Strikeforce Fedor Vs. Silva Fight Card: What Fedor Must Do To Beat Silva

The most ambitious concept in the history of Strikeforce gets underway Saturday night with the beginning of the eight-man heavyweight tournament. There will be two quarterfinal matches that take place tonight, with the other two taking place at the April 9 event.

The main event of tonight's show is Fedor Emelianenko, who makes his first appearance since his shocking loss to Fabricio Werdum last June, taking on Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva.

Everyone is anxious to see how Fedor responds to the first legitimate defeat of his MMA career. He holds a career record of 32-2-1, with his first loss coming in 2000 as the result of an inadvertent elbow strike. He went 10 years without any kind of a loss. There were people who were skeptical about how good he really was because, before the Werdum fight, he really hadn't fought any top level fighters in quite a long time.

Silva does pose some interesting challenges to Fedor, even though he's not nearly as skilled a fighter as Fedor. Silva is much bigger than Fedor, and he could use his size advantage to try overpowering Fedor in this fight.

Fedor looks like the favorite on paper, but the beauty of MMA is you never know what's going to happen until the cage door is locked.

Here is what Fedor must do to defeat Silva in their fight Saturday night...

Attack Silva Early And Make Him Uneasy

In Silva's last fight, against Mike Kyle in December, he had a huge size advantage, but he was still getting knocked around early on. He looked overwhelmed by the onslaught that Kyle brought, and he didn't have any kind of answer for it.

He was able to survive that first round, and was able to get a KO victory in the second round, but he was very vulnerable.

Fedor is an infinitely better striker than Kyle. He should come out right off the bat and throw kicks and punches to get Silva out of his comfort zone.

Look for Fedor to come out swinging from the opening bell.

Don't Be Too Cautious

Fabricio Werdum played Fedor like a flute when they fought last June. He was able to bait Fedor right into his trap, and that cost Fedor the fight.

It's only natural, especially in Fedor's first fight after, that he would be a little reluctant to try some of the things that he used to do.

One of the things that has made Fedor such a great fighter for so long is his ability to just pounce on an opponent right from the opening bell. Now, there is at least some blueprint out there that fighters can use to get to Fedor.

Probably the biggest key in this whole fight will be Fedor's psyche during the fight. If he has a case of the yips, he will be in trouble. If he can put the Werdum fight out of his mind, he should be fine.

Avoid Silva's Ground and Pound

While Silva might not be the most well rounded fighter in the world, he is very dangerous with the ground and pound. It's actually refreshing to see a fighter who is successful with that style of fighting because not a lot of fighters active today take advantage of the ground and pound.

As we all know, Fedor is more than capable of slapping on a submission from the ground, so it won't be totally surprising if he tries to fight from the ground, but he can't get trapped under Silva in the full mount.

Silva will have a big time weight advantage in this fight (at least 35 pounds), and he is taller than Fedor, so he will have a leverage advantage as well. If he can use that effectively in this fight, Fedor could find himself on the wrong end of a beating.

Stay With the Girl That Brought You To the Dance

Anytime an athlete loses, but in particular an elite athlete, there is a tendency to try and change some things up with their style.

When the New York Yankees lost the World Series in 2001, they decided that the easiest way to get back to the top of the mountain was by spending a truckload of money on older, high priced free agents. They've done that for 10 years now, and they only have one world series title since then. The problem was they messed up the chemistry of the teams that won four titles in five years from 1996-2000.

Fedor is coming off a loss to Fabricio Werdum in which he got lulled into a false sense of security, and that ended up costing him the fight. He is still one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world, and he has as well rounded a skill set as any heavyweight in the world. He shouldn't feel a need to try and change up any part of his style, or do anything new that could take away from what he has done so well for so long.

All that he needs to do to win is to fight like Fedor. That might sound simplistic and kind of lame, but he is 32-2 in his career. He only has one loss in 10 years. He is clearly the better fighter going into this matchup with Silva. He just needs to do all the things that have made him so great for so long. If he does that, he will be fine.

For the latest news and information, check out the Strikeforce: Fedor vs Silva News, Results And More page.