Fedor Emelianenko is the huge favourite to beat Dan Henderson tonight in the main event at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson.
The legendary 34-year-old Russian goes into tonight's heavyweight clash in Hoffman Estates, Illinois having lost his last two fights.
Last time out back in February, 'The Last Emperor' lost in the second round to Antonio Silva in the quarter-finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. He looked inferior throughout the fight and was dominated before doctor stopped the fight.
Prior to that, Fedor had looked good against Fabricio Werdum but was submitted when trying to finish the fight in the first round.
The prospect of Fedor losing three in a row is almost impossible to consider, but it is a real possibility against Henderson.
40-year-old Henderson has won his last two fights, beating Rafael Cavalcante back in March and Renato Sobral at the end of 2010.
Although the outsider going into the fight, the former two-division PRIDE champion can cause huge problems for Fedor tonight and should be able to test his striking as well as his ground game.
There's no doubt that Fedor is still a seriously tough fighter to beat. But Henderson is hard to dominate and the Russian may find he is in for a hard night.
Fedor still has awesome punching power and his submission game remains excellent. Plus, he goes into this bout with a size and weight advantage, despite weighing in on Friday at his lightest ever weight (223lbs compared to Henderson's 207lbs).
But Henderson has landed some brutal blows to win his last two fights and he will be confident of being able to hand Emelianenko his third defeat in as many fights.
Henderson has been completely dominant in those most recent bouts and although Fedor is the bookmakers' favourite to win tonight, we're backing the underdog, although we're not convinced you can call a Henderson win tonight an upset.
It should be a fascinating bout. Both have great punching power and can KO opponents for fun. But while Fedor has the more complete ground game, Henderson is the superior wrestler.
Even at the age of 40, Henderson still looks at the top of his game, which can't be said of Fedor. Providing Henderson can control the pace of the fight, we could be looking at an unprecedented third defeat in a row for Fedor tonight.
Should Henderson be able to dictate things early on, look for him to secure some valuable takedowns on his way to a decision victory.
Prediction: Dan Henderson to win via Unanimous Decision.
