In the wake of Fabricio Werdum’s stunning upset of the The Last Emperor, we are left questioning what Strikeforce will do regarding the now very different landscape of the Strikeforce Heavyweight division. Scott Coker has two choices, allow Werdum to fight Overeem for the title, or give Fedor an immediate rematch against Werdum. Strikeforce needs to consider what would be best for their company, not what is best for a fallen legend.

A rematch would leave Overeem out in the cold while Strikeforce put this rematch together, possibly on PPV. Strikeforce should be keeping their champion busy by tossing him top contenders, so that the title still holds legitimacy. Why not give Werdum his well earned title shot? He has done what no other fighter has ever been able to do, legitimately beat Fedor. Werdum is claiming he wants to give Fedor a rematch, and that’s understandable, he wants to prove the legitimacy of his victory on Saturday night. However, he can do that after his title shot. The smart thing to do would be to give Werdum his shot at Overeem, a rematch in itself, and have Fedor fight a Strikeforce Heavyweight coming off a victory, like Big Foot Silva. If both Werdum and Fedor are successfull, they meet for a title fight. A much more marketable title fight, I might add.

Fedor has one fight left on his Strikeforce contract. Coker could look at this as a blessing in disguise, not having M-1 Global to co-promote with anymore. Now that Fedor has lost, they certainly do not have the leverage they once did when Fedor was still the man. It would allow Strikeforce to move forward without any hindrances, in the direction they want. However in the past Strikeforce has put together fights that just did not make sense, like giving Brett Rogers a shot at the title after his loss because Fedor did not want Overeem. Putting together this rematch would just be another fight that just doesn’t make sense. What if Fedor wins the rematch, does he now get a shot at the tilte, and where does that leave Werdum?

This was not a close fight. Fedor was not robbed by the judges or by an unjust or early stoppage. Those are the fights that get immediate rematches, not a clear cut loss where one fighter finished another. Fedor is not the face of the organization, Strikeforce’s entire roster is the face of the organization. Nothing that happened in that fight should warrant an immediate rematch for Fedor, and Werdum needs to realize he stands to gain nothing by giving Fedor a rematch. I am not a fan of M-1 Global as evidenced by other articles I have written at MMABadAss. The best thing for Strikeforce to do, is to move forward with the Werdum victory, and let him fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight title. Please Scott Coker, no rematch.

Written by Keith Talarico of the MMA blog, mmabadass.com.

Fabricio Werdum, Fedor Emelianenko, Strikeforce