On Saturday, July 3rd, I sat astonished with the rest of the world when top ranked MMA fighter Fedor Emelianenko of Russia tapped out to a triangle choke in the first round of his much anticipated bout against slick Brazilian Jujitsu heavyweight Fabricio Werdum at the Strikeforce event held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. I could only stare bewildered with my mouth hanging open like large mouth bass about to take down a purple worm. I was not only amazed at the loss, which had not happened in over ten years of fighting, but also that it happened so quickly in the first round. Fedor seemed to take the loss in stride and made some inspiring remarks afterwords as well.
The loss should not present any setbacks for Strikeforce. Strikeforce has been successfully carving out their brand in the UFC-dominated realm of MMA. To compete with the UFC, the San Jose based MMA organization has been gathering solid fighting talent by signing world class fighters like Emelianenko, Werdum, Heavyweight title holder Alistair Overeem, Nick Diaz, "King Mo" Lawal, and Dan Henderson.
In addition, Strikeforce is the main stage for the growing field of female fighters. Launched by the photogenic kickboxer Gina Carano, the women's ranks are starting to swell with talent as well. Women's champion Cris "Cyborg" Santos has been dominating all of her opponents, but it won't be long before the women's talent pool is deep enough to really challenge for the title.
Despite the recent loss to Fabricio Werdum, Fedor Emelianenko is still the best fighter on the planet. The loss does present some setbacks to the Russian fighter and his M-1 Global handlers, but don't think for a second that he won't bounce back and dominate for another 10 years. Look for a title bout between Fedor and Overeem a lot sooner than later.
