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QUOTE In the wake of recent rumours that all is not well between Strikeforce and M-1 Global regarding star heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, the Russian’s manager and M1-Global president Vadim Finkelstein has moved to clear up the confusion surrounding Fedor’s status.
Emelianenko was rumoured to be facing PRIDE and UFC veteran Fabricio Werdum in April under the Strikeforce banner, a fight that seems to be up in the air right now. In addition, the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi was said to have parted company with M1-Global several weeks ago, prompting some to speculate that Mousasi might be planning on joining the UFC’s light heavyweight division. However, Finkelstein has spoken out on these matters, saying that there are no problems between M1-Global and Strikeforce, and the Emelianenko fight has merely been re-scheduled for a later date.
MiddleEas reports that in a recent interview, Finkelstein had the following to say regarding the WAMMA heavyweight champion and the status of his showdown with Werdum:
“The problem isn't there. The fight will take place. We're planning on showing the bout in over 100 countries. For all of that to go smoothly we had to postpone the event. Unfortunately I do not know the date yet. It's most likely going to be in early May. The bout is also postponed because of some other contract issues. Obviously there are always disagreements and technical questions, but everybody deals with those. Fedor's a professional; he needs to know the specific date in order to come out in perfect condition. When he finds out that exact date he will start gathering the camp so that he may come out at his peak. He never stops training though, he always stays in shape.”
Finkelstein also addressed the situation with Mousasi, stating that the fighter was never signed to a contract with M1-Global:
“Mousasi has never had a contract with M-1. If that was the case, he would not have been able to simply leave the organization. Where did he go? He still has his contracts with Strikeforce and Dream. M-1 was helping him grow. Mousasi has always been friends with us and Fedor and in return we were helping him go forward. His action was a surprise to me. I plan on meeting with him next week and finding out what's wrong. We used to say that Mousasi is an M-1 fighter, because he was starting in our organization. I'm sure that on our M-1 Challenge and M-1 Selection tournament he will not be the only fighter of that level.”
Whether or not the Emelianenko vs. Werdum fight does indeed go down in May 2010 is anybody’s guess right now, but with a title-shot not in the Russian’s immediate future he will presumably need to fight someone else in the meantime. Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem looks set to defend his belt against the man Fedor knocked-out in his last fight, Bret Rogers, on May 15th 2010. |
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