STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Fedor Emelianenko signs contract extension, set for February 12 bout with "Bigfoot" Silva

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Fedor Emelianenko has signed a contract extension with Strikeforce, according to a report from MMAFighting.com, and his participation in Strikeforce's heavyweight tournament is now set.

The multi-fight contract extension is expected to be announced shortly, and Emelianenko will meet Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva on February 12 as reported on Monday.

Emelianenko's M-1 Global have been negotiating with Strikeforce and Showtime since his loss to Fabricio Werdum in June. He had one fight left on his previous deal, and the two sides have now come to terms on a reported four fight extension.

There have been differing reports as to a second matchup on the February 12 event, as Sherdog reported that Andrei Arlovski would meet Josh Barnett and MMAJunkie reported it would be Arlovski against Sergei Kharitonov.

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Penick's Analysis: Hopefully with this extension signed the tournament won't get held up by continued negotiations after each fight. This tournament could be a great thing for Strikeforce in 2011, and to have this deal finally done means they can move on and put fights together.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_8036.shtml

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