In 2010, “M-1 Selection” events will take place in the Americas, Russia, Europe and Asia. Forty fighters will compete in the “M-1 Selection” process on each continent in a single-elimination tournament. The winners in each of the five weight classes (heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight) will represent their continent in the “M-1 Challenge.”

Previous editions of the “M-1 Challenge” saw fighters competing in a country vs. country format. This year, the groupings have been changed into a continental system.

Once the “M-1 Selection” eight-man, single-elimination tournaments are complete, the winners will represent their homeland’s team: either the Americas, Europe, Asia or Russia.

The April 3 event sees the beginning of the Americas’ tourneys kick-off in the lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions. The night will also feature three non-tournament bouts to round out the action.

The full “M-1 Selection: Americas” fight card includes:

Non-tournament bouts

* 155 pounds: Renato Migliaccio (6-0) vs. John Salgado (3-2-1)
* 125 pounds: Sedico Honorio (5-1) vs. Josh Rave (18-6)
* 145 pounds: Rami Ibrahim (0-0) vs. Lennox Chance (0-1)

Lightweight tournament quarterfinals

* Dennis Bermudez (2-0) vs. Don Carlo-Clauss (6-3)
* George Sheppard (6-2) vs. Mervin Rodriguez (3-4)

Welterweight tournament quarterfinals

* Pat Audinwood (8-0-1) vs. Robert Conner (7-2)
* Brian DeMuro (2-6) vs. Mike Winters (1-0)
* Ryan Quinn (2-1) vs. Colin Schrader (2-0)

Middleweight tournament quarterfinals

* Vagner Fernandes (0-1) vs. Tom Moreau (1-0)
* Todd Chatelle (4-3) vs. Mike Guerin (6-1)
* Plinio Cruz (2-2) vs. John Doyle (8-11)

Two Heavyweight matchups between Alistair Overeem and Brett Rogers and Andrei Arlovski against Antonio Silva will be the driving force behind the Strikeforce event “St. Louis: Heavy Artillery” May 15 taking place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Pride Veteran and Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem returns for a non-title bout following a 30-month hiatus from Strikeforce. The 6-foot-5 Muay Thai Master has claimed seven victories in eight fights (1 No Contest) with wins in,Dream, Ultimate Glory, and K-1 in Japan. Overeem also participated in K-1’s kickboxing grand prix.

Rogers who was dominated by Fedor Emelianenko in his last bout “Fedor vs. Rogers” an event which attracted five million viewers during a live CBS broadcast.

Rogers, 29, earned his chance at the world’s No. 1 heavyweight by knocking out Arlovski at Strikeforce “Lawler vs. Shields” last June in St. Louis, Mo. The Minnesotan striker also holds wins over Jon Murphy and James Thompson.

Arlovski, a former UFC heavyweight champion, will look to make a come back from back-to-back knockouts against Rogers and Emelianenko in his sophomore effort with the promotion.

Strikeforce St. Louis “Heavy Artillery” will be broadcast live on Showtime.

Number one ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenkos manager, Vadim Finkelstein, recently spoke regarding the potential of Fedor signing in the UFC and their thoughts on Dana Whites attitude:

It depends on UFC. We would like to cooperate with them. Everything depends on them, their diplomacy. It would be possible if they are flexible… I don’t want to compete with UFC, I want to co-operate with them. I think it could be a winning solution for everybody – for us, for them, and for MMA fans.

That’s his character, [Dana White] just loves to call names. He didn’t say bad things about M-1 only, there were a lot of situations where he was harsh. It makes me glad when Dana White talks about us. I respect the UFC, they’ve done a lot for the development of MMA, so I can pardon them such attacks. We respect him and let him grumble.

Strikeforce and M-1 Global are very close to completing their partnership. The two organizations will be co-promoting events together, and most importantly enabling the return of Fedor Emelianenko!

Scott Coker (CEO Strikeforce) said that an event headlining Fedor Emelianenko was expected for this June. Fedor is allegedly going to be matched up against Fabricio Werdum, an old friend from Pride FC.

The M-1 & Strikeforce combo have already had a taste of success together with their November event featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rodgers, over 4 million people watched it live on CBS.

With a record of 31 wins and only one loss (no contest) Fedor Emelianenko is unquestionably the best fighter out of all the various leagues and organizations (UFC, Pride, Strike Force, k-1, elite xc).

The 233 lb “Russian experiment” fighting out of red devil sport club in Russia has defeated a world class list of top fighters including the likes of Brett Rogers, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Hong-man Choi, Matt Lindland, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman, ZuluZinho, Mirco Cro-cop, Antonion nogueira, Kevin Randleman, Gary Goodridge, and Mark Coleman.

Sherdog.net voted Fedor’s knockout against Andrei Arlovski the knockout of the year for 2009!

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Sherdogs-Knockout-of-the-Year-22019