Where do we go from here?

Fedor Emelianenko, like Vegas odds predicted, scored a victory over Brett Rogers at Strikeforce's prime-time event on CBS Saturday night.

Early in the second round, he landed a thunderous right hand that floored the bigger Rogers and finished him off with strikes on the ground, forcing referee John McCarthy to stop the fight. But up until that split-second shot, a lot of MMA experts would have scored the first round to Rogers.

The American began the fight with a snap jab which broke Emelianenko's nose and then took the fight to the ground, landing punches on the bloodied Russian. Rogers also showed some solid defense, using his brute strength to slip out of would-be arm bars and kimuras.

The rematch talk was thrown around during the post-fight interviews, but is that what mixed martial arts fans really want to see?

Emelianenko still has two fights left on his contract with Strikeforce and, pending a rematch with Rogers, will be fed a couple more tomato cans.

He's 33 years old and appears to be on the decline. He looked soft and fatter Saturday than I have ever seen. He's never been the model physic but it looks like he was hitting the buffet more than the gym.

And how motivated can you be to train for guys who were changing tires at Sam's Club a year before stepping into the cage with you?

Eventually, one of two things will happen:

Fedor's slumming eventually catches up with him. Whether it's against Rogers again or another fighter. If he continues to slide like I suspect, he will tarnish his legacy – which will always have the lack of an UFC resume.

Or, Fedor rolls his next two opponents and calls it quits. Takes the money and runs back to Russian with MMA fans left daydreaming about what could have been.

Neither of these situations involve The Last Emperor making the jump to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Fight fans won't get to see Fedor vs. Lesnar or Fedor vs. whoever.

With every fight, he gets another battle older, another battle fatter and another battle further from the UFC.

Our loss.

PS: For a card many fans poo-pooed, there were some good fights tonight. Kudos to Strikeforce. Competition makes everyone better.