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With Chael Sonnen’s rematch against Anderson Silva now migrating from Brazil to Las Vegas, UFC 148 becomes the Miami Heat of fight cards. It is stacked, stuffed, loaded and insane.

And let’s face it, this annually huge Vegas card had a pot of gold drop in its lap: Sonnen/Silva II is already a big enough fight to tune in. The UFC could have booked Yoislandy Izquierdo against T.J. Grant as the co-main and things would still have been fine on July 7.

But the UFC’s July 4 weekend is all Roman candles and Saturn missiles, and it’s quickly become a countdown of matchmaking franchises. Aside from Sonnen/Silva II, there’s Urijah Faber versus Dominick Cruz III, Forrest Griffin versus Tito Ortiz II, Cung Le versus Rich Franklin I. All told, there are two belts in play, a swan song or a UFC pioneer, and a return to middleweight for the former champion Franklin, who is 100 percent guaranteed to put on a features-contorting brawl.

If that weren’t enough, Demian Maia will see how he holds up against human Velcro, Dong Hyun Kim, in his welterweight debut.

To Vegas go all the spoils.

To far off Calgary in the north, just two weeks later on July 21? Smartly, Tim Boetsch and Michael Bisping.

What was meant to happen in Vegas isn’t staying there -- Boetsch and Bisping, a big intrigue pairing of middleweights that was originally slated for UFC 148, is now headed for UFC 149 in Alberta. And this is ultimately a good move by the UFC. Why lose a contender’s type bout to a thousand bunched-up storylines at UFC 148 while peripheral PPV cards -- UFC 147 and UFC 149 -- could use the additional heft?

When the first question out of people’s mouths is nearly always “what’s next,” the guys chasing Sonnen/Silva are pretty important to the scheme of things. In the fight game we’re dealing in tapestries. The newly resurrected Tim Boetsch and the MMA’s “forever contender” Michael Bisping will get a better shake at the Saddledome behind headliners Jose Aldo and Erik Koch. Let Sonnen/Silva play out, and this fight takes on more significance. It’s our duty to talk, after all, and to invent the stakes while playing at what’s in Joe Silva’s head.

And right now, a lot of people more readily recall Boetsch losing by “Philmura” against Phil Davis instead of him storming back against Yushin Okami at UFC 144. If he’s really closing on a title shot at 185 pounds, Boetsch could use the boost of a co-main event type spotlight. Right now he’s more journeyman than contender. He’s never been the recipient of Zuffa’s marketing machine. It’s time to gussy him up.

As for Bisping? He believes the same thing he’s been believed for years -- that he’s the hands down No. 1 contender. Obviously there’s still the matter of Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman out there, but Bisping might actually be on to something this time through. With unpredictable circumstances and injuries and schedule syncing and suspensions and all the things that get in the way in obvious matchmaking, the Briton really might be next in line.

Or he might not. But that we can care sufficiently enough to find out is lucky for him and Tim Boetsch. In this rare case it’s better to jump cards than end up lost in the shuffle.

Cung Le attempted to beat Wanderlei Silva at UFC 139 with an unlikely game plan -- that of fighting like Cung Le.

It nearly worked. Le tried to kick Silva’s liver through his spine, but in the end he was downed with a barrage of strikes that left his nose in crescent form. The scrap was good enough to be a candidate for "fight of the year" but was unfortunate enough to be only the third-most exciting bout of the night. That was the same evening Michael Chandler won a back-and-forth battle with lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez in Bellator, and Dan Henderson outlasted Mauricio Rua in a five-round grind.

But the immediate reports back seem to be that Strikeforce fighters like Le are faring pretty well in the UFC. These were supposed to be the B models, slogging it out in a nice regional show. They weren’t supposed to be able to compete with the elite of the world. At least that’s what we heard from carnival barkers whenever somebody had the audacity to compare a Strikeforce fighter with a UFC fighter.

Yet, since the Zuffa purchase of Strikeforce and the great integration, it looks like Strikeforce had its share of equals and betters. This weekend Nick Diaz will fight for the interim welterweight belt against Carlos Condit after belting B.J. Penn at UFC 137. Win it, and he gets his long-awaited shot at Georges St. Pierre. Meanwhile, Fabricio Werdum takes on Roy Nelson in a fight with very loose title connections in the heavyweight division. Should Diaz and Werdum win -- and Vegas thinks they should -- it will continue a trend that makes Scott Coker look vindicated for something deep inside that could use some vindication. It also diversifies things for matchmaker Joe Silva.

Last weekend, Lavar Johnson scored a knockout of the night against Joey Beltran in Johnson's UFC debut. Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Henderson came back and beat Rua and is now patiently waiting in line for the Jon Jones-Rashad Evans winner. Strikeforce titlist and linear champion Alistair Overeem kicked Brock Lesnar into retirement, and next faces Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight strap. Other Strikeforce fighters (not named Gilbert Melendez) are making their way from the hexagon to the Octagon, too. In fact, just about anybody who’s anybody in the clearance of Strikeforce heavyweights will soon be in the UFC: Antonio Silva, Chad Griggs, Daniel Cormier, Josh Barnett, et al.

The floodgates are open.

Granted, some of the Strikeforce fighters coming over are UFC retreads. But in the early returns the worst you can say is that Jake Shields, who jumped ship to the UFC before the acquisition, hasn’t lived up to billing. Most Strikeforce fighters are having a happier time of it than when the UFC/Pride partition came down, and the Pride fighters faltered. Same with the WEC, given the potential of Condit and Ben Henderson. Yet most of the WEC’s talent competed in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions, which didn’t exist in the UFC until the beginning of 2011, so it’s hard to make a full spectrum comparison.

But think about it -- in mid-to-late 2012, as many as three reigning Strikeforce champions could be wearing UFC gold (Diaz, Henderson and Overeem). If Melendez was ever released from exile, he could challenge for the lightweight belt, too.

What does it all mean? Maybe nothing. Or maybe it’s something that we’ve always suspected and debated about. While the best fighters in the world are generally thought to be in the UFC at all times, there are fighters dying for the chance to be brought in for no other reason than to prove them wrong.

And knowing just how short the fight society’s attention span can be, the UFC is only too happy to be wrong when they do.

Middleweights Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva have been named coaches for "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil," UFC president Dana White announced on Tuesday.

White made the announcement during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to promote UFC 142, which is set for Jan. 12, 2012 at HSBC Arena.

Belfort and Silva will meet at the conclusion of the 12-week series, scheduled to begin March 25. The finale of TUF: Brazil is expected to be held in June, but White could not confirm a date at this time.

TUF: Brazil will air on Globo, a Brazilian-based network that has a deal with UFC. White did not announce which network will air the series in the United States.

Belfort and Silva fought in October 1998. Belfort won that bout by first-round TKO, but expects the fight to look a lot different this time around.

“Many things have changed,” Belfort said. “We’ve become more experienced more mature. A difference is that one was back in 1998, this one will be in 2012.”

Both Belfort and Silva are coming off impressive knockout wins.

Belfort (20-9) stopped Yoshihiro Akiyama in the first round on Aug. 6 at UFC 133. Silva (34-11-1, 1 no contest) finished Cung Le in the second-round of their highly anticipated showdown Nov. 19 at UFC 139.

Featherweight champion Jose Aldo will defend his title against Chad Mendez in the main event at UFC 142. Belfort faces welterweight contender Anthony Johnson in the co-feature bout.

Belfort and Johnson will compete at the middleweight limit of 185 pounds.

Dana White has called on Wanderlei Silva to retire despite his win over Cung Le at UFC 139. More »

As is almost always the case, Cung Le seemed to be in good spirits, as he took to his Twitter account on Sunday to show fans the aftereffects of Wanderlei Silva’s fists and knees.

“Here’s a picture of my face you wanted to see,” Le wrote, attaching a photo of himself with a blackened right eye, swollen lower lip and a gash across the bridge of his nose.

The morning after, his gaze had taken on that "what happened last night?" air we so often see on defeated fighters. But, at least, Le's sense of humor appeared intact. And at least his nose was back where it should be.

A suddenly resurgent Silva had pounded said nose almost comically flat on Saturday night while scoring a career-saving second-round TKO win at UFC 139. It was a victory that temporarily put off questions surrounding “The Axe Murderer’s” future, while simultaneously raising them about where Le goes from here.

At 39 years old, isn't it impossible to imagine he finishes out the six-fight deal he signed with the UFC earlier this year? With two new movies coming out during the first quarter of 2012, will he lapse back into the fits and starts that have typified his five-year MMA career? Does working two jobs leave him the kind of time and focus necessary to be successful at the highest level of this sport?

And, anyway, will he even want to soldier on if people keep busting up his nose with such alarming regularity? I mean, first Scott Smith in Strikeforce in 2009, and now Silva. That can't be good for your movie star good looks.

“I felt great -- 'til I got caught,” Le wrote at the end of his Twitter message and, yes, in all honesty there were a few positives to take away from his performance against Silva.

The former Strikeforce middleweight champion’s promotional debut was good enough to earn "Fight of the night" honors and he looked pretty capable through his first 9 minutes, 49 seconds as a bonafide UFC fighter. In the early going, he twice stunned Silva with spinning back fists; and, for much of the first round, he was able to keep his opponent at the proper range for his unorthodox arsenal of strikes.

Had Le been able to land flush with any of his powerful spinning kicks -- like the partially-blocked wheel kick he clocked Silva with two minutes in -- we’d be having a much different conversation today. Instead, by the second, he was visibly slowing down and Wanderlei was able to start working his way inside for the eventual endgame.

It seems unfair, but as reasonably good as Le's performance was in this fight, our final impression was of him losing to a guy unilaterally assumed to be on his last legs. What’s worse, Silva's win provided a fairly comprehensive game plan for how to beat Le: Close the distance to smother his attacks, wait for him to tire himself out, and then finish.

Le's style and his personality will continue to make him a fairly marketable fighter. And it seems likely we'll probably see him in the cage at least one more time before it's all said and done. At this stage, though, his age, inactivity and other career options all raise doubts about how much he’ll actually be able to accomplish in MMA moving forward.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Wanderlei Silva earned a reprieve at UFC 139.

Facing the possible end of his legendary career after six losses in his last eight fights, Silva bought himself some time on Saturday night when he stopped Cung Le via second-round TKO after an exciting, back-and-forth battle in the evening’s co-main event.

Especially on the heels of his disastrous 27-second loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132, this was one “The Axe Murderer” absolutely had to win. He did, weathering nearly 10 minutes of Le’s unorthodox striking before turning the tide with a knee and a straight right, then following with hammerfists to force a stoppage just 11 seconds before the end of the round.

“It’s wonderful. ... I know in this job you have to kill one lion each day,” Silva said at the postfight news conference. "Thank you so much [to the UFC] for this opportunity.”

In the days leading up to this show, Dana White had let it be known that he and Silva would “have to have a talk” if he didn’t look at least passable against Le. Now that talk -- the one no fighter wants to have -- is delayed, and Silva’s career will live to fight another day.

“He looked awesome tonight,” White said. “I’m happy for him, believe me, I’m happy to have him here. He’s a guy who we respect and who we really care about and it was good to see him win.”

The UFC president was impressed enough to double up on the evening’s "Fight of the Night" bonuses, awarding $70,000 to Silva and Le in addition to the cash he gave Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua for their epic main event.

At the start, things did not look like they would end so well for Silva. Le caught him at range a few times during the first round, brutalizing Silva with kicks to the body and head, even dropping him to the canvas at one point with a spinning backfist.

Silva took it all and continued to wade in with his trademark headhunting punches. The end began with a flurry that hurt Le enough to force him into an ineffective takedown attempt against the cage. Silva defended the takedown, then landed a series of knees and an elbow before the strikes that put Le down for the final time.

“I studied his game a lot," Silva said. "My coaches and I had a good game plan for this fight and, thanks to God, we won it the right way.”

There are no doubt valid questions that could still be asked about Silva pressing on with his legendary career. For better or for worse, those questions will now wait for another day.

Instead, the retirement questions may now shift to Le. The American Kickboxing Academy fighter has competed only sparingly in MMA during the past few years, balancing a fighting career with accepting movie roles at home and abroad. At 39 years old, the former Strikeforce middleweight champion was making his UFC debut in front of a hometown crowd that chanted alternately for him and for Silva during the fight.

When it was over, Le was led from the cage with an obviously broken nose while Silva left with renewed life. At least for now.

“I know the responsibility of fighting here,” Silva said. “There is space just for the best guys in the world here.”

SAN FRANCISCO -- At this point, Dan Henderson can afford to look back and laugh.

Henderson must have figured he’d seen the last of the UFC when he decamped for Strikeforce amid a contract dispute in 2009. Some three years later however, it’s clear that his gamble has paid off.

He's about to complete that rarest of feats for a professional fighter -- returning to the world's largest MMA promotion in a better bargaining position than when he left -- and that gives him a lot smile about these days.

“I’ve got no complaints or no regrets about leaving the UFC in the first place, it was all business and it was a good decision for me ...,” Henderson said on Thursday, two days before he’ll begin his third tour of duty in the Octagon at UFC 139. “I had no idea if I was coming back or not until I heard that Dana bought Strikeforce, because he missed me.”

At 41 years old, Hendo is nearly assured of finishing his career as a UFC star. The fact that his return to the organization will take the form of a light heavyweight No. 1 contenders' bout against Mauricio Rua this weekend is due largely to the things he was able to accomplish in the smaller promotion.

His 205-pound victories over Renato Sobral and Rafael Cavalcante returned him to relevance and put the Strikeforce light heavyweight title around his waist. His heavyweight knockout of Fedor Emelianenko in July secured his legacy and paved the way for him to re-enter the UFC at a time when his value has arguably never been higher.

Score that as a major victory for Henderson, with a significant assist from Strikeforce, of course.

“I enjoyed my fights in Strikeforce,” he said. “The organization treated me well ... I was satisfied there, I was happy there, but with that being said I’m happy to be back in the UFC as well.”

Castillo not the vacationing kind
Danny Castillo tried to take some time off after his Aug. 14 loss to Jacob Volkmann, he really did.

Castillo booked a cruise with his girlfriend, his sister and his mom, aiming to spend a week of R&R in South Florida and Mexico. He wanted to chill out, to let go, but said things got off to a rocky start when he arrived in Miami to discover it was jellyfish season.

“I was in the water, I had a beer in my hand and there were jellyfish everywhere,” Castillo said. “So, it wasn’t that cool.”

There was also the small matter of that loss to Volkmann, which kept eating at him. The unanimous decision defeat had snapped a three-fight win streak for him and had been his first official setback since crossing over from the WEC to UFC. Castillo is not the type of guy to take that lightly.

“You go on vacation [for a] release, but unfortunately I’m an emotional person, so I just thought about the fight the whole time,” he said. “It was hard to unwind ... I tried to put on a smile and act like the loss didn’t affect me, but deep down inside losing doesn’t sit well with me.”

By the time the week-long vacation was over, Castillo was running three or four miles day on the cruise ship and once he returned to Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, he set his sights on returning to the cage as soon as possible.

Next stop: This weekend’s scrap with Shamar Bailey.

“I was glad enough to get a fight so soon after a loss,” he said. “I talked to my manager and said, ‘I don’t care who it is, just get me a fight.’”

Le’s got jokes
Cung Le is keeping it decidedly light leading up to his UFC debut against Wanderlei Silva. With a 17-month break between his win over Scott Smith in Strikeforce in June '10 and this weekend’s UFC 139, it’s clear Le spent at least some of his down time writing up prepared material to entertain fans and media.

When asked if finally getting an opportunity to fight the Octagon makes it feel like he’s starting his whole MMA career anew, Le said he hoped that wasn’t the case.

“For my first MMA fight, I threw up in the back,” he said. “I hope I don’t throw up this time, because when I throw up, it comes out my nose too and it’s really bad. So, I’m going to try to skip on the throwing up.”

Le also cracked on his training (“I’ve been chasing my kids, because they help me get in shape”), his game plan (“Bring the lightning, followed by the thunder”) and what it’ll feel like to make his promotional debut in front of hometown fans (“It’s like the top of the food chain. I finally got here, now I just gotta eat the food”).

One topic on which Le briefly played it straight, however, was Silva. The former Pride champ may have lost six of his last eight fights, but Le said he expects it’ll still be serious business in the cage this weekend.

“Wanderlei’s back is against the wall,” he said. “He’s probably more dangerous now because it’s do or die for him.”

Faber to take judges to school

Prior to his UFC 139 fight against Brian Bowles, Urijah Faber is clearly still stinging from a unanimous decision loss to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in July. When the topic came up this week, Faber said that the real problem may be with the ringside judges. Perhaps his strategy against Cruz was just too complicated for them, Faber implied, saying he’d keep it simpler next time.

“Some of these old judges have never wrestled Division I, they’ve never done jiu-jitsu at a high level, they’ve never kickboxed,” Faber said. “A lot of them have their jobs and they don’t want to give them up, so you’ve got to paint a picture that a kindergartner can understand.”

Free was nice, and free was big -- and big was always the intention.

But now that we’re through with the privilege of bonus title fights on network television and dangling MMA in front of bemused pop culture, it’s back to our secular intrigues. Or, you know, back to opening the pocketbook to feed the MMA fix.

This weekend, if you want to enjoy the entire spectrum of fights going on -- and it’s a pretty stacked slate of fights spread over three promotions -- it will cost you approximately $75. A little more if you order UFC 139 in high definition (recommended). A little less if you prefer to skip watching Fedor Emelianenko take on Jeff Monson from Moscow at cockcrow (it’s your dime). But around $75 if you want to catch all the action going on behind the pay wall, along with the free preliminary bits and Bellator.

And if planned right, with DVRs and griddles, it actually looks like a ridiculous MMA marathon -- the exact opposite of the showcased 64 seconds of action from this past Saturday’s big event between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez.

Saturday night, UFC 139 is quietly one of the best looking cards of the year -- on paper anyway (which as you know is flammable). There’s the return of Dan Henderson to the UFC, who may or may not be fighting for a title shot against Jon Jones, taking on former champion Mauricio Rua. Their paths never crossed in the halcyon days of Pride when both were champions, a bit of restraint that plays nicely over the back-story -- but that’s a modest allure. The thing is, somebody will be knocked out. Could be Henderson, who never gets knocked out. And the same goes for the co-main event of debutante Cung Le and Wanderlei Silva. Le fights are rare, but he is the “Human Highlight Reel.” Silva is one knockout from either continuing on as he'd like to, or some alternative (which he refuses to contemplate).

Then there’s the Urijah Faber/Brian Bowles fight to determine who’s next for a shot at Dominick Cruz’s bantamweight belt; Martin Kampmann/Rick Story, which could headline a Versus show; Stephan Bonnar/Kyle Kingsbury, Ryan Bader/Jason Brilz, Tom Lawlor/Chris Weidman. It’s stacked. Miguel Torres is buried on the Facebook undercard fighting Nick Pace. Ditto Rafael dos Anjos and Gleison Tibau. And that’s just the first bill of fights.

There’s also one of the best Bellator cards happening on MTV2, with two belts up for grabs. Eddie Alvarez, who ESPN has ranked No. 4 in the lightweight Power Rankings, against Michael Chandler, and Hector Lombard in a middleweight title defense against Trevor Prangley. Bonus? Marlon Sandro and Raphael Dias. And when all that is through, at 7:30 a.m. on the East Coast the next day, Emelianenko fights Monson for $29.95. It’s a steep price for nostalgia on a three-fight skid, but it’s Fedor, and there are hopes and denials all over the place. The other thing? Somebody will get knocked out.

That’s a big bank of highly combustible MMA action for those willing to splurge. Four former Pride champions, three former WEC champions, two current Bellator champions, one former UFC champion, one reigning Strikeforce champion, and the teetering legacy of Stary Oskol all in a 12-hour window. Not all of it will be free, yet -- especially if you won’t be duped into early morning Fedor -- taken as a whole, this weekend’s fights can’t help but live up to the billing they barely received.

In other words, if you begin with hype and end with the price tag, it’s everything that last weekend wasn’t.

Wanderlei Silva has revealed he intends to fight for another 13 years. Far from considering his retirement plans, the Brazilian insists his body is top shape ahead of his UFC 139 collision with Cung Le. More

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Scott Smith’s ability to withstand just enough punishment to make for an improbable comeback held up -- only this time, he took all the punishment and stayed behind. In fighting as in the NFL, come backs make for lively entertainment, but -- as the old adage goes -- good teams don’t fall behind to begin with. Smith fell behind and the route was on. There was no Hail Mary Pete Sell, but there was a macabre seen on his face. This becomes the new constant.

Smith’s commitment to movement (and in particular head movement) was only marginally in evidence tonight against Tarec Saffiedine, and even then only early on. After that Smith was easy pickins'. Ganyao Fairtex, his striking coach, can teach technique but unfortunately not reflexes. Smith stood totem still as Saffiedine changed levels and stances to find the mark. Several times Saffiedine telegraphed shots right down the pipe that landed square. He landed some head kicks late, and Smith ate them gallantly. Problem is gallantry isn’t rewarded here. Saffiedine won by unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 30-26.

For Smith, it’s three losses in a row and likely the end of his run in Strikeforce. Will be a hard row back to relevance for “Hands of Steel.” His next come back to save his career, should he continue on.

In mixed martial arts, Cung Le has a pair of nouns that he traditionally lives by -- Scott Smith and San Jose.

His world in MMA is just that focused, while his work as an action-oriented actor spans continents. What does this information tell us? Reading between the lines, possibly that he has a superstition against packing his bags before a fight.

The 39-year-old Le -- a kickboxer-turned-highly entertaining sanshou menace -- has fought all eight of his professional MMA bouts in Strikeforce’s long-time operational hub of San Jose, and he’s went 7-1 there. Two of those -- the only fights he’s been involved with since 2008 -- were against Scott Smith. He even played along by losing the first one improbably. At any rate, it’s no wonder he has joined the chorus of AKA fighters lobbying Joe Silva to fight on the UFC 139 card, which will be held right there in the Silicon Valley on Nov. 19. Though Le can do without a trilogy versus Smith, this is one party he doesn’t want to miss.

And the UFC should make sure he gets the invitation.

Le recently commented that if he fights again it would be in a UFC showcase, which he sees as feasible since his part-time gig at Strikeforce is now a part-time gig with Zuffa. As for the pesky little Showtime contract that could hold things up? Surely there’s a paper-shredder somewhere in Zuffa’s offices. At least that’s what Le is insinuating.

Obviously it wouldn’t be as easy as all that, but he’s got a point -- if the UFC is willing to meddle it can figure out a way to bring Le into the fold for that card. Here’s a guy who is more than a novelty act, less than a serious contender, perfect for at least one good intrigue fight in its middleweight division (Yoshihiro Akiyama would be colorful). And yet the bigger issue is that Le’s shelf life is running out. While he closes in on 40 years old, the window in which he is willing to fight in nonfictional bouts closes too. If the only way we’ll see the “Human Highlight Reel” fight again is in the UFC, then it should be in San Jose. Wouldn’t it be better to see him (at least) once more in the cage than never again?

Le has at least three movies coming out in the next year -- “The Man With Iron Fists,” “Dragon Eyes” featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and “The Grandmasters” -- and is digging his new profession. There’s less and less incentive for him to continue fighting into his forties, and yet interest in seeing him compete hasn’t waned. Le sent in a note to Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White asking for a spot on the card, and they might want to at least listen to their employee here.

Why? If for no other reason than it might be the last time he asks.

TORONTO -– When you’re three weeks away from being 39 years old and having no problem getting work in the pictures, the incentive to fight loses something -- even if you’re 7-1 in mixed martial arts and every fight ended in a KO.

Cung Le knows the feeling. The erstwhile Sanshou kickboxer-cum-mixed martial artist has five movies coming out in the next year -- the biggest a Universal Pictures movie called "The Man With the Iron Fists", which stars Russell Crowe with a screenplay by Eli Roth and hip hop artist RZA. At this point, as a burgeoning Hollywood commodity, Le isn’t exactly sure if and when he’ll fight again.

But the fact that his name has been dangled about for a fight against current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva can’t help but raise his eyebrows just a little.

“I’m just honored to be brought up for the fight,” he said after UFC 129 at the Rogers Centre. “Anderson Silva is pound-for-pound the best fighter out there. I’m just honored, and I don’t know what else to say. For it to happen, just like Jerry Maguire said, ‘show me the money.’”

A Silva bout is far-fetched right now, but another fight in general for the one-time Strikeforce 185-pound titleholder isn’t. Not exactly, anyway. Le says for him to continue fighting it would have “to be soon because the clock is ticking.” Yet when asked if that means it would happen in 2011 he says, “that would be impossible” due to his demanding work load.

“I’m doing well right now being in the films,” Le said. “A lot of people are telling me, 'you should just retire, you’re not going to fight.' Other people are saying 'you got to fight.' You can’t make everybody happy.”

If not Silva, you can see Le fight on the big screen in "The Man with the Iron Fists" later this year.

“Just to see Russell Crowe work was amazing, and just to be a big part of the film was amazing,” Le said. “I think I had the third most working days out of the whole cast, and then I got to kill like 20 people. I feel blessed.”

Added to Fedor Emelianenko's considerable accomplishments during a 10-year MMA career: breaking the Internet.

Emelianenko, 33 and with a 32-1 record heading into Saturday's fight with Fabricio Werdum, has spent the past three years as one of the sport's best fighters and its most divisive personality. The mystique of his undefeated record made him the UFC's priority acquisition -- yet he and his management team rejected their advances, an arrogance that pleased fans irritated at the UFC's monopoly and annoyed others who wanted to see him butt heads with the 280-pound wrestlers.

For fans, his disinterest was an example of a fighter who refused to become a commodity; for Dana White, he was a fading champion who didn't deserve the respect shoveled on him. It is probably not unreasonable to say that significant ad space was sold on sites that got bumper-to-bumper traffic based on the debate. Strikeforce and Emelianenko got plenty of press. The only person it didn't benefit was White, who was chastised in media for not being able to close a deal.

White's consolation was that Emelianenko losing was only a matter of time. Everyone does, sometimes to an athlete most would overlook. (Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, the UFC's two best fighters, lost to Ryo Chonan and Matt Serra, respectively -- Washington Generals-level underdogs.) But what made Fedor special was his inexplicable ability to defy the odds for so long. In a sport in which just one mistake can cost you a loss -- or a broken arm, or worse -- he had somehow navigated through a decade without suffering a freak occurrence, injury or mental lapse.

Until this weekend. Emelianenko rushed Werdum, who fell to his back more out of a loss of balance than punishment. Then Emelianenko made a horrible error: He willingly tumbled into Werdum's guard, a position representing his biggest danger of the fight. Without the sweat of a long fight to help him, a dry Emelianenko was forced to tap to a triangle choke. Message boards, busy for so long with arguments over his abilities, froze from the congestion.

In a sport in which you're only as good as your last fight, getting tied and tapped by a triangle in just over a minute leaves Emelianenko open to some revisionist history. But reputations are built on the sum total of efforts: To date, no heavyweight has dominated his division as thoroughly, consistently and for as long as Emelianenko has. He may not be the best heavyweight competing today, but he is easily the most accomplished.

There will probably be a rematch with Werdum, and a chance to re-establish the claim that Emelianenko has beaten every man he's ever faced. There may also be a softening on demands from M-1, his squad of contract negotiators, who can no longer twist promoters with the promise of delivering a superhuman. The loss may even provide the best result possible for his fans: a career-ending trip in the UFC. And with it, a chance to break the Internet one more time.

Next

Next for Emelianenko: Werdum, or Antonio Silva.

Next for Werdum: Emelianenko, or Alistair Overeem; a locker-room bonus from an ecstatic White.

Next for Cung Le: Recognition that, at 38, he has only a sliver of time left as a competitive athlete and should take the fights he wants sooner rather than later.

Next for Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos: More '80s-Tyson-level squash matches.

Next for Josh Thomson: Continuing to be underrated; Lyle Beerbohm.

New questions

Q: What happens to Werdum?

A: Werdum had a defibrillator effect on the industry by tapping Emelianenko on Saturday, becoming the first man ever to decisively stop the Russian. With that will come loads of sponsorship and endorsement opportunities -- but Werdum's window closes fast if Emelianenko gets his rematch in short order.

The debatable question is whether Werdum should be ranked No. 1 for beating the world's No. 1 heavyweight. Or should that be Junior dos Santos, who beat Werdum nearly two years ago? Or the winner of Saturday's Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin bout? White, fans and media will get plenty of mileage in figuring it out.

Q: Can Emelianenko recapture his status?

A: While he was respected for being an excellent, well-rounded fighter, much of Emelianenko's recognition came from his undefeated record -- a feat nearly impossible in a sport as unpredictable and varied as MMA. Without that armor, the drawing power of a monosyllabic foreigner with central obesity takes a hit.

Emelianenko could restore much of his appeal with a decisive, bloody bit of revenge against Werdum. But the days of considering Emelianenko the Rocky Marciano of this sport are over.

Q: Does Strikeforce take the biggest hit?

A: Unlike the UFC, which can count on its brand to deliver a bottom-floor level of business, Strikeforce is largely dependent on the appeal of its matches. Owning Emelianenko was their biggest resource for media and legitimacy. Now that he's lost, depreciation is going to follow.

In the short term, they've lost potential pay-per-view revenue in a fight with Overeem: worse, Fedor's conqueror in Werdum isn't particularly charismatic or a crowd draw. Long-term, other lost attractions like Gina Carano (doing movies), Herschel Walker (probably good for one or two more fights), Frank Shamrock (retired) and Le (aging) aren't going to be there to deliver box office.

Emelianenko's comeback story will get a lot of play. If he can beat Werdum and resurrect interest in a fight with Overeem, it'll be a happier scene than the one Saturday.

Q: Was referee Kim Winslow in the wrong?

A: Winslow, the sport's only female referee at the televised level, drew sharp words for her officiating of the Cristiane Santos-Jan Finney fight. Santos scored four knockdowns in the bout, most of which she followed up with a barrage of punches from the top. Winslow was complacent until a knee to the body dropped Finney in the second.

Finney defended well, covering her face and deflecting most of the major blows on the ground. But a fighter getting repeatedly knocked down is a fairly obvious indication of scrambled brain function: Even a sport as cruel as boxing often prohibits a fighter from continuing after three knockdowns in a round. While Finney may have seemed game, what amounted to a 9-7 round (Santos was deducted a point for a foul) should have been cause for Winslow to step in. If not, her corner should have. Taking a beating is admirable, but it's one seriously misguided compliment.

Etc.

• Josh Thomson, who squeaked out a win against a dangerous and underrated Pat Healy, suffered two broken ribs in the bout, according to MMAJunkie.com. Before a choke by Thomson in the third, it looked like Healy bettors were going to have a profitable night.

• Strikeforce chair Scott Coker told media after the bout that Erin Toughill would be on tap for Cristiane Santos later in the year. Toughill signed with the promotion earlier this year but has yet to make her debut. At this point, recruiting solid female judoka or wrestlers to test Santos' jiu-jitsu might be the only way to make her division competitive.

• Coker also said that a Werdum-Emelianenko rematch was a possibility for pay-per-view, which would be a big mistake. That's a CBS attraction, and if they want to deliver eyeballs for the network, that's where it should be scheduled.

• Frank Shamrock, one of the biggest talents in an era when no one was watching, announced his retirement Saturday. While his attitude put some people off, he was one of the first athletes to understand the psychology of fighting (and fight promoting). His omission from the UFC's Hall of Fame remains that promotion's most immature decision.

There are fighters who invite interest only depending on their opponent, and there are fighters who can attract a crowd for the simple reason of being.

No one paid to see Mike Tyson against Frank Bruno because Bruno could sell a fight or because his style could make a puzzle out of the match: they paid because Tyson, who pointed this out in one of his lapses into eloquence, could sell out a theater just by reading a phone book (actually, while doing something else, but it's not a picture you want; trust me).

There is plenty of curiosity attached to Fedor Emelianenko's second fight for Strikeforce on Saturday, but it's more for his presence as a real-time legend than anything he could accomplish in the fight. Fabricio Werdum doesn't have a style or reputation that would add anything significant to Emelianenko's résumé: He's already beaten an all-time great heavyweight jiu-jitsu artist in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on multiple occasions. And even if Werdum does pose any exceptional problems, no one seems able to anticipate them. It's hard to be nervous over facts you don't have.

Because of the card's place further down the dial -- on Showtime, not CBS -- and because the quiet Werdum doesn't have an engine of hype behind him, it's probably going to be one of Emelianenko's more muted appearances. At age 33 and with retirement on his mind, there's increasing immediacy to his schedule: We don't want his time or abilities wasted. Facing Werdum might be a fight, it but doesn't feel much like an event.

What: Strikeforce: Fedor versus Werdum, an announced four-fight card from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

When: Saturday, June 26 at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime

Why you should care: Because the intrigue surrounding Emelianenko is now partially made up of how well his body and skills are holding up after a long career, because Cung Le and Scott Smith delivered one of 2009's best fights and a rematch is more than welcome, because Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos has a guaranteed wildlife attack scheduled against 8-7 Jan Finney, and because Mauro Ranallo never fails to find new and interesting ways to make the show all about him.

Fight of the night: Le-Smith, a perfect match of Le's dynamic stand-up and Smith's unbelievable constitution. He could be the car industry's first live crash test dummy and not be any worse off for it. This is intended to be a compliment.

Hype quote of the show: "Good for Fedor; I hope he does retire. … He's the greatest champion of all time. He's the greatest champion ever, of all time, in his own little world. Good for him." -- 4-1 Brock Lesnar, straining to tow the company line on the 31-1 Emelianenko, during a conference call.

Five questions: Strikeforce edition

Q: Can Emelianenko finish Werdum?

A: Once his MMA career got its wheels in the early part of the '00s, Emelianenko finished virtually every fighter he faced -- the only two exceptions being Mirko Filipovic and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Nogueira was resolute over three fights, absorbing huge strikes from the bottom; Filipovic was a little too dangerous on the feet to get carried away with.

Against Werdum, it's possible the threat of submission could keep Emelianenko from staying busy enough on the mat to get a stoppage: Werdum has only been finished once in an eight-year career.

Q: Does Werdum have a chance?

A: Emelianenko's flashes of humanity have come on the feet, where he's been staggered, outboxed and cut. Werdum isn't known as a striker, though he looked sharp beating Antonio Silva to the punch in the fall. Defeating Emelianenko at this point might involve tagging the tissue-paper skin on his forehead and nose and hoping the ring doctor has a quick trigger finger.

Q: Does Finney devalue the women's title?

A: "Cuddles" Finney, who sports a near-.500 record, will be getting a title shot against Santos despite having no history with Strikeforce and no particular achievements to warrant the opportunity. (Finney is 4-0 in recent memory, but only one opponent sported a winning record; two were making their pro debuts.) While it's impractical to shelve Santos until a deserving contender can be found, it's an unfortunate reminder that the females of MMA have a serious equality issue when it comes to depth of talent.

Q: Will Le be worse for the wear?

A: Le, 37, suffered his first defeat in a long combat sports career against Smith in the fall, erasing the typical fighter trait of a teenager's sense of invincibility. The reality check might compel Le to ditch his flashier style in favor of a more conservative -- and defense-oriented -- game.

Q: Does Strikeforce benefit from the UFC's smear campaign?

A: Barely five minutes can go by during one of the UFC's media conferences where the Russian elephant of the room isn't mentioned: Emelianenko's absence from the promotion is often more prominent than athletes under their employment, a slight that usually results in White's discussing -- at length -- both Strikeforce and its star attraction. While virtually none of it is flattering, White's prominence as the sport's most heavily quoted personality gives his competition several mentions it wouldn't otherwise receive. "No comment" are two words White should practice.

Red Ink: Fedor versus Werdum

There are two things that would make Dana White's face crack from happiness in the next week: Lesnar retaining his title -- and immensely profitable pay-per-view appeal -- against Shane Carwin, and Werdum handing Emelianenko his first legitimate loss in mixed martial arts.

Werdum, 32, went 2-2 in White's promotion in 2007-08, with the only stoppage loss of his career coming against current hot prospect Junior dos Santos. If Werdum is able to take full advantage of the 15 minutes he's been allotted, there isn't a bullet train faster than White would be in getting to a microphone and crowing about it: Werdum, the UFC's cast-off, defeating the alleged pound-for-pound best fighter. He might even pass out.

Unfortunately for both White and Werdum, there isn't much in the fighter's skill set that can threaten Emelianenko. Brett Rogers and Andrei Arlovski put the Russian on his heels a bit, but Werdum doesn't have that power; Nogueira survived with his back on the ground, but Werdum doesn't have that kind of constitution. When your best opportunity for winning is in a submission against a fighter who's never been submitted, you shouldn't go spending your win bonus.

Werdum can win, of course: Emelianenko is human, no matter what the message-forum forensics indicate. Anyone can be caught. But it'll probably take a big power puncher to do it. And that's not Werdum's game.

What it means: For Emelianenko, a chance to continue a nearly flawless career; for Werdum, a chance to win and then get a big money offer to get beat up by Lesnar.

Of note: Werdum choked out Emelianenko's brother Alexander -- and while Alistair Overeem would probably be the more anticipated fight for Emelianenko, Werdum beat him in 2006.

Wild card: Emelianenko's stand-up has looked increasingly stiff in recent bouts, while Werdum looked sharp outboxing Silva.

Who wins: Emelianenko hits harder, feet or ground, and has shown very little vulnerability in the grappling department. Werdum survives but doesn't celebrate. Fedor by decision.

Picking fights is a 50/50 proposition in which I somehow find a way to be wrong a mathematically implausible percentage of the time. I'm better at figuring which fights get made rather than who wins them. The minute Cung Le lost his legs at the hands of Scott Smith in December, I figured Le wasn't going to waste time asking for rounds 4, 5 and 6.

Now Le tells MMATorch.com that he'd be "ready to go next month" if promoters wanted the rematch. "I'll be ready for whatever Strikeforce gives me, and hopefully it will be another shot against Scott Smith," Le said. "I believe that's the one fight I want right now."

It took Le nearly two years to return to fighting after beating Frank Shamrock, but it's evident that Smith catching him with a buzzer-beater has completely soured the milk in Le's Wheaties. These are the kinds of losses that bother you long after you've healed.