Sergio Non takes a stab at answering the question, "is Fedor ducking the best competition by not signing with the UFC?":
The USA TODAY/SB Nation consensus rankings appear to support the criticism. After Emelianenko at No. 1, five of the next six heavyweights work for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. (The exception happens to be the guy whose steroid testing result led to the current state of affairs).
But don't sell Strikeforce's roster short. The second-biggest U.S. promotion lacks anyone with the hype of UFC champion Brock Lesnar, but the top of its heavyweight roster presents formidable options:
- Brett Rogers. No. 8 in the consensus rankings.
- Alistair Overeem. No. 10 in the rankings.
- Fabricio Werdum. No. 14 in the rankings.
- Paul Buentello. No. 24 in the rankings.
Then Sergio runs through the UFC roster:
...consider what UFC has to offer for credible competition over the next year or so, other than Lesnar and Frank Mir:
- Randy Couture. A 46-year-old. A very tough, very skilled 46-year-old, to be sure, but each day brings him closer to qualifying for an AARP membership.
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Already lost to Emelianenko twice.
- Cain Velasquez. Has all of six fights.
- Junior Dos Santos. At 8-1, his record is thinner than Rogers' or Carwin's.
- Shane Carwin. His 11-0 record is comparable to Rogers' 10-0 resume -- if you remove Rogers' win over a former UFC champion.
Either way, Emelianenko faces a paucity of exciting, big-name challenges. Little wonder that his choice came down to building his business instead.
In contrast, here's Kevin Iole's take on the Strikeforce heavies:
• Emelianenko-Overeem: ...You can’t rule a guy with Overeem’s power, strength and grappling skills out, but Emelianenko is far more gifted and would defeat Overeem in the first round.
• Emelianenko-Rogers: ...Rogers could win if he could hit Emelianenko with a wild shot, but the more likely scenario is that the fight gets to the ground and Emelianenko submits Rogers early.
• Emelianenko-Buentello: Buentello isn’t close to having the kind of all-around game to defeat “The Last Emperor.”
• Emelianenko-Werdum: Werdum has a good all-around game, but you never know what you will get from him. He has good jiu-jitsu and judo and his stoppage of Gabriel Gonzaga proves he has the power.
But he looked horrific in a loss to Arlovski in 2007 and was blown out by Junior Dos Santos last year.
Jake Rossen piles on:
Setting aside interdivisional fights with Anderson Silva or Lyoto Machida -- which would be lots of fun for spectators -- the UFC really has only three upper-tier heavyweights with the skills to potentially give Emelianenko a hard time: Lesnar, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. Three.
Strikeforce can match the ante with Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers and some kind of wild-card entrant: Bobby Lashley, Blagoi Ivanov, perhaps even Josh Barnett.
The notion that Strikeforce employs air-conditioning repairmen and the UFC enlists only Olympic-caliber athletes is pushing the envelope; I'd almost sooner see Emelianenko go on a free-agent tear for a year or two before settling in with the UFC, considering that the promotion's asphyxiating contracts invite retirement at their conclusions.