And Now He’s Fired: Fedor Emelianenko Released From Strikeforce

(Fedor Emelianenko following his TKO loss to Antonio Silva in February. Photo courtesy of Cagewriter.)

Dana White confirmed during a UFC 133 press conference today that Fedor Emelianenko has been released from Strikeforce in the wake of his first-round TKO loss to Dan Henderson last weekend, which was his third-consecutive defeat in the organization. Unlike the recent cuts of Alistair Overeem and his mates from Golden Glory, this one shouldn’t really surprise anybody considering Fedor’s recent struggles and Dana White’s long-held opinion of him and his management. From an MMAFighting report:

“He’s being cut, yeah,” White told the media. “Why? Do you think we should keep him? … You guys thought he was the pound-for-pound best in the world, but I thought he was overrated for years.”

Interestingly, Emelianenko could fight again on Showtime. M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan told MMAJunkie that the Last Emperor still has a contract with the premium cable channel, and may appear on future M-1 Global broadcasts. Either way, his days competing for Zuffa appear to be over, and it’s a sad moment for an MMA legend who was thought to be unbeatable for the better part of a decade.