The Weekly Wrap: June 26 - July 2

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

In the wake of Fedor Emelianenko’s first true loss, the MMA world felt like a new frontier.

Debate was intense about the effect the heavyweight kingpin’s June 26 loss to Fabricio Werdum should have on MMA rankings, which Emelianenko has essentially reigned atop since they were conceived, and what next step would be most appropriate for Strikeforce matchmakers.

With the loss, the stoic Russian fell entirely from Sherdog.com’s Pound-For-Pound rankings -- marking the first time since their inception that a heavyweight fighter is not represented -- and created the opening for Brock Lesnar, on the very week he’s set to headline a UFC pay-per-view against Shane Carwin, to take the No. 1 spot in the heavyweight ranks.

In what could in some ways be seen as the biggest upset in MMA history, Werdum, one of the most decorated heavyweight grapplers in the sport, exposed a chink in the indomitable armor that has made Emelianenko impossible to hurt and impossible to compromise in his storied MMA career.

In the main event of Strikeforce and M-1 Global’s event in San Jose, Calif., Werdum, who dropped after an initial burst of punches, caught Emelianenko closing in with a triangle and armbar combination. A red-faced Emelianenko thrashed about but had missed the chance to break free from the two-time Abu Dhabi champion’s clutches. He tapped at the 1:08 mark, just once, almost as if he couldn’t believe what he was doing. Post-fight, Emelianenko, who’s had success pounding through jiu-jitsu stylists’ guards, said he hesitated at the split-second opening he had to escape.

Silence came over the 11,757 fans at HP Pavilion, who just heard an interview and hype laying the groundwork for an Emelianenko-Alistair Overeem fight as if it were a formality. By the time it was over, a Werdum rematch seemed most appropriate. Emelianenko’s M-1 handlers called for the fight in October, as did Werdum, who floated the idea of holding the fight in Russia. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he was open to negotiating the fight but did not foreclose on the possibility of Emelianenko still facing Overeem in the last fight on his current Strikeforce contract.

With the historic win, Werdum, who signed a three-fight contract extension with Strikeforce prior to the fight, jumped from No. 9 to No. 2 in Sherdog.com’s heavyweight rankings. Brock Lesnar jumped from No. 2 to the top spot. Emelianenko dropped to No. 3. The turn of events means a UFC or WEC fighter reigns atop all major MMA weight-class rankings.

The loss came just as mainstream American fight fans were becoming familiar with Emelianenko and what he represents. Clamor to see him fight the UFC champion reached a crescendo after his fight against Josh Barnett last August fell through, and his last outing in November against Brett Rogers was viewed by 5.46 million American households on CBS, his largest stateside exposure by a vast margin. The Werdum bout drew a $1.06 million live gate, the sixth biggest crowd in Strikeforce MMA history.

Werdum testing Emelianenko was considered such a long shot, it seems, that the fight did not galvanize the television public. The three-hour broadcast of the fight drew a 1.5 rating and 492,000 average viewers on Showtime, according to Yahoo Sports. That is the fourth-highest rating for an MMA event on Showtime, falling beneath the August 2009 Gina Carano vs. Cristiane Santos event (576,000), the February 2008 Kimbo Slice vs. David "Tank" Abbott event (522,000) and the January 2010 Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis/Herschel Walker vs. Greg Nagy event (517,000).

The Emelianenko vs. Werdum fight itself was said to be seen by 700,000 viewers when factoring in DVR and on-demand viewers. M-1 Global also secured deals that saw the fight broadcast internationally, including in Russia, China, South Africa, Poland and Italy.

The UFC countered the event with a free airing of UFC 113 -- sans the controversial Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley fight -- which drew a 1.1 rating and 1.48 million average viewers on Spike TV.

Looming over the fight was the specter of Emelianenko’s protracted and closely scrutinized past negotiations with the UFC. UFC President Dana White said he had no interest in Emelianenko following the loss. News broke on the eve of the bout that White managed to get the Tapout company to renege on a reported seven-figure sponsorship deal that would have seen Emelianenko sporting a signature Tapout shirt all weekend. Emelianenko’s management said the deal was pulled after UFC brass threatened to ban the company from its events; White confirmed to MMAFighting.com that he placed a call to a Tapout rep about the deal, but said Tapout made its own decision to not work with Emelianenko. The UFC made a similar move in getting apparel company RVCA to pull their sponsorship of Emelianenko in the past, costing the fighter $10,000 monthly paydays and a percentage of sales over three years, his manager told Sherdog.com. Emelianenko ended up wearing Clinch Gear apparel into the cage on Saturday.

Despite the sponsorship hit to the wallet, Emelianenko took home an event-high $400,000 purse for the loss, while Werdum collected a $100,000 payday. Emelianenko almost certainly took home much more through Strikeforce’s co-promotional deal with M-1 Global, of which he is an owning partner. A similar deal with the defunct Affliction promotion saw Emelianenko paid north of an extra $1 million through M-1 for each fight.

While it will forever be remembered as the night Fedor tapped, Strikeforce’s June 26 offering saw three other memorable fights. Santos continued her dominance by pummeling Jan Finney toward a second-round stoppage, throwing 236 strikes to 59 from the remarkably tough Finney. Cung Le avenged his loss to Scott Smith via second-round TKO after a steady diet of body kicks. And Josh Thomson, despite suffering two broken ribs in the first takedown of the fight by opponent Pat Healy, secured a rear-naked choke for a dramatic third-round victory.