The time is upon us again! Get out the red carpet, put on your city clothes, and do your hair up like the movie stars. Fedor Emelianenko is back in the cage and this is no circus fight. The Last Eporer will continue his streak of fighting legitimate heavyweights as he takes on former UFC fast riser Fabricio Werdum. As Strikeforce continues to set up the collision course between Overeem and Emelianenko they also feature the first Women’s Champion in American MMA and try a do over for Cung Le vs Scott Smith.
First thing’s first though, Josh Thomson is back in a Strikeforce cage and looking to make his way back to a title fight. Across the cage stands the epitome of a journeyman sporting a mediocre record in MMA. Pat Healy has a ton of experience in the sport but his selection for this fight is clearly based on the fact that he will likely provide Thomson a rebound. I expect Healy to be game as I have come to usually expect when someone is set up for defeat but Thomson should be on his way to a rubber match with the Strikeforce LW Champion using his superior athleticism and technique.
Thomson and Melendez might not be the only rubber match set up on June 26. Strikeforce is going to try their plan of having Cung Le notch a flashy win over Scott Smith one more time as they give Le the immediate rematch with the man who ruined his return party. Fort anyone who missed Schott Smith v Chung Le the first time around, it is a must watch. Smith’s come from behind KO of Le is one for the record books shocking, casual fans to pundits and youtube watchers to attendees. Obviously SF was looking for Le to get the win in their initial match and in turn it should be no surprise that they have set up the rematch. In fairness the first bout was such that a second go makes sense; one man dominated and the other man won. Even if Smith loses this one, fans should demand a rubber match. If you are going to make Smith fight a man he already beat let him get as much acclaim and big match press for it as possible, even in defeat. Turn this into a trilogy lets see if they can make it epic. That all said, Le should have better luck this time around and will likely have learned his conditioning lesson. He can’t teach his chin to take a Schott Smith punch though and that is why Smith is always in this fight.
Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is in all seriousness one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world today. Her dominance of the 145 pound women’s division thus far has been as impressive as anyone at this point and there is no end in sight. Sure she lacks the competition that male divisions have at this point in their maturation, but that doesn’t account for the fact that she looks to be about 3 or 4 levels above her closest peers. Strikeforce seems to be grasping at straws to find her challengers as they bring in Jan Finney, and 8-7 fighter that often fights a weight class lower than the dominant champion. Finney is on a four fight win streak, her most recent coming against previously 17-3 fighter Adrienna Jenkins. Unfortunately two of her other opponents only have one fight on their pro record (against Finney) and the third has a sub .500 resume. Cyborg should not take the veteran lightly but I tend to expect more of the same brutality we have seen from the champion in the past. Santos is just too fast and too sharp for her peers. MMA might be witnessing the development of a legendary champion. Each fight will either build her legacy or prove a monumental upset.
Speaking of the development of a legacy, Fedor has gone well beyond that and I constructing a full blown mythology around himself. Every fight with Fedor is either another brick in his monument or the emperor finally falling. Each opponent of Fedor since he returned to serious Heavyweight competition against Tim Sylvia has presented unique challenges and each was dealt with accordingly. At the risk of sounding like a broken record I have to maintain that this challenge is quite serious and quite dangerous. Werdum is well rounded and threatening both on his feet and on the ground. While he faltered against fast rising Junior Dos Santos, he has otherwise shown crisp boxing with a propensity to finish and very slick ground-work, particularly with regards to sweeps and control. If Fedor underestimates Werdum for one second he could find himself in a world of trouble. Werdum is not flashy, he is not the big name nor doe he have the look of a killer; however, I tend to count this a more serious threat than Sylvia, Arlovski, or Rogers for Fedor at this point. I do however expect Fedor to use his scary power on the feet to keep Werdum honest. Emelianenko is a master of timing and he can put Werdum down at any moment. On the ground Fedor is harder than your average HW to keep down. His hip work is second to none and once on top his ground and pound is brutal. I would be a bit surprised if he were able to catch Werdum in a submission but he should be able to sweep him into good positions. I don’t expect to be writing about the fall of an emperor on Sunday but anything is possible in this crazy sport. Hype aside, I never pass up the opportunity to watch The Last Emperor fight.
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