Fedor Emelianenko, Strikeforce Play a Waiting Game

One thing we do know is that the next major Strikeforce event will be one featuring Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers. But nobody seems to know exactly when this fight will take place.

Strikeforce is coming off Carano vs Cyborg, which was a relatively successfull event. But while Strikeforce should be looking to build upon that success, a month has passed with no announcement on the date of the next major event.

The reason? In three letters, U,F, and C.

UFC president Dana White is not pleased with the new direction that Strikeforce is taking.  He's gone so far as to dub the organization "Strikefarce," and has given indications that he will be counter-programming the next UFC event.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker seems hesitant to announce the date of his next major event too early thereby giving the UFC enough time to organize effective counter-programming like a free live event on Spike TV.

Now though, Coker is left in a predicament.  The longer he waits, the less time he will have to properly promote his event.  The sooner he starts promoting the event, the more time Dana White and the UFC have to fire back.

With October only two weeks away, it looks like the earliest possible Saturday for aStrikeforce event is October 31.  That's valuable momentum lost for Strikeforce, while the UFC has been pumping out events monthly.

But if Stikeforce waits much longer, the UFC won't even need to waste money counter-programming as Strikeforce won't have enough time to sell tickets.

The stakes are even higher for Strikeforce, though, because of the lack of depth in the Strikeforce roster.  Strikeforce will need to use Fedor in this fight in order to have a chance to pull good ratings, while the availabilities of other drawing fighters like Gina Carano, Nick Diaz, Alistair Overeem, and Gegard Mousasi are in question due to acting, marijuana, other fights, and injuries respectively.

To better illustrate the Strikeforce dilemma, consider the following.

Imagine a scene in the desert, in the old wild west. A six-man posse with loaded rifles is out hunting for a bandit on the run. They've followed his tracks in the dirt, and have him cornered by an old abandoned ranch. The sun is making the horizon shimmer with heat, but luckily for the posse, they've brought waterskins. A tumbleweed rolls by. 

Meanwhile, the bandit is out of provisions, is covered in dust, and is hiding behind a nearby cactus. He sees his pursuers closing in.  He's got a fully loaded six shooter and a blunt rock. Strikeforce is that guy.