Strikeforce will be holding a conference call at 5:00 PM EST today for the “Fedor vs. Werdum” event being held June 26th in San Jose, California. Former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, opponent Fabricio Werdum, and Strikeforce founder and CEO Scott Coker will be on hand for the call.
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Check back later for a full rundown of the call.
Fedor Talks UFC – “I’m not a fan of watching their fights,” Emelianenko said. “I’ve seen what seems to be a negativity involved in a lot of their shows.”
“I think it’s a combination in some ways of how the fights are presented and the manner they are presented,” Emelianenko said. “Also, in some ways, the behavior of a lot of fighters in the UFC takes away from the sport.”
“I think both fights [ours and Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin] are very important because you’ve got four world class heavyweights in the top ten of their sport,” Emelianenko said. “But I’m not a UFC fan. I would invite all the fans to watch our fight, which I believe is the more important one.”
[Update] Highlights of the call after the break.
[Update 2] Click here for audio.
-I felt bad for Fabricio as Fedor and Scott took the lion’s share of questions.
-Beau Dure asked the trio why Fedor’s opponents have done so poorly after fighting him. Werdum gave the only interesting answer, hypothesizing that fighters beat themselves mentally before stepping in to fight Fedor and that mentality carries into future performances.
-Fedor refused to answer questions about his commitment to Strikeforce and a fight with Alistair Overeem, claiming he was focused on his fight with Werdum.
-Both fighters were very respectful of each other. Werdum said multiple times that it was an honor and inspiration to fight Fedor.
-Fedor said he will continue fighting until he feels ineffective, adding that while he doesn’t feel pressure to fight, he acknowledges the demand from fans.
-Fedor wanted to fight in April, the postponement wasn’t up to him.
-Coker claims Strikeforce has already sold 10,000 tickets and expects the show to sell out.
-Fedor doesn’t pay attention to compliments or criticism from anyone. He later added that he’s not a fan of the UFC, specifically their fight presentation and the behavior of some of the fighters.
-Fedor said his hand is 100%, and thanks for asking.
-Coker touched on the Tennessee situation. Two of the four fighters have not filed their paperwork, but he refused to elaborate on that.
-Werdum thinks his fight is more relevant than Lesnar/Carwin the next weekend. Fedor feels both fights are relevant because all four are highly ranked fighters.
-Coker oddly needed to remind us that this was a co-promotion with M-1.