10 Burning Questions Facing The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament

With just one more day to go before Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix kicks off on Showtime, the anticipation is beginning to boil over, for me anyway.

Yes, I understand there are always pessimists that prefer to criticize and doubt what Strikeforce may accomplish with such a unique production. But, what those few can't doubt is that, if nothing else, this tournament will answer a lot of questions about the promotion's heavyweight division.

And that alone should be intriguing enough for anyone to tune in.

Whether every fighter puts on a tremendous performance or prove that their better years are behind them, it will be an interesting story as it unfolds.

Sometimes those types of narratives are more compelling than the actual fights. In this case, I think the tournament will be a success on all fronts.

After all, I can't remember that last time any of these fighters were in a dull fight.

But, with little more than 24 hours before the show kicks off, let's take a look at 10 questions that are likely on the mind of most observers.

10. Is Sergei Kharitonov a Legitimate Contender?

Early in Sergei Kharitonov's run in Pride, which began in 2003, there were some that saw him as a possible future challenger for the title held by his former teammate Fedor Emelianenko.

While he did fall short of Pride's pinnacle, Kharitonov did establish himself as one of the most talented and tough heavyweight's in the Japanese promotion, going 9-3 with each loss against very respectable opposition.

But, it should be noted that Kharitonov has only fought four times since the fall of Pride, going 3-1 in that time. It should also be noted that the first of those three wins was a knockout of current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.

The question is: How much of a threat is Kharitonov today?

He is coming off of an early first-round knockout of Tatsuya Mizuno in Japan on New Year's Eve, but Mizuno is also a smaller man that now holds a record of 8-7.

This is just one of the many questions that will be answered in short time, as Kharitonov faces Andrei Arlovski in the first round, Saturday night on Showtime.

9. Can Fabricio Werdum Continue His Momentum?

If you check out any list of the most stunning upsets in MMA's history, up near the top will be Fabricio Werdum's first-round submission of Fedor Emelianenko from last year.

Nobody was giving the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace a chance against the Russian great, but he stamped his name in the history books by giving Emelianenko the first legitimate loss of his career.

So, what does the underrated contender get for such a monumental win?

Arguably, the hardest draw in the tournament.

Many would complain that Werdum should have been placed on the opposite side of the bracket, as is usually the case with the top seeds of a tournament. But, that would make far too much sense for the brains over at Strikeforce and Showtime.

Instead, Werdum will meet champion Alistair Overeem in the first round. And, if he can find a way to make it through that daunting task, he will have to meet the winner of Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Silva—two tough opponents that Werdum bested in his last two outings.

Can Werdum build off of his historical win in 2010? Or will that remain the high-point of his MMA career?

I can't wait to find out.

8. Who Has The Better Heavyweight Division?

One of the most debated topics of 2011 so far has been over which promotion has the best heavyweight division, Strikeforce or the UFC.

Certainly, at this point these things are completely subjective and any answer would be based on mere speculations.

Yes, Strikeforce has the veteran heavyweights that have proven themselves numerous times. But the UFC has the fresher fighters with arguably more physical gifts than we had yet to see prior.

We all know that in no near future will any of these big men fight their rival promoted counterparts, but in the mean time, we can at least see how they perform against the fighters in their own stable.

If Brock Lesner loses in lopsided fashion in his upcoming bout with Junior Dos Santos, that will likely remove him from the conversation of elite heavyweights. And the same can be said for many of the participants in the Grand Prix.

While we won't know for certain who would come out on top between Strikeforce and the UFC—at heavyweight of course—we will have more information to make our claims.

7. Will Andrei Arlovski's Chin Keep Him From Further Accomplishments?

Few ever doubted the talent of former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

His fluent footwork and well-rounded knowledge of the game kept him near the top of the division for many years. But, the case was always his ability to take a punch.

It was never more evident than after back-to-back first-round knockouts to Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers in 2009 that Arlovski may have the skills, but not the natural tools to be a great fighter, at least anymore.

In the first round of the tournament, Arlovski faces heavy-hitter Sergei Kharitonov. Whether Kharitonov can push his button or not, there isn't a heavyweight in this tournament that won't test Arlovski's haunting flaw—with the possible exception of the Brazilians on the opposite side of the bracket.

If both fighters were wearing boxing gloves and full headgear, I would undoubtedly predict a Arlovski victory over Kharitonov, but that is not the case.

But, if all fails in Strikeforce, at least Arlovski always has Tim Sylvia to turn to for one last paycheck.

6. Can Josh Barnett Rebuild His Reputation?

Was the fall of Affliction Entertainment Josh Barnett's fault?

Absolutely not.

The amount of poor business decisions and stacking debt behind the scenes at Affliction made ProElite look like a Fortune 500 company.

Josh Barnett testing positive for performance enhancing drugs was maybe the best thing that could have happened to the company in their final days.

It gave them a reason to not blow millions of dollars on their final event, and it also gave them someone to point the finger at while they slid through the shadows back onto the UFC's good side.

After all, the UFC has had many fighters test positive for PEDs and they never crumbled.

But, Barnett is allegedly responsible for ruining a single MMA event that likely would have been a terrific show and a favorite of hardcore fans for years to come. For that, he will usually be seen as a villain in the sport.

Though he claims to not mind what anyone thinks of him, it is human nature to prefer to be liked rather than hated.

If Barnett plays by the rules for the duration of this tournament and finds success in each of his bouts, will the fans give him another chance?

I would like to think so. After all, Michael Vick was just given the keys to the city in Dallas, and that is a brutal dog-killer that didn't even make it to the Super Bowl.

5. Will a Worthy Finalist Emerge?

Most of us have come to terms with Strikeforce and Showtime preferring to ignore common logic and place all of the top seeds on the same side of the bracket, while the less relevant competitors will battle it out on the other side for a shot at a major fight in the final.

It's over and done with, and we just have to accept it.

But, with the low expectations put on the "weak side" fighters, it wouldn't be hard for one of them to capture our imagination by putting together two impressive victories and taking the form of a threat in the finals.

Josh Barnett would seem like the favorite to pull off such a task. But if Brett Rogers or either of the Eastern Europeans can look dominant in their bouts, will hindsight show this nonsensical lopsided bracket to be a brilliant move by Strikeforce?

Or will this tournament just putter to an anti-climactic ending with all of the best fights already over in the first two rounds?

Strikeforce and Showtime are crossing their fingers.

4. What Do the Veterans Have Left?

As previously stated, Strikeforce's heavyweight lineup is full of accomplished veterans who have already made a name for themselves. If you were to compare their heavyweight division to that of the UFC's strictly based on accomplishment, it would be no competition.

But, as is with most athletic endeavors, the window for greatness is usually a small and continually shrinking one.

Will this tournament prove to be as great as many think it can potentially be? Or will it simply prove that these great heavyweight's best days are in the rear-view-mirror?

By the end of this tournament, there will be at least one fighter that comes to grips with that hard pill.

3. How Big Can Strikeforce Get?

The consensus opinion of this tournament seems to be that it will either be one of the greatest MMA events of all time, or an epic failure that sinks the promotion.

I feel I have a more realistic view that sees it as a tremendous group of fights that will neither make nor break the company.

But, if I had to choose one of those options, I would say it is much more likely to make Strikeforce, rather than break it. Or, to put it better: the reward more than outweighs the risk.

If the whole structure falls apart and the tournament is never finished, is it really that hard to just move forward and put on some good fights?

As an MMA fan, I will take more entertaining free fights no matter the history of the company. After all, they would have tried to do something great; it just didn't work out.

But, if this thing is a massive success and gains mainstream coverage, catapulting one or more of the fighters into the public eye, Zuffa will be kicking themselves for not trying something like it.

How big can Strikeforce get? Nobody knows, but this tournament certainly can't hurt. At least, not all that much.

2. Is Fedor Still One of the Best Pound-For-Pound Fighters on the Planet?

Over the majority of the last decade, most of the MMA world seemed in agreement that Fedor Emelianenko was the best MMA fighter on the planet.

The notion began to fizzle away from fact to opinion following the fall of Pride Fighting Championships, and Fedor's subsequent lack of activity—not to mention the rise of Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva.

Then the notion seemed to have completely gone out the window with his first-round submission upset loss to Fabricio Werdum last year. It certainly appeared his best days were gone.

"The Last Emperor" will now have a chance to reclaim his spot amongst those ranks.

Was the loss to Werdum a mere momentary lack of focus? Or was it a sign that a once great fighter's heart isn't in the game any longer?

We should have significant evidence this year, whichever the answer is.

1. Will the Tournament Winner Be the No. 1 Heavyweight in the World?

Though it is more complicated than just saying "whoever wins this tournament is No. 1," that person will undoubtedly be able to make a case for it.

However, if Andrei Arlovski or Brett Rogers for example were to pull off the massive upset, there would be few people that ranked them above UFC champion Cain Velasquez. But, if Fedor or Alistair Overeem were to further prove themselves by winning the finals, most observers would be hard-pressed not to at least entertain the idea of them being the top heavyweight in the world.

If Overeem were to beat Werdum, Fedor, and Josh Barnett to solidify his championship, I would see that as far and away trumping Velasquez's wins over Ben Rothwell, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar.

But, it all depends how the cookie crumbles. Debatable decisions, lackluster performances, and unexpected upsets will obviously have a say in where the winner of this tournament belongs in the grand view.

Again, I can't wait for all of these questions to find an answer. Because, just as highly anticipated as the fights are, so is the story.