Fedor Emelianenko, considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight -- and perhaps mixed martial artist -- of all time, is a man of few words. Rather than fruitlessly guessing at the unknowable, he will admit he doesn’t know. Instead of pondering the future, he will focus on the present.

 Emelianenko will bring that same practical mindset into battle on February 12 when he takes on top 10 ranked Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva in the opening round of the highly anticipated Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament. Speaking with MMAFA.tv, Emelianenko reflects on his training and opponent.

 "I can’t wait to compete again. Silva is a great athlete who is skilled in many areas. He has proven to be a very worthy and dangerous opponent. My training camp has been very strong. I feel proud to be representing my country in the tournament. I’m training to win the tournament.”

 Eight of the top heavyweights in the world will participate in the tournament, leading many to believe that the eventual tournament champion should be in the running for the title of best heavyweight alive. To Emelianenko, his opinion on the matter is irrelevant.

 “The tournament participants are all highly skilled athletes. As for whether the winner should be considered number one in the world, it is not for me to say. That is something left to the media and to the fans.”

 In Fedor’s last outing he suffered the first blemish on his record in a decade when he lost via submission to Fabricio Werdum, one of the best heavyweight grapplers in the world. Werdum will fight Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem in a separate tournament bout and the winner is scheduled to face Emelianenko should he defeat Silva. Emelianenko claims he remains as motivated as ever after the loss and welcomes a challenge from either competitor.

 “I enjoy the competition of sport very much and that is what motivates me. I will continue to compete for as long as my health and God allow me to. I look forward to getting back in the cage and performing to my highest level. For me, it does not matter which I compete against. I will prepare my best and everything else is God’s will.”

 Explaining his loss against Werdum, Emelianenko states it was due to a basic error.

 “I wanted to finish the fight with Werdum early and I made a mistake. I have moved past this and have been training hard. If we were to face each other again, I will approach this in the same way I do for every contest.”

 Emelianenko recently started his own Twitter account, showing the kind of tech-savvy most fans wouldn’t have expected from a fighter they associate with an ascetic lifestyle. Although many fake accounts claiming to be the real Fedor Emelianenko have sprouted up in the past, Fedor’s account was followed by over 2,500 people the first day it was activated. Emelianenko explains the move to Twitter in his usual, laconic fashion.

 “I was advised it was a nice way to communicate with my fans around the world. I have no message for those people [who have pretended to be me]. I only look to be myself.”

If one was to refer to Gegard Mousasi as ‘jack of all trades,’ they wouldn’t be far off. Mousasi has an accomplished and ever-evolving career in mixed martial arts and recently nabbed a victory over a top-ranked kickboxer in Kyotaro at a K-1 rules fight in Japan.

And it appears that Mousasi is looking to compete at the highest level of yet another martial arts discipline. Sources close to the fighter have informed MMAFA.tv that Mousasi has started the qualification process to compete in boxing at the Olympics in 2012 in London. Mousasi is training in Holland and plans to represent the country at the events, should he qualify.

Apy Echteld, Mousasi’s manager, says that his success in the sport of boxing could only help his career in mixed martial arts.

“[Gegard] is getting better each and every time, so let’s see what this brings. All of us are very excited about the idea. He’s done well with every other thing he has taken up so far. If he does well with this, it could have a huge impact on his mixed martial arts career. This is a wish of his.”

Mousasi’s quest for national glory should not be a cause for concern among mixed martial arts fans; the former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion is targeted for a fight against American Kickboxing Academy product Mike Kyle in April, 2011. A venue for the event has not been set and there is recent speculation that it could take place in Japan as an installment of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament. Mike Kyle is currently rehabilitating a broken hand sustained in a bout against heavyweight Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva in December, 2010. Although Kyle looked impressive and dropped the 265-pound Brazilian in the first round, he went on to lose the fight via TKO in the second round.

On a night few are soon to forget, Fabricio Werdum did the impossible: in only 69 seconds he submitted Fedor Emelianenko, who was the consensus top-ranked heavyweight in the world of mixed martial arts for nearly a decade. The sport was turned upside down and its schema was forever altered.

Oddly enough, many rankings listed Werdum as the second-ranked heavyweight in the world behind Brock Lesnar, who later went on to lose and abdicate his ranking to Cain Velasquez. Yet Raphael Cordeiro, Werdum’s trainer and close friend, says that none of this ever led Werdum to question his sense of being the best in the heavyweight division:

“When Werdum beat Fedor he knew he was the number one guy. Of course there is Cain Velasquez, who is very good, but being in different promotions that is what it is. Now, when we beat Overeem, everyone will say Werdum is number one.”

Although many fans questioned the legitimacy of the rankings at the time, Cordeiro claims it barely crossed Werdum’s mind.

“It never bothered Fabricio when some people said he wasn’t the top guy after beating Fedor. Mixed martial arts fans all over the world know who he is. They know what he has accomplished and contributed to the sport. That is the most important thing to him. He is a humble guy.”

The stakes are unquestionably high for Werdum going into his next fight. He faces off against Strikeforce Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem, who many believe to be the most talented heavyweight in the division following his victory at the K-1 World Grand Prix, in the first round of a the highly-anticipated Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament. Although Overeem has looked almost invincible in his recent performances, Cordeiro states that Werdum is very confident about the fight.

“There are ways to beat Overeem and we know how. It’s been done before. People forget all the time that Werdum has already beaten Overeem. We have a strategy and we are working on even more than that in order to be prepared. When you see Werdum fight, you’re going to say ‘wow.’”

Werdum is coming off of a recent elbow surgery and rehabilitation, a process he delayed for nearly two years. Though he fought impressively through the pestering injury, Cordeiro expects to see an improved and invigorated Werdum come time for his next fight.

“The belt is what Werdum is after. He wants it very much. Winning a world-title means a lot and that is something he is ready for. Now that he is healthy and past his injury, you are going to see even greater things from him. You’ll see.”

Welcome to the wacky world of mixed martial arts, where contradictory information bounces around the news cycle like the metal orbs in a pinball machine.

Halo PR, the British Public Relations company who does work with Paul Daley, put out an odd press today release saying that Paul Daley was in advanced negotiations to headline a BAMMA card on February 26th at the Manchester Evening News arena in the UK, a venue with a capacity of nearly 23,000. This news arrived at approximately the same time as Daley's facebook alarmed the world that he was signing his next fight contract and was very pleased with his opponent. He also stated he that the announcement would make fans "in  the UK Division" very happy.

MMAFA.tv contacted BAMMA officials, who claim that Paul Daley was a lock for the BAMMA card. However, officials declined to give the name of Paul Daley's opponent. They assured that the opponent had been "penciled in" and no other names were being considered.  In fact, an opponent had apparently been settled on nearly 2 weeks ago. BAMMA claims a press release is on the way.

Strikeforce's PR head Mike Afromowitz stated that Strikeforce officials had not heard a word about the proposed BAMMA bout.

Paul Daley claims that he is not fighting for BAMMA and is instead remaining under the Strikeforce banner. Daley doesn't know what prompted the announcement from the Halo PR team but assures that a correction will be made in the coming days.

Still, sources in the UK MMA scene confirmed to MMAFA.tv that an agreement between BAMMA and Daley has been known about for weeks and that an opponent has been aggressively sought in that time. 

Daley was caught in the cross-hairs of a promotional dispute in late 2008 when he fought under the Cage Warriors banner despite being the Cage Rage champion at the time. Cage Rage was under ownership of ProElite. Daley cited mistreatment from Cage Rage as well as not being technically under contract as reasons for fighting in the alternate promotion. Vitriol was exchanged between the competing promotions and a cease and desist was ordered yet ignored.

KJ Noons, on the mend after sustaining a broken left hand in his rematch with Nick Diaz, expects to return to the cage in April against undefeated American Kickboxing Academy product Billy Evangelista. Speaking with MMAFA.tv, Noons reflects on his loss to Nick Diaz.

“I’m sure [Diaz] and I will fight again. Everyone wanted the rematch and it was voted Strikeforce’s most exciting fight of the year out of twenty some-odd shows. There are changes I could have made, but to be honest me and my corner thought it was two rounds a piece going into the final so I didn’t change it up. I fought at a weight class I’ve never fought at before and I did great. I moved forward the whole time, threw and landed more punches. I think the rubber match will definitely happen.”

Noons was recently called out by Strikeforce welterweight Paul Daley following an impressive knockout of Scott Smith. Words were exchanged between both fighters in the press and accusations of ducking the match-up were waged against Noons. Not only does Noons claim to be open to the fight, but he expects it. There are conditions, however.

“Paul is a great, exciting fighter and I think he’ll fight for the 170 lbs. world title soon. He deserves it. Am I afraid to fight anybody at any weight class? No, because I am a fighter, but my real weight class is lightweight. I only fought Diaz at 170 lbs. because we have history. I am not scared of Paul and I am definitely interested in the fight, but he would have to come down or meet at a catch-weight. In fact, I think we are going to make that fight in the future.”

As of right now, Noons’ sights are set on a fight with lightweight title-holder Gilbert Melendez at his natural weight of 155 pounds. Noons claims this was his goal prior to the Diaz fight but he made an exception given the pair’s history.  

“Gilbert is another great fighter. He’s the world champ and we all know his game is wrestling and ground and pound. That’s not necessarily my weak point, but I like to stand where I have the advantage. I think I match up well with Gil and that’s the fight I want.”

You can follow Jon on twitter here.

It was not long ago that we saw Tim Kennedy fighting Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ de Souza for the Strikeforce Middleweight Title. Although the fight was a close one, Kennedy was upset with both the outcome of the fight as well as the nature of the fight:

“My coaches and I sat down to see if there was any way we could have gotten him to fight more. There’s not much we could have done differently; we out-punched, out-kicked, out-kneed him, took him down more. Unless I was Nick or Nate Diaz and taunted him in the ring, and that’s not my style nor would I ever do that, there was no way to get him to actually ‘fight’ me in there.”

In fact, other fighters declining to fight Kennedy has emerged as a theme over the past few months. Kennedy claims he has been turned down numerous times by other fighters in the Strikeforce middleweight fold.

“It’s absolutely atrocious. Strikeforce approached me for the December and January card. I said, ‘definitely, just give me a name and I’ll take the fight.’ Benji Radach was the name, I said yes. Then they tell me he doesn’t want to fight me. Joey Villasenor was another name, but I understand him saying no because we trained at Jackson’s gym together.  Matt Lindland was another guy who said no. Robbie Lawler has turned me down three or maybe four times. They asked Melvin Manhoef to fight me and he said ‘[expletive] no.’”

Kennedy, who has taken three to four years off of his active military career in order to pursue a successful career in fighting, is irate with his current predicament.

“I’m super frustrated with it. This is a pugilistic sport, is it not? It is the nature of the sport to fight each other, but nobody wants to fight me. Do I say, ‘Screw it, give me my uniform back, give me my long gun back and I’ll go back on the sniper range’? Or do I keep waiting these guys out until, in a battle of attrition, somebody gives up and says ‘Tim is the only guy who I can fight, so I’ll take that’?”

Yet there appears to be hope in ending Kennedy’s bad luck. Kennedy’s camp has been in talks with Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller’s camp about completing an exciting, competitive trilogy between the two fighters.

“We’ve been talking about it. Jason Miller and I have always known that it will eventually come because it is a quintessential Mixed Martial Arts fight: two guys who are amazing on the ground, who are great wrestlers with good hands who have been in the sport for a long time and are fearless. We go out there to ‘fight,’ not try to counter-punch our way to a five-round decision like Jacare did.”

The bout is not official at this point nor is there an agreement between the fighters, but Kennedy states it is a fight that Strikeforce is aiming to put together for one of the upcoming cards. If -- and when, as Kennedy suggests -- the fight happens, he guarantees it will be an exciting fight for everyone.

Tim Lueckenhoff was recently consulted by the promotion regarding the legality of Josh Barnett, who is currently without a license and undergoing an appeal in California following a positive test for banned substances, fighting in their heavyweight tournament. Speaking with MMAFAtv, Lueckenhoff states that there is nothing in place saying that other States should respect California's decision to deny him a license.

"For boxing we have specific laws and procedures in place, at the federal level, for things like this. In Mixed Martial arts there really is nothing."

While the sport of boxing has the Mohammaed Ali Boxing Reform act to go by, the sport of Mixed Martial Arts is virtually lawless on the federal level. Some have referred to it as the ‘Wild Wild West.’  It is up to each individual athletic commission to determine what is required of Josh Barnett in order to achieve licensure. Barnett may be issued a license without probation of the license or testing for steroids and other banned substances.

Additionally, the fact that Barnett’s license was denied for re-approval instead of suspended could play a huge role in achieving licensure in a state other than California. This allows Barnett’s name to remain off of the widespread suspension database that athletic commissions use as a reference in determining a fighter’s eligibility for licensure. It is doubtful there is currently anything on that database to indicate he is undergoing any licensing problems in California. Lueckenhoff states the following:

“Say Josh [Barnett] applied for a license in some random State, they don’t know him and they didn’t do any research on him – he would probably get issued a license just fine. Sometimes that can be a problem, and it doesn’t really help that there isn’t some federal law in place telling the States that they need to work together. Some commissions don’t know who these fighters even are and [Josh] is one who can slip right through the cracks.”

Lueckenhoff claims that States’ failure to update their database and provide relevant information hurts the integrity of all State commissions who rely on the information. Adding to the problem are numerous States that are content in ‘doing their own thing,’ so to speak. Lueckenhoff cites unique circumstances like Barnett's as another example of why a federal law is needed for MMA:

“By all means, a federal law mandating that suspensions shall be followed by each athletic commission would be a benefit. There is a lot of turnover in these smaller states because these jobs are political. They do not know a fighter’s history and what is going on so they get an application in the mail and say, ‘Who’s this? Looks good to me! We’ll give him a license.’ Then they will have fifty people calling them up the next day asking them, ‘Do you have any idea who you just licensed?’”

Although Barnett has produced positive tests for banned substances on three different occasions, some believe it is a thing of the past. Similar to Antonio Margarito’s plight for forgiveness in boxing, Barnett faces a similar battle. Lueckenhoff sums up the argument for Barnett’s reprieve:

“People might say that it has been a year since his failed test in California. It has cost him. Maybe if he can prove he’s clean now then he deserves a chance to fight. I think that is the argument States will make if he gets to fight.”