MMA Melee 11/24/08

While older brother Fedor Emelianenko suffered his 1st combat loss since 2000 at they recent Sambo Competitions, his younger brother Aleksander Emelianenko (14-3), scored a first-round knockout of South Korean prospect Sang Soo Lee (10-5) at M-1 Challenge 9. Aleks has won 5 fights in a row and I would love to see him signed to fight for any of the MMA promotions in America!

Alistair Overeem will most likely face Mirko Cro Cop in a rematch at the New Year's Eve K-1 Dynamite show. Their 1st meeting ended with Overeem landing at least 4 knee's to the groin on Mirko causing a doctor's stoppage. The bad blood has continued as Alistair continues to call out Cro Cop saying, “I’m afraid Mirko is trying to run from me again. FEG wants to make it happen, I would like nothing more than get my hands on him again and I know that the fans would like to see a definite ending as well, so the only obstacle here is Cro Cop. He’s the one who hasn’t signed the contract yet and he’s the one who is trying to avoid fighting me again because he knows that he will get his ass kicked again.” Mirko is a man of honor and win or lose, expect him to sign this contract.

It is official and Denis Kang signed a 4 fight deal with the UFC. His 1st opponent looks like Alan Belcher at UFC 93 in January.

Jon Fitch you're fired! Oh wait, they have hired you back again. The bad ass Welterweight was recently fired by Dana White after a dispute over his likeness being used in the UFC video game. It should be noted this is one of the reasons Randy Couture walked away from the UFC after their most recent dispute. Jon fights with "Crazy" Bob Cook's AKA gym and has always had a heated partnership with Zuffa. Initially fired, Fitch was resigned after an undisclosed agreement was reached. Fellow AKA members Josh Koscheck, Christian Wellisch, and Cain Velasquez. All the fighters are asking for is to be paid for their likeness being used in the video game instead of getting absolutely nothing. Dana White, you're a dick.

Fabricio Werdum you're fired. Wait, oh yes, he is still fired. Werdum had no idea he was canned from the UFC after losing to Junior dos Santos until the media began calling asking what he was going to do next. The guy who should have gotten the title shot against Randy Couture was not informed by the UFC that he would not get the final 4 fights on his contract until later in the week. Look for Werdum to land on his feet at any of the major MMA promotions. Dana White you're a dick.

The WEC and Strikeforce are currently in the lead to land female MMA's leading lady Gina Carano. After stating he would never have a woman's division, Dana White offered Carano a spot on the WEC shows where she would fight in feature bouts where an opponent would be brought in to face Gina, but there would not be a female division. I'm voting for Strikeforce.

Chuck Liddell is not going to fight Anderson Silva as previously rumored, instead being offered a Heavyweight fight against Randy Couture for the 4th time. Randy won their 1st bout and was then KO'd twice in following fights. This is simply a "name vs name" fight to take place in Germany where Randy speaks the language fluently. I see no reason for this fight whatsoever and would much rather see the Anderson Silva bout. Zuffa has yet to ask for my opinion on the matter.

And finally, Josh Thompson is feeling his oats as the Strikeforce Lightweight Champion saying, "I'm looking for big fights. I'd love to fight Ralph Gracie. I'd love to fight Frank Shamrock. I'd like to fight Eddie Alvarez. I'd like to fight those guys. And those to me, and Joachin Hansen, they warrant coming in off the street to get an automatic title shot -- or like a union fight or superfight." Careful what you wish for "Punk" but I would like to see the tough champion tested.