strikeforce

Gina Carano - Image: Zuma Press

Kit Cope is a kickboxer and mediocre MMA fighter who’s best known for an appearance on MTV’s True Life and a run in the WEC that ended with a positive test for steroids. Actually, that’s not really true. Kit is best known for being Gina Carano’s ex … they were actually engaged at one point.

Now don’t ask me why he did this, because I don’t have the answer. But he recently went on MMA Junkie radio and had a discussion about a Gina Carano sex tape, whether Gina Carano’s breasts are real or not, and how badly she’s gonna get her ass kicked (his words, not mine) if she keeps training with Randy Couture instead of where she used to train (in other words, with Kit).

All in all it’s an interesting display that hopefully teaches all the girls reading this to stop dating douches and give me a call instead. You can listen to the entire segment in the video below.

Post from: EveryJoe

Gina Carano’s Ex Talks About Sex Tape

Tito Ortiz - Image: Zuma Press

According to Tito Ortiz, he will be starting a new promotion with Strikeforce called Punishment Fighting Championships, which Tito will both manage and compete in. I have no idea how the hell that’s supposed to work, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the ‘new promotion’ is just a differently branded Strikeforce event which Tito gets a cut of the profits from. And that’s if the whole thing ends up happening at all – Tito has been known to talk out his ass on numerous occasions regarding unfinished business deals. Didn’t he learn anything from his time on Celebrity Apprentice?

As for the possibility of returning to the UFC, Tito has said it will never happen so long as Dana White is president of the UFC. I could write a novel about the bad blood between them, but suffice to say they’re not fans of each other. It is worth noting however that quite a few informed people are still betting on the Huntington Beach Bad Boy returning to the UFC in the end. Something to do with money talking and something else walking?

The good (or bad, depending on your opinion of Tito) news is that all signs point towards Tito returning to the cage by the end of the year. As unintentionally entertaining as he can be outside the cage, I’d rather see him fighting than talking any day.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tito Ortiz Talks Return to the Cage