FanHouse Scott Coker

CHICAGO -- Scott Coker has been promoting combat sports events for more than two decades, but he'll be the first to admit that Saturday night's Strikeforce on CBS card is the most important event that he has ever been part of.

FanHouse spoke to the Strikeforce CEO and founder at Thursday's press conference about promoting Fedor Emelianenko on CBS, the Strikeforce middleweight title picture, and what this card means to the future of the organization.

CHICAGO -- Strikeforce entered into a co-promotional deal with M-1 Global primarily for Fedor Emelianenko's services, but what else does M-1 Global actually do other than loan out Fedor?

According to M-1 Global executives, Strikeforce broadens its reach to the rest of the world outside of America through its partnership with the international MMA organization.

CHICAGO -- Fedor Emelianenko says he's committed to continuing to fight in the United States over the next year, saying Thursday that after his upcoming fight with Brett Rogers, he'll fight at least twice more in the United States in 2010.

"I'm planning on performing in the United States of America – definitely -- next year," Fedor said at a press conference to promote his fight with Rogers. "I know for sure I'll have two more fights in the United States next year and then we'll see how the contract works. Maybe I'll sign another contract."

Little has been heard from Gina Carano since her loss to Cris Cyborg in August, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker doesn't expect to see her back in action before mid-2010.

Coker said on this week's edition of The MMA Hour that Carano, who is set to begin filming the new Steven Soderbergh movie, Knockout, in early 2010, isn't in Strikeforce's immediate plans.

On this week's edition of The MMA Hour, we were joined by Dan Hardy, who faces Mike Swick in a No. 1 contender's match at UFC 105 on Nov. 14. Hardy talked about getting a shot to fight for the title early in his UFC career, MMA's popularity in the United Kingdom, and his recent criticism of Bernard Hopkins after the boxing legend blasted MMA.

Later in the show, we spoke to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker about the upcoming Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers bout on Nov. 7, the Dan Henderson sweepstakes, and when we should expect to see Gina Carano return to action. Ray Hui and I also looked back at UFC 104 and Brock Lesnar having to pull out of his title fight at UFC 106.

Watch or listen to the show below.

Strikeforce is gearing up for a busy November, but the organization already has plans in place for their year-end show as well. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said on this week's edition of The MMA Hour (which will be featured later this week on MMA FanHouse) that the organization's next big Showtime event will take place on Dec. 19 from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Coker also mentioned that recent Strikeforce signee, "King" Muhammed Lawal, is scheduled to make his debut on the show, but no opponent has been signed just yet.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said on a conference call Wednesday that he plans to work with the Japanese Dream promotion to put on fights between Strikeforce champions and Dream champions. It sounds good in theory: In combat sports, title unification bouts are always a good thing. But there's just one problem: There's not a single weight class in which Strikeforce and Dream both have one champion who can fight the other champion.

Take a look at the current champions in Strikeforce and Dream:

Strikeforce took another big step towards becoming an established MMA promotion on Saturday when the San Jose-based organization announced that they have appointed Rich Chou to be their first official matchmaker. According to a press release issued by the organization, Chou will assume the position immediately.

Most recently, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and American Kickboxing Academy instructor "Crazy" Bob Cook led a matchmaking committee, but the 30-year-old Chou will now assume the head matchmaker position for promotion.

Shortly after CBS announced that it would televise the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers fight on Nov. 7, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker spoke with FanHouse about the deal to put the heavyweight bout on network television, saying he views it as a huge step forward for MMA.

Coker also said the CBS show will consist of four fights and will include Gegard Mousasi, Cris Cyborg, Jake Shields and Jason Mayhem Miller, and that Fedor's company, M-1 Global, has been a strong partner throughout the planning process. The full interview is below.

Last week, Strikeforce CEO and founder Scott Coker told FanHouse that he wanted to book a middleweight match-up between Robbie Lawler and Ronaldo Souza for the organization's upcoming fall show, headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers. At the time, Coker mentioned that he had yet to talk to Lawler's agent, Monte Cox, about the fight.

Cox told FanHouse then that it was the first he heard about it, and that it didn't excite him all that much. On Monday, he flat out said he had no interest in making it happen.