Surprise! Fedor Wants Extension With Strikeforce

I have to be honest. Once Fedor and M-1's current deal with Strikeforce and Showtime wittled down to a single fight remaining and after hearing Scott Coker's hesitancy to go back to the bargaining table, I thought Fedor to the UFC by next year was a done deal. Looks like I was wrong.

Today comes the news that Emelianenko and his management team are very pleased with the way their relationship with Strikeforce is going and are interested in signing a contract extension that would add 4-6 more fights.  On top of that, it looks as if talks between both sides are nearly complete:

The 33-year-old Emelianenko, who has just one fight left on a three-fight contract signed one year ago, has recently voiced a preference for a four-to-six fight extension. The two sides are more than halfway to an agreement, according to M-1 Global director of operations Evgeni Kogan who told MMA Fighting on Thursday that the sides hope to have a deal in place very soon.

"I think the talks are going well," he said. "There are always things to get sorted and ironed out but we are probably two-thirds of the way there. I think that the next fight and the deal overall will be announced at the same time within the next month. We have an [M-1 Selection] event in [Atlantic City,] New Jersey on September 18, and we may be ready to announce by then, hopefully.

Normally, the thought of Fedor easily agreeing to a deal with the UFC would have never even crossed my mind. However outside of Strikeforce, the Russian's options for employment are vastly limited due to his asking price. The UFC and Strikeforce are the only organizations with enough money and reach to be able to secure Fedor's services. While a return to Japan is also a possibility, the heavyweight divisions in DREAM and Sengoku are virtually non-existent. There's no one for Fedor to fight.

Fedor being so willing to extend his deal with Strikeforce is great news for the promotion. Coker and company have nearly started to pull hair out during talks with M-1 and the fact that Vadim Finkelstein and his co-workers approached Strikeforce about an extension first may show that their power at the bargaining table has indeed been severely lowered after Fedor's upset loss to Fabricio Werdum.

Also, it looks as if Fedor doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon, which is great news for all.

Sorting Out The UFC's Suddenly Cramped Middleweight Title Picture

Let's harken back to earlier this year, specifically the early springtime, when Anderson Silva was preparing to defend his UFC middleweight title against Vitor Belfort, seemingly the only legitimate contender left at 185 lbs inside the Octagon. In fact, things were so barren, that when Belfort went down with an injury, Demian Maia was penciled in as a replacement.

My how things have changed. Chael Sonnen did everyone a favor in upsetting Nate Marquardt and preventing a lackadaisical rematch between Marquardt and Silva. Then Sonnen earned a shot at Silva himself and nearly dethroned the world's pound-for-pound king. (Unless you believe GSP holds that title, like me)

In the meantime, Chris Leben has risen from the dead and reeled off a three-fight win streak that includes impressive wins over Aaron Simpson and Yoshihiro Akiyama. Wanderlei Silva announced his presence at middleweight in February in beating Michael Bisping, but has been on the shelf ever since while recovering from broken ribs and knee surgery and will be out until next year.

Yushin Okami and Alan Belcher also want to believe that they have some say in how this middleweight title mess is going to play out. The popular opinion at the moment is to either make Silva-Sonnen II right away or match Silva up with a fresh challenger in Belfort. However, Belfort has been waiting nearly a year to fight again and Silva looks to be out of action until early next year.

Jake Rossen believes that the UFC should pair up Sonnen and Belfort to create a clear-cut number one contender. While it seems practical, the UFC would essentially be sacrificing one big-money fight for the other, as the loser of the bout would descend back into mediocrity. It's not everyday that you have more than one challenge a fan wants to see the champion face, especially since said champion already cleaned out his division a long time ago.

If I was Joe Silva, things would play out like this: Sonnen came way too close to beating Silva to not give him an immediate rematch. The fans would love to see it again and I'm sure both Sonnen and Silva want it to take place as well. Ask Sonnen if he wouldn't mind sitting out 4-6 months while Silva's heals up before a rematch. I guarantee he won't put up much a fight. Belfort needs to fight, so give him Okami. That way, the next challenger for the belt is already established as the winners of Silva-Sonnen and Belfort-Okami can meet next summer. A potential rubber match between Silva and Sonnen would be put on hold anyway. The UFC has never matched the same fighters up three times in a row.

As for the others, Belcher is currently healing from a detached retina that may not allow his career to continue. If it does, he should be ready to return at the same time as Wanderlei Silva. Match them up. Leben is enjoying some much-needed time off. So let's see how Maia vs. Mario Miranda and Marquardt vs. Rouismar Palhares play out before giving him anymore assignments.

P.S. Michael Bisping isn't a contender. Why people insist in attempting to match him up against guys climbing the ladder is beyond me. Let him string together a couple of wins before hopping on his bandwagon once again.

Diego Sanchez Reunites With Greg Jackson

If you haven't already heard, Diego Sanchez announced yesterday that he has once again joined forces with Greg Jackson, who served as Sanchez's primary trainer from the start of his career and well into his original run as a UFC welterweight.

Usually, this would serve as nothing more than your regular filler news for the week, but I find Sanchez's return to Jackson's camp interesting based on the nasty falling out the two had back in the summer of 2007, spurned on by Jackson's decision to take on then welterweight contender Georges St. Pierre. At the time, St. Pierre had been upset and lost his title to Matt Serra and was preparing to bounce back against Josh Koscheck while Sanchez had just suffered his first professional loss to Koscheck earlier in the year, but was still very relevant in the welterweight title picture.

The move angered Sanchez, who immediately left Jackson's training camp and associated himself with Saulo and Xande Ribeiro as well as The Arena gym in San Diego. He obviously felt slighted with Jackson bringing in GSP as Sanchez wasn't even considering a move to lightweight at that point in time.

The entire ordeal bothered me, and still does, for two reasons. One, Jackson and his crew push comradery and loyalty within its limits to the max. Just ask Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt and company. All of the fighters under the Jackson's MMA banner would likely never fight each other and take helping each other for upcoming bouts to the next level. If loyalty is so important, then why was Jackson so quick to bring GSP into the fold, despite Sanchez being a win or two away from a title shot.

Secondly, Sanchez's early success in the UFC served as a platform for Jackson and his system to grow into the successful entity it has become today. During Sanchez's six-fight win streak in the UFC, others started to notice the success of other Jackson-trained fighter such as Joey Villasenor and Keith Jardine and a wealth of fighters from all over soon began to request to learn under the tutelage of Jackson. In my opinion, you don't leave your top pupil hanging out to dry, even if the best welterweight in the world wants to join the fold.

August 2010 MMA Rankings

Just like almost everyone else who covers this sport, I have my own set of rankings that I update each month as well. Starting next month, I'll have parenthesis to show where a fighter was ranked the previous month, if they were ranked at all that is.

Notable new inclusions this month include rising light heavyweight sensation Jon Jones, who cracks my light heavyweight rankings after his quick domination of Vladimir Matyushenko and UFC hall-of-fame member Matt Hughes, who submitted Ricardo Almeida this past weekend at UFC 117.

Heavyweight

1. Brock Lesnar
2. Fedor Emelianenko
3. Fabricio Werdum
4. Cain Velasquez
5. Shane Carwin
6. Frank Mir
7. Junior Dos Santos
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
10. Josh Barnett

Light Heavyweight

1. Mauricio Rua
2. Lyoto Machida
3. Rashad Evans
4. Quinton Jackson
5. Forrest Griffin
6. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
7. Muhammed Lawal
8. Gegard Mousasi
9. Rich Franklin
10. Jon Jones

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Jake Shields
4. Nate Marquardt
5. Dan Henderson
6. Demian Maia
7. Vitor Belfort
8. Yushin Okami
9. Jorge Santiago
10. Ronaldo Souza

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Thiago Alves
4. Dan Hardy
5. Josh Koscheck
6. Martin Kampmann
7. Paulo Thiago
8. Paul Daley
9. Nick Diaz
10. Matt Hughes

Lightweight

1. Frankie Edgar
2. B.J. Penn
3. Gilbert Melendez
4. Shinya Aoki
5. Eddie Alvarez
6. Kenny Florian
7. Gray Maynard
8. Tatsuya Kawajiri
9. Ben Henderson
10. Evan Dunham

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo
2. Manny Gamburyan
3. Mike Brown
4. Urijah Faber
5. Bibiano Fernandes
6. Michihiro Omigawa
7. Hatsu Hioki
8. Marlon Sandro
9. Josh Grispi
10. Diego Nunes

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Brian Bowles
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Miguel Torres
5. Scott Jorgensen
6. Damacio Page
7. Takeya Mizugaki
8. Shuichiro Katsumura
9. Masakatsu Ueda
10. Charlie Valencia

Impressions of UFC 117

UFC 117 was the first major event that I've been able to watch live in quite a while. I'm glad I made the decision to do so. The main card delivered something for every type of fan from a heavyweight slugfest to a tactical ground battle to a come-from-behind victory for the ages. It was nice to see.

- Chael Sonnen backed up his trash talk. Who would have thought he would dominate Anderson Silva over four and a half rounds, let alone a single one at all? Not me. When the fight began, I thought that Sonnen would take the first round similar to how Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter had done to Silva in the past. I had no idea he would continue to do so throughout the rest of the bout. What a heartbreaking loss for Sonnen, but props to Silva for staying focused and aware enough to pull off a last-minute submission. An immediate rematch has to be in order. Sorry, Vitor Belfort.

- Jon Fitch looked great in action while Thiago Alves looked exactly the opposite. Be it the weight cut, ring rust, or another unknown ailment, Alves didn't look himself and allowed Fitch to throw him around the cage like a rag doll for fifteen minutes. Fitch was promised a title shot before the bout, but if Georges St. Pierre is victorious over Josh Koscheck in December, I wouldn't be surprised to see the winner of Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann receive the honors instead. However, you know Dana white is foaming at the mouth to finally pair Fitch and Koscheck together and throw AKA in a frenzy.

- Although I picked Almeida to win, I was ecstatic to see Matt Hughes not only pick up his third straight win, but to choke Almeida, a highly-ranked BJJ black belt, unconscious. I'm very excited to see Hughes back in the welterweight title picture after being left for dead. I guess it's the nostalgia of the whole thing.

- Joe Rogan's comments during Junior Dos Santos' three-round mauling of Roy Nelson were dead-on: the Brazilian needs to mix up his offense. Knees, elbows and kicks would have allowed him to finish Nelson. Throwing nothing but punches obviously did not. Kudos to Nelson, who now has us questioning whether his chin and heart are bigger than his stomach. As for JDS' shot at the winner of Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez, I unfortunately don't see him having much of a chance against either.

More to come...

Is MMA Considered Mainstream?

One of the more interesting questions regarding MMA in recent years is whether or not the sport can currently be regarded as "mainstream". The explosion in popularity has continued to gradually increase since the original success of "The Ultimate Fighter", save a possible slump involving the UFC late last year and early this year depending on who you ask.

Sherdog.com's blog is featuring a poll asking whether or not 'MMA has reached mainstream status'. I said no. To me, a sport is mainstream when you could stop almost any average schmoe on the street and hold a conversation with them about a particular sport, team or player. In my opinion, nine out of ten random people would likely follow one of the four major sports and know who LeBron James, Brett Favre and Alex Rodriguez are. I can't say the same for MMA. Brock Lesnar might get half of those people but I have serious doubts about anyone else.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still surprised at the number of people that I find who are semi-knowledgeable about the sport, more so the UFC. But an interest level as high as those have for the NFL and MLB just isn't there at this point. Could it be in the future? That's what some (and Dana White of course) are expecting.

What say you?

Can Hawaii's MMA Scene Be Saved?

You'll have to circle back to the early to mid 2000's to really grasp ahold of how fruitful the Hawaiian MMA scene really was. Local promoters J.D Penn and T. Jay Thompson were flourishing under their respective Rumble on the Rock and Superbrawl/ICON Sport promotions. Big-time fights (B.J. Penn vs. Takanori Gomi/Renzo Gracie, Robbie Lawler vs. Frank Trigg/Jason Miller) were being put on and fans were eating it up.

Then everything fell apart. Penn and Thompson were both sucked into the mess that became EliteXC and its umbrella of promotions that eventually went under. Injuries and moves to other organizations essentially created a drought of must-fee matchups. On top of that, the state finally opted to regulate the sport at the professional level and began charging a variety of fees that have even the UFC questioning whether or not a trip to Hawaii would even be financially worth it.

At the moment, X-1 seems to be the top Hawaiian show and the organization will attempt to give MMA in the state a little jolt by pitting together UFC and Strikeforce veteran Falaniko Vitale, long considered a star in his homeland, against the last notable name from ICON Sport's final days, powerful slugger Kala Kolohe Hose.

Local news outlets are already calling the bout one of the biggest fights in Hawaii's history. Vitale and Hose are essentially Hawaii's biggest draws outside of B.J. Penn "Mayhem" Miller and Kendall Grove these days, so a bout between the two might be what the area needs to bring back the interest that was once there.

I'm going to try and get in touch with Thompson over the next few days to get his thoughts on the fight as well as what he believes needs to happen to bring back the glory days of Hawaiian MMA.

Here We Go...

John Chandler here. You might know me from a variety of places. I was the lead writer for MMA on Tap for over three years and I've most recently done some freelance writing for Sherdog.com.

My work has been mentioned in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Delaware County Daily Times, Dayton Daily News and Honolulu Advertiser among others. I've also done radio appearances on Sirus 98's "The Fight Show", JarryPark.com, Sherdog's "Beatdown", MMA Weekly's "Sound Off" and ESPN 950 in Philadelphia, my hometown if you haven't already noticed.

Anyway, I've created this little site as an outlet for myself to write about some random things that are going on in the sport. We'll see where it goes.