When Affliction folded (way to go, Josh Barnett), there was a huge amount of hype assuming that Fedor Emelianenko would sign with Dana White and the UFC. Well so much for that! Much to Dana White’s chagrin, Fedor has signed on with Strikeforce, another premier MMA promotion and perhaps the only promotion that can hold a candle to the UFC.

In Dana White’s own words, he called Fedor a, “f----ing joke” and I certainly have to agree with him. It’s not that Fedor is hiding from Brock Lesnar or Randy Couture in the UFC, it has much more to do with the idiot scumbags that represent him. The management team at M-1 Global was asking White and the UFC to help co-promote many of M-1 Global’s endeavors, essentially asking White to fund and push their own interests. White’s interests and dedication are to seeing that the UFC dominates the MMA scene, and that he houses the best fights that fans want to see.

White emphatically rejected M-1 Global’s “ludicrous offers’ and stated emphatically that he feels, “sorry for the real fight fans. I wanted to make the deal, but it takes two and it is very obvious Fedor doesn’t want to fight the best, and doesn’t give a s--- about the fans!”

In a recent documentary about Fedor, the big Russian made it clear that fighting was a means to an end for him. He wants good competition, but supporting and being close to his family in native Russia is of his number one priority. As fight fans, our number one priority with him is getting him in the ring with the reigning Heavyweight Champion of the UFC, Brock Lesnar. Sadly, it’s a dream match that will have to wait.

And while many detractors say that Fedor is shying away from etching his legacy as the greatest MMA heavyweight of all time, you really have to consider the shallow UFC heavyweight contender scene before you make such a bold claim. Randy Couture is old. Shane Carwin is unproven. Cain Velasquez has perhaps the best chance of unseating Lesnar, but it would take a lucky punch to do so. Frank Mir was torn to shreds by Lesnar, and Cheick Kongo is like a supermodel who doesn’t know how to make a sandwich – pretty to look at, but nothing much after that.

Strikeforce’s heavyweight division isn’t as celebrated, but Alistair Overeem and Brett Rogers are just as worthy as anybody listed above, aside from perhaps Frank Mir. Former WWE talent, Bobby Lashley, is in the picture too. The deal that Fedor signed is for three fights, and that will likely take him through the end of 2010. He ritually fights in just 2-3 fights a year and has not lost since December 22, 2000.

The ploy, however, might work in Fedor’s advantage. If he plows through the competition in Strikeforce, as he’s expected, and Brock Lesnar does the same, it would put the two on a destined collision course. Fans would scream for the match, and like any good promoter Dana White would absolutely have to deliver. Of course, as I’ve stated in the past, all it will take is one lucky punch, or lucky submission, to derail the massive hype of Lesnar-Fedor, but the odds of that happening right now are very slim. Strikeforce has, at the very least, the ability to promote Fedor on a grand scale.

Fedor-Lesnar is the dream match we all will have to wait for. But given the potential for the hype to build for another year, it will be well worth it when it happens. The heavyweight division is simply not what it should be, and with only 2-3 real contenders out there for Lesnar or Fedor (Carwin, Velasquez and Overeem), it’s a fight I’m willing to wait for…especially if it leads to more tirades from Dana White!


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