Strikeforce

Who said Fedor Emelianenko couldn't learn how to adapt and evolve in mixed martial arts?

It appears the Russian heavyweight is taking his upcoming bout with Pedro Rizzo pretty seriously, as Emelianenko is put through a variety of drills and exercises ahead of his June 21st matchup.

And he has even called upon some the country's top fighters in Ernesto Hoost, Peter Teijsse and Marco de Witt, training at the Vital Skills camp in the Netherlands.

The video certainly puts a different perspective on Emelianenko regarding his dedication and work ethic, especially after suffering three consecutive losses under the Strikeforce banner.

However, it's frustrating to wonder what "The Last Emperor" could have made of his potential after seeing this footage, and how much more dominant he could have become while still competing at an elite level.

If his current training regimen is any indication, Emelianenko still intends on testing his skills against the best heavyweights in the world, putting the retirement rumors to rest.

Rizzo might be a tad shy of being considered as one of the best, however. But, nevertheless, a win over the 37-year-old Brazilian would add another former UFC champion to the Russian's resume.

That might not mean much when comparing it to some of the sport's top heavyweights in Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, but it does say a lot for Emelianenko, who continues to remain relevant in the heavyweight division despite not fighting in the UFC.

Emelianenko looks in shape and it should definitely motivate him to pick up his third straight win.

Strikeforce’s Ronda Rousey is set to defend her 135-pound women’s title against Sarah Kaufman on Aug. 18 in San Diego, according to MMAFighting.com.

Rousey’s title defense will come five months after she defeated then-titleholder Miesha Tate in a bout that left Tate with a broken arm, surrounded Rousey with media attention and made women’s MMA an entirely new state of attraction.

Since then, hype has only built around Rousey, who has become a figurehead for both the female presence in MMA and the effectiveness of judo as one of the mixed martial arts. She’s also placed herself among the best fighters and will enter the cage in August with a 5-0 professional record.

But the Canadian Sarah Kaufman comes to the fight with much more experience; her professional record stands at 15-1.

Kaufman was expected to fight for the title after her win last July over Liz Carmouche, but Rousey’s quick and exciting run to the top ultimately placed her in a stronger and perhaps more marketable position to contend.

The upcoming fight, then, will be a proving ground for both fighters from many angles. Rousey will be expected to again show that the hype around her is warranted. She’ll also have to demonstrate the success of her judo against the strong striking of Kaufman, who has taken 10 of her 15 victories by KO or TKO.

On the other hand, Kaufman must show her ability to utilize striking as a strength over Rousey’s ground game. Kaufman’s only loss came in 2010 to Marloes Coenen in Round 3 when Coenen worked through Kaufman’s ground and pound and caught Kaufman in an armbar—the same move often employed by Rousey.

Regardless of the result, the fight promises to be an exciting first title defense for Rousey and telling for the futures of both fighters.

It's no secret that one of the few remaining big-ticket fights that Strikeforce can put together—at least at the moment—is a women's title fight between bantamweight champion and rising superstar Ronda Rousey and former featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.

Cyborg, of course, can't fight at the moment. She's currently serving a one-year suspension for testing positive for stanozolol, after thoroughly dismantling poor Hiroko Yamanaka last December. Cyborg was stripped of her title, leaving the Strikeforce female featherweight division on the verge of extinction. 

Rousey's rise to the top coincided with Cyborg's fall from grace, but there's still plenty of interest in seeing the two best female fighters in the world collide. Part of that comes from a technical perspective, but mostly it's due to Rousey taking every chance she can get to issue derogatory remarks about Cyborg.

Female fighting at the highest level hasn't really caught on with the public, but Rousey vs. Cyborg is the exception. Rousey's personality, and the fact that she's utterly destroyed every opponent she's faced thus far, has helped turn her into Strikeforce's biggest star. And Cyborg has a wealth of footage of her destroying one opponent after another. It's truly a gold mine.

Cyborg took the time to issue a challenge to Rousey for the 135-pound belt after winning gold at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships over the weekend. 

The main question that remains is this: Can Cyborg actually make 135? She's a massive woman, all rippling muscles and very little body fat. And according to Cyborg herself, she won't be able to make the weight. 

Can the fight actually happen? Rousey's mom, Dr. Ann Maria Rousey, says that Rousey might consider a catchweight bout, but she indicated that Rousey shouldn't compromise for someone who was caught doing steroids.

@Jennifer_SwifT I don't know. She *might* consider a mid-point. Really,why should she compromise for someone who got caught cheating?

— DrAnnMaria (@DrAnnMaria) June 4, 2012

As a fight fan, I hope we do see Rousey vs. Cyborg down the road, even if it takes place at 140 pounds or another agreed-upon catchweight. They're two of the most compelling characters in the sport, and they're also the best female fighters in the world.

It would be a shame if they're kept apart by weight issues, but I also understand that Rousey has no incentive to move up to featherweight. She's the champion, she's the one who has stayed clean thus far throughout her career and there's no reason for her to risk her marketability by moving to a weight she isn't completely comfortable in against an opponent who might run through her quite easily.

Ronda Rousey and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos are on a collision course.

The top two female stars have exchanged jabs on Twitter and in interviews. Will the social media trash talk eventually lead to a showdown between champions?

In an interview with Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker weighed in on quite possibly the "biggest Strikeforce bout of the year."

I think [a bout between Ronda and Cyborg] is gonna be inevitable. I think that fight will happen at some point. We're just waiting for Cyborg to get off her suspension, but that conversation will happen once she's back and ready to fight because her and Ronda at 135, I mean, that might be the highest rated show on Showtime for the year or for the past fights we've done.

Cyborg was suspended and stripped of her Strikeforce women's featherweight title in January after testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol.

With Cyborg out of the picture, Rousey ascended the female ranks to not only capture the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title, but she has also become the new face of women's MMA.

She has been a perfect 5-0 in her professional career, and all of her fights have ended in the first round by armbar.

With that said, Rousey has never faced anyone like Cyborg, who is known for tossing grown men around in training camp.

During the live broadcast in December for Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal, Strikeforce commentator and MMA legend Pat Miletich put it best: "You don't know how hard a woman can hit, until you've been hit by Cyborg."

Coker seems to lean along the same lines. While he's been impressed with Rousey's handiwork up to this point, it's tough to bet against the nightmare that is Cyborg.

Ronda has always delivered. That armbar is unbelievable, and she proved with Miesha [Tate], she's proven with the other girls that she can fight a kickboxer, she can fight a wrestler. Fighting Cyborg? That's a whole other level.

Before she meets Cyborg, Rousey first has other work to attend to.

She is expected to defend her title for the first time against former champion Sarah Kaufman later this summer.

One day back in 2009, American Kickboxing Academy guru Bob Cook told Scott Coker, over dinner at their favorite little Italian eatery in San Jose, that he had a heavyweight Coker should take a look at. Cook told Coker that the new guy was going to be a great heavyweight, but Coker was skeptical.

"I told Bob that he didn't look like much. He didn't look like Mike Tyson. He had a little stomach on him. He was extremely articulate and smart," Coker told me over brunch recently. "Bob told me he'd been an Olympic wrestler, and I told him this was Strikeforce, not Wrestleforce. I could just see in my head him laying and praying on the guy because he can't punch or submit guys.

"But I told Bob I would give him a shot. I mean, if that conversation had never happened, we never would have signed him. And he's been one of the jewels of the heavyweight division. And think about how many fighters could fight at that pace that he did, against a big guy like Josh?"

The heavyweight in question, of course, was Daniel Cormier, who rose from prospect to outsider to world heavyweight grand prix champion in just over two years. It was a stunning developmental curve, even to those of us who are used to seeing fast-rising prospects.

Coker agreed.

"When Daniel fought Jeff Monson, I really saw a difference in him. This guy wasn't just a wrestler anymore. It's just a testament as to how hard he's working to become a complete MMA fighter.

And then, when he fought Bigfoot, it was unbelievable. I was really worried for him that day because I thought Bigfoot had the edge on him, at least a little bit. But then Daniel knocked him out. He's the real deal, and he proved it once again against Josh."

The heavyweight grand prix, originally conceived as the last great heavyweight tournament and a throwback to the golden years of PRIDE Fighting Championships, didn't pan out the way Coker intended. Plenty of things disrupted the tournament along the way, but Coker said he's ultimately happy with the way things turned out.

"I think a star was born. And if you look back at the beginning of the tournament, we had eight of the top 10 heavyweights in the world fighting in this tournament. All of the guys except for Brett Rogers had been champions in one league or another, whether it was the UFC or EliteXC or others. It was a special moment in time, when we were able to put all of those fighters together.

"It was a magic moment, and I'm glad I was able to put it together."

Daniel Cormier, former USA Olympic team captain, has made his mark in the heavyweight division of MMA in his relatively short career. Unfortunately, many have not taken notice.

Cormier made his pro MMA debut in Strikeforce in 2009 against Gary Frazier and finished the fight in the second round. He followed that with four first-round victories as he continued to develop his all-around MMA game. In November of 2010, he made UFC veteran Soa Palelei tap to strikes in the first frame.

After bringing his record up to 6-0, he returned to Strikeforce full time with a dominant decision victory over Devin Cole. Cormier was then invited to be an alternate for the much anticipated Heavyweight Grand Prix.

In the alternate bout, he dominated former UFC heavyweight title contender Jeff Monson and found himself in prime position to replace the UFC-bound Alistair Overeem.

In the semifinals, he was matched up against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Following Silva's destruction of long-time top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, it was sure to be a tough fight for the former Olympian.

Except that it was not. Cormier knocked Bigfoot out in 3:56 of the first round.

On May 19, Cormier met up with former UFC heavyweight champion, Josh Barnett. In Cormier's toughest fight to date, he captured the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Championship with a dominant performance. The 49-46 card judge Steve Morrow submitted is the first and only round that Cormier has lost to date.

Yet, after a dominant run through top competition Cormier is still widely an unknown to most fans.

With Zuffa backing Strikeforce and knowing Daniel Cormier will be entering the UFC sooner rather than later, one would think they would be promoting his accomplishments more. At the UFC 146 post-fight press conference Dana White confirmed that if Cormier wins his last Strikeforce bout and wants to fight for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, his UFC debut will be for the gold.

While it is undetermined who will fight Cormier in the final Strikeforce heavyweight bout, the current roster and list of free agents is thin. It is unlikely he will paired with an equal inside the cage.

Strikeforce champions like Cormier do not have the outlets that their UFC brothers do. There is no Strikeforce Primetime, Strikeforce Tonight or another Zuffa branded show to showcase their talents and personalities. It is hard to garner the attention of the casual fan without the power of the parent organization behind them.

And with a potential UFC championship fight just around the corner for the Heavyweight Grand Prix champion, Zuffa should be trying to give Cormier an avenue to promote himself as not only a credible contender but a reason to purchase the pay-per-view.

The attention a fighter receives starts by putting on noteworthy performances and being able to sell their fights. Cormier has done his part. Now it is time for the parent company to give him the platform to reach a larger audience.

Cormier's wrestling credentials, MMA accomplishments and vibrant personality make him a potential star in the sport. It is time Zuffa elevates his platform, so he can shine and make an immediate impact in the UFC.

Daniel Cormier's dominant victory over Josh Barnett has cemented the Olympic wrestler's status as the hottest heavyweight prospect in the sport and has fans considering him as a legitimate challenger for the UFC heavyweight title.

Cormier, who trains out of the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, now has his sights set on entering the UFC, where he will be only a few fights away from a title shot.

But, until then, he will be obligated to finish out his contract with Strikeforce, where he hopes to face a much more recognizable opponent.

"I think if there is a plus one and Zuffa's going to send someone over it is going to have to be someone that is very good you know? Maybe Carwin, as he's coming back," Cormier said during an appearance on The MMA Hour.

"He's a guy with a lot of name value and I don't necessarily know if that's a step up [from Josh Barnett] but that is somebody with name value."

After running through Antonio Silva and Barnett, there is not much left for Cormier to accomplish while competing in Strikeforce. 

Cormier remains undefeated in his professional career, owning a 10-0 record, and it would be pointless for the 33-year-old to be competing in rematches or against lesser competition right now.

Cormier suggested that this weekend's UFC 146 could present some opportunities for him and line him up for a future bout with the UFC's top contenders. 

But, after defeating a credible opponent in Barnett, it's evident that Cormier is ready to test his skills in the sport's premier organization.

For now, he'll have to wait and see.

"Nothing really adds up right now, I don't know, I don't know how to guess what they are going to do," he said. "There are not too many guys that are a step up from that Josh Barnett that showed up on Saturday."