Fedor vs Rogers whats Next?

Many would agree that the Fedor vs Rogers event was a huge success for the Strikeforce promotion. The ratings are reportedly solid in all the major demographics that CBS was aiming towards. But after having such a successful show, where do the fighters and the promotion go from here? WCS takes a look at what might be in store for the UFC’s toughest competitor, and some of this weekends winners.

Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko: Title shot or no shot?

Most people would assume that Fedor would naturally fight for the Strikeforce heavyweight title next. But Alistair Overeem, the current heavyweight champ, hasn’t defended his title in over two years.  Getting Fedor a matchup with the champ might prove difficult, even for Scott Coker the CEO of Strikeforce (as crazy as that sounds).

One would imagine that Coker would want Fedor to win the title, just based on the fan base of the Russian fighter.  Oh, yeah, and maybe the fact that “The Last Emperor” has been the number one ranked heavyweight for too many years to keep track of.  Surprisingly though, Fabricio Werdum (who also won this last Saturday) called out the Russian fighter, and Coker seems to be considering the matchup.  The CEO admitted that it “makes a lot of sense”.

Basically, Fedor will probably fight either Werdum (just for the heck of it), or he would vie for the Strikeforce heavyweight title against Overeem (if the CEO of Strikeforce can get the heavyweight to defend his title…at least once).

Jake Shields Strikeforce Middleweight Champ: Will he or won’t he defend his title before going after the welterweight title?

The Gracie jiu-jitsu blackbelt is riding a thirteen fight win streak (according to Sherdog.com) after his win over Miller.  So, it might not matter which division he fights in because he looks unstoppable.

With that said, there is much more competition in the middleweight division for Shields.  He has yet to fight the always exciting Nick Diaz, however Diaz would be a very good opponent for the welterweight division; as both fighters switch between the welterweight and middleweight divisions.

If all parties can agree, the winner of the upcoming Cung Le vs Scott Smith fight would be a very good test for Shields at middleweight.  Le was the last middleweight champ, but vacated the title to focus on a career in film.  However after only a month of vacating the belt, Le is back and fighting for the company.  Shields views this coincidence as an attempt by Le to purposefully dodge a bout between the two.

Hopefully, for the fans, Le takes offense to the allegation that he’s dodging Shields, and then goes out and beats Smith and agrees to fight Shields.  Heck, Shields doesn’t even need to put the title on the line if Le doesn’t think he’ll be around to defend it.  As it stands, a Shields vs Le fight would be the most interesting for the new champ.

Most likely though, Shields will defend his belt at middleweight at least once (perhaps against Ronaldo Souza in what would look like a submission grappling match) before moving down to the welterweight division to try for that title.

Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi: Is anyone left?

Mousasi is probably one of the most promising fighters in all of MMA at only twenty-four years of age.  The only problem is that he has already beaten the majority of Strikeforces contenders.

The Dreamcatcher”  has wins over Sokoudjou, Sobral, Hunt and Souza in his last four fights and is riding a fourteen fight win streak (according to Sherdog.com).  Strikeforce recently signed big name free agent Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal to compete in the light-heavyweight division, but with only five professional fights he is probably still to inexperienced to contend for the title.  Not only that, Lawal is already scheduled to fight an undisclosed opponent in December at Strikeforce: Evolution.

It will be interesting to see who Strikeforce can find to challenge Mousasi, as he is probably too big to cut down to middleweight.  But, if that’s possible, a bout between Mousasi and Shields would be awesome (although very very unlikely).  Strikeforce only has one other fighter ranked in the top fifteen in the division, and that’s Sobral, who was just beat by the twenty-four year old in July.

Perhaps if Lawal can win his debut fight with the promotion he can earn a title-shot, otherwise who else is left for Mousasi?

Strikeforce: How does Coker follow up on Saturday’s success?

There are two things that Coker can do to help continue the success the promotion has experienced so far.  Number one is to continue with positive media exposure.  The second is to continue to aggressively recruit talent.

Strikeforce needs to continue to feature shows on CBS and provide good quality cards for the fans if they want to be successful.  No duh, right?  Well, it’s easier said than done.  That’s why talent is important too.

Coker is doing a good job of keeping shows coming regularly.  There’s the Strikeforce Challengers series for the regular Showtime shows, and now he has implemented other, larger, shows. More big time shows helps to keep his promotions name in the mainstream media which is the ultimate goal.

Another way Coker has stayed in the media is by signing big name free agents.  The Strikeforce CEO has recently signed Lawal, Herschel Walker, and Marius Zaromskis.  All three signings (especially the Walker signing) were talked about in the media.  Wisconsin native Ben Askren, Dan Henderson, Shanya Aoki, and Bobby Lashley are all potential free agents that Strikeforce could go after.

Expect Strikeforce to use the success from Fedor vs Rogers as a blueprint for future shows.  The exposure and revenues gained should allow the promotion to sign one or two of the free agents mentioned above, which will help build the Strikeforce roster and make the bouts more competitive.

Coker seems to have the company moving in the right direction, his slow and steady approach, while maximizing media exposure should be enough to give the UFC cause for concern.  Expect Strikeforce to follow the current strategy and continue to build its fan base and solidify itself financially.

by Maxwell Destree

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