After reports last week that Fedor Emelianenko's Strikeforce debut would be in October, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated during last Saturday night's Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg post-event press conference that his debut is "probably going to be in November".

Coker shot down a rumor that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez was being considered for the fight, saying that "it was never even talked about". He stated that his opponent would likely be Brett Rogers or Fabricio Werdum, and later stated that Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem was also a possibility, if he is recovered from his hand injury.

"I definitely think there's two guys here that would be a quality opponent for Fedor," Coker said of Rogers and Werdum, who were at the press conference.

"I think Brett Rogers is one of the guys we have to take a serious look at," he continued. "And Fabricio (Werdum) looked great tonight. I think on any given day he could do his thing."

Rogers, who is coming off of a 22 second first-round knockout victory over former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski in June, told that he didn't think that he would end up getting the fight. Werdum, who needed just 1:24 to defeat Mike Kyle by submission last Saturday night, noted that he was up for the fight if it were presented to him.

"It's up to Mr. Scott (Coker)," Werdum stated. "Whoever Scott tells me to fight, I'm going to fight."

He went on to joke that he isn't quite ready for the fight yet, stating, "The athletic commission says for seven days I can't fight. After that, no problem."

Meanwhile, mixed martial arts fans won't have to wait long to see "The Last Emperor" in action. Emelianenko will face newly crowned Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi in an exhibition sparring match at M-1 Global: Breakthrough on August 28.

Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg was held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on August 15, 2009. The event aired live on the Showtime cable network and marked the first time two women headlined an event in Strikeforce history.

Below are the results for the event:

Preliminary Card

• Alex Trevino def. Isaiah Hill by submission (keylock) at 3:56 of Round 1

• James Terry def. Zak Bucia by TKO (head kick and punches) at 1:23 at Round 1

• Justin Wilcox def. David Douglas by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:16 of Round 3

• Scott Lighty def. Mike Cook by TKO (punch to the Body) at 2:05 of Round 1

• Jay Hieron def. Jesse Taylor by unanimous decision

Main Card

• Fabricio Werdum def. Mike Kyle by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:24 of Round 1

• Gilbert Melendez def. Mitsuhiro Ishida by TKO (punches) at 3:56 of Round 3 to retain the Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Champion

• Gegard Mousasi def. Renato "Babalu" Sobral by TKO (punches) at 1:00 of Round 1 to become the new Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion

• Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos def. Gina Carano by TKO (punches) at 4:59 of Round 1 to become the new Strikeforce Women's Champion

Strikeforce and DREAM will announce a partnership that could see an exchange of fighters between the two promotions.

Strikeforce Chief Executive Officer Scott Coker revealed Monday night in a radio appearance on The Carmichael Dave Show that the number two mixed martial arts promotion in the USA will enter into an "alliance" with Fighting Entertainment Group, the parent company of the number one mixed martial arts promotion in Japan.

The partnership could open up new possibilities for the recently-signed Fedor Emelianenko, who had seemingly only Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers and Fabricio Werdum as opponents in Strikeforce. Fedor could also find himself fighting in Japan after his fall Strikeforce on Showtime date. The former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion is well-loved in the country and from 2003-2007 took pride in a tradition to compete every New Year's Eve in Japan's annual blockbuster year-end show.

"We've talked about (the partnership) for a long time," Coker said on the Northern California sports program. "It's finally going to happen now so maybe (Sergei) Kharitonov could fight Fedor at some point."

Besides more options for Fedor, there's an entire pool of new opponents for each promotion that could also give a clearer understanding to world rankings outside of the UFC.

The current champions and direct title contenders under DREAM are Joachim Hansen (lightweight champion), Shinya Aoki, Marius Zaromskis (welterweight champion), Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Bibiano Fernandes, Joe Warren, Hiroyuki Takaya and Hideo Tokoro.

Meanwhile, the champions with Strikeforce are Alistair Overeem (heavyweight), Renato "Babalu" Sobral (light heavyweight), Cung Le (middleweight), Josh Thomson (lightweight), Gilbert Melendez (interim lightweight) and the August 15 winner of Nick Diaz versus Jay Hieron.

The two promotions already share the services of former DREAM Middleweight Champion and current number one Strikeforce light heavyweight title contender Gegard Mousasi, who also happens to be under contract with Fedor's management, M-1 Global.

Coker added that more details on Fedor's future, including the date and opponent, could be announced as early as Thursday.

Former UFC heavyweight fighter Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum recently said during an interview that he has nothing definitive in terms of a potential contract after being released by the UFC. The Brazilian mixed martial artist did go on to make a comment regarding Affliction Entertainment though saying, "Affliction is promising more than 16 shows in 2009, mainly do not claiming exclusivity."

The starting point would obviously be January 24th "Day of Reckoning", but beyond that, nobody's heard anything.

We do know that the Affliction's roster goes as deep as January's card but they do have the capabilities to sign more fighters as the promotion moves forward.

Following the UFC 90 event at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, on October 25, 2008, three UFC fighters have been issued medical suspensions, following their performances.

Patrick "The Predator" Cote (picture), who suffered a knee injury shortly in to the third round of his fight with Anderson "The Spider" Silva, has been suspended for 45 days and can have no contact for 30 days. Cote will likely be sidelined longer depending on the nature of his knee injury.

UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum has been suspended 60 days, no contact for 45 days. Werdum lost to Junior Dos Santos via a stunning TKO in the first round.

Drew McFedries, who fought on the preliminary card, was also suspended for 30 days following his submission loss to Thales Leites in the first round.

Here are the results for UFC 90 which held in the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on October 25, 2008:

• Anderson "The Spider" Silva def. Patrick "The Predator" Cote by TKO (injury stoppage) at 0:39 of Round 3

• Thiago "Pitbull" Alves def. Josh Koscheck by unanimous decision

• Gray "The Bully" Maynard def. Rich "No Love" Clementi by unanimous decision

• Junior Dos Santos def. Fabricio Werdum by KO (punches) at 1:20 of Round 1

• Sean Sherk def. Tyson Griffin by unanimous decision

• Thales Leites def. Drew "The Massacre" McFedries by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:18 of Round 1

• Spencer "The King" Fisher def. Shannon Gugerty by submission (triangle choke) at 3:56 of Round 3

• Dan Miller def. Matt "Suave" Horwich by unanimous decision

• Hermes Franca def. Marcus Aurelio by unanimous decision

• Pete Sell def. Josh "The People's Warrior" Burkman by unanimous decision

Fiveouncesofpain.com's Sam Caplan breaks down the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight rankings in an article at CBS Sports, and when you really take a look at the UFC heavyweight division, Brock Lesnar really isn't that far away from a shot at the UFC heavyweight title.

UFC heavyweight rangkings list:
1. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
2. Fabricio Werdum
3. Gabriel Gonzaga
4. Frank Mir
5. Brock Lesnar
6. Heath Herring
7. Cheick Kongo
8. Cain Velasquez
9. Shane Carwin
10.Antoni Hardonk

In terms of the UFC by itself, these rankings are pretty much as close to official as you can get. With two or possibly even one win over Werdum or Gonzaga, Lesnar could basically become the number one contender to the heavyweight crown.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will defend his title against Frank Mir in December following the eighth season of the Ultimate Fight in which they are coaches on and if Lesnar does fight and win his next fight or two he could be on the line for a title shot in early 2009.