Fight fans waking up Monday morning must have thought they were still dreaming. A super fight between the decade's two greatest fighters -- Fedor Emelianenko and Anderson Silva -- with a Georges St. Pierre throw-in looming over the horizon? Well, just file that one under ‘to good to be true'.
To explain, a now infamous report entitled "Fedor Emelianenko moving to UFC; Will fight Anderson Silva" was posted on Strikeforce's official website early Monday morning. As one can imagine, the internet promptly exploded.
With the MMA community buzzing like it was Christmas morning, Strikeforce officials hastily took down the article -- of course, replacing it with a picture of ring girl Kelli Hutcherson -- and set out on a swift denial tour of the allegations. At this point, the likely conclusion is the organization may have fallen victim to some wishful fan hacking, or was the unfortunate recipient of some belated retribution from a bitter ex-employee.
Regardless, Fedor is still fighting Dan Henderson on July 30th, Anderson Silva is still fighting Yushin Okami at UFC 134, and Georges St. Pierre is still fighting Nick Diaz at UFC 137. You may now return to your everyday, non-super-fight related business.
Of course, just in case you wanted to see what could have been, here is a transcription of the original Strikeforce.com story before it was taken down, courtesy of Bloody Elbow:
A dream super-fight is now a reality.
Fedor Emelianenko, who is now walking around at 215lbs, will be moving over to the UFC brand after his July 30th bout with Dan Henderson. Emelianenko's first fight will be none other than UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva.
The fight will take place sometime after UFC 134, which is headlined by Anderson Silva as he takes on Yushin Okami. Emelianenko vs Silva will likely take place at 205lbs. However, Fedor Emelianenko will be
undergoing a test-cut after his fight with Dan Henderson. His management has agreed that if he can make the cut to 185lbs without much trouble and if Anderson Silva defeats Yushin Okami, then Fedor Emelianenko vs Anderson Silva will be contested at 185lbs and will be for the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Georges St. Pierre may also be in the mix if he is able to defeat UFC 137 opponent, Nick Diaz. If St. Pierre decides to move up to middleweight, he will be fighting the winner of Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko.