Friday, July 31 1:41 pm PT: “I don’t want anybody to ask me any Fedor questions.”
Good luck on that one. UFC President Dana White hosted a telephone press conference -- known as a “phone presser” if you’re a lonely journalist -- Friday afternoon: as expected, much of the conversation revolved around the continued frustrations over signing Fedor Emelianenko.
Long, painful story short: M-1 wants to “co-promote” UFC events; White finds the idea absurd.
Friday, July 31 10:23 am PT: According to Fanhouse, a welterweight title bout of excessive randomness between Nick Diaz and Jay Hieron has been added to Strikeforce’s August 15 card in San Jose, California.
Diaz was originally slated to fight Joe Riggs; Riggs pulled out citing an allergic reaction to medication. Hieron, you may recall, was part of the Hindenburg “Affliction: Trilogy” card that was TKOed last week via massive ineptitude. The Xtreme Couture fighter hasn’t lost in two years.
The card will have to make do with one less title bout, as Josh Thomson’s defense against Gilbert Melendez has been postponed -- for the second time -- due to injury. Melendez will face Mitsuhiro Ishida instead, in what should be a compelling sequel to their 2007 bout.
Fanhouse also reports that female combatant Erin Toughill, once believed to be competing on the same card, will instead be used as a break-glass emergency replacement in the event Gina Carano or Cristiane Santos suffer an injury. Being employed as a precautionary measure in this economy? Not too bad.
Friday, July 31 8:32 am PT: According to numbers circulated by radio host Chad Dukes on 106.7 The Fan -- yeah, I don’t know him, either -- Strikeforce had thrown a customary offer to free agent Fedor Emelianenko that would pay him $1 million a fight and remove any opposition to a “co-promotion” with M-1 Global.
If true, the offer would be an interesting consolation prize for a number of reasons: exposure on CBS (which has the option of picking up Strikeforce events) would make Emelianenko far more of a household name than he can currently lay claim to. Kevin Ferguson went from alley thug to one of the biggest attractions in the sport on the same platform.
Whatever the case, I would guess Emelianenko’s next opponent is likely to be public apathy. This contract melodrama is fun for a day or two, but in the end, observers want to see him perform in the ring.
Gegard Mousasi was scheduled to scrap with Renato “Babalu” Sobral at Affliction’s now cancelled event. He talks with Sherdog.com about the fight being moved to Strikeforce and rumors circulating about possible legal action from the UFC that could possibly hold up the fight.
The confident and talented light heavyweight also touches on his new deal with Strikeforce and how excited he is to fight for a title.
