Everything was going according to plan; Fedor walked out to that creepy Russian opera music, wearing the stoic facial expression that can only be changed by the delight of soft-served ice cream. The broadcast team sat silent in awe of the sports’ greatest combatant for the entire opening half-minute of the fight, only to be broken by laughter as Fedor floored Werdum with a flurry of patented looping punches. The Russian dove to the ground after the Brazillian jiu jitsu champ, smelling blood and looking to make it a short night of work, but then something we’ve never seen… Fedor tapped to an iron-tight triangle choke. Holy shit.

Fedor Emelianenko lost his throne Saturday night via triangle choke at 1:09 of the first round. You can stop pinching yourself, it really did happened, and unfortunately there’s video evidence.

Despite the foreign feeling of defeat Emelianenko never strayed from grace, saying to the crowd in the post-fight interview, “To rise you must first fall.” Oh Fedor, you’re so wise.

Now Strikeforce and Scott Cooker are left with tough decisions. The winner of the bout was supposed to face Alistair Overeem in the promotions’ first attempt at the pay-per-view revenue model. Only the winner was supposed to be Fedor. Now it seems all parties have changed opinions as Werdum said he’d like to offer Fedor an immediate rematch and that despite beating him that evening, “Fedor is still the best.” Scott Cooker appeared to agree, saying he believed a rematch between the greatest legend in the sport and the only man to defeat him was a pay-per-view draw in itself.

It could work out perfectly as Strikeforce can use Fedor to spring themselves’ forward into the pay-per-view model without potentially forfeiting a belt to a fighter on the last bout of his contract. That would be dumb.

It remains to be seen how the loss affects Fedor’s future. Most fans have begged for years to see him compete with the best the UFC has to offer, though Dana White – who had a simple reaction to Saturday night’s conclusion – and M-1 Global have never reached an agreement.

There’s no doubt Fedor is still one of the top heavyweights in the world. If he’s able to come back and defeat Werdum in convincing fashion D.W. will be hearing from the hardcores I’m sure…

This past Saturday Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker loaded up his circus van with ex-Heisman winning football players and WWE Champions and cruised down to Miami, FL to give blue collar folks like us and Rex Ryan a MMA show worth remembering.

In the main event of the evening Nick Diaz faced DREAM Welterweight Champion Marius Žaromskis for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship. Diaz’s punches-in-bunches style proved to be too much for the Lithuanian striker as he earned himself a TKO victory in the final half minute of the first round. It was another incredible display of striking for the Stockton native and when you add his Gracie black-belt to the mix you have to start thinking this guy might legitimately be the best welterweight in the world (yes, that is George St Pierre’s division… what’s your point?). Diaz claimed it was the hard training camp and help of his teammates that earned him the victory, but we all know it was his brother’s pep talk at the :07 mark…

One of the driving forces behind the card was 47-year-old football legend Herschel Walker. Walker had been training at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose for the bout, one of the premiere MMA gyms in the world. He also donated his entire six-figure paycheck to charity, proving he wasn’t just another broke ex-great trying to make a buck. He seemed to do everything right in the lead-up to the bout to earn the respect of “hardcore fans,” and fortunately he didn’t embarrass himself when it came time to do business inside the cage. He earned a TKO victory against previously 1-1 Greg Nagy. He certainly didn’t prove to be a world-beater but he managed to put on an impressive performance and bring new eyes to the sport, making his debut a shinning success. Herschel, you’re my hero.

The card also featured Dutch knockout artist Melvin Manhoef making his Strikeforce debut against “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler. As you may have guessed if you know the two fighters, this match didn’t go to the judges cards, or even the second round for that matter. Most of the 3:33 fight was spent with Manhoef stalking Lawler around the cage, throwing powerful leg-kicks in attempt to open up a knockout opportunity. The opportunity eventually came but unfortunately for Manhoef it opened for Lawler, who threw and overhand bomb that put Manhoef to sleep. The come from behind victory is without a doubt the early favorite for “Knockout of the Year.”

Rest of the pack:

* Cristian “Cyborg” Santos defended her Women’s 145 lb. Championship against Marloes Coenen. The Brazilian champion spent most of the fight tossing Coenen to the mat and ground-and-pounding her mercilessly until the ref finally stopped the bludgeoning in the third. I don’t know that there is another women in the world that can compete with Cyborg right now, it’s almost hard to watch.

* Ex-WWE champion Bobby Lashley fought and won his 5th bout against UFC veteran Wes “A-Hole Show” Sims. Sims is bat-shit crazy and took the fight against the 260 lb. ball of muscle on one weeks notice. Lashley suggested that he may be challenging the cream of the crop in the heavyweight division sooner than expected to silence his critics.  Scott Coker inferred a bout against Brett “Grim” Rogers could be next.

Strikeforce continued to blossom as a martial arts promotion this weekend with Strikeforce: Evolution. In the main event Cung Le made his long awaited return after going all Hollywood on us and in the co-main event of the evening Josh Thomson managed to remain healthy just long enough to get through a five round war with Gilbert Melendez. Strikeforce continued to show their growth as an organization and in some ways even bested the UFC with their production (namely the pre-fight interviews with the combatants), though in other ways they fell short (Stephen Quadros is totally creepy).

Big Winners:

Scott Smith KO’d Cung Le in the third after being bossed around the cage for most of the fight. In Smith’s case you can’t call it luck as he is making a habit of this whole getting the shit kicked out of him and then pulling out a knock out punch thing, something I perfected in my college years, except I was too drunk for the second part. Beating the ex-champ will certainly throw Smith into the top of the heap of contenders in the 185 lb division, though he will likely need another impressive win coming off his loss to Nick Diaz at a catch weight of 180 lbs. last June.

Cung Le was also a big winner. Despite getting his lights knocked out in front of millions of viewers the Vietnamese star raked in the most dough among the fighters on the card. The Nevada State Athletic Commission released the numbers and Le pocketed $150,000 for his thirteen and a half minute scrum, nearly $100,000 more than the winner of the fight, Smith, who earned $55,000.

Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thompson were both “winners” as well even though Thompson had to give the lightweight belt back to Melendez. The two slugged it out in a fast paced, five-round battle, allowing both fighter’s stock to raise. The fight left most viewers clamoring for a rubber match between the two, but each expressed interest in competing against the best lightweights from Japan in the post-fight press conference.

King Mo defeated veteran Mike Whitehead by brutal ground and pound in the closing minutes of round one.  In the post-fight interview King Mo said from here on out he’d be fighting at “money-weight,” implying he will fight at whichever weight division gets him the most cheddar. Well the cheddar is coming folks, and he made sure of it by whoring himself out chugging two RockStar Energy Drinks in front of the cameras. None the less the King seems poised for a huge 2010 that couldend with him in a position to go up against the greatest MMA fighter in all time, Fedor Emelianenko.

Ronaldo “Jacaré” Souza beat ex-UFC Middleweight Champion Matt Lindland by arm triangle in round one. Lindland is an impressive feather in Jacaré’s hat, as Lindland’s recent loses have come to big-name fighters in heavier weight classes such as Fedor and Rampage, as well as current number-one-contender to Anderson Silva’s middleweight throne, Vitor Belfort.

MMA fans seem to have a legitimate second organization to help push the sport to the next level. With the UFC and Strikeforce duking it out for our love and devotion, we can expect to see high-caliber, big-name cards all throughout 2010 and beyond. What’s your move, Dana?