(“He’s behind me, isn’t he?”)

Bas Rutten spoke with longtime MMA reporter and color analyst Paul Lazenby earlier this week and when talk turned to the dispute between his fellow countrymen and longtime friends with Golden Glory and Alistair Overeem, “El Guapo” revealed a few interesting tidbits from conversations he had with both sides. They say that in any dispute there are two sides to the story and that the truth lays somewhere in the middle and being that he has relationships with both parties, Rutten’s view is a bipartisan one.

According to Bas, contrary to what Alistair is telling everyone, it was him and Not Golden Glory who are to blame for the situation and that the split came because Overeem has no loyalty to the people who were behind him through the good and bad times in his career.

(The team during easier times.)

According to Golden Glory head Bas Boon, fences have been mended between the UFC and his management group and fight team — so much so that the promotion is bringing back heavyweight John Olav Einemo and is in discussions to sign K-1 standout Siyar Bahadurzada as well.

“John Olaf Einemo is now back with the UFC and Siyar Bahadurzada just got offered a UFC contract,” Boon wrote in an email received by CagePotato earlier today.

The email went on to state that Golden Glory’s relationship with the UFC is good and that contrary to media speculation, neither side is guilty of any wrongdoing during the recent negotiations to sign former Golden Glory star Alistair Overeem to a contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I want to make the following statement to clear up any speculation.The UFC did nothing wrong and neither did Golden Glory management – when signing up Alistair Overeem with the UFC. It is public knowledge how the UFC does business,” Boon explained. “ALL correspondence between the UFC and Golden Glory was also shared/CC’d to Alistair Overeem who finally made a decision to sign the agreements. There will be a lot of rumors like in thet recent past when 4 Golden Glory fighters were released from the UFC and Strikeforce and that was the so-called end of GG’s relationship with the UFC. Not long after this rumor Golden Glory made a mega deal with Alistair Overeem signing with the UFC.”

Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem made a shocking announcement via Twitter today that he has decided to part ways with his longtime team and management at Golden Glory, citing “differences that [led] to a breach of trust” as the cause of the split. Although he didn’t mention any one incident, it’s likely that the recent rift between Golden Glory and Zuffa that saw Overeem and a handful of his teammates including former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen and former UFC heavyweight John Olaf Einemo released within a week of one another was at least part of the reason for his departure from the Dutch kickboxing-based team.

“I would like to make a statement regarding the recent news of the separation from my long-time management Golden Glory. As with any relationship, there are good times and bad times – you have your common ground and your differences. As with any relationship, you have trust,” Overeem wrote. “When differences lead to a breach of trust, there’s no turning back and no way to continue a positive, working relationship. I don’t air my dirty laundry. I would appreciate the respect regarding my privacy to not disclose any further details on this matter. Again, I would like to thank team Golden Glory for all the years we worked together and wish them success for the future.”

Zuffa may be looking to bring Alistair Overeem back into the fold, but there is one Golden Glory fighter who is moving on to greener other pastures. Former Strikeforce 135lb Women’s Champion Marloes Coenen has signed a three fight, non-exclusive contract with North Carolina-based BlackEye Promotions.

Coenen was cut from the Strikeforce roster following her failed title defense against Meisha Tate last month, though the exile was more political than a reflection of her performance. The drop from Showime to an unknown regional promotion isn’t a glamorous one, but BlackEye is trying to establish itself as a player in the WMMA game. Its upcoming October 1^st card—The Breast Cancer Beatdown–boasts six female bouts that include fighters Erin Toughill and Roxanne Modafferi.

It is a somewhat curious move, considering that Golden Glory and the UFC are once again on speaking terms. Though her contract with BlackEye is non-exclusive, we all know that Zuffa doesn’t like to share its toys, so even if her current promotion is cool with a return to Strikeforce it isn’t likely to happen unless she breaks free of those ties. “Rumina” expects to return to action sometime in February. We’ll be watching…if that’s an option.

(Video: NBC Sports)

Ten days ago today, Marloes Coenen hopped out of the shower to the sounds of a ringing phone and the shocking news that she, Valentijn Overeem, and John Olav Einemo would be joining teammate Alistair Overeem in the unemployment line. For the record, I’m not entirely sure about the shower part, but that’s how I like to envision it going down. Just as the whole he said/they said battle between Dana White and Team Golden Glory seemed to be heating up, the Pinkberry smudged door to the Zuffa offices may be creeping back open to the Netherlands-based team.

Dana White broke Ariel Helwani off a few minutes of his precious time to talk about a myriad of subjects, most interesting of which was his reaction to Golden Glory manager Bas Boon‘s public desire to meet all of Zuffa’s concerns, including direct payments to fighters and an exclusive contract with Alistair Overeem: “Well that’s awesome. If that’s the true story and that’s what he said, sounds like we can make a deal then…If Bas Boon is saying that this is the way we can do it, then we can absolutely, positively make a deal and we can get this ball rolling again.”

Though he appeared willing to move beyond whatever was behind the mass-firing, Dana didn’t relent from his position that the cuts were simply a matter of different business practices between the parties and nothing more: “I don’t give a shit what they tweet, what they take pictures of, or what they say, they fucking know exactly how it worked and we would not do it that way.”

After the jump, it turns out that Overeem has not been officially released by Strikeforce after all.

(Imagine getting into a bar fight with these guys?)

The head of Golden Glory, Bas Boon released a press release Thursday that further explained some of the behind the scenes happenings that may have led to the recent sudden firings of Team Golden Glory fighters Alistair Overeem, Marloes Coenen, John Olav Einemo.

According to Boon, he was working hand-in-hand with Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker to form strategic partnerships with a number of organizations like K-1 and DREAM and had been involved in meetings with television networks with Coker in an effort to make the promotion a viable competitor to the UFC. Unbeknownst to Boon, while he was making connections and setting up these meetings, Coker was already in talks with Zuffa about selling the struggling promotion.

It’s not unforeseeable that when Coker informed the UFC that Boon had been instrumental in Strikeforce making a full-court press at competing with them, that they took umbrage with his effort to aid the competition.

Another interesting tidbit Boon dropped in the statement was that Golden Glory had made arrangements, with the help of the UFC, for its fighters to be paid directly by Zuffa/Forza and for them to cash their checks in the U.S. prior to returning back to Holland, where it takes between six and eight business days for their money to clear. According to UFC president Dana White, Golden Glory refused to allow its fighters to be paid directly, which was the reason he says they cut ties with the likes of Alistair Overeem, John Olav Einemo and Marloes Coenen.

Check out the full release after the jump.

Dana White, explaining Zuffa’s recent axing of Alistair Overeem, Valentijn Overeem, Marloes Coenen, and Jon Olav Einemo:

“This is actually a pretty simple explanation. If you look back throughout history, we haven’t had any Golden Glory guys fight with us since Semmy Schilt, right? And the reason is we have very different business practices. It’s tough to do business with them. The bottom line is the way they do business is, you have to pay them, not the fighters. We don’t work that way. It’s not the way we do business. It’s not how it works in the United States with the athletic commissions. You don’t pay the managers and the managers pay the fighters. You pay the fighters and the fighters pay the managers…The reality is, we’re trying to work out deals with these guys and they won’t do it. They said you absolutely can’t pay the fighters, you have to pay us. And it’s pretty simple to look back and see that the last guy who fought in UFC was Semmy Schilt. There was a reason for that.”

Marloes Coenen, calling “bullshit” last night:

(..and we want the money in small unmarked bills in a black duffle bag.”

CageWriter’s Steve Cofield has Zuffa’s take on why it cut ties with fighters Marloes Coenen, Valentijn Overeem and John Olav Einemo this week.

Apparently it’s because Golden Glory — the team’s management group — requires promotions to pay its fighters purses directly to trainer and manager Martijn de Jong, who divvies up the monies owing to the respected trainers and managers before paying the fighters. Because the UFC has had issues with managers in the past not paying fighters what is owed to them,  they made it their policy that the checks go to the fighters, who then pay the members of their camp. Zuffa/Forza claims it told Golden Glory to change the way they do business but they refused, so their fighters were released.

(Coenen and Overeem were taken aback by the news, while Einemo was taken aback by the smell of that glove.)

Much like we would deny any affiliation with CP if we ever find ourselves at a Dana White dinner party, teammates of Alistair Overeem may soon start having to deny that they train with the recently released former Strikeforce heavyweight champion if they want to find lucrative work.

According to Golden Glory head trainer Martijn de Jong, Zuffa yesterday released a trio of The Demolition Man’s teammates. De Jong tweeted that former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen, Alistair’s brother Valentijn and his longtime training partner John Olav Einemo all received their walking papers Monday.

The Hendo Alarm Clock ($19.95): Guaranteed to wake you up from the deepest of sleeps. (Pic: Strikeforce.com)

Waking up this morning I had no idea of the war being waged in comment sections and MMA forums throughout the night. I should have expected it, really, given the inexplicable fervor with which fans both exalt and denounce Fedor Emelianenko. My two cents on the stoppage: Dan Henderson hit Fedor with several full-force, illegal punches to the back of the head. They were to the back of the head because Fedor’s face was buried in the canvas. They were full-force force because Fedor’s arms lied limply at his sides, gently tucked below his slightly-less-chubby-than-usual torso. We can argue about “The Last Emperor” recovering and rolling over as Henderson was waived off, but there’s no debating what led referee Herb Dean to step in. Watch it in slow motion, watch it a lot.

That’s all the time I’ll devote to the main event; both men’s legacies were built long before they entered Hoffman Estates, and what transpired last night did little to change that. The real story is what’s ahead for last night’s winners and losers, and where Strikeforce as an organization is headed.

(“Fedor, it’s an honor to fight you. And Scott, no matter what happens tonight, I’ll be violently sodomizing you later.” Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle. For more photos from this album, click here.)

There might not be much on the line in the grand scheme of things, but make no mistake — Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson is a superfight. It’s rare that two MMA fighters with so many combined accolades step into the same cage to do battle. Thanks for coming by tonight and watching it with us.

Also on the card: the 135-pound women’s title fight between Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, and a pack of heavy-hitting supporting players like Robbie Lawler, Tim Kennedy, Paul Daley, and Scott Smith.

Live round-by-round results from the Showtime broadcast of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson will be piling up after the jump beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page for all the latest and let your thoughts be heard in the comments section, even if they’re relatively stupid thoughts like, “DAAAAYYUM HE GOT NOCKED THE FUGGOUT!!1!” Come on in…

It may be five years too late for the winner of tonight’s Fedor vs. Henderson bout to gain anything other than bragging rights, but that isn’t stopping us from being excited. Those of you who saw yesterday’s link dump already know that Fedor is only seven pounds lighter than he was when he fought Antonio Silva. Even though the scale doesn’t show it, Fedor looks more athletic than we’re accustomed to seeing him. Of course, if you’ve been paying attention you aren’t too surprised. Dan Henderson made weight as well, tipping the scales at 207 pounds.

To get an idea of how small Fedor is for a heavyweight, skip to about the two minute mark. Even though Fedor has the sixteen pound weight advantage, you wouldn’t know it by looking at him standing next to Hendo. Henderson, who pretty much came into this fight at light heavyweight, appears to be the same size as Fedor. And remember, Dan Henderson isn’t exactly the Anthony Johnson of the light heavyweight division.

Everyone else on tonight’s card made weight for their fights. Yes, this includes Paul Daley, who weighed in at 171 pounds for his fight against Tyron Woodley. Full results, courtesy of mmafighting.com, are after the jump.

(Video courtesy of AOL Fanhouse)

All of the main card fighters from tomorrow night’s Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson card, save women’s welterweight champ Marloes Coenen were in attendance for the event’s pre-fight press conference at Harry Caray’s Italian Steakhouse in Chicago last night.

Check out some of the highlights of the presser for those who can’t watch the video at work, after the jump.

Photographic proof that ReX tried to end Jason’s baby making days.

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson goes down tomorrow night at the Sears Centre just outside of Chicago.  To help get you in the proper spirit, Doug “ReX13” Richardson and Jason Moles have returned to eloquently debate some of the more important storylines surrounding this historic event. Will Fedor go 0 for 3?  If so, will the internets asplode?  Are we nearing the end of women’s MMA on the big stage? Who gives worse gambling advice, ReX or Jason? Do us a favor and slog through this painfully long column, then let us know your own thoughts in the comments section.

(Screen-cap via ProMMANow)

From a ShootMedia video profile on Miesha Tate (starting at the 4:44 mark):

“I’m gonna try to kill her. [laughs] I really am. I’m gonna try to get to the point where the referee is fearful of her life and stops the fight. That’s my goal.”

Miesha Tate leaves no room for ambiguity when discussing her title fight against 135-pound champ Marloes Coenen at Fedor vs. Henderson this Saturday. It’s a good thing that Dana White has zero interest in Strikeforce or its fighters, or else Tate might be getting chewed out right now, Frank Mir-style.

Go ahead, make a joke about “pointy elbows”.

Heads up Potato Nation: one of our own is scrapping tonight. Liz Carmouche is a fan of CagePotato in good standing, along with several members of her team. Maybe you remember them: Team Hurricane Awesome MMA Team of Awesomeness? Yup, they like us over there, and we like them. Now, we’re not making any promises, but Girl-Rilla may shout out the Nation before and/or after her fight. Also possibly during the fight, depending on how things go.

(Apparently soccer-kicks are now illegal in soccer? It’s a crazy world…)

The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup draws to a close on Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany, as the United States meets Japan in the finals. (Kickoff is at 2:45 p.m. ET on ESPN, by the way.) This marks the first time since 1999 that Americans have been psyched about women’s soccer — but we admit, we’re getting caught up in the hype as well.

In honor of our ladies getting ready to run shop on the Japanese, we decided to hold our own international competition, choosing the best female MMA fighter from 10 different countries and ranking them against each other. The first few names will be very familiar — but who’s carrying the flag for Russia, South Korea, and Germany? Read on and find out…

#1. Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Santos (Brazil)

Record: 10-1
Last fight: Third-round TKO of Jan Finney, 6/26/10
Santos’s inability to find a fight over the last year says a lot about the still-developing state of women’s MMA in this country, as well as her own undisputed position in the 145-pound division. She’s so far ahead of her peers, that no logical challengers even exist.

Continuing in its latest trend of breaking news before the media outlets can jump on the story, Zuffa announced last night that it had added a lightweight bout between Gesias ‘JZ’ Cavalcante and Lyle ‘Fancypants’ Beerbohm to its July 30 Fedor vs. Henderson card in Chicago.

Once thought to be one of the world’s best 155-pound fighters, Cavalcante’s stock has dipped the past few years thanks in part to a less than impressive 1-3 (2 NC) record in his past six fights. In his defense, each of those losses was a close-fought decision against top-tier opponents  Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Josh Thomson. A win over Beerbohm could put him back on track.

(Well, it’s the thought that counts, I guess.)

Showtime has confirmed that Marloes Coenen will defend her women’s welterweight (135 pounds) title against top contender Miesha Tate on the main card of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, July 30th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The two fighters were originally supposed to meet up at Strikeforce’s “Feijao vs. Henderson” event in March, but Tate withdrew due to a knee injury less than two weeks before the fight — an excuse that Coenen questioned during an interview on our own Bum Rush Radio Show. Coenen wound up defending her title against late-replacement Liz Carmouche, but it wasn’t easy.

(Boon [far right] with a few of his Golden Glory brothers.)

If you’ve followed kickboxing and MMA for a while, chances are you’re familiar with Golden Glory thanks in large part to fighters like Alistair Overeem, Semmy Schilt, Marloes Coenen, Siyar Bahadurzada, Gokhan Saki and Sergey Kharitonov.

It’s behind the scenes, however, where several key players from coaches Cor Hemmers and Martijn de Jong to founders Ron Nyqvist, Frederico Lapenda and Bas Boon make Golden Glory run like a well oiled machine.

We recently spoke with Bas Boon about the past present and future of his esteemed Dutch-based “fight family.”

Check out what he had to say after the jump.

(“Give me your fired, your poor, your troubled Diazes yearning for THC, blacklisted fighters you don’t want any more…”)

When the news dropped last month that the UFC had bought Strikeforce, one of the least talked about stories was where would the move leave Strikeforce’s contracted female fighters, should Zuffa decide to cease promoting women’s MMA. UFC president Dana White has long been a vocal opponent of having women fight for him as there aren’t, in his opinion, enough top female fighters to make it a worthwhile endeavor.

In spite of White’s proclamation that both companies would be running “business as usual,” after the purchase, there have already been a significant number of changes to the company that have fans, fighters and pundits are left wondering if Strikeforce’s fighting females have a secure future with their new employer.

(Who’s in the mood for a popularity contest based on the most superficial criteria possible?)

The big dance begins today, ladies and gentlemen. Our quest to crown 2011′s Hottest Woman in MMA kicks off after the jump with the first half of the round-of-16, plus a bonus vote to determine the Wild Card spot in Pool B. (We won’t ruin the surprise, but let’s just say that one of the competitors has an adorable South African accent, one of them is occasionally referred to as “the beautiful” by Mike Goldberg, and one has a cartoonishly huge ass.)

Here’s what to do: With the help of the photographic aids we’ve provided below, cast your vote for your favorite lady in each of the five polls; hit that ”next page” link when you’re done with each one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section, and be sure to come back on Friday to decide the other half of the Grand Prix round-of-16.

Note: If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser, or switch to one that doesn’t suck. And please forgive the janky formatting on pages 2 and 4; not sure what’s up with that. Now let’s go to work…

(This man could well be a millionaire by now. How does that make you feel? Pic: Combat Lifestyle)

For anyone still holding onto lingering questions about why Dan Henderson opted to sign with Strikeforce over the UFC in late 2009 or why the company fast-forwarded him into a second title shot on Saturday with a promotional record of just 1-1, here’s pretty much everything you need to know: According to numbers released on Monday by the Ohio State Athletic Commission, Henderson earned a $250,000 flat fee (read: no win bonus needed) for knocking out Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante to claim the Strikeforce light heavyweight title.

Those of you scoring at home will note that’s a full $60,500 more than all 19 other fighters on the card COMBINED. It also equals each of the official salaries he earned for knocking out Michael Bisping (minus his “KO of the Night” bonus) at the gala UFC 100 and for a decision over Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88, though both those totals included $150,000 win bonuses. Once you consider that he’s making the same money just for showing up in Strikeforce as he was to show up and win in the UFC, that much publicized contract decision must have been kind of a no-brainer for Henderson.

(Security guard is mildly amused by Coenen’s standing-guillotine.)

An interesting conspiracy theory from Saturday night’s women’s welterweight title bout between champion Marloes Coenen and challenger Liz Carmouche was that Carmouche actually tapped out to Coenen’s tight standing guillotine in the second round.

We decided to give the video a second look and we took the liberty of making an animated gif of the sub attempt. It’s a moot point since Coenen was able to secure a fight-ending triangle in the fourth round to retain the strap, but had Carmouche won, Team Golden Glory may have had a decent case for an appeal.

Check out the gif after the jump and decide for yourself whether or not “Gorilla” pulled a Sonnen.

(“Dudes, *tell* me you just saw that!” Props: Esther Lin/Strikeforce)

Add the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Championship to the list of MMA’s Great Curses. When Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante fell victim to Dan Henderson‘s mythical “H-Bomb” right hand last night in Columbus, he became the fourth-consecutive Strikeforce LHW champ to lose the belt without making a single successful defense. (Quick refresher: Babalu Sobral lost it to Gegard Mousasi, who lost it to King Mo, who lost it to Feijao, who lost it Hendo.)

Time will tell if Dan Henderson suffers the same fate. In the meantime, the decorated vet’s arrival as champion helps bolster the 205′ers as a marquee division in Strikeforce. Besides Dan and all the former champions previously mentioned, SF’s light-heavyweight roster now includes guys like Roger Gracie, Mike Kyle, Rhadi Ferguson — tell Fedor Emelianenko to drop 20 pounds, and you’ve got the makings of another great World Grand Prix, especially if their heavyweight tournament continues to run into delays.

(“I’m not doing a fist pose.”)

Well it’s time for another Strikeforce liveblog. I spent the last two hours on my roof in the pouring rain trying to get my satellite dish set up at my new house and I’m in no mood for witty banter, so let’s get to this biotch.

Spoilers are after the jump, yo.

(“I think we women really have to unite, keep coming up with really good fights and also be feminine outside of the ring as well.”)

We had the opportunity this week on The Bum Rush Radio Show to speak with Strikeforce welterweight champion Marloes Coenen who is set to take on Liz Carmouche at  Saturday night’s Feijao vs. Henderson event in Columbus, Ohio. As always, Marloes was an articulate class act, demonstrating why, besides her in-cage prowess, Strikeforce holds her in such high regard as a person, a fighter and a champion.

In the brief conversation we had with the Golden Glory-trained fighter, Coenen touched on a number of topics including original opponent Meisha Tate’s injury and miraculous recovery, representing Women’s MMA with class, finishing fights, her relationship with her Golden Glory trainers and teammates and much more.

Check out what Coenen had to say after the jump.

It’s Friday and there’s another episode of The Bum Rush Radio Show hot of the presses for you to enjoy (or begrudgingly listen to while angrily shaking your fist at your computer) to help ease you into the weekend.

(Hopefully Amanda doesn’t make Gina reconsider this whole fighting thing like Cyborg did)

If you think Strikeforce is going to give Gina Carano an easy return bout. think again.

According to Tatame, the former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion will take on Amanda Nunes when the promotion returns to Texas June 18 for an event anchored by a light heavyweight bout between Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and a yet-to-be-named opponent and the two remaining opening-round heavyweight grand prix bouts between Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett versus Brett Rogers. The news was revealed to the Brazilian MMA news website by Nunes’ manager, who said they are currently in talks with Strikeforce for the bout.

The bout will mark the first fight in close to two years for Carano, who took a break from competition to focus on her burgeoning acting career. She stars as the lead in Steven Soderbergh’s “Haywire,” which opens April 22.

Nunes (6-1) is a tough fighter known for her knockout power, having finished each of her last six opponents by TKO or KO.

(You win again, knee brace fetishists. Pic: Fight! Magazine)

Those of you who were waiting to see how many outfits Miesha Tate would bring to Strikeforce: Columbus on March 5 are going to be very disappointed by this news. Unfortunately, Tate is out of her scheduled 135-pound title match with Marloes Coenen after injuring her knee in training, the promotion announced via press release on Wednesday. Instead, undefeated prospect Liz Carmouche will step in as Coenen’s first championship challenger on just 11 days notice.

The injury undoes what was shaping up as a compelling bout between two of Strikeforce’s more popular female fighters. It also renders essentially moot the careful groundwork laid by the one-night welterweight tournament Tate won in August of last year to claim No. 1 contender status. On the bright side, this story will momentarily distract us from the rumored postponement of the company’s next round of heavyweight GP quarterfinal bouts. Win some, lose some, we guess.