The signing of Fedor Emelianenko changed everything between Strikeforce and the UFC. Dana White had been cordial in the past with Scott Coker and his fight promotion but this Fedor thing is personal for him, as so many issues are. White started lobbing bombs at Strikeforce last week (VIDEO) before UFC 101 calling it "Strikefarce" and said Showtime has no viewers and no money. Showtime's VP of Sports Programming Ken Hershman sat down with Cagewriter to discuss the business and the negativity coming from White (3:37 mark):

"If we were that irrelevant he wouldn't be making those comments. It's unfortunate but that's his personality and that's his style. To us it's a ringing endorsemnent of what we've done and what we've accomplished. Remember they have a 100 event head start on Strikeforce. What Scott's done in a very short time shows the power of Showtime as a vehicle."

Hershman also thinks UFC's counterprogramming efforts tomorrow night are a good sign(5:30 mark):

"We're used to it. It shows that we're making headway,"  Hershman said of going head-to-head with a UFC 100 replay on SPIKE. "Counterprogram all you want, there are plenty of opportunities to watch this show live and on delays after the fact, and it's all part of the [Showtime] subscription price."

Hershman spoke at length about the Fedor deal saying it was very responsible and that in spite of White saying "it'll put Strikeforce out of business," Showtime and the fight promotion are going to make a lot of money. So how did he and Coker get a deal done so easily when UFC claims M-1 Global, Fedor's management company, is impossible to deal with?

"The difference again is our approach Our approach to the sport and [M-1's] is compatible, and I guess UFC's wasn't. Sometimes it's not about the dollars you put on the table at the moment. Sometimes people have more of a longterm vision of where they want to take their business and that worked to our favor."

Hershman also debunked the thought that "co-promotion" was an outrageous request from M-1 and Fedor. Showtime and Strikeforce are targeting October 10 as the date for Fedor's first fight.

Join Cagewriter in San Jose for some Strikeforce preview on ESPNRadio1100 today between 3-6 p.m. ET. We're back tomorrow with live fight-by-fight blogging at the HP Pavilion. Maggie Hendricks will have a live chat here once the main card starts at 10:30 p.m. ET. And on Sunday morning at 1:30 a.m. ET, ESPNRadio1100 presents the only live postfight show from the Strikeforce press conference. LISTEN HERE.