Fedor vs Barnett at DREAM? (Rumor)

Post #1 » by **singh_shady** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:00 am

According to mmarecap (I know, not the most reliable of sources) Fedor and Barnett will square off during the February '10 DREAM/Strikeforce co-promotion.

Regardless of whether or not the fight comes to fruition, is this something you guys are still interested in seeing? Personally, I would still like to see them fight. Barnett was the one Pride HW Fedor never had a chance to beat, however it's a lose/lose situation for him. If he wins, he beat a cheater. If he loses, well..he loses.

Post #2 » by **CPT** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:24 am

I read a different report that mentioned this.

The fight would be in Japan, so Barnett can juice to his heart's content, and probably still lose. If he wins, then Fedor fans will treat it like it doesn't count because Barnett was on roids (even though that will just be speculation).

On one hand, I want to see this fight, because Barnett is better than most of the guys Fedor could potentially fight.

On the other hand, Barnett, roided or not, doesn't really have much to offer Fedor. And a big fight like this in Japan would not do anything for Strikeforce/Fedor in the US (although they could broadcast it on tape delay I guess).

It would be nice if they could get it together for the NYE show, but Fedor's injury will stop that from happening.

Spartan13 · Post #3 » by **Spartan13** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:55 pm

Well you were wondering what DREAM got out of the Strikeforce/Dream fighter deal, im guessing this is it.

It doesnt really surprise me if its true, I thought a co-promotion event would happen, I just figured it would be with Overeem, not Barnett since he is the champ. But I can see why Fedor would want to be in it considering M1-Global gets international promo rights, and Japan was probably the biggest MMA market with the least exposure the last fight got. M1 couldnt reach a significant TV deal for the Rogers-Fedor fight and had to show it on a live stream in Japan, im guessing because Strikeforce is a little too gaijin for them. But now that its a DREAM card as well as Strikeforce they shouldnt have that problem, so my guess is M1-Global will get a piece of the revenues in Japan for this fight that they couldnt otherwise have gotten without DREAM. Also, Fedor is suing Affliction for not letting this fight happen, and it seems like he was really upset he didnt get to fight Barnett, so this is his chance to do so, and Japan is probably the most likely destination for that to happen.

As for the US, this isnt the best news, but the rest of the world watched the last fight on tape delay and it did fine, hell even the west coast watched it on tape delay, and MMA fans watch UFC on SPike on tape delay for their foreign events. My guess is theyll probably air the fight on tape delay in primetime on CBS, and air it live on Showtime. You are right that its actually a smarter idea though to have the Barnett fight in Japan, partly cus of the juicing, but also cus of his popularity there, and that leaves the Overeem fight for the title back in America.

Maybe theyll do a Strikeforce/DREAM co-promotion in America, or at least lend some big name fighters over. Id love to see some of their lightweights or welterweights in action live.

Also, would this fight take place in a cage or a ring?

And do you think part of the reason Overeem hasnt fought in DREAM in a while is cus hes scared of harsher drug testing?

Post #4 » by **CPT** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:08 pm

Yeah, I guess it really makes more sense to have the event in Japan, regardless of Barnett's roiding allegations. They are just both bigger names in Japan than they are in the US. The fight could be pretty big in Japan, but it was going to fail in a huge way under Affliction. Maybe with the right hype behind it, it could do well in the US on CBS, but I guess having it live in Japan could work out just as well. The kinds of people who will watch it on CBS are either hardcore enough to watch it anyway, or casual enough to not even know that it is tape delayed.

Not sure about the ring or cage. The cage seemed to be pretty well received when they used it at the last Dream event, but I'm not sure if they plan to keep using it. They definitely won't have it at Dynamite.

I definitely think Roidereem is avoiding fighting in the US because of drug testing. It's possible that he's clean, seeing as he did fight in Strikeforce before, and seems to be serious about competing in K-1 this year (not that that means he's clean, just that it's a legit reason to stay in Japan), but he's not doing himself any favours by getting injured just before fights in the US and then fighting in Japan weeks later. Just looks bad.

jTF2 · Post #5 » by **jTF2** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 2:20 pm

Rogers/Fedor II is more compelling than this garbage.

If you wiped my brain about Barnett's roids then I'd be marginally excited.

Cammo101 · Post #6 » by **Cammo101** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:47 pm

This just means that Strikeforce will be without it's meal ticket for that much longer. Not good for them.

2009NBAChamps · Post #7 » by **2009NBAChamps** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:53 pm

This fight will take place in a cage. The last Dream fight was also in a cage.

I also don't like this fight happening as it's a waste of Fedor's time. There are much more compelling matchups within SF/Dream that they could put together.

Cammo101 · Post #8 » by **Cammo101** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 5:12 pm

2009NBAChamps wrote:This fight will take place in a cage. The last Dream fight was also in a cage.

I also don't like this fight happening as it's a waste of Fedor's time. There are much more compelling matchups within SF/Dream that they could put together.

Really? Who? Overeem is the only matchup SF can make more compelling than this one IMO.

2009NBAChamps · Post #9 » by **2009NBAChamps** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:21 pm

Overeem, Werdum and Arlovski (even with his earlier loss) are more compelling imo.

Down the road they can also look to build up Lashley, if he continues to improve.

Side note: SF needs to work on bringing in Mamed Khalidov. Dude's been ripping through his competition of late, and after just seeing him beat Santiago I think he would be a great addition to their MW lineup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_M_buZvN2A

Cammo101 · Post #10 » by **Cammo101** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:05 pm

2009NBAChamps wrote:Overeem, Werdum and Arlovski (even with his earlier loss) are more compelling imo.

Down the road they can also look to build up Lashley, if he continues to improve.

Side note: SF needs to work on bringing in Mamed Khalidov. Dude's been ripping through his competition of late, and after just seeing him beat Santiago I think he would be a great addition to their MW lineup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_M_buZvN2A

Why on earth would you rather see an Arlovski rematch or Wedum? Either you are overrating those guys or underrating Barnett.

2009NBAChamps · Post #11 » by **2009NBAChamps** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:18 pm

Maybe I'm underrating Barnett, but the guy doesn't seem like he has anything to offer Fedor. Also all his issues with roids and his lack of competition lately have made me lose all interest in the guy. I know Werdum and Arlovski are just as unlikely to challenge him, but offer more intrigue in my opinion. Arlovski was just stupid in his last fight going for the flying knee. Up until that moment he was easily winning the round. Werdum is just an excellent BJJ and although I thought Silva should've won that fight with him, he imposes a different tactic which Fedor hasn't seen in his opponents for quite some time.

Cammo101 · Post #12 » by **Cammo101** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:02 pm

2009NBAChamps wrote:Maybe I'm underrating Barnett, but the guy doesn't seem like he has anything to offer Fedor. Also all his issues with roids and his lack of competition lately have made me lose all interest in the guy. I know Werdum and Arlovski are just as unlikely to challenge him, but offer more intrigue in my opinion. Arlovski was just stupid in his last fight going for the flying knee. Up until that moment he was easily winning the round. Werdum is just an excellent BJJ and although I thought Silva should've won that fight with him, he imposes a different tactic which Fedor hasn't seen in his opponents for quite some time.

Werdum will not take Fedor down and he will get KOed just like the dos Santos fight. Barnett is an elite wrestler, and that is how you beat Fedor.

Post #13 » by **singh_shady** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 9:22 pm

I believe Barnett was the 2nd ranked HW before the 'roid scandal, if there's anyone that can challenge Fedor, it's Barnett. Werdum has no chance, Cammo summed it up pretty nicely.

Pitbull will have to prove himself first before he gets another crack at Fedor, not only for the fans and matchmakers but for himself as well. I could imagine his confidence being really low right now. It would be suicide for Strikeforce to try to build up Arlovski as a fighter who has any chance against Fedor, when he got knocked in 30 seconds by the guy who Fedor just destroyed.

An Overeem fight would obviously interesting because of his sheer size. Although they are nothing alike, this fight would be the closest thing to Brock vs Fedor we are going to see. It would be interesting to see how Fedor would handle Overeem's strength.

Post #14 » by **CPT** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:09 pm

I think Barnett would beat Werdum, Arlovski, Rogers, and probably Overeem, too. He wouldn't run through them or anything, but I think he would be considered the favourite in every fight. So in that way, the fight is interesting, because Barnett is clearly an elite HW.

However, all of those guys have an edge on Fedor in some area, (Rogers, size and power, Arlovski, boxing, Werdum, BJJ, Overeem, striking), while Barnett, being very well rounded, just seems like a poor man's Fedor in a way.

To be honest, I would have preferred to see Barnett have a fight in the meantime, but I don't really see how you can complain too much about this fight.

Cammo101 · Post #15 » by **Cammo101** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:47 pm

CPT wrote:I think Barnett would beat Werdum, Arlovski, Rogers, and probably Overeem, too. He wouldn't run through them or anything, but I think he would be considered the favourite in every fight. So in that way, the fight is interesting, because Barnett is clearly an elite HW.

However, all of those guys have an edge on Fedor in some area, (Rogers, size and power, Arlovski, boxing, Werdum, BJJ, Overeem, striking), while Barnett, being very well rounded, just seems like a poor man's Fedor in a way.

To be honest, I would have preferred to see Barnett have a fight in the meantime, but I don't really see how you can complain too much about this fight.

Barnett is an elite level wrestler.

Spartan13 · Post #16 » by **Spartan13** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:52 am

Yah if anything Barnett fight would be closer to Brock then Overeem. Barnett has wins against Nog and Couture among others btw. Talent wise, its a no brainer.

I think Fedors next fights will go:

Barnett
Werdum
Overeem
Rogers rematch

Cammo101 · Post #17 » by **Cammo101** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:53 am

Spartan13 wrote:Yah if anything Barnett fight would be closer to Brock then Overeem. Barnett has wins against Nog and Couture among others btw. Talent wise, its a no brainer.

I think Fedors next fights will go:

Barnett
Werdum
Overeem
Rogers rematch

I agree except the Rodgers rematch. I doubt he will prove to be good enough to get it.

Spartan13 · Post #18 » by **Spartan13** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:56 am

Good enough talent wise? probably not. Good enough ratings wise? I think so.

I guess it all depends on how many fights Fedor ends up doing for Strikeforce. Dana will definitely want to get him now after his current contract ends.

2009NBAChamps · Post #19 » by **2009NBAChamps** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 1:15 am

I was excited for the originally scheduled Fedor/Barnett clash which was supposed to happen in August. Barnett failing the drug test just didn't sit well with me and leaves doubt about his abilities given the scandal.

Cammo101 · Post #20 » by **Cammo101** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 2:24 am

Spartan13 wrote:Good enough talent wise? probably not. Good enough ratings wise? I think so.

I guess it all depends on how many fights Fedor ends up doing for Strikeforce. Dana will definitely want to get him now after his current contract ends.

To the casual fan, all Rodgers is is a guy who Fedor KOed. In 6 months he won't be any more known than he is now. Lashley is a bigger money fight than Rodgers and much more likely to actually happen at the end of that list.