The Russian Experiment, Fedor Emelianenko, coming off his first loss in nearly ten years, returns to the cage on January 29th to face hulking heavyweight Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. The event is not expected to be broadcast on CBS (Strikeforce's television deal with the network is still in limbo) and will instead air on Showtime. Silva is coming off two wins in his last two fights including a TKO over Mike Kyle, a late replacement, and a decision win over Andrei Arlovski. Also on the card Nick Diaz is expected to defend his welterweight championship. Though Strikeforce remains interested in putting together a grudge match between Diaz and Jason "Mayhem" Miller, the two parties are unwilling to compromise on the weight limit for the fight. Diaz and his coach Cesar Gracie are pushing a catch weight bout at 178-lbs., a weight Diaz has fought at twice before, while Miller and his camp insist on the bout being at middleweight, claiming Miller is unable to cut weight beyond 184-lbs (+1lbs. allotment per athletic commission discretion). Possible contenders for Diaz's welterweight crown include Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, Tyrone Woodley, and Paul Daley. Miller may also compete on the card but a middleweight opponent has not yet been rumoured.
Re: Fedor Emelianenko returns to face Antonio Silva on January 29th Uhm, a year ago I'd say this is an easy win for Fedor. Now, I'm gonna worry every time he gets in a cage/
Re: Fedor Emelianenko returns to face Antonio Silva on January 29th Fedor will bounce back. But I am more interested in seeing a Nick Diaz/Paul Daley match up, that would be a really good match. It's a shame Diaz/Miller isn't going to happen.
Re: Fedor Emelianenko returns to face Antonio Silva on January 29th Its sounding like Cyborg vs. Diaz is most likely. Daley isn't so keen on a title fight right away but maybe they can get that going instead.
Re: Fedor Emelianenko returns to face Antonio Silva on January 29th Gilbert Melendez, perhaps knowing Strikeforce can't get him a title contender, is interested in fighting Paul Daley and will jump up to 165 or even 170 to make it happen. So we've potentially got two SF champions having to move up to take fights.
Re: Fedor Emelianenko returns to face Antonio Silva on January 29th Wrong member of the Cyborg family. His wife would have a better chance.
Re: Update: M-1 denies report that Fedor will fight next month So much for that. This rumour has been dismissed by M-1 Global. They are still in contract re-negotiations and Fedor fighting Silva in January is "not on the table". I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt because I don't know where the rumour he'd be fighting came from.
