Once the safest money in MMA, Fedor Emelianenko will get his chance to show the world that he’s still one of the best heavyweights in the division this weekend when he faces Antonio Silva in one of the first quarterfinal matches of the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight tournament.
The Last Emperor has a lot to prove to his fans after get submitted by Fabricio Werdum last June, suddenly becoming mortal like the rest of the fighters in the division. Bookmakers at Sportsbook still seem to believe in Fedor and have him as a -550 MMA betting odds favorite to get past Bigfoot Silva. If you think that Fedor’s best days are behind him, Silva will be worth +350 for the upset. But we don’t recommend a bet against the Last Emperor.
Fedor has had success against taller fighters throughout his career and should be able to control Silva on the ground. It only takes one shot from Fedor to KO any opponent, and if Silva is as slow as he’s been in other fights it won’t take long for Fedor to land a big overhand right and gain control of the fight.
Antonio Silva has only lost once since 2006 and is coming off a second-round TKO over Mike Kyle. Despite his size he will not bring anything that Fedor has not seen before and it’s very likely that Fedor will be full of moves and strikes that will confuse and catch Silva off-guard.
The other Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight tournament fight on the Strikeforce Fedor vs. Silva card pits former UFC Heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski against Russian Sambo fighter Sergei Kharitonov.
This fight has upset possibilities at Sportsbook, where Arlovski is an even-money underdog. Kharitonov will be a Sportsbook -130 favorite, mainly because of a KO win over current Strikeforce Heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem over three years ago. Arlovski will have more than a puncher’s chance and could easily out-strike his Russian opponent.
If Arlovski can keep the fight standing his power and size should be enough to win. But if the former UFC Heavyweight champ ends up on his back the tide will be turned, and it will likely be the Russian that will be moving on to the semi-finals of the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight tournament.
