On Saturday, February 12, 2011, East Rutherford, New Jersey will be the home for Strikeforce’s next card. Live from the IZOD Center, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva will mark the beginning of the heavily anticipated Heavyweight Grand Prix. For months, people have been discussing the pros and cons of this historical event and much buzz has been created around it. The prelim fights will be broadcast on HD Net and the Main card, composed of only Heavyweight fights, will be shown on Showtime. Let’s look at the Main Card fights and break them down:

The first fight of the night is a Grand Prix Reserve bout between Valentijn “The Python” Overeem (28-25) and K-1 veteran Ray “Sugarfoot” Sefo (2-0). Valentijn is the older brother of current Heavyweight Champion Alistair, was scheduled to face Antonio Silva back in December, but was forced to withdraw due to an injury sustained in training. Sefo, a highly versed kick boxer, comes into this fight having only two MMA fights, but over seventy kick boxing matches. In his last fight, Sefo lost to Tyrone Spong at K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16. Valentijn is riding a two-fight win streak and looking to win three-in-a-row for the first time since 2004. Being the submission grappler that he is, Valentijn’s best bet would be to avoid Sefo’s KO power and take the fight to the ground.

The second fight, and also a Reserve bout, pits together firefighter/paramedic Chad “The Gravedigger” Griggs (9-1) and Ring of Combat champion Gianpiero Villante (7-1). Griggs is coming off his upset of Bobby Lashley in a fight that nobody expected him to win.  Griggs’ cardio helped him withstand damage and out work Lashley and force him to “retire” after the second round. Villante’s only loss occurred when he made the move to the Light Heavyweight division, but he has been unstoppable at Heavyweight. With Griggs’ being the more well-known fighter, many think that Villante will be able to pull off an upset. Neither man has been to the judges’ score cards but both possess knockout power so this fight could be over in the blink of an eye.

The third, and final, Reserve bout is a battle of rising prospects as undefeated Shane del Rosario (10-0) faces off against “Big” Lavar Johnson (15-3). Both fighters have a Muay Thai background, so this fight will more than likely be contested in the standup. Having twenty-one knockouts between the two and not one decision, it is highly likely that this fight will end in a KO/TKO. An interesting fact about this fight is that one man has worked with AKA and the other has worked with the DeathClutch camp. The last time these two camps butted heads, Team AKA came out on top and took home a championship belt. Scott Coker announced earlier in the week that the winner of this fight will serve as the #1 Reserve should he be needed later on in the tournament.

The Co-Main Event, and first fight of the Heavyweight Grand Prix, is a bout between Andre “The Pitbull” Arlovski (15-8) and Sergei “Paratrooper” Kharitonov (17-4).  Arlovski hasn’t won a fight since his knockout of Roy Nelson back in 2008 and is in desperate need of a win if he wants to be taken seriously in the MMA world. In his last three fights, he was knocked out twice in the first round and lost a unanimous decision in which he didn’t look like himself at all. Kharitonov on the other hand has gone 2-1 in his last three fights, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Jeff Monson. In his last fight, he destroyed Tatsuya Mizuno with a knee at Dynamite!! 2010 on New Year’s Eve. Both fighters have similar Sambo/Kickboxing backgrounds and both possess knockout power in their hands. The winner of this fight will meet the winner of Josh Barnett and Brett Rogers that is set to take place at a later date.

The Main Event, and one of the most anticipated Strikeforce fights as of late is a Grand Prix Quarter Final bout between “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (32-2-1) and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (15-2). On paper, Silva is the more decorated fighter as he holds Black Belts in BJJ, Judo and Karate. However, Fedor’s Judo and Sambo is second to none in the Heavyweight division. In his last fight, Silva was dropped and nearly finished by the much smaller Mike Kyle, but was able to regain his composure and eventually win the fight. Fedor, highly regarded as the best fighter of all time, lost legitimately for the first time in his career when he was submitted last summer by Fabricio Werdum. Silva has never been submitted, and Fedor has nearly as many submission victories as Silva has fights, so if this fight goes to the ground it could be anybody’s game. When it comes to punching power, Silva may edge out Fedor as he has picked up ten of his wins via KO/TKO while Fedor only has nine. On paper, these two seem evenly matched up, but physically, Silva has a great advantage. Fortunately for Fedor, he is no stranger to fighting larger men; most notably his victory over 7’2” 350lb Hong-Man Choi. The winner of this fight will meet the winner of Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum that is set to take place at a later date.

The Showtime broadcast is scheduled to take place at 10PM ET/PT so make sure to clear your schedules, set your DVR or whatever you have to do to ensure that you don’t miss this card. You don’t want to be the only one standing around the water cooler at the office on Monday that didn’t get to witness this historical event go down.

Click here to enter your grand prix quarterfinal picks for the bracket contest, where you can win some really cool prizes including a Gilbert Melendez autograph

Strikeforce: Fedor Vs. Silva Breakdown
Strikeforce: Fedor Vs. Silva Breakdown

Related terms: Emelianenko vs Silva, Strikeforce Grand Prix, STRIKEFORCE 2011, Strikeforce Events 2012, Fedor Weigh In, Strikeforce Grand Prix Wiki, Strikeforce Tournament Results, Strikeforce Heavy Weight Grand Prix Wiki