Strikeforce Tournament - Immediate Thoughts From An Englishman

So the Strikeforce tournament has been announced and verified. This is potentially as exciting as it gets within North American unified MMA rules. Sure, a fighter cannot fight more than 3 rounds in one night (non-championship), and they were unable to secure 5 rounds for each fight (despite the fact Coker didn't even approach the relevant state commissions). But we can ignore that considering the two MMA legends fighting:

Fedor Emelianenko: The best fighter your room mate has never heard of. A man who sat inside Nogueria's guard and showed to him why lying on your back works only for hookers and the lazy. A man who took one look at a k-1 fighter well schooled in MMA and decided that the head kick was his safest option. A man with a 28 win streak upset by a relatively small heavy weight Brazilian who was uppercutted out of the UFC. A man who hadn't been defeated in so long he had forgotten how to tap. Yet he is the favourite. Personally I don't see how this can be. By all means consider him a favourite (taking into account he has beaten both Rogers and Arlovski) but surely not the favourite. Especially when we look to...

Alistair Overeem: What hyperbole can I use to describe this man that hasn't been used before? Overeem, the Demolition Man, Ubereem...the Horse Smasher, the Minotaur (the Centaur!), GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF. He holds both the Strikeforce and Dream heavy weight titles, as well as the K-1 title, a completely different, yet no less dangerous sport. But still he is not the absolute favourite! Yes, he has lost both to Werdum and Kharitonov, but this was before his heavy weight renaissance. He has been unstoppable since. I believe, (and this is entirely wrong) that K-1 changed the rules on two handed clinching literally to preserve the brain cells, memories and bladder control of its other competitors. Look at Fujita. He took a knee to the head so hard that he decided a quick, cross-eyed sit down on the ropes before crying outside the ring was a completely sensible option.

However, what the bookies says goes. We can all look forward to several months of top quality MMA heavy weight action, something that even the UFC has struggled to produce. The worse case scenario for Strikeforce? The man who beats Overeem doesn't win the title. The worse case scenario for the viewer? The beer runs out. So please, sit back, relax, and try not to let Overeems He-Man genetics turn you into the girlfriend he is currently stealing.