Strikeforce Fedor vs. Silva Results: Coker Wants To Put Fedor Back In Tournament

Following Fedor Emelianenko's upset loss to Antonio Silva, Scott Coker has suggested that Fedor could still return in the Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament as an alternate.

Coker said this during the post-fight press conference.

And it all makes sense.

Fedor is one of Strikeforce's biggest draws, certainly a much larger draw than Shane Del Rosario, so it only makes sense that Strikeforce would want to put him back in action.

The only problem with this is that it completely invalidates the tournament format.

Fans have accepted that the lopsided tournament brackets as they seemed to guarantee the best possible early round matchups, but the brackets still existed, and without those brackets there is little left that separates Strikeforce's tournament from ordinary fight matchmaking.

Take away the rigid bracket format, and the Strikeforce tournament is a tournament in name only.

My own personal view is that tournament formats are totally overrated anyway, for a multitude of reasons, including the fact that tournaments can still be structured to favor one fighter over another, and that tournament structures handcuff proper matchmaking, but I feel like I'm in the minority there.

Tons of fans loved the boldness of the tournament structure.

Putting Fedor back in the tournament might make some people happy, but ruins the entire concept of the tournament that people were so excited about to begin with.

This is a clear case of Strikeforce wanting to have it's cake and eat it, too.

Considering the condition of Fedor's eye, Scott Coker's wishes may not be the determining factor.