Hendo-Fedor Makes Sense…Mostly

Dan Henderson has made no secret of his desire to fight Fedor Emelianenko, even saying recently that the fight simply makes sense. You don’t have to think about it too hard to see that for Hendo, the fight certainly does make perfect sense. An all-time great with a list of accolades a mile long, he could put an exclamation point on that resume with a win over Fedor, whether the former heavyweight king has lost two in a row or not.

On a more practical level, who else would fight Hendo at this point? Strikeforce probably hoped that Gegard Mousasi would do better than a head-scratching draw against Keith Jardine, giving Hendo a quality challenger. Mike Kyle, who presents a fun if not exactly world-changing matchup, is hurt. Who else could present a viable challenge?

Of course, the chance to fight Fedor in a big-money, big-exposure bout is a nice reason for Hendo to want the opportunity, as well. (There is an interesting asterisk here, too: Hendo’s contract expires with this bout. Will he be headed back to the UFC after this fight, or will he continue as Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion? Will a win or a loss against Fedor affect that result? And how will the recent purchase of Strikeforce by Zuffa affect how things play out?)

So, the fight does make sense: for Hendo, for Strikeforce (not necessarily in that order), and even for the fans, as the “balls to the wall” pacing, sturdy chins and all-around skillsets of both fighters would make for a matchup of epic proportions. What about Fedor, though?

We’ve kind of been through this before, haven’t we? Fedor beat the crap out of Matt Lindland not too many moons ago, and everyone just kind of yawned. You can already hear the cynical MMA fanbase crapping over a Fedor win already here, can’t you? “He lost two in a row and then beat a true middleweight, who cares?”

Certainly, a fight with Henderson isn’t going to show any doubters that Fedor can become the man to beat again in the heavyweight division. It also isn’t really going to change his legacy much, for better or for worse. Actually, it’s one of those classic no-win situations, which these kinds of fights usually are for the heavier fighter. Furthermore, a loss to a guy who should be fighting two weight classes below him will make it hard for Strikeforce to justify continually jumping through his management team’s hoops to bring him back for more fights.

Then again, does Fedor even care about his place in history? Where journalists and fans rank him? Whether he gets a shot at the Strikeforce belt? I don’t really think so. You would think he’d be happy to fight anyone who presents a decent challenge and a good payday, but I’m not sure that he’s very motivated by money, either. (The fine fellows at M-1 Global are, though- you can bet on that!)

The only thing that I would guess that really matters to Fedor is the chance to avenge his losses to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and especially Fabricio Werdum. Does this fight put him closer to that opportunity if he wins? I suppose it does. A loss to Henderson means that neither fight is going to be high on many peoples’ wish lists, however.

For Henderson, this fight is something he’s wanted for some time, something that he’s looking forward to. For Fedor, I’m not sure it represents the same opportunity. I think that, if anything, this fight is one that he has little choice on. The two fights he wants the most can’t happen because both possible opponents are still in the heavyweight tournament. So if anything, while this fight makes sense for Henderson, for Fedor it’s a high-risk, low-reward opportunity that he has little choice but to take at this point.

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Tags: Antonio Silva, Dan Henderson, Fabricio Werdum, Fedor Emelianenko, Strikeforce