Strikeforce announces Emelianenko-Henderson
LAS VEGAS – Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker officially announced on Saturday the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson fight for July 30 at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
The fight, which had been heavily rumored for months, will be at a 220-pound catch weight bout, which means Henderson’s Strikeforce light heavyweight championship will not be at stake. There had been rumors the fight would air on pay-per-view, but it will instead be broadcast on Showtime.
Emelianenko (31-3, 1 no contest), who was considered the top heavyweight in the sport for a number of years, has usually fought between 230-235 pounds, so this would be the lightest weight he has fought at since winning the PRIDE heavyweight title in 2003.
The 220-pound catchweight was a compromise between the respective camps. Coker said Emelianenko’s camp made it clear that Fedor is a heavyweight, and was not interested in fighting as a light heavyweight.
There had been a lot of speculation regarding Emelianenko, who is smaller than almost all top heavyweights these days as well as smaller than many light heavyweights, dropping down after losing his last two fights as a heavyweight to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
Henderson (27-8) personally said that he would fight Emelianenko at any weight, but his camp negotiated the catchweight deal. The 220-pound limit was actually agreed on a couple of months back. Henderson is actually a small light heavyweight, who has fought extensively as a middleweight. His regular body weight without cutting is barely 200 pounds, whereas most modern light heavyweights walk around between fights at 215-240 pounds.
Henderson became the second oldest major champion in the history of the sport behind former UFC champ Randy Couture, when, at 40, he captured the light heavyweight title from Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante on March 5 in Columbus, Ohio.
Tickets will go on sale for the fight on June 4. No other fights were announced for the show.
Coker also made the official announcement of Sara D’Alelio (4-1) as the opponent for Gina Carano on June 18 in Dallas for the next major Strikeforce event on Showtime. Carano (7-1) was the biggest drawing and most famous of the women MMA fighters, but hasn’t fought since her loss to Cris “Cyborg” Santos in the summer of 2009.
Carano, who will fight at 145 in Dallas, and has had issues making that weight in the past, is planning on eventually dropping to 135 pounds for a prospective title fight with Marloes Coenen. Carano did fight at 135 in her Muay Thai days before 2006, but has not fought at that weight since becoming an MMA star.
Several other items were announced at Coker's Strikeforce press conference was The prelims on the Dallas card will air live on HDNet. The show two will feature two lightweight fights, J.Z. Cavalcante (15-4-1, 1 no contest) vs. Justin Wilcox (11-3) and K.J. Noons (9-2) vs. Jorge Masvidal (21-6). Most likely, one of the winners of these fights will be the next challenger for champion Gilbert Melendez. The scheduled has a two-hour show on HDNet starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, followed by five live fights on Showtime.
Coker also indicated that Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz’s next fight would not be against UFC champ Georges St. Pierre, but a title defense on a Strikeforce show. A St. Pierre vs. Diaz fight would be one of the most anticipated fights in the sport if it happened anytime soon.
The final announcement is that Strikeforce will make its Las Vegas debut on July 22 at The Pearl at the Palms Hotel for a Challengers show, which will become the permanent home for all future Challengers series events. Roger Bowling (9-1) vs. Bobby Voelker (23-8) will headline that show. The two fought twice last year on Challengers events, with each winning one.
