Scott Coker confirms Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson possible for Summer event
Posted on April 10, 2011, 05:32 PM by Joey SantosusStrikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson and "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko could meet as part of a Summer event, according to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker.
Although verbal agreements are currently in place, the match-up is not yet official. The main point of contention between the camps has reportedly been the weight at which they would meet. Earlier rumors of a Light Heavyweight bout have been ruled out, however, according to SI.com, Emelianenko is proposing a catchweight of 215-220-pounds, while Henderson prefers the fight be contested at Heavyweight (265-pound limit).
In his latest effort, Emelianenko was defeated via TKO (doctor stoppage) by Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. The loss, which eliminated him from the promotion's Heavyweight Grand Prix, marked his second in a row after having suffered his first legitimate defeat against Fabricio Werdum several months prior. Though he openly discussed the idea of retiring following the consecutive losses, Emelianenko has since reconsidered and resumed training for his return.
Henderson, meanwhile, left the UFC to sign with Strikeforce in 2009. After a disappointing decision loss to Jake Shields in his promotional debut, he rebounded strong with an impressive first-round knockout victory over fellow veteran Renato "Babalu" Sobral. The win earned him a shot at then-champ Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante last month, whom Hendo dispatched via third-round TKO to capture the Light Heavyweight title.
Although Strikeforce is now owned by ZUFFA, who both fighters have had negotiations stall with in the past, Coker assures that this will in no way conflict with the fight materializing. Stay tuned to LowKick for more info as it becomes available.
Comments
Either way catch weight or LHW it is a good move for Fedor to be out of the HW for now
i think fedor still has few fights left on hw division but not with strong bigger guys like overeem, fedor henderson is also an exciting fight to watch
I think Fedor only has 1 more fight on his contract, correct me if im wrong
yah i think so, but with the strikeforce-zuffa deal i doubt it will be his last :)
anyone else find it odd the Fedor wants to cut weight, and Dan wants to fight him at HW?
Ya, it really doesn't matter what the official weight is, Fedor is fighting a top tier fighter WHO IS HIS SIZE. This can answer a lot of questions of whether or not he's still got it.
So basically Coker hasnt confirmed anything of course it possible for this summer, The Pope vs Larry King is possible this summer.
yes he confirmed it was possible just like i confirmed it was possible i will win the lottery. almost anything is possible tell us if it is likely or probable to happen
Fedor has scrapped with people bigger than him many times, except differance is that Big Foot had the skill and the ubber stregnth to overcome Fedor. Plus i think Fedor is past his prime
This better not be for a damn title. Swear Fedor is on a 2 fight losing streak, if hes gettin a title shot then changes mos def need to be made.
i dont get why hendo cares if its 220 or 265, as long as he gets over 206 its fine for him
dude your delusional dan henderson talked about fighting fedor before zuffa purchased strikeforce.. your just a pissed off nobody who is mad because zuffa is taking the sport to the next level so you are trying to find anything to bitch about get over yourself dumbass and move on
He was an "angry nobody" far before Zuffa did anything. He's just a hater, plain and simple. Every post for like the last year from that guy has been conspiracy theories about Dana, UFC, Zuffa, etc. So pathetic.
I'm 100% positive that he has received more "Weak"s than anyone else on this site, by far. But that still dont wake him up and make him realize anything.
profile says he's still 'trainin for strikeforce' so he must want to be a 'zuffadog' employee? :)
just by seeing your post makes me want to skip it and go directly to weak, its like your making a diary.
Once again proving how delusional you are.
You gave away by your comments that you werent even a fan of Fedor at his prime! How are you acting like his biggest fan when all you seen was replays of his biggest fights? You dont know what he was in the pride days, you just know highlights.
You show how truly delusional you are when you talk about tainting barnetts sample and our "magic sunglasses".
You need to look in the mirror with those magic sunglasses and see yourself for what you are. You werent even a fan until UFC got big. That makes YOU a "Zuffadog zombie". Not everyone else. You can tell just from looking around that hte majority of people who are on this site were fans of MMA long before Zuffa was around. There are people here who actually watch Fedor fight in his prime WHEN THOSE BIG FIGHTS WERE HAPPENING. When he was a rising star, not looking back at highlights 'thru their magic sunglasses" and talking about how hes the greatest ever when you werent even around for that.
No matter how much hating you do on Zuffa, you can never change the fact that your an imposter, a fraud that is in denial that Zuffa is what got you interested in MMA. It's not proving anything but arrogance and delusion.
If anyone on here does not know this already (unlikely) they know not to listen to this incoherent babble as soon as you said that UFC personal trainer crap. UFC Person Trainer is a video game....
Besides, how dont you realize that a fight vs Werdum, Bigfoot, or Overeem isnt going to happen because A) He has already been eliminated from the tournament and they have not, and B) he already lost to 2/3 of them consecutively so another loss will lose him just as much respect as his last 2 losses, and if he wins it wouldnt gain him back what he had in the first place.
Fedor vs Henderson is legend vs legend, bigger than any of those matches anway. Plus they were both at their prime in the same era.
i dont care that both are coming out of thier primes they both throw dynamite and this is a Super Fight
lol give a guy on a losing streak a title shot that makes sense....
The fight cannot be a Light Heavyweight title fight... They are fighting at either a catchweight or Heavyweight...
As Joey said above it won't be for the title since it won't be at LHW.
I think that will change now that SF has new managment
At least Fedor looks to be fighting another top tier fighter... how many times have we seen him beat a big name and then take a fight that makes no sense to the mma world?! This is the consistancy mma fans have been crying out for, for years he's fought Werdum, Silva and if this fight gets made Hendo all back to back... win or lose Fedor is stepping up and I've got nothing but respect for him for that!
If he wins this fight he'll be in fighting shape and in a better place mentally to fight the werdum/ overeem loser... here's hoping!
Cro Cop? Big Nog? Heath Herring?
How is this comment weak?
I guess people's memories are short.
So foolish....
First, you said Fedor is at the end of his career, u know Hendo is much older than Fedor... right?
Second, "Zuffadog" isnt making the match, because everyone knows Fedors management does not have any deals with "Zuffadog". It's still between Fedors management, Coker, and Showtime.
Third, you prove your own comments as delusional when you say "the vid is of hendo saying it would be an honor to fight Fedor". That shows that the FIGHTERS want the fight.... so who the hell are you to complain about them fighting each other when even THEY want the fight?
Fourth, you say "Why risk of losing against someone 35lbs lighter thats not the way back to the throne", if "hendos wrestling wont work on Fedor because hes a heavyweight" what risk would there be fighting someone 35lbs lighter? If he's so good that hes working his way back to the throne there wouldnt be no risk! Your repeatedly contradicting urself.
Fifth, if you opened your eyes for a second you would see that Fedor had MUCH MORE TO LOSE and MUCH LESS TO GAIN in his last 3 fights than he does vs Hendo.
If your going to take so much time to post at least make some sense... if Fedor himself were ever to read your posts he would be ashamed.
If you were so sure he was going to win it, u wouldnt be worried about it being a "risk" to Fedor. That alone goes to show how you really feel about the situation even if you dont want to admit it to yourself.
Like I said before, theres 10x less risk going in to a fight with Hendo than there was with his last 3 fights. How come you werent complaining then when he went in to fight with absolutely nothing to gain and lost far more than he has in the rest of his career?
If you want the truth, before the "Zuffadogs" were around, his stint in Strikeforce tarnished his legacy more than Zuffa ever could.
T666 is king of lowkick!!!!!
The same argument could be made about the Machida/Couture fight. Good fight for Fedor, good fight for Hendo, especially since there is no #1 contender atm (due to Jardine/Mousasi draw). And at Catchweight, no belt is on the line. Sounds like SF is bringing interesting match-ups, which wasn't prevalent prior to the Zuffa purchase. It appears BS has infiltrated your brain.
Catchweight or Light Heavyweight I don't care, this could be an amazing bout!
Hendo is one of the greatest mma fighters of all time. How can you worship Fedor and not have respect for Henderson?
Fedor would slap you for disrespecting Henderson.
Fedor hasnt really gone for many subs as of late. Hes gonna need to use all his tools for this one because there is a very high chance hes gonna get taken down. Amazing match up, cant wait.
why the hell is fedor smiling in the pic above? that is no way for the killer russian robot to behave.
This is an awesome fight.
Veteran vs Veteran. Legend vs Legend.
I'm just drooling at he thought. Both Hendo and Fedor have those huge bombs (knock out power) and love to scrap. This match up screams out Fight of the Year.
I don't know why people are freaking out with the LHW title. It's not on the line folks, if you've bothered to read then you would know that this fight is taking place at a Catchweight.
Otherwise, excellent news. I'm very excited.