Strikeforce: Fedor Emelianenko Rebounding From a Loss and Winning The Tournament

Once upon a time, Fedor Emelianenko (31-2-0, 1NC) had won 27 straight fights, was the Pride champion, and the most feared fighter on the planet.

Having defeated the likes of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (2x), Mirko Cro Cop, Kevin Randleman, and Mark Coleman (2x) to merely name a few during his days in Pride, Emelianenko became a superstar and the sports' pound-for-pound best fighter.

Up until 2010, his lone career loss had come against Tsuyoshi Kosaka by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at King of Kings 2000 Block B. In the opening moments of the bout, the two fighters engaged and unloaded strikes at the other, with Kosaka throwing an overhand right that would miss its mark with the fist, but would connect with his elbow on the follow through and it would be that very elbow that would slice Emelianenko's right eye wide open to give him his first career loss.

Some ? years later, "The Last Emperor" would exact revenge on Kosaka by defeating him by first round technical knockout. A failed takedown attempt by Kosaka led to Emelianenko throwing vicious strikes from his opponent's open guard that would slice him open and after a halt in the action for ringside physicians to check Kosaka's cut, the fight would resume with the two heavyweights standing. However, that would not last long as Fedor would easily shrug off a poor takedown attempt by Kosaka and follow him to the canvas, where he proceded to badly ground and pound him to end the opening round.

The end of round one would also be the end of Kosaka, as he was so badly beaten by Emelianenko in the first round of action that he could not finish the fight. It took Fedor four years to gain revenge of his first loss and he did so in very impressive fashion.

If Fedor is successful Saturday night when he faces Antonio Silva in the main event of the first round of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, then he may very well get the opportunity to do the same to Fabricio Werdum that he did in the second meeting with Kosaka.

Of course a few things have to happen, one of them being Fedor returning to dominant form against Silva in their meeting tomorrow night and the next being Werdum defeating tournament favorite, Alistair Overeem, in their respective fight. That is much easier said than done, considering Overeem is in the mix and he was nothing short of dominant in 2010 by successfully defending his Strikeforce heavyweight championship (TKO - Brett Rogers), knocking out former UFC heavyweight, Todd Duffee (K1 Dynamite!!), and winning the K1 World Grand Prix title.

However, if Werdum finds a way to defeat Overeem then he and Fedor will meet in the semifinal of the grand prix and one can bet that a Fedor revenge plot will be highly publicised.

The questions remain, "How many more fights does Fedor have left?" and "Can he return to form and defeat three highly skilled fighters to stake his claim at the top of the heavyweight division?" Regardless of who you are, thirty-four professional fights, eleven years in the sport, and numerous epic battles will eventually take a toll on the mind and body, but perhaps the loss to Werdum was simply a slip up for "The Last Emperor".

Can he can defeat Silva, Overeem or Werdum, and the gentlemen on the other side of the bracket, sure, right? After all, it is Mixed Martial Arts, anything can happen.

For additional information regarding this event follow Joshua on  Twitter and visit Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva Results, News And More.