Chrom
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 |  Subject: Fedor: "it seemed to me that it was early" Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:55 pm | |
| - Quote :
- Perhaps the best indicator that there was some lingering controversy
surrounding the ending of Saturday’s Strikeforce main event was that Fedor Emelianenko actually voiced an opinion about it.
In the moments immediately following his first-round TKO loss to Dan Henderson,
the normally unreadable Emelianenko broke from his typical bland
platitudes about “God’s will” and love of country just long enough to
say -- however tepidly -- that, yeah, he felt a little cheated here.
“I think it was early,” said Emelianenko, who actually chuckled
(talk about historic!) when Showtime’s Gus Johnson asked him about the
referee’s stoppage. “I don’t want to say anything bad about the referee
or anything, but it seemed to me that it was early … I was clearly hit,
but I wasn’t hit flush [or] directly and it seems like I could have
continued, but the referee chose to stop the fight.”
While official Herb Dean did no obvious wrong in calling a halt to
the action with 50 seconds left in the opening stanza and Henderson
raining blows on a prone Emelianenko, Fedor’s frustration feels
justified. After all, the once-unbeatable fighter was just dealt his
third straight loss by an awkwardly timed ref’s interruption which came
just as he appeared to be mounting something akin to an intelligent
defense. Also reasonable is the irritation of many fans who think the
questionable ending left an unsatisfying stain on an otherwise great
fight.
And you know what? Maybe a little argument about the ending of this
bout isn’t the worst thing in the world for Strikeforce right now. Maybe
it even provides the struggling organization with its best promotional
opportunity in some time, if it can convince the two fighters to stick
around long enough to have a rematch.
The stoppage was certainly strange enough to call for it and it’s
not like the company has a multitude of other bankable fights on tap.
Heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem is reportedly gone, as is former welterweight champ Nick Diaz.
Women’s 145-pound titlist Cris “Cyborg” Santos remains in contractual
limbo and the promotion’s gala heavyweight GP feels largely hollow in
Overeem’s absence. Is Stikeforce really going to try to headline its
fall lineup with fights like Tim Kennedy versus Ronaldo Souza, Miesha Tate versus Sarah Kaufman and Tyron Woodley versus Tarec Saffiedine?
If so, the organization might as well hunker down and just wait for Zuffa to pull the plug.
Gegard Mousasi, isn't quite ready for the likes of Dan Henderson.
Fedor vs. Henderson II is certainly the biggest drawing fight
Strikeforce could make at this point, particularly if it could convince
Emelianenko to come down to 205-pounds for a nontitle bout. That way, if
he were to avenge Saturday night’s loss, the company could go for a
trilogy between the two with the gold on the line in a third
installment. Company CEO Scott Coker certainly wouldn’t argue with a
re-do and judging from his quotes, neither would Fedor. For his part,
Henderson said he still wants to defend his Strikeforce title and there
doesn’t appear to be anybody else ready to take him up on that offer,
with Muhammed Lawal still on the comeback trail and Gegard Mousasi coming off a draw during his last appearance with the promotion.
As always, the devil will be in the financial details. Both
Henderson and Emelianenko are believed to be free agents now and
speculation is that Hendo could be headed back to the Octagon, if he and
the UFC brass can agree on a reasonable contract this time around. Even
though Fedor’s options are admittedly more slim, negotiations with his
M-1 Global management group have never been easy. ESPN  | |
|
butterknifeninja
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| | Subject: Re: Fedor: "it seemed to me that it was early" Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:05 am | |
| Well of course he thought it was early, he probably doesn't remember getting KO'd | |
|
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