Although there was doubt that the two parties could come to an agreement, Strikeforce and M-1 Global have come to an agreement to co-promote an event in June that will see the return of Fedor Emelianenko.
Emelianenko (32-1) will face Fabricio Werdum (13-4) on June 26 in San Jose, California in a joint venture by the two companies that will air on the Showtime network.
Believed by many to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Emelianenko has not fought since his impressive win over Brett Rogers on CBS last November. Although it will be only his fourth fight in two-and-a-half years, the previous three fights were undeniable beat downs of Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, and finally Rogers.
Werdum has worked his way into a shot against the Russian with wins over Mike Kyle and Antonio Silva since joining Strikeforce in mid-2009. His last loss came at UFC 90 when he was knocked out by Junior dos Santos in Chicago. It was his last fight for the UFC.
Strikeforce is hoping Emelianenko’s arrival and impending destruction of Werdum can take away some of the bad press they received after their recent show in Nashville that aired on CBS. After the main event between Jake Shields and Dan Henderson, Jason Miller interrupted Shields’ interview and a brawl broke out in the cage.
