Fans and the MMA media are still up in arms over the events of last weekend & rightly so. A main stay of both the top 3 in both the heavyweight division and P4P mma trinity (alongside GSP and Anderson Silva) his loss suffice to say is kind of a big deal. The messianic overtones of Fedor and his mystique have been displayed in the most literal of interpretations.

UFC PPV/Showtime?!? The dream of co-promotion lives on. From Bloody Elbow

Even ESPN got in on the action, albeit incorrectly labeling the event a UFC & Showtime collaboration. Promotional misnomer aside, the idea that something big happened in the world of UFC/MMA/human cockfighting was noticeable even amongst the casuals and passers by.

From the silly to the sobering truth, mma fans will find a way to cope and eventually move on. If anything the upset of upsets brings up to a new revelation of Mr. Emelianenko’s new found humanity, we will no longer assume invincibility and now will have to really analyze his fights. Realistically assessing the threats his opponents pose and vice verca. In the end this fight made Fedor what he always wanted to be seen as a fighter and not a god

From MMA Junkie,

Strikeforce and M-1 Global’s co-promotion relationship won’t end with just Fedor Emelianenko.

M-1 Global officials announced late Wednesday night that six-time M-1 Challenge veteran Magomed Shikshabekov (6-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) will fight in the U.S. for the first time when he meets Ron Keslar (5-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) at “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum.”

Nice to see something fruitful happen with M-1’s partnership with Strikeforce. As opposed to the standard renegotiation, stalling and general frustrations they are known for.

The bout is expected for the unaired preliminary portion of the card, though Strikeforce has yet to officially announce the matchup.

….

M-1 Global advertises a perfect 11-0 record for Shikshabekov, though some of his fights are currently unrecognized in major U.S. databases. A welterweight prospect with an aggressive submission attack and explosive striking, Shikshabekov is considered by many observers to be a top prospect in the 170-pound division.

In part 3 of Alistair Overeems online documentary, he defends his Strikeforce Heavyweight title against Brett Rodgers. We are offered new angles to appreciate Overeems destruction of The Grimm. Now the even longer wait for Overeems next opponent: the winner of Fedor vs Werdum, begins.

The most interesting section of this episode in my opinion was seeing Big John McCarthy give Overeem and his camp his interpretation of intelligent defense. After years of hearing “We went over the rules in the locker room” here you actually get to see what is actually said and described. It reinforced my already rock solid belief that Big John is one of the finest referees this sport has ever had if not the best.

Strikeforce goes to St. Louis MO to host its Heavy Artillery event. I will be focusing primarily on the main card, this event will also feature the first title defense from the organizations longtime heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem who won the title back in 2007. Now onto the picks.

Main Event: Heavyweight Championship

Champ Alistair Overeem vs. Challenger Brett Rogers

This will be Overeem’s first time fighting on U.S. soil since he won the title oh so long ago. Alistair has been keeping busy since then with a steady diet of tomato cans and trying his hand at K-1 racking up a 6-4 record against some of the worlds best. Brett Rodgers is coming off the only loss in his career in a spirited performance against the consensus best heavyweight in the world Fedor Emelianenko. While The Demolition Man may be the more technical striker he is not invincible.

Rodgers will get battered but as long as he stays away from Overeems nightmarish plum and clinch knees he will be okay. After surviving the initial onslaught from Alistair, The Grimm will turn the tables, expect the fight to end in brutal fashion.

- Rodgers will have the power and the belt via TKO

- Brett

Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva

Despite his suspect chin, Arlovski is too good a fighter to get beaten by a talented but still gatekeeper level fighter like Bigfoot.

- Arlovski via tko

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Joey Villasenor

Villasenor is a well rounded fighter but Ronaldo is a world class bjj player and one of the best on the ground in mma. Though his stand up is passable it should be enough to keep Joe at bay long enough to sub him.

- Jacare via sub

Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman

This other than the main event is one of the most compelling bouts of the card, but not in a good way. On one hand you have Randleman who is dangerously past his expiration date as a fighter and another one dimensional but young Gracie. Expect Kevin’s notorious cardio and shop worn body to fail him yet again.

- Gracie via sub

Antwain Britt vs. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante

Two up and coming light heavyweight will trade leather for notoriety. With guys like this who like to trade its a bit of a coin toss, so I go with…

- Feijao via TKO

Props to Ester Lin from All Elbows for the photos.

You either hate him or you are mesmerized and frustrated by him.

Straight out of left field from Middle Easy by way of Japanese site MMA Ironman

It seems that on April 25 the ASTRA promotion is planning on hosting Fedor vs Yoshida . This is being billed as a retirement fight, in which aging Japanese Judo Legend Yoshida will compete one last time in the noble art of human cockfighting. I will save everyone the trouble and be the first to say “WTF does this even mean!?” but hey, this is The Last Emperor we are talking about here. If Emelianenko doesn’t care about who he is fighting with little more than a weeks notice, who are we to judge. Either way we get to see Fedor mercy kill a Japanese Icon. Good times/sarcasm.

This whole ordeal has not been made official yet.  And for the sake of Pride fans everywhere we can only hope this was the fevered dream of some diabolical promoter to drum up media attention.  We will stay abreast on this issue as it develops…or until the opium wears off, which is the only way to justify such bizarre matchmaking.

UPDATE:

Reports of Fedor Emelianenko fighting Hidehiko Yoshida are “a joke,” according to M-1. Evgeni Kogan tells SI it’s not happening. via Josh Gross\’s twitter . Reality prevails as Yoshida is fighting a way more evenly matched fighter as Enson Inoue steps up to battle in the aforementioned retirement bout.
That being said I’m going to try and do more research on my post before I put them up. You know give that whole integrity thing a try :/ .