Strikeforce announced a card without Fedor Emelianenko for the April CBS show, a step that seemed to indicate issues between Strikeforce and M-1 Global.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker today noted that the relationship with M-1 Global is still in fine shape. Reportedly Coker is in final stages of negotiations for Emelianenko’s next Strikeforce co-promoted fight.
Coker told MMAJunkie
I can tell you this: we’ve been having really good dialogue with M-1 Global and (M-1 Global president) Vadim Finkelchtein, and I think we’re in the final stages of buttoning everything up to make that happen again… I think we’ll have an announcement soon on that, but I feel very confident we’ll be promoting Fedor here in the near future.
Could the fight still happen on CBS in April?
It depends how long it takes to button everything up, but I would say sometime in the later part of the second quarter or beginning part of the third quarter, you’ll see Fedor back in the cage fighting on a co-promotion between Strikeforce and M-1 Global… Depending on how long it takes to button things up – I mean, he’s going to need what, 60 or 70 days to get ready – that will determine when he fights.”
