Fedor Not Participating on Next Strikeforce CBS Card; An Opening for K-1

The news came out last night about the next Strikeforce event on CBS, that it will most likely take place in Memphis, TN on April 17th with Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields as the main event, with an undercard including Bobby Lashley and possibly another Herschel Walker fight. The speculation about the relationship between Fedor Emelianenko's camp, M-1 Global and Scott Coker is already in full-effect, especially after Gegard Mousasi severed ties with M-1 Global. Of course M-1 Global has a different take as to why Mousasi left than Mousasi and his new management, but as we've seen in the past, M-1 Global is, well, M-1 Global. It is still neither confirmed nor denied if Fedor will appear on this Strikeforce event.

The fight that every fan has been calling for of late has been Alistair Overeem vs. Fedor Emelianenko, be it in the Japanese ring under the DREAM banner, or in the United States under the Strikeforce banner. The initial reports of the April Strikeforce card was it being headlined by Fedor vs. Fabricio Werdum, which has seemingly fallen through. Insiders have mentioned the amount of money involved in booking Emelianenko, including a seemingly uneven "co-promotion" with M-1 Global.

What we know so far about future plans for DREAM and Alistair Overeem is that Tanigawa has mentioned that Alistair Overeem will fight for the vacant DREAM Heavyweight title during the first half of 2010, and Overeem mentioned fighting for FEG in March or so, fulfilling his contract with K-1. FEG is never afraid to put a lot of money on the table when it comes to big fights, with Alistair Overeem the biggest name in heavyweight MMA in Japan right now and Emelianenko making a name for himself in the United States over the past few years. K-1 offered Emelianenko a contract worth well over a million dollars when his contract with PRIDE was up a few years ago. Emelianenko's stock has risen over the past few years, with international success, but with Fedor's recent fight contracts looking at around $2.3 million when all is said and done ($300,000 to Fedor, $1mil to M-1 co-promotion, $1mil to Vadim for 'consulting'), this fight could come at a steep price.