Former PRIDE and current WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko (31-1) will be out of action for up to six weeks as a result of hand surgery that was required to repair a dislocated thumb suffered in his Nov. 7 fight against Brett Rogers, according to Sherdog.com.

“The Last Emperor” headlined the Strikeforce/CBS prime time debut “Fedor vs. Rogers” last Saturday night from the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Emelianenko defeated “The Grim” via second round technical knockout, but not before sustaining his share of punishment from the Chicago native.

According to the report, the procedure required the Russian fighter to have pins inserted into his hand to correct the dislocation but no bone or ligament damage was revealed during the surgery.

Emelianenko had surgery on his hand once before, following his  laugher over Wagner “Zuluzinho” da Conceicao Martins at PRIDE: “Shockwave 2005″ to correct a chronic ailment that had plagued him since 2003.

Despite earlier reports (and pictures of a busted up face), Emelianenko’s nose was not broken during the Rogers fight and he’s expected to resume limited training upon his return to Russia later this month.

Fedor is also expected to compete under the Strikeforce banner for a second time in early 2010.

For “Fedor vs. Rogers” coverage click here.

The main event of CBS SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers reached 5.46 million viewers while drawing impressive young adult and male demographic ratings, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings from 11:00-11:15 PM on Saturday, Nov. 7.

The demographic ratings include a 3.5/10 in men 25-54, 3.3/11 in men 18-49 and 3.1/12 in men 18-34, 2.5/7 rating in adults 25-54, 2.4/8 in adults 18-49 and 2.4/09 in adults 18-34.

For the entire broadcast, CBS SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS (S) (9:00-11:24PM) averaged 4.04m viewers, winning its time period among adults 18-34 and men 18-34, and delivering ratings significantly higher than the Network’s season to date averages in the time period among young adult and male demos.

The ratings include a 1.8/06 in adults 18-49, 1.8/07 in adults 18-34, 2.6/07 in men 25-54, 2.5/08 in men 18-49 and 2.3/09 in men 18-34.

Compared to CBS’s 9:00-11:00PM season-to-date averages, CBS SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS was up +38% in adults 18-49 (from 1.3/04), +125% in adults 18-34 (from 0.8/03), +117% in men 25-54 (from 1.2/03), +178% in men 18-49 (from 0.9/03) and +283% in men 18-34 (from 0.6/02).

CBS’s SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS outrated ABC’s regionalized primetime college football in men 18-34 (2.3/09 vs. 1.9/07) and adults 18-34 (1.8/07 vs. 1.5/06) and ESPN’s Florida State vs. Clemson primetime game in men 18-34 (2.3/09 vs. 0.7/03) and adults 18-34 (1.8/07 vs. 0.5/02). CBS also topped ESPN2’s primetime Vanderbilt vs. Florida game in men 18-34 (2.3/09 vs. 1.1/04) and adults 18-34 (1.8/07 vs. 0.9/04).

The audience composition for CBS SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS was 31% adults 18-34 and the median age for the broadcast was 41.4.

For complete Strikeforce: “Fedor vs. Rogers” results and coverage click here and here.

UFC President Dana White thinks Fedor Emelianenko is a fraud. A flabby relic from the mismanaged days of PRIDE that now hides behind the iron curtain, emerging only to fight hand-picked opponents that pose no threat to a self-proclaimed legacy.

In fact, White is so sure that the Russian heavyweight is at the bottom of the divisional rankings that he was willing to write him a blank check after Affliction MMA imploded under the weight of its own spending.

That makes sense.

Imagine how quickly the men in white coats would come to collect you if you walked onto the lot of an auto auction and told the yard barker: “I’ve got a check for five million dollars, please give me the biggest piece of shit on the lot.”

Ever since the fall of PRIDE, there have been a lot of hard feelings between the UFC and Emelianenko’s camp and I suspect a great deal of that has been “The Last Emperor’s,” ability to escape the Zuffa monopoly.

Men with White’s power and ultimately White’s greed are used to getting what they want. What do men in power want? Everything. Yet “those crazy Russians” have balked at every attempt the UFC has made to secure the WAMMA champion as their own.

And why wouldn’t they, especially when M-1 can have a monopoly of their own? As long as Emelianenko keeps winning, Vadim and the Finkelchtein Express can continue cashing in at the expense of other promotions who need an established headliner.

In the world of playground politics we call that “Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers.”

While M-1 and UFC continue to argue over who the bigger A-hole is, fans of mixed martial arts are left with one of the most heated debates in the history of this young sport.

Is the man known as “Fedor” the greatest mixed martial artist of all time?

That, like the asinine “pound-for-pound” ranking system, is impossible to prove with any sort of irrefutable evidence.

I’ve been following Emelianenko since his win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at “PRIDE: Shockwave 2004.” I expected him to lose that fight against “Big Nog,” because at the time I didn’t think anyone could overcome “Minotauro’s” incomparable balance of boxing and jiu-jitsu.

And therein lies the problem with trying to qualify the greatness of a fighter such as Emelianenko. Many pundits believe, as Dana White does, that current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar would smash the M-1 star with relative ease.

It’s certainly within the realm of possibility.

No fighter is invincible. Anderson Silva has put together a string of victories that on paper look like the work of fiction, going 11-0 since that same event in 2004 and stopping ten of those fights by (T)KO or submission.

Yet during the span of his career, “The Spider” was also submitted twice, by fighters that would never be mistaken for title contenders.

Another one of today’s top stars, Georges St. Pierre, has completely re-written the playbook on wrestling defense inside the Octagon. “Rush” seems to grow more dominant with each contest and could be one or two fights away from cleaning out the UFC 170-pound division.

But there was a time when St. Pierre was submitted by Matt Hughes and knocked out by Matt Serra just a few years later. Was the Canadian the far-and-away better fighter than “The Terror” at UFC 69? Of course, but this is what makes mixed martial arts so great.

A lot of people laud the sport for its unpredictability, but I disagree. Because of the nature of combat sports, I believe it is the margin for error — not random chance — that causes so many jaw-dropping upsets.

Randy Couture dodged an oncoming lunchbox in the second round of his fight against Brock Lesnar back at UFC 91 in November of 2008. Unfortunately the tail end of that punch clipped him on the fade-away and crumpled the elder statesman, forcing his heavyweight belt into the arms of the former WWE headliner.

Was it a bookie-busting upset? No, but it was a perfect example of how one small error can end a fight, especially in the new-look heavyweight division, where most of the upcoming fighters can bench-press a Volkswagen.

If I was asked to pick the best fighter currently competing at this present time, it would probably be Anderson Silva, for his amazing run over the past four years and the level of competition he’s faced.

Sure, he had that stinker against Thales Leites at UFC 97, but it’s difficult to fight someone who spends more time on their back than “The Huntington Beach Bad Girl.”

Now if I had to pick the best fighter of all time, my first pick has to be Fedor Emelianenko. Again, I won’t dispute that a fighter exists in the UFC that may have the tools to beat him, but I cannot ignore the body of work this fighter has compiled over the past nine years.

To go 31-1, including 27 straight, is an astounding achievement in the world of professional fighting. Is his record populated with the occasional can or overgrown freak show? Sure, but show me an elite fighter that hasn’t fought a pretender at some point in his career.

Matt Hughes, widely considered one of the most dominant welterweights of all time, crushed so many cans in his career they’ve named a wing after him at the office building of the Environmental Protection Agency.

You can’t excuse Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva for losing to lesser competition while simultaneously condemning Fedor Emelianenko for beating it.

After stopping Brett Rogers on November 7 under the Strikeforce banner, Emelianenko received heavy criticism for his performance during the fight — just as he did when he knocked out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: “Day of Reckoning.”

He could be the only fighter in history to be so widely panned for a winning performance. When Travis Lutter had Anderson Silva mounted at UFC 67 and began raining down punches, “Spider’s” eventual escape and submission win were heralded as an “amazing comeback.”

Yet when Fedor escaped the mount and ground-and-pound of Brett Rogers last Saturday night, he was “exposed.”

No concessions for “The Grim” outweighing him by fifty pounds, no free pass because it was his first fight inside a cage, just a lot of finger pointing.

Great achievement is the bearer of great expectation, I suppose.

Conversely, the loyal fans of Fedor can sometimes be just as irrational. I try to remain realistic with my belief that a fighter exists who can eventually end his impressive winning streak.

The position Brock Lesnar had against Frank Mir to end their fight at UFC 100 looked about as inescapable as any position I’ve seen. Lesnar has a very good chance of beating Emelianenko — but I don’t think he’s half the fighter that Fedor is.

How does that work?

Lesnar has five professional fights. One of them is to a Korean crab cake named Min Soo Kim, who’s continued to dazzle audiences with his impressive 3-6 record.

Another two have been against the hot-and-cold Frank Mir. One of those ended in a loss. In Lesnar’s defense, he did rebound with a victory over the barely-heavyweight Randy Couture, who cashes his UFC check on the same day of the month that he cashes his social security check.

Lesnar is big, powerful and talented. But in the world of MMA, he’s proven very little. How will he respond when he’s rocked by an A-level striker? Can he escape the submission attempts of a jiu-jitsu black belt?

The one chance he had to prove that he could was at UFC 81, and he failed.

I’ve seen Fedor get rocked and I’ve seen Fedor in submission trouble. I’ve also seen him cough up a round on separate occasions. Yet no matter how precarious the situation, Fedor always finds a way to come back and win.

I can’t say that he would beat any other heavyweight out there because I don’t know that for sure. What I do know is that since getting sliced open by Tsuyoshi Kosaka at Rings: “King of Kings” way back in 2000, Emelianenko has put together one of the greatest runs through any division in all of mixed martial arts.

Some performances were astonishing, some were barely enough to get by. In both instances, he found a way to win. That to me is what the legacy of Fedor Emelianenko is all about: A fighter at the top of his game who continues to win in a sport that allows only the tiniest margin for error.

There will always be individual greatness in the sport of mixed martial arts. It’s just unfortunate that sometimes it requires you to look past your promotional allegiance to see it.

Vendetta Fighting Championship (VFC) veteran Antwain Britt (9-3) will reportedly make his Strikeforce debut opposite Scott Lighty (5-0) at “Evolution” from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., on Dec. 19, according to The Curtis and Kyle Show.

“The Juggernaut” competed four times this year including three under the VFC banner. In addition to compiling a respectable 3-1 record, he’s finished seven of his nine wins by (T)KO including a knockout over Antonio Mendes back in May.

Welcoming him to the promotion will be Scott Lighty, who made a successful Strikeforce debut with a TKO win over Mike Cook at the “Carano vs. Cyborg” event last August.

The win pushed the Pure Combat and ShoXC veteran to a perfect 5-0.

Strikeforce: “Evolution” is expected to feature an interesting match up of styles between Matt “The Law” Lindland and Ronald “Jacare” Souza as well as the return of former middleweight champion Cung Le against Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith.

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Josh “The Punk” Thomson are expected to be in action as well.

For the current Strikeforce: “Evolution” fight card click here.

Props: LA Times

Quoteworthy:

“CBS would be out of their mind to put that rinky-dink [Strikeforce] . . . on the air again … and without that backing, [promoters] won’t have the money to pay [Emelianenko]. The guy just got his face smashed in by Brett Rogers. Do you know what Brock or [UFC heavyweights] Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez would do to Brett Rogers? It’s time to bring [Fedor] in, to see Brock Lesnar smash his head.”

UFC President Dana White has some unkind words for the CBS broadcast of “Saturday Night Fights.” The event featured a main event of Brett Rogers taking on Fedor Emelianenko and while “The Grim” was hanging tough, ultimately fell to an overhand right from the “Last Emperor.” White was not impressed with either fighter, claiming Zuffa champ Brock Lesnar would “smash” the Russian — and also suggesting fellow heavyweights Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez would do likewise against Brett Rogers. Anyone want to take a guess at the outcome of Strikeforce putting their top three heavyweights against the three best 265-pounders the UFC has to offer?

Fans of mixed martial arts were once again treated to an action-packed weekend chock full of fights thanks to Strikeforce cranking out back-to-back shows as well as World Victory Road putting forth a bevy of top stars in the heat of battle for Sengoku: “Eleventh Battle.”

Strikeforce held its first CBS prime time mixed martial arts event on Saturday night (Nov. 7) from the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Ill., and lit up the Internet message boards with its “Fedor vs. Rogers” main event.

Did we see the greatest living mixed martial artist defeat a tough-as-nails heavyweight prospect? Or a bloated relic getting spoon-fed a former tire mechanic?

In addition to their heavyweight brouhaha, Jake Shields captured the promotion’s middleweight title, Gegard Mousasi won without defending his belt, and Fabricio Werdum took one step closer to an eventual showdown with “The Last Emperor.”

And Strikeforce did it all just one day after holding their “Challengers” event in Fesno, Calif., which once again saw lightweight veteran Jorge Gurgel abandon his ground game only to be outpointed on his feet — this time by Billy Evangelista.

Those MMA fans looking for some International flavor got their fill with the HDNet broadcast of Sengoku “Eleventh Battle” from Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. While much of the talk surrounded Mamed Khalidov’s upset win over Jorge Santiago, international superstars Akihiro Gono and Kevin Randleman were also in action.

In cased you missed any or all of it — or just want to keep the discussion alive — below are links to all the major storylines coming out of all three events.

Let’s get to it.

Strikeforce: “Fedor vs. Rogers”

Nostradumbass predictions and preview

Weigh-in results

Results and live fight coverage

Recap and final thoughts

Preliminary CBS ratings

Sengoku: “Eleventh Battle”

Preview and predictions

Weigh-in results

Open thread and discussion

Results and recap

Strikeforce Challengers: “Evangelista vs. Gurgel”

Preview and predictions

Gurgel defiant on fight strategy

Weigh-in results

Results and live fight coverage

Recap and final thoughts

Remember that Strikeforce: “Evolution” is just around the corner — along with the all new “Sengoku Raiden Championship” on New Year’s Eve for the Japanese scene. Keep it locked in right here at MMAmania.com for all the coverage you can handle.