The Emperor Falls

Fedor lost on Saturday night.

That was the big MMA headline from the weekend and it will have repercussions for many months to come. No longer can Fedor fanboys claim their man is invincible. No longer will Fedor have that mystique about him that may have helped contribute to some of his victories, as opponents psyched themselves out. Now, he's human. Now he'll have to earn his crown back.

Is he the #1 heavyweight? Maybe, but now it isn't just the "he hasn't fought in the UFC yet," argument that spearheads the nays, but a new "he lost to a UFC cast-off" argument has taken the lead.

Werdum is a very good fighter. At one time, he seemed to be a scary up-and-comer in the UFC. Then he lost a couple of fights and was somewhat harshly discarded by the organization. He went into his fight with Fedor as an 8-1 underdog, though. Was the betting line justified? Or was this an example of money setting the line? How many people were really betting on Werdum?

I'm not sure that I was. He had lost to power before, after all, in the form of Junior Dos Santos. That KO is on highlight reels. But I had always felt Fedor was overrated or, at least, that there were holes in his game. I haven't seen too many of his fights, but the ones I have seen showed a fighter who could knock you out at any moment, but who looked somewhat clumsy in the interim. Clumsy is the lifeblood of Brazilian jiu-jitsu; make a mistake and it's over.

Sure enough, Fedor looked very clumsy as he pounced on a fallen Werdum in the hopes of a quick finish, but it was Werdum who would end the fight with a triangle choke/armbar combination. Fedor was even given an earlier opportunity to second-guess his attack as Werdum almost caught him in a triangle seconds earlier. But Fedor fell right back into position.

Clumsy.

So what now? Fedor has one more fight on his contract. That third fight was supposed to be for the belt and, ideally, a big fat new contract as champ. But unless Fedor waits the better part of a year for his next fight, that's not going to happen. Werdum will get Overeem first.

Was this M-1's miscalculation? Were they banking on the third fight being the title fight? It seems odd, doesn't it, that the "greatest heavyweight in the world" was not getting a title fight sooner?

And what does this mean for Strikeforce? Is the organization screwed, like Elite XC was when Kimbo lost, or is this actually healthy for the organization as it gives other fighters in the division more credibility?

Time will tell, I guess. Strikeforce will have to do more work to sell their product, one presumes, as they are more reliant upon a single face than is the UFC (Silva? GSP? Penn? Lesnar? Couture? Chuck, even?).

The next few months will go a long way to determine whether Strikeforce will survive in the long term.

In the meantime, check out reactions to Fedor's loss here.

Strikeforce - Carano mauled by Cyborg

Strikeforce held their first pay per view post-Fedor signing on the weekend, so it was a bit of a coming out party for them – an opportunity to really make some noise and win over some MMA fans.

But as I predicted the other day, they ended up killing one of their golden geese.

Cris Cyborg Santos pretty much humiliated Gina Carano. It was really a mismatch, as Cyborg is naturally the bigger gal (and is far more talented). Still, one would have hoped Carano would have made it close, and I’m positive the Strikeforce powers that be were praying she’d pull out the win.

Instead, Santos dominated from the opening seconds, while Carano backpedalled to the fence and covered up as much as possible to avoid the Cyborg barrage. Santos landed heavy shots, took Carano down at will and threatened to submit “the face of women’s MMA” at numerous times with heel hooks and rear naked chokes. Carano offered little in return other than a few haymakers, none of which landed effectively. Cyborg even managed to push Carano down with a face wash!

The end came in somewhat controversial fashion as the ref stopped the fight with about a second to go in the first round. Carano was clearly overwhelmed and beaten, but had the ref known the round was nearly over, he would have done better to let the fan favourite recover between rounds and face her fate in a more clean-cut fashion. Instead, Cyborg’s victory lap was met with confusion from fans who thought their heroine might have been saved by the bell. Boos rained down on the ring from fans who thought it was an early stoppage.

Maybe, but at any other second it would have been completely justified. Carano was defeated.

So what’s next for women’s MMA? Do people really want to pay to see Cyborg defend against nobodies? Or will Strikeforce look to build up the next comely gal who has any level of skill as the next big thing to challenge the evil Santos? I don’t see it happening. There’s a reason the UFC has stayed away from the ladies division: the level of competition simply isn’t there. Cyborg looked good, but even her style is ugly.

Strikeforce will be putting all of its eggs in the Fedor basket now. If he loses…watch out.

Strikeforce - Carano vs Cyborg

This Saturday features a head-to-head match-up between the UFC and Strikeforce... kinda.

Strikeforce, the upstart MMA promotion, will be holding a live event while the UFC counters with a free presentation of some of the UFC 100 fights.

I live in Toronto, so the only way for me to get Strikeforce is on Super Channel (I think), which I don't get (I get, like 500 channels - but not that). So I probably don't have too much of a choice - I can catch the event at some bar (maybe - I don't know any that are showing it) or stay at home and watch a UFC event I've already seen for the most part. I'll see what I can do, but odds are I won't be able to catch the Strikeforce event and I'll be more than happy to catch a couple of fights I missed from UFC 100 (Bonnar-Coleman, Jones-O'Brien) on my TiVo.

I wanted to check out the Strikeforce card, though, so I looked up their website, which is pretty basic next to the UFC's. One of the things I like about the UFC site is the event breakdown with photos, record, weight, height and links to the fighter's profile. The Strikeforce event page is pretty sparse with no direct link to the fighters embedded. Strikeforce would do well to improve their look and get greater free exposure up north. The UFC has learned that Canadian fans are rabid about MMA.

I don't know many of the fighters on the card, so I won't bother picking winners. I'll say this: Strikeforce lives and breathes via "the face of women's MMA" - Gina Carano. They have now acquired another big name - Fedor Emelianenko. The Carano-Cyborg fight is one fans have wanted to see for a long time, but be careful what you wish for. Cyborg is the bigger lady and Carano is talented but not flawless (at least in her fighting style). I would be surprised if Cyborg didn't kick her ass - which may kill the golden goose, much like Kimbo's big loss was the death knell for EliteXC. Fortunately, Strikeforce has Fedor as a back-up, but imagine what would happen to the organization if Gina and Fedor both lost within the year. Fedor will be fighting meatheads, but it could happen. No one gave Seth Petruzelli a chance against Kimbo, either.

Here's the Strikeforce card:

MAIN CARD (BEGINNING AT 7:30PM):

Gina “Conviction” Carano (7-0) vs. Cris “Cyborg” (7-1) – 145lb Female Championship

Renato "Babalu" Sobral (35-8) vs. Gegard Mousasi (25-2-1) - Light Heavyweight Championship

Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (15-2) vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida (18-5-1) – Lightweight Interim Championship

Jay "The Thoroughbred" Hieron (17-4) vs. Jesse "JT Money" Taylor (13-3)

UNDERCARD (BEGINNING AT APPROXIMATELY 5:30 PM)

Mike "Mak" Kyle (12-6-1) vs. Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum (11-4-1)

Scott Lighty (4-0) vs. Mike Cook (7-4)

David "Tarzan" Douglas (4-1) vs. Justin "The Silverback" Wilcox (5-3)

James Terry (6-1) vs. Zac Bucia (2-3)

Isaiah Hill (4-6) vs. Alex Trevino (3-0)