Coker Doesn’T Care What M 1 Wants Says Fedor Will Fight Overeem Bigfoot Or Kharitonov
(“Cheer up my friend, it is not so bad. No matter what, we will always have each other. And I will always have my nearly incalculable personal fortune. And you? Well, you squandered your fleeting fame and gave most of your money to the church … *cough* … did I mention we will always have each other?” PicProps: M-1 Global)
Despite claims by Fabricio Werdum’s manager that his client’s impending elbow surgery is not as severe as initially reported and that he’ll be willing and able to get back in action later this year, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker says a rematch with Fedor Emelianenko isn’t in the cards, at least not right now. Coker told Sherdog.com on Saturday that when he restarts negotiations about Fedor’s future with M-1 Global next week his short list of prospective opponents will include Alistair Overeem, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Sergei Kharitonov.
As for M-1’s insistence that Emelianenko be granted an immediate rematch with Werdum in the wake of the Brazilian’s stunning victory over Fedor late last month, well, the suddenly badass Coker doesn’t appear to give a damn about that.
“I just don’t think they’ll have a choice,” he told Loretta Hunt.
When Coker calls M-1 – assuming the phones still work at the company’s embattled office in the Netherlands – it will reportedly be the first time the two sides have spoken since Werdum made Emelianenko tap to a triangle choke just 69 seconds into the first round of their fight on June 26. You have to wonder if the first thing the Strikeforce boss will do is chuckle softly and ask, “So, how have things been for you guys?”
In his discussion with Hunt, Coker gave the impression of being bored with the idea of seeing Fedor-Werdum II so soon. Of course, his disinterest could have a lot to do with Strikeforce’s desire to book Emelianenko into a bout with Overeem at the top of its first-ever pay-per-view, on a card we learned this week might also include a fight between (gag) Bobby Lashley and Dave Bautista.
“To me, it’s only been a month (since Fedor vs. Werdum),” Coker said. “We saw the Werdum fight already.”
If not Werdum, Overeem appears to be the only halfway promotable fight for Fedor within the Strikeforce heavyweight division. Though the promotion signed Kharitonov last month, the former Pride fighter has an even lower profile in America than Werdum did before Coker boosted him into last month’s main event. Not to mention the fact that Kharitonov hasn’t fought in more than a year. It’s conceivable Strikeforce could try to build the match-up around Kharitonov’s earlier wins over both Overeem and Werdum, but you still can’t put that fight on PPV.
And even though Silva just beat Andrei Arlovski in May, it’s difficult to imagine a more underwhelming next fight for Fedor than Bigfoot. Seriously, that’s just dumb.
No, the only way for Strikeforce to capitalize on whatever is left of Emelianenko’s rapidly diminishing drawing power (in the last fight on his contract, we might add) is to pray it can make the stars align in order to book a meeting with Overeem. That way, if Fedor wins – assuming you can re-sign him — his rematch with Werdum is for the title. If he loses, it only better sets the stage for Overeem vs. Werdum.
Is it perfect? No. Can it happen? Probably not. But at least Strikeforce wants to try to make lemonade out of its sack of Russian lemons. And a fed-up Scott Coker who seems determined not to take any more of M-1’s bullshit? Well, that’s a Scott Coker we can get behind.