MMA Twitter universe spent much of the day urging UFC President Dana White to let referee Big John McCarthy back into the Octagon, and my post about the Big John Twitter bomb drew some feedback for our MMA Twitter mailbag.But we'll start the mailbag with a question about the upcoming M-1 Global/Strikeforce fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers. Your questions, and my answers, are below.
drsippi: Is the Fedor-Rogers fight really gonna happen? Rogers said that he wanted a title shot? What do you think about that fight?
Yes, I absolutely think it is going to happen this fall, although I am surprised they still haven't announced a date or location for it. My best guess is it's going to take place Saturday, November 7 in New Jersey.
As for whether Rogers wants a title shot, the Strikeforce heavyweight title is totally irrelevant at this point. Alistair Overeem is the heavyweight champion, but he hasn't defended his belt since he won it almost two years ago, and it could easily be six months or more before he does defend it. Fedor is the generally recognized heavyweight champion of MMA, and that means Rogers is fighting for the sport's true heavyweight title, no matter what Strikeforce says about its heavyweight belt.
What do I think about the fight? I like it. I don't think Rogers, who has built up his 10-0 record against Andrei Arlovski and nine nobodies, is really ready for Fedor, but I do think he's a big, hard puncher who will take the fight to Fedor, and that'll make it exciting. Even though it won't last very long.
brokenrib: I love the Big John twitter bomb... imagine Dana gets 30k twitters about Big John? HUGE
lelandroling: Likely ineffective, but 10 seconds to send constant reminders to Dana about how good McCarthy actually is can't hurt
CRM_alumnigonzo: That all may be true, but it takes so little effort on our part. It's like participating in government. Or something.
I agree with all of you, and, more importantly, I agree with the nearly unanimous opinion of UFC fans that Big John should return to the Octagon. He's the best ref in the history of the sport, and it doesn't make any sense for him to be locked out of the sport's biggest promotion.
And finally, a response to my interview with Joe D'Arce, for whom the D'Arce choke is named:
PJHarrison Can you follow up and tell us who invented the "rear naked" choke?
As Norman Chad would say, Pay the man, Shirley.
Want to be part of our next UFC Twitter mailbag? Post a question or comment on Twitter.com, and be sure to start it with @MichaelDavSmith.
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