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Mike Whitman Joins Press Row
By: Jordan Breen
Every Wednesday, Administrative Editor Jordan Breen welcomes a member of the mixed martial arts media into “Press Row” on the Sherdog.com blog. This week, Breen is joined by Sherdog.com news editor Mike Whitman.
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Breen and Whitman discuss the recently launched World Series of Fighting project, with particular attention to its amusing and shambolic introductory press conference. The two chart the development of the MMA promotion from its early inception over a year ago to being actualized on Nov. 3 with its debut card in Las Vegas, and how it could potentially avoid the pitfalls of other MMA startups.
The duo also discuss the choice of Ray Sefo as a promotional figurehead, what Kurt Angle would have offered on color commentary, how MMA promotions of the past have desensitized us to crazy decisions, the conditions of WSOF's NBC Sports Network deal and much more.
Grab your credential and get a seat in “Press Row.” -
Strikeforce ‘Fedor vs. Silva’ Analysis: The Main Card
By: Tim Leidecker
Antonio Silva was a heavy underdog on Saturday against Fedor Emelianenko. | Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
History was made Saturday night at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Following an undercard that went as expected, most anticipated former Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko to bounce back from last summer’s shocking upset loss with a win over Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
However, the sport of MMA has evolved such that things rarely turn out as expected, and “The Last Emperor” was no exception. Below, an in-depth look at the five main-card matches from Saturday night and what matches could be next for the participants.
Valentijn Overeem def. Ray Sefo -- Submission (Neck Crank) 1:37 R1
What happened: Having been in charge of Vitor Belfort’s preparation for UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, seven-time K-1 World Grand Prix finalist Sefo did not have much time to prepare for his Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix alternate bout against Alistair Overeem’s older brother, Valentijn. Still a neophyte on the ground, Sefo was taken down 90 seconds into the match and submitted with a head-scissoring Overeem neck crank. It must have been the first time someone fighting for a major organization tapped out to the “can opener” since Mark Coleman used it on Masaaki Satake in the opening round of the 2000 Pride grand prix. Read more
