Fedor Emelianenko will return to the Strikeforce cage on Feb. 12, as he takes on Antonio Silva in a heavyweight main event from the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.
Sources close to the negotiations informed Sherdog.com Sunday evening of the event’s date and location.
A match between former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett is also said to be in the works for the February date. It remains to be seen how the New Jersey Athletic Control Board handles the licensing situation Barnett -- who allegedly tested positive for a performance enhancing substance prior to a scheduled bout with Emelianenko in the summer of 2009 -- is dealing with in California. His hearing before the California commission was pushed back at their Dec. 2 meeting.
As speculated, Strikeforce will indeed hold an eight-man heavyweight tournament in 2011, and Emelianenko-Silva and Arlovski-Barnett are set to serve as quarterfinal bouts. Though the remaining combatants could not be confirmed, a third quarterfinal matchup between Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers is expected to take place in Columbus, Ohio, on a planned March 5 event.
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In an update to this story, it now seems that Fabricio Werdum will be paired against Alistair Overeem.
Eight Strikeforce heavyweights have all signed to compete in a single-elimination tournament to begin on Feb. 12, sources have confirmed to MMA Fighting.
The first two quarterfinal bouts will take place on Feb. 12, with Fedor Emelianenko taking on Antonio SIlva, while Andrei Arlovski will face Sergei Kharitonov.
The other two quarterfinal bouts include Brett Rogers facing Josh Barnett and current Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem taking on Fabricio Werdum, the last man to beat Emelianenko.
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