Fabricio Werdum made Fedor Emelianenko tap to a triangle armbar. Neither's career will be the same from here out. But tonight's main event didn't just affect the two participants. Let's run down the list.
1. Fedor Emelianenko - The big one. As Luke Skywalker told the Emperor in Return of the Jedi, it was Fedor's overconfidence that proved to be his weakness. The Russian
paid no caution to Werdum's guard and paid the biggest price possible. When Fedor begrudgingly tapped, he lost the aura that made him so appealing to the MMA fan base. He's no longer FEDOR, but simply Fedor.
2. Fabricio Werdum - Well, someone's stock just shot up. I suspect Werdum will be ranked somewhere between 2 and 4, depending on how you view the winner/loser of Lesnar/Carwin and Cain Velasquez. Strikeforce may ask Werdum to take a rematch with Fedor, but the smart play is a rematch and title fight with...
3. Alistair Overeem - The Demolition Man just took a very long flight from Holland. He's not gonna get the chance to be the guy to beat Fedor. He'll get a chance to avenge a loss to Werdum as long as the next person on our list doesn't try to "make things right" for Fedor.
4. Scott Coker - There's so many questions for Strikefore right now. Unless there was an automatic rematch clause in the bout agreement, I believe Coker has to make the Werdum/Overeem fight. It kills any chance of Strikeforce entering the PPV market, but a second Fedor/Werdum fight won't exactly light up the buyrate either. While I can understand the temptation to try to "make things right" for Fedor, it would be an extremely hard sell to me for Coker to ask Werdum to fight Fedor again, instead of getting a title shot he deserves (as little as a Strikeforce title belt means). And if he does go with the logical Werdum/Overeem fight, who does Fedor get next? Josh Barnett? Antonio Silva? Can he renegotiate? Can he recognize sunk costs and cut him? So many questions...
5. Vadim Finkelstein - Biggest loser on this list. Vadim and M-1 Global simply bit the curb on this one. Yeah, Fedor lost, but he'll bounce back. Or he'll retire. As an individual, Fedor will be fine. M-1 Global, however, just took a serious punch to the gut. Their biggest bargaining chip is no longer the number one fighter in the world. He became "just another heavyweight". It will be very interesting to see how they handle this.
No comments:
Post a Comment