Fabricio Werdum recently stated that he’ll be looking for a “tune-up fight” before returning to the Strikeforce cage, against either Fedor Emelianenko or Alistair Overeem. And in light of Vadim Finkelstein’s constant statements about having a rematch against Fabricio Werdum as main priority for Fedor Emelianenko’s management, I decided to ask M-1 Global for a comment.

According to Finkelstein’s response the situation did not change; however, Fedor might participate in a “tune-up fight” of his own. Here’s Vadim Finkelstein’s official statement in regards to Fabricio Werdum’s interview with Aaron Tru:

“We are also looking for one fight before we’d like the re-match with Werdum. However, the rematch is extremely important for us; Fedor should have a chance to avenge his loss.”

So, it looks like if both camps execute their plans, Fedor and Werdum will have a rematch approximately in mid-2011. This statement also opens an opportunity for a very interesting “tune-up fight” (sorry, can’t stop using quotes for this one). Strikeforce has a very deep Heavyweight division, with the likes of Josh Barnett, Antonio Silva, and of course Alistair Overeem as potential opponents for Fedor and Werdum.

Speaking about Overeem, “The Demolition Man” declared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour show that the fight against Fabricio Werdum makes more sense to him:



“Personally, I think Werdum. Yep, Werdum, cause that makes sense,” Overeem said. “I already fought Brett [Rogers] coming out of a loss to Fedor. People gave me a lot of [expletive] for that. ‘Yeah, you’re a fighting a guy who lost, this and that.’ I’m not interested in doing that anymore. Let’s stick to some sort of ranking and that rankings tell me Werdum beat Fedor. Now, in my opinion, Werdum is No. 2 and Fedor is No. 3, I would say [Antonio “Bigfoot”] Silva is No. 4.”

We’ll all agree that fighting Overeem is not exactly a “tune-up fight” Fabricio Werdum is talking about. That’s why Japan looks like the most likely destination for “Vai Cavalo”. In the land of the Rising Sun, Werdum may find himself in the ring against the likes of Pedro Rizzo vs Tim Sylvia Winner, Jeff Monson or Ricco Rodriguez (believe me, they’ll postpone their drop down to 205 for that kind of fight). These are also the options Alistair Overeem has, in case he decides to postpone his return to Strikeforce.

As for Fedor, #3 P4P and #2 Heavyweight according to LowKick.com Community rankings, has Antonio Silva (if beats V. Overeem on December 4th) and of course Josh Barnett as possible opponents in Strikeforce. Personally, I would love to see “The Last Emperor” against Barnett. Fedor needs this fight to make a point, especially after Alistair Overeem stated he will defend his title only against fighter coming off a victory.

Stay tuned to LowKick.com for more news on the Fedor-Werdum-Overeem saga.