Fedor Emelianenko motivated for Dan Henderson fight, has no plans to drop to 205-pounds

Despite UFC 133 news dominating the headlines as of late, there's actually an event still to happen in the month of July -- Strikeforce: "Fedor vs. Henderson," in which heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko will make what could be his last stand.

And he's plenty motivated for it.

At a glance that would seem to be a piece of non-news. Of course he's motivated; he's a prizefighter.

However, recent comments from his opponent, Dan Henderson, have called that into question. "Hendo" believes "The Last Emperor" has all but dropped the curtain on his career and his recent performances (two straight losses) are evidence of as much.

In an interview with LowKick.com, Fedor's coach, Vladimir Voronov, dispels those claims and says his fighter is ready to roll.

"Right now, he's very motivated. It's hard to say what will happen during the fight, because it all depends on Fedor. As coaches, we have done and are doing everything in our power to help Fedor reaching the peak of his physical and psychological condition. Now, everything depends on Fedor."

It's certainly fair for Henderson to call his opponent's motivation into question. After all, Emelianenko hinted at retirement in the immediate aftermath of his devastating defeat at the hands of Antonio Silva back in February.

But perhaps a superfight against Strikeforce's light heavyweight champion was enough to not only bring him back in, but light the fire under his ass that has seemingly been missing for some time.

As for a move down to the division "Hendo" is the head cheese of, Voronov can't see that happening ... at all.

"I can't see any sense in Fedor moving down to 205. Why would he do it? To run away from someone? I think that if Fedor returns to the previous workload, today's heavyweights will struggle against him. The most important thing here is to have the right motivation and training regime. If you want to win, you have to play by the rules."

Can Fedor get back to his winning ways on July 30 in Hoffman Estates, Illinois when he slings leather with Henderson in the Strikeforce main event on Showtime?

Or is this really the end, my friend?