Bout Agreements Issued for Fedor vs. Henderson in Strikeforce on July 30 in Chicago

The long awaited bout pitting Fedor Emelianenko against Dan Henderson in Strikeforce is finally a done deal… at least as close as it can be before the ink dries.

Sources close to the negotiations told MMAWeekly.com on Friday that bout agreements have been issued for the July 30 fight, and are expected to be signed and returned shortly.

The bout between Emelianenko and Henderson will take place at heavyweight at Chicago’s Sears Center. The bout has long been in discussions, but until Friday negotiations were still ongoing. With contracts issued, the deal has been all but sealed.

Unless a major change takes place, the bout between Fedor and Henderson will air on Showtime as a part of a Strikeforce show co-promoted with M-1 Global. Plans were originally in place for a pay-per-view, but it appears the promotion has shifted gears and switched to a Showtime broadcast for the July 30 fight card.

Fedor returns to the cage for the first time since suffering back-to-back losses, something the Russian legend has never dealt with before in his storied career. He will try to get back on track against the current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, who moves up to heavyweight for the opportunity to face Emelianenko.

Since moving to Strikeforce in 2010, Henderson has gone 2-1, dropping his first fight to Jake Shields, but then coming back with knockout wins over Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante to claim the Strikforce belt.

Henderson and Fedor will headline the July 30 fight card with more bouts expected to roll out in the coming weeks.

Damon Martin is the lead staff writer and radio host for MMAWeekly.com.

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