The Fans Fight

This week's edition of "The Fans Fight" will take a look to the forums for the fights that MMA fans are calling for. With the Zuffa purchase of Strikeforce, a surprising matchup has hit the chat rooms. It's not Brock vs Fedor, or even Brock vs Overeem...

Alistair Overeem vs Shane Carwin

That's right, the fans are calling for one-punch heavyweights Alistair Overeem to face-off against the UFC's Shane Carwin. Both are strong athletic heavyweights, one being a hard hitting wrestler and the other a K-1 kickboxing Champion and current multi-promotion heavyweight Champion.

Rumors are circulating about Alistair Overeem abandoning the Strikeforce roster to join with the UFC. Overeem via twitter announced that he would be making an appearance on MMAFighting.com's MMA Hour with a special announcement regarding the UFC/Strikeforce deal.

The problem with this match up that fans seem to overlook is the level of striking these fighters are at. While Shane Carwin was nearly knocked out by Gabriel Gonzaga and lacks a real technical ability to box, Alistair Overeem is knocking the holy hell out of the best strikers in the world and transferring that ability to the MMA game. Shane Carwin will have an advantage in wrestling, Overeem's submission game is more well-developed. This would not be a good fight for Carwin. Overeem by Knock-Out.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Randy Couture

This is a matchup fans have been clammoring for ever since I can remember. The UFC has just never been able to put it together. M-1 Global is the major roadblock in making this fight happen. The UFC (as we all know) does not co-promote, and M-1 does, exclusively. A solution put forward by fans is to send Couture to Strikeforce in an attempt to by-pass the M-1 obstacle.

There is a huge problem with this fight. Fedor. He is no longer in his prime and a loss to the aging (though still game) Couture would be the final nail in his coffin. Both his legacy and his career can't withstand three fights lost in a row. Couture is the stronger fighter at this point and would easily walk through Emelianenko. In the process, the UFC would hand over one of it's biggest draws and completely dismantle a fighter that if put in the right fights can earn some wins and continue to draw crowds.

So, while this fight would answer fans questions, it's an answer we can all easily predict. Randy Couture, Unanimous Decision. It's not a fight worth promoting because it isn't a fight worth subjecting the fighter's careers to.