The Weekly Wrap: Feb. 27 - March 5

The Weekly Wrap walks readers through the last seven days in MMA, recapping and putting into context the week's top story, important news and notable quotes.

Top Story

A round of bona fide promotional warfare between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Strikeforce began to brew this week, as the industry leader looked to counter Strikeforce’s announcement that it would return to CBS on April 17 with three title fights on the bill.

On the same week Strikeforce finalized the CBS date, reports surfaced that the event may be moved to April 24 after UFC President Dana White confirmed to The Wrestling Observer that the UFC would likely stage a live card of its own April 17 on Spike TV.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said in interviews that the CBS date is fluid and could be changed to oppose the World Extreme Cagefighting pay-per-view the next Saturday on April 24.

Tickets went on sale Friday for an April 17 card dubbed “Strikeforce Nashville: Henderson vs. Shields” at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. CBS executive Kelly Kahl told The Wrestling Observer that the ratings for network’s next Strikeforce card, promoted through fighter appearances on the network’s popular “NCIS” program, would determine if the network commits to quarterly MMA specials.

In addition to CBS fights, Strikeforce made a slew of big fight announcements this week, including those for a May 15 event in St. Louis, Mo. Three title fights –- Henderson vs. Shields, Gegard Mousasi vs. Muhammed Lawal and Gilbert Melendez vs. Shinya Aoki –- are set for the April 17 card, likely the only fights on the telecast considering the time requirements of accommodating three potentially 25-minute bouts.

On tap for May 15 are Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers and Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva. It is not clear if the Overeem-Rogers bout will be for the Strikeforce heavyweight title, which Overeem won in Nov. 2007 but has yet to defend. Coker told MMAJunkie.com that an announcement is planned for next week about the title implications of the bout. Prior to the announcement, Silva told Graciemag.com that he was offered fights against Arlovski and Rogers and turned down a fight against Josh Barnett for the Dream promotion in Japan. Arlovski signed a multi-fight, 16-month contract with Strikeforce on Monday.

Not much is known about the UFC’s proposed April 17 date, though there were reports the company was considering staging the card in the same city as Strikeforce, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Welterweight Mike Swick confirmed he was offered a fight with Matt Serra on the date, but had to turn it down due to an arm injury.

Preceding the chain of developments was an announcement by Fedor Emelianenko’s management company, M-1 Global, that he will not compete as expected on the April 17 Strikeforce event. Sherdog.com reported that Emelianenko could be absent from the April and May events as his management attempts to re-tool terms of Emelianenko’s existing contract with Strikeforce. In interviews, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was optimistic that issues with Emelianenko could be “buttoned up” so the Russian could enter the Strikeforce cage again late in the second quarter or the summer.

Coker told ESPN.com’s “MMA Live” that Strikeforce has a valid contract in place with Emelianenko, but told MMAJunkie.com that the time had come for “building a model that works for us and works for M-1 Global.” Emelianenko’s fights are co-promoted with M-1, and it’s said that 50 percent of profits or revenue on those cards are split between the parties. Coker floated pay-per-view as a factor in the Emelianenko talks.

Last weekend, Emelianenko competed in a sambo tournament in Russia, which ended up being won by his brother Aleksander. Fedor withdrew after reportedly injuring his hand, on which he had surgery after his Nov. 7 win over Brett Rogers in his Strikeforce debut.