The first round of the quarterfinal matchups are as follows: Fedor Emelianenko (32-2 (1NC)) vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (15-2) and Alistair Overeem (34-11 (1NC)) vs. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1) will make up the first bracket, while bouts between Andrei Arlovski (15-8) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (17-4), and Brett “The Grim” Rogers vs. Josh Barnett make up the second bracket of bouts.
Reserve bouts include matches between Shane del Rosario (10-0) vs. Lavar Johnson (15-3) and Ray Sefo (2-0) vs. Valentijn Overeem (28-25).
The announcement means that Fedor and his management have finally come to terms with Strikeforce after renegotiation’s took place after the Russian’s loss to Werdum last summer. Many fans have been left with a bitter taste in their mouths over the negotiations, it will be interesting to see how well fans warm up to Fedor once he steps into the cage. “The Last Emporer” has signed a four-fight extension with Strikeforce, so we should expect to see him on Showtime for at least the next year.
Signing Fedor and putting the heavyweight tournament together is great news for Strikeforce as they stand poised to control the fate of the heavyweight rankings.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker talked about bringing all eight heavyweights together, and hopes to have the tournament completed by September.
“Timing is an issue with these fighters. I feel fortunate to have all these guys in the tournament. Fabricio was injured and wouldn’t be ready to fight in February. Alistair and Fabricio wanted to fight one another. In Japan, Alistair told me he wanted Werdum.
“What better way to identify who is the greatest heavyweight out there in our division? We felt this was the best way to put that together. I promised the fans that we would let all these guys fight each other.”
(Quote: source ESPN.com)
Their rivals in the UFC heavyweight division are in a bit of a shambles right now. Current champ Cain Velasquez is out for the next six months or so with a shoulder injury, leaving top contender Junior dos Santos sidelined till the two can meet later in the year. Former champ Brock Lesnar doesn’t appear interested in getting into the octagon anytime soon as there are reports he hasn’t trained at all since his loss. Roy “Big Country” Nelson is currently dealing off the table as he’s being sued for breach of contract by another fight promotion and therefore unable to fight in the octagon. While former #1 contender Shane Carwin is recovering from neck surgery. The heavyweight posted a note on the Underground Forums saying he’d be ready to return in May but who would he return against?
This leaves a couple of tough veterans, such as Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, as well as a few young up-and-comers, like Stefan Struve and Brendan Schaub, left in control of the UFC heavyweight division. There are no real ground breaking matchups to be made here and it only benefits Struve or Schaub to fight a bigger name.
All of that adds up to making the Grand Prix tournament probably the greatest heavyweight spectacle of 2011 and should have fans salivating at the possibilities.
An interesting note about the tournament and the Strikeforce heavyweight title. Overeem will not be giving up his title but will instead defend it against Werdum in the opening round of the tournament. The winner will then move on and defend the belt against the winner of the Fedor vs. Silva match, and the winner will then defend the title in the finale. Well that is the plan anyway but an injury could take the champ and the title out of the tournament. All title matches will be five-five minute rounds while the rest of the tournament bouts will be fought under the normal three-five minute rules.
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