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It looks like Fedor Emelianenko isn’t the only marquee fighter Strikeforce has to worry about retaining. Both Gegard Mousasi and Jake Shields each have one fight left on their current contracts which they’ll fulfill on April 17 in Nashville. If Mousasi beats King Mo he’ll remained tied to the organization due to the “champion’s clause” in his contract, however it doesn’t sound like it will matter much since Mousasi expects to sign a longterm deal with Strikeforce regardless.

Strikeforce held an open workout and press conference yesterday at Legends gym in Hollywood, California for their upcoming Strikeforce “Nashville” event. Here’s highlights, video interviews and pictures courtesy of Strikeforce, Showtime, Sherdog and FIGHT! Magazine.

Gegard Mousasi will enter the DREAM Light Heavyweight Grand Prix with some familiar company. Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, the two fighters Mousasi beat in Strikeforce, are both set to compete in the tournament alongside him.

Gegard Mousasi, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Renato Sobral will all be participating in the Dream Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, which will begin on May 30 at Dream.15.

Mousasi confirmed his own participation in an interview with MMAFighting.com on Wednesday, and Dream officials confirmed that Sokoudjou and Babalu will be part of the tournament as well.

Considering Mousasi put both Babalu and Sokoudjou away rather handily in Strikeforce already, I think it’s safe to say he will remain the favorite in the grand prix.

In other DREAM.15 news, Marius Zaromskis is expected to return to action on the card. It’s unknown if his welterweight title will be on the line or who he will fight.

Image via Esther Lin for Showtime

Middle Easy caught this footage of Gegard Mousasi and King Mo having a few words at an open workout in Hollywood for the upcoming Strikeforce “Nashville” show.

M-1’s Vadim Finkelchtein has confirmed there are “contract issues” with Strikeforce in regards to Fedor, however it sounds like everything is going to get worked out. From an interview with MMANews.su translated by TMR from the UG.

It’s finally official!

It looks like the Strikeforce April 17 event is all but officially announced for CBS. Jake Shields tweeted earlier today that his title defense against Dan Henderson and the rumored Gegard Mousasi vs. King Mo fight are official. MMA Weekly confirmed those two bouts will co-headline the event.

King Mo is not impressed with Gegard Mousasi’s trash talk (if that’s what you would call it). Mo says it’s corny as hell and makes him sound like Kermit the Frog.

Gegard Mousasi, Cung Le, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez and Tyrone Woodley got the opportunity to check out EA Sports MMA in Miami at the Madden Bowl. Jacare talks about the game after the jump.

M-1 Global has lost one of their two most significant fighters. In a report on Sherdog, both Gegard Mousasi and M-1 Global confirmed they have parted ways.

Gegard Mousasi has left his management team with M-1 Global, the fighter told Sherdog.com via e-mail on Friday. M-1 Global also confirmed on Friday that the fighter and organization would no longer be working together.

“After careful consideration, I have decided that it is in my best interest to part ways with M-1 Global,” Mousasi wrote in the e-mail. “During the time I spent under their wing, M-1 Global, as a promoter and management company, allowed me to achieve many great things. I appreciate all they have done for me.”

“The business relationship with M-1 Global is over,” said company representative Apy Echteld. “It was a business decision, but not a personal one and there are no hard feelings.”

No reason was given for the split. At the moment, it won’t have much of an impact from the fans’ perspective as Mousasi continues to fight for Strikeforce, but in the long-term, it’s a major obstacle the UFC won’t have to deal with if and when they make a bid to sign him. Dana White wants him so I’m sure this will bring a big fat smile to his face.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any indication that Fedor Emelianenko will follow suit. Unlike Mousasi, he has an ownership stake in M-1 Global so the chances of him leaving are probably still pretty slim. Everyone wanting to see Fedor in the UFC can still hold out hope though, right?

Image via Esther Lin for Showtime

Update: MMA Junkie has details on why Mousasi and M-1 split. Apparently, someone in M-1 declined to give Mousasi a similar deal to the one gave Fedor, which would have given him “lifetime security.”

Mousasi’s longtime manager, Apy Echteld, on Friday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the decision to leave was made when an M-1 executive elected not to sign a long-term management proposal that would have given the Dutch-Armenian fighter “lifetime security” – a deal similar to one held by Fedor Emelianenko.

Echteld, who spoke via telephone from Amsterdam, declined to name the executive who had rejected the offer. Echteld also said he was the only party holding a management agreement with Mousasi.

“Basically, what M-1 could provide for him was not what Gegard and me had in mind,” Echteld said.

A separate source with knowledge of the situation said Sergei Matvienko – son of the mayor of St. Petersburg, Russia, and a major M-1 backer – may have been the executive who turned away the proposed deal.

Although Echteld praised M-1 Global’s efforts in getting Mousasi exposure stateside, he said the decision to move on was based on a desire to move the fighter’s career to the “next level.”

“It’s not that difficult,” Echteld said. “The input of the marriage was like this: we wanted to make Gegard famous as soon as possible in the U.S. I think the co-branding with Fedor did well.”