Sengoku Steroid Championship Bad for Mixed Martial Arts

In a recent interview with Tatame, Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva stated that should he emerge victorious from his fight at the upcoming Sengoku 10th Battle with "Big" Jim York, a bout with Josh Barnett for the vacant Sengoku Heavyweight title would take place in November.

Nothing like rewarding steroid users with championship belts and a place to fight when they can't make a living in North America...

While the casual fan may not pay any attention to what takes place in MMA organizations across the Pacific, you can be certain that opponents to the sport will certainly take notice and have something to say about this, and so should those who are passionate about the sport.

At a time when Mixed Martial Arts is on the cusp of breaking into the mainstream and garnering more attention than ever before, presenting a globally-unified front against performance enhancing drugs and honoring Athletic Commission suspensions by all organizations would be a great positive for the sport.

Instead, as organizations like World Victory Road continue to give suspended fighters like Silva and Barnett an opportunity to fight, those who challenge the validity of the sport are given ammunition for their attacks.

Though Silva is no longer under suspension and eyeballing a return to North America in 2010, WVR saw no problems with giving the former EliteXC heavyweight champion a place on the Sengoku 7 fight card just seven months into his one year suspension.

While the fighters themselves are equally responsible for ignoring their suspensions and accepting these fights, the fact of the matter is that they would have no such opportunities if World Victory Road did not disregard for the suspensions that have been handed down.

The message this sends is that steroid use isn't a major concern to World Victory Road; they would rather put on fights with suspended fighters known to use steroids than help MMA fight to remain a clean sport, and that is something detractors will jump all over.

With any athletic competition, the question of steroids is bound to come up.

Openly welcoming fighters who are serving suspensions for positive tests only lends credence to the argument that steroids are common place within Mixed Martial Arts.

Whether that statement is valid or not doesn't really matter; perception is reality and giving those who view the sport as savage brutality the chance to add steroid abuse to their list of complaints and objections is pouring fuel on the fire.

Despite the fact that North American organizations are not condoning this behavior, the scrutiny will certainly turn to Strikeforce, the UFC and the countless smaller organizations that actually adhere to the suspensions.

Unfortunately, there is very little that can be done to keep this from happening.

World Victory Road clearly has no intention or interest in honoring the suspensions, and levying further penalties on the fighters themselves is futile as long as WVR is willing to give them a place to fight.

Thank you World Victory Road.

You've given the ever-watchful eye of the Mixed Martial Arts opposition another platform to attack the sport from.

I can see it now:

"Steroid-fueled monsters covered in blood pummel each other until their faces are unrecognizable. How is this savagery considered a sport?" By John Canzano

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The Best Man Doesn't Always Win: Taking a Look at Tournament Fighting

Ah, tournament fighting.

The system that was the foundation for the original incarnation of the UFC and remains a staple of both World Victory Road's Sengoku events and DREAM's fight cards as well, this morning's results from the Featherweight Grand Prix illustrate why having multiple fights in the same night is challenging for both the fighter and the organization.

In one of the semi-finals of the Featherweight Grand Prix, Hatsu Hioki earned a hard-fought victory over Masanori Kanehara, dominating the first two rounds before tiring in the third.

However, Hioki was unable to continue in the tournament and Kanehara was put through to the finals where he ended up defeating Michihiro Omigawa to be crowned the 2009 Featherweight Champion.

Of course, this is far from the first time something like this has happened.

During last year's DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix, Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen lost his semi-final match to Eddie Alvarez in one of 2008's Fight of Year contenders, only to replace the Philadelphia-based fighter in the finals against Shinya Aoki when Alvarez sustained a cut in his win over Tatsuya Kawajiri.

From there, the Norwegian defeated "The Tobikan Judan" to claim the DREAM Lightweight title. At least Hansen won a fight to earn the right to replace Alvarez. UFC 3 winner Steve Jennum was just in the right place at the right time.

You remember UFC 3, don't you?

Royce Gracie battled Kimo in a tough ground war, leaving himself dehydrated and unable to continue. Harold Howard earned his place in the history books as the first man to "beat" Royce Gracie and advanced to the finals where he was supposed to face Ken Shamrock.

Only problem was, once Gracie was unable to continue, Shamrock had no interest in continuing either. His sole purpose in taking part in UFC 3 was to avenge his loss to Gracie from UFC 1 and when that couldn't happen, Shamrock withdrew as well, leaving the door open for Steve Jennum.

The Nebraska police officer made Howard tap to strikes and claimed the UFC 3 tournament title without having had to fight a sole for the opportunity, which prompted the UFC to change the rules to avoid a similar situation ever happening again.

While I understand the drama and tremendous show of athleticism and conditioning competing in multiple fights on the same evening takes, the possibility of results like these leave me questioning the value of such a practice.

Earlier this year, Bellator's tournament format went off without a hitch, as all the winners managed to emerge from their fights without serious injury and able to continue in the next round.

Hypothetically speaking, if Eddie Alvarez had sustained an injury in his first round fight, he would have had four weeks to recuperate, instead of simply being replaced by a fighter he had just defeated or an alternate.

To me, if tournaments are the way you want to go, the Bellator setup is much more favorable to the fighters than the two fights in the same night method used in Japan.

But that's just me.

What do you think?

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Where Does Fedor Go From Here?

During yesterday's conference call, the UFC announced the signing of two prominent names in the Mixed Martial Arts business.

Unfortunately, neither was the named Fedor.

Negotiations with Fedor's management and promotions company M-1 Global hit a major stumbling point in the area of co-promotion, leaving Dana White to all but declare the "Fedor to the UFC" situation done.

As a result, many have been left looking to assign blame. Instead of waxing philosophical about who to blame, my thoughts have wondered to the future and trying to answer the question, "Where does Fedor Go From Here?"

Accept this now, fight fans: A marriage between Fedor and the UFC is never going to happen, and a one night stand was never an option.

But with the collapse of Affliction, the MMA landscape has changed, leaving less options available to the consensus top heavyweight on the planet.

In terms of exposure and strength of competition, a move to Strikeforce certainly looks like the best destination out there, complete with the added bonus of giving Dana White and the UFC a symbolic middle finger by signing with their lone North American competitor.

Though not the deepest heavyweight roster in the business (we all know where that is, right?), Strikeforce would offer champion Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers, the fighter Emelianenko's camp apparently wanted most prior to the cancellation of Trilogy.

Additionally, I could certainly see Strikeforce adding Affliction refugee Paul Buentello to the mix as well, as it was "The Headhunter" who faced Overeem back in 2007 to decide the inaugural Heavyweight champion.

Furthermore, there are only two possible destinations for Bobby Lashley and I believe Strikeforce is the more likely of the two. Though focused on his fighting career, the former WWE superstar is also concerned with putting money in his pockets, leading to a return to the world of professional wrestling with TNA.

If the UFC isn't willing to co-promote events in order to secure a deal with Fedor, there is no way in hell they are letting Bobby Lashley take steel chair shots from Sting during his downtime.

But who knows what kind of offer Strikeforce is willing to table to the Russian icon? There has been all kinds of speculation about what Scott Coker and company have put forward to Fedor and M-1 Global, but let's not forget that four days ago some were reporting a deal with the UFC was all but wrapped up.

Of course, fighting in North America isn't Emelianenko's only option. After all, his ascension to god-like status in the business came from fighting in Japan during the glory days of Pride and there is no doubt that World Victory Road would be glad to welcome him back to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Interestingly enough, a November Sengoku event is where Zach Arnold of Fight Opinion is reporting we will see Josh Barnett return to action.

Apparently, World Victory Road is where fighters who test positive in North America go to resume their careers, as former EliteXC heavyweight champ Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva is expected to return to the ring at Sengoku 10th Battle in September.

A third possibility is a spot on the M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough card scheduled for the end of August in Los Angeles.

Currently headlined by Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal facing UFC veteran Don Frye, Emelianenko is a shareholder in the organization and would certainly heighten the profile of the event.

Seeing as Jeff Monson won't be leaving the country any time soon, perhaps a call to the man who believes it's his destiny to beat Fedor for a spot opposite "The Last Emperor" in the Main Event would be in order.

For what it's worth, my money is on Fedor fighting on the M-1 card in August before deciding what to do next.

Regardless of the answer to the question at the heart of this piece, another question and one that is far more important arises:

Is Fedor's legacy tarnished by not fighting in the UFC?

That's another article for another day.

For now, I'll wait to see where he ends up.

One last thing: for the record, I blame Fedor in all this.

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