Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rumdiary]

What do you guys think about the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament?

Bracket 1
Fedor vs. Antonio Silva
Arlovski vs. Kharitonov

Reserve match
Lavar Johnson vs Shane Del Rosario

Bracket 2
Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum
Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers

Reserve match
Ray Sefo and Valentijn Overeem

[redaxe]

It's not a real tournament, it's just the matchmaking that SF was going to do this year anyway, cleverly packaged as a tournament for marketing purposes.

And I think your brackets are wrong. Fedor vs. Silva and Overeem vs. Werdum are both on the same side of the bracket.

[rumdiary]

[redaxe]

[rumdiary]

Fedor Emelianenko (31-2) -500 vs. Antonio Silva (14-2) +325
Alistair Overeem (34-11) -275 vs. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1) +215

Andrei Arlovski (15- -145 vs. Sergei Kharitonov (16-4) +115
Josh Barnett (29-5) -300 vs. Brett Rogers (11-2) +240

Barnett vs. Fedor

Maybe thats just wishfull thinking. It will be very interesting to see what Overeem does. He has manhandled everyone put infront of him. That said, he really hasn't fought anyone that good outside of K-1 rules. He will quickly demolish anyone who tries to stand with him.

[redaxe]

Yeah Werdum vs. Overeem could go either way. Overeem could KO Werdum almost immediately, or Werdum could force Overeem to grapple and make him gas out before submitting him with a choke. I like Werdum more so I'm picking him.

I think Fedor is more well-rounded than Overeem or Werdum, but I feel like Fedor has a better chance against Werdum than he does against Overeem. I don't think Werdum will catch him with a sub again, but I don't know if Fedor can handle Overeem's power.

I wouldn't put it past Fedor to shock the world by KO'ing the Reem with a counterpunch when he's backed up against the cage though.

Barnett is a good submission artist but he tends to unwisely stand and bang with better strikers. He lost to Cro Cop three times, and he's been inactive for a while now so ring rust will be a factor. I don't think he'll get through Khari.

[catman]

Anyone know a date yet?

[rumdiary]

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[rumdiary]

When Josh Barnett was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission in July 2009 for allegedly testing positive for an anabolic steroid prior to his ill-fated bout with Fedor Emelianenko, it triggered a one-year nationwide revocation of his license to fight. That ban expired in July 2010 and, while Barnett has yet to be granted relicensure in California, other states are now free to license him.

It appears that could soon be the case, as Barnett was Tuesday announced as part of Strikeforce�s upcoming eight-man heavyweight tournament, which also includes Emelianenko, Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva, Brett Rogers, Andrei Arlovski, Sergei Kharitonov and heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. The three-round, single-elimination tourney will feature five-round bouts, with the events being televised on Showtime.

�It took us three months to put all this together,� Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Sherdog.com. �Fedor wanted to do this tourney.�

The tournament begins on Feb. 12 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., where two quarterfinal matchups -- Emelianenko-Silva and Arlovski-Kharitonov -- will take place. Barnett�s quarterfinal bout against Rogers, as well as Overeem-Werdum, is likely to happen sometime in April, Coker said.

�We are in the process of negotiating with a couple of venues, and date, but we�re just not ready to announce them just yet,� Coker added.

One possible hitch to this dream lineup is Barnett. With the former UFC champion�s status still up in the air due to a series of miscommunications with the CSAC, the �Baby-Faced Assassin� will still need to be granted a license somewhere in the U.S. in order to compete in the tournament.

Speaking with ESPN.com, Coker stated that he had contacted multiple state commissions who said that they would license Barnett if the fighter were to furnish a negative drug test, similar to what he gave the CSAC prior to his Dec. 2 hearing.

Two states Barnett likely will not be fighting in, aside from California, are Nevada and New Jersey.

�Nevada isn�t on that list,� Coker told Sherdog.com. �Let him go appeal to any state that has a commission. Josh has some work to do in California. But he�s paid his dues. Let him make a living and go to work. But I don�t think he�s going to be fighting in California.�

Nick Lembo, legal counsel for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, spoke exclusively with Sherdog.com.

�It�s real simple. He�s not currently licensed in New Jersey,� said Lembo. �He does not have an application in with the state of the New Jersey. I don�t have any comment other than we don�t have an application, and I won�t make any comment about a non-applicant.�

With at least two months before his date with Rogers, Barnett still has time to appease a state commission with random drug testing and other demonstrable acts of reformation. After allegedly testing positive for steroids three times, it may take that much for Barnett to be able to fight in the U.S. again.

Since his most recent suspension was handed down by the CSAC, Barnett�s follow-up hearing with the commission has been postponed four times.

George Dodd, CSAC executive director, said that Barnett is currently �on the agenda� for the commission�s next quarterly meeting on Feb. 4 in Los Angeles, but that Barnett�s chances for a obtaining a California license are dwindling with each rescheduled hearing.

�I think the commission is getting to a point where it�s wasting our time. It�s on the agenda. They got a continuance to the second one. In the third one, he didn�t appear, but his lawyers appeared and he was in Japan [doing pro-wrestling],� said Dodd. �He�s on the agenda for Feb. 4. If he doesn�t contact me by Jan. 10, he won�t be going in front of the commission. If everybody could just get together, we could get this taken care of.�

Dodd added that counsel from the California State Attorney General�s office will be present to question Barnett, who has maintained throughout that he did not use illegal substances prior to his latest positive test.

At the Dec. 2 meeting, Barnett initially seemed willing to be cross-examined on his steroid use. Seated to his left was Alfredo Terrazas, California Assistant Attorney General, who had obviously prepared to question Barnett on his past usage and Barnett�s ongoing defense that he did not use any banned substance.

Before Terrazas questioned Barnett, however, Dodd and other commission members urged Barnett that it would not be in his interest to go through the process without having his own legal counsel present.

�I�m a little caught off-guard by this,� Barnett told the commission. �I feel slightly unprepared and didn�t bring counsel. That�s a very large point that was not brought to my attention.�

�You obviously thought this was a rubber-stamp [process for renewal],� said Commissioner Eugene Hernandez.

Barnett disagreed, saying that it was merely a misunderstanding.

Asked by Sherdog.com what Barnett would have to do at the Feb. 4 meeting in order to be relicensed, Dodd was succinct.

�Josh will not be licensed in California until he appears before the commission and answers questions about past steroid usage, and also [addresses] the question of rehabilitation to have his license renewed,� Dodd said.

However, Dodd said, what other state commissions decide is entirely up to them.

�Josh did his year, though he did fight overseas. That�s why you leave it up to each commission,� Dodd said. �If New Jersey called me up and asked, �What�s the situation?� I�d tell them the same thing. It�s up to your commission to determine what to do.�

[rumdiary]

Strikeforce�s rumored eight-man heavyweight tournament has become reality, and the promotion has officially announced the bracket�s four opening-round matchups.

Sherdog.com was informed Tuesday by sources close to the tournament that Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Silva, Josh Barnett, Fabricio Werdum, Sergei Kharitonov, Andrei Arlovski, Brett Rogers and Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will compete in the upcoming tournament. That lineup was later confirmed by a press release from Strikeforce.

As reported yesterday by Sherdog.com, the tournament is scheduled to kick off with an Emelianenko-Silva bout as the main event of a Feb. 12 card at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Also featured on that show will be a quarterfinal bout between Arlovski and Kharitonov, as opposed to the originally reported Arlovski-Barnett matchup.

The remaining two quarterfinals will reportedly go down March 5 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Barnett is scheduled to square off with Rogers, while Overeem will meet Werdum. The date and location of these two fights have not officially been announced by the promotion. The tournament�s semifinal and final rounds will be held later in the year at to-be-named events.

The promotion will also hold two alternate bouts as insurance in case one of the main card participants should sustain an injury or be rendered otherwise unable to compete. �Challengers� series standouts Daniel Cormier, Lavar Johnson, Shane del Rosario will likely compete, though the fourth alternate fighter is unknown at this time.

Also unknown is how Barnett�s ongoing licensing situation in California will affect his participation. The former Pride Fighting Championships competitor allegedly tested positive for performance enhancing substances prior to a scheduled bout with Emelianenko in July 2009. Barnett�s hearing before the CSAC on Dec. 2 was pushed back to 2011. Reports indicate that he may go before the commission again on Feb. 4.

[shifter2009]

I am pretty pumped for it. Most of the UFC's elite heavy weights are either hurt or have some sort of issue keeping them out of fights for the foreseeable future so Strikeforce for the time being is the best game in town for heavyweights. Fedor just signed a 4 fight deal with Strikeforce? Assuming he runs the table to the finals that wouldd eat up most of those fights pretty quick....

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