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Fedor Emelianenko: His Shocking Decision

By Sean Farrell

Fedor Emelianenko apparently has NOT fought his last bout. After pointing to an imminent retirement after Saturday’s loss to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in the opening round of Strikeforce’s eight-man heavyweight Grand Prix, “the Last Emperor” today has changed his mind. Or so it seems, Fedor took to Twitter where Emelianenko stated he wanted the fight with Silva to continue and said he hasn’t made a decision on whether he’s going to retire.

The Russian who has captivated MMA fans since back in Pride FC headlined Saturday’s Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. After a first round that Emelianenko won on two of the three judges’ cards but could’ve gone either way, the much larger “Bigfoot” Silva got Fedor to the ground and unloaded a vicious series of ground-and-pound hammerfist and punches. Emelianenko’s face and right eye became so badly swollen during the exchanges, that prior to the third and final round, the cageside doctor declared Fedor unable to continue.

The end result, “Bigfoot” Silva earned the TKO win and now advances to the semifinals with fellow first round winner Sergei Kharitonov. There have been many conflicting stories that have surfaced as to whether Fedor Emelianenko called for the fight to be stopped himself. Fedor addressed this on Twitter stating “I would have liked to continue to fight. The doctor did everything possible, but it did not (continue) unfortunately.” Fedor also addressed his fighting future and said a decision about whether to continue fighting or retire “will be resolved in the near future.”

Fedor “the Last Emperor” Emelianenko was unbeaten in mixed martial arts from the year 2000 to the year 2010 with a perfect 27-0 record against many of MMA’s best. However, that impressive streak came to an end when the former Pride FC champion suffered a June 2010 submission loss to Fabricio Werdum, which Fedor was caught in a triangle choke after being too aggressive with his foe leading to his submission. With the loss to Silva, Fedor now has suffered back-to-back losses. Although many fighters lose back to back fights, they’re the only two legitimate losses of Fedor’s 11-year pro career.

Despite his opening-round loss in the tournament, Fedor Emelianenko could be re-entered into the grand prix as an alternate however. Although three fighters earned wins in the reserve fights, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said that Emelianenko could be the top alternate if a spot does open up in the tournament.

TUF Global?

The first international edition of “The Ultimate Fighter” will likely feature fighters from the country of the Philippines, and recording for the show could begin this year, according to UFC President Dana White, who today laid out the plans during a media conference call.

“TUF,” was launched in 2005 on Spike TV to give people more exposure inside a fighter’s lifestyle, kicks off its 13th season next month with coaches Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar. With each installment of the series it has been based in the United States. UFC officials are putting together a radical and aggressive expansion campaign to spread the reality series and the UFC brand across the globe.

Spike TV is very unlikely to air the international editions of the show, but whether it’s online or another broadcast outlet, Dana White expects MMA fans worldwide to have access to watch the shows. As of today, “TUF” has been somewhat successful and has produced UFC stars and top contenders such as Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Josh Koscheck, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping, Ryan Bader, Joe Lauzon and many others, but very few non-American fighters have been found by the series as well leading to the franchise going global.

White has hinted at many options for “TUF” international editions, including Brazil, Canada, England, Mexico and the Middle East. Those locations were the most likely to receive the first international series of “TUF”, but the Philippines was only mentioned every so often. This isn’t the first time the UFC has targeted the Philippines by a long shot. Back in 2008, UFC officials announced they had plans to host a UFC event in the country in mid-2009. UFC held an open workout with Chuck Liddell which drew more than 4,000 fans. Former UFC fighter Brandon Vera, whose father is Filipino, also held a workshop of his own that drew more than 10,000 fans.

The plans for a UFC event in the country, which has a population of approximately 92 million, were eventually scrapped due to the global financial crisis the country was facing. “We were going to go to the Philippines, We had a deal done to go to the Philippines, and then when the world collapsed, the sponsors that were going to help us get down there, everything fell apart. Nobody has any money anymore. It’s a lot trickier to figure out how to navigate throughout the world without money.” White said in 2009.
With the “money” not being there, it would be a wise decision for the UFC to hold an event in these less fortunate countries to boost revenue to the economies if anything much like they are trying in New York’s ongoing MMA Legalization Battle. By doing this the UFC will lose much of its “Bloodsport” stigma and will be looked at globally as a company that does whatever possible to take care of its supporters. A UFC event in the Philippines will boost jobs and revenue of great proportions based on the countries economic status, maybe this is a sign that with the world facing global economic crisis MMA can capitalize by being the only organization actually helping the situation.

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