The business of the mixed martial arts has been the focal point for many critics and purists who believe that the "entertainment" side of the sport has caused us to forget that we should be seeking out the best fighters in the world, not the most exciting and "fun" match-ups. Unfortunately, promoters aren't always the culprits of deterring that formula from coming to fruition. Managers, other fighters, steroids, and battles over monetary compensation for a fighter's status in the MMA world all come into play as well, and for Strikeforce -- these issues could culminate into an annoying little subplot of greed that takes the greatest heavyweight of all-time out of the mix.
Things seemed to be going smoothly for Scott Coker leading into 2010. Strikeforce was able to put on a solid show with Fedor Emelianenko knocking out Brett Rogers in epic fashion in a surprisingly hard fought battle for the "The Last Emperor". Overeem was still receiving a lot of criticism from fans for not defending his belt, but it looks like he has actually come through on his word that he would fight for Strikeforce in the Spring as he's now rumored to be battling Rogers on the May 15th card.
Sounds like this is going according to plan, right? Fedor vs. Werdum and Overeem vs. Rogers would likely set up a championship clash between Overeem and Fedor for sometime late in 2010... which is what most people felt was the progression since Strikeforce wanted to get both men some face time in order to hype the fight down the road. Unfortunately, Fedor's manager, Vadim Finkelstein, is looking for a bigger payday and a better opponent:
"I personally think that Alistair Overeem did not reach the desired level to challenge Fedor. He beat a lot of no-name opponents in Mixed Martial Arts. Overeem defeated Paul Buentello and then disappeared from the United States for more than two year, which is simply ridiculous. Also, pay attention that Werdum beat Overeem when they were fighting in Pride, four years ago."
"We do not fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title. Strikeforce are our partner, and any titles whether it is UFC, Strikeforce, WAMMA, Dream… they are just medals. Fedor is above these things. We are interested in the level of our opponent and his popularity among the audience."
"Exactly. We are more interested in fighting Josh Barnett, who is currently disqualified until September. When he returns from his suspension and if he tests clean, we might consider fighting him.
I'm one of the biggest Fedor fans out there. He was instrumental along with Wanderlei Silva in bringing me into this sport. But his management is becoming increasingly active in how I view Fedor, which shouldn't be the case at all.
Vadim is right in one aspect of his argument. Overeem hasn't beat any top talent in the past couple of years that would merit him a vote in the top ten heavyweight rankings. In fact, I'd challenge anyone to actually sit down and formulate any argument that puts Overeem in the top ten using any criteria besides maybe... top ten horse meat eaters
