According to USA Today/SB Nation consensus ranking Fedor Emelianenko is ranked #1 in the heavyweight division. His record is 30 -1 -0-1 NC, which many Fedor fans will call undefeated because the fight he lost was stopped by a cut. A loss is a loss correct?
Fedor fans are some of the most loyal fan there are. You say something bad about him and they are ready to fight. There is no debate about his place in the heavyweight division. Fedor is the greatest and that’s the bottom line. Or is it?
Fedor has a impressive record and some big names on his list. If you take a close look at his fight record you can see his last real competition was in 2005 against Cro-Cop at Pride Final Conflict. Cro-Cop took him all the way and lost in an unanimous decision. Who after that really gave him any competition in his next seven fights? A bunch of has beens and nobodies. Coleman is old as dirt and Sylvia and Arlovski are UFC’s rejects. They had no business in the ring with the #1 ranked fighter in the world. Sylvia and Arlovski are both at the end of the careers and will be lucky if they can even find a place to fight.
If you are ranked the #1 heavyweight in the world wouldn’t you want to fight the best? Most champions want to fight the best in the division not 7th and 8th place fighter. Josh Barnett has five losses on his record 3 of those are from Cro-Cop, one from Antionio Nogueira and one from Pedro Rizzo, which he avenged the loss with a great KO at Affliction Banned. Does this make his #2 in the world? Over Randy Couture and Frank Mir and lets not forget Brock Lesnar.
When Randy was UFC heavyweight Champ, Fedor at all costs should have made this fight happen. When Fedor steps into the octagon, it’s going to be the biggest night in MMA history and you know it, I know it and Dana White sure knows it. Dana has said openly that he wants Fedor. Now I know when I say this all the Fedor fans will lose there mind. I am sick of hearing about it’s too restrictive and I can’t sambo fight. Well put that crap aside and stand up and be the baddest man on the planet. Dana doesn’t want you forever, maybe a three fight deal. A year and a half maybe. Dana will settle on a one fight deal. He made a fight deal over the phone with Cro-Cop for one fight but he won’t make one with Fedor. Come on! I’m not buying what there are selling. Fedor could make more money in 1 UFC fight than 20 sambo fights and you mean to tell me he will not give it up for a little while. That is not the sign of a champion turning away from a fight with the top rated fighter.
Lets just say Fedor beats Josh Barnett: OK, who’s after that? Brett Roger which is ranked 8th? Third to 7th are all UFC fighters. I have read a lot of people think the UFC heavyweight division is a joke. No one has a better heavyweight division right now. The UFC is the only ones working to make there division the best anywhere. I really can’t see Fedor keeping his #1 ranking fighting 8th place fighters, it’s not right.
There are a lot better fighters out there for Fedor to be fighting and I can not figure out why he will not join the UFC. I just watched a interview with him and he said the UFC doesn’t treat fighters like people. That’s funny then why doesn’t any other fighters in the UFC think this? They seem well paid. I just posted UFC 100 fighter salieries. If Fedor signed a three fight deal with the UFC, I’m sure he could walk away with millions in his pocket. Why would you not want that?
I would like to hear from you. I not trying to bash Fedor I am just trying to get a handle on why he is ducking the UFC. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I would really like to know what Fedor fans have to say. Also check out extremejohn’s blog on the Fedor vs Barnett fight. If your a Fedor fan he will get you blood pumping. Leave a comment and let him know what you think.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: extremejohn
July 18, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Haha are you trying to get me killed bro, nah it’s all good.
A lot of what I have to say is much of what you have to say, I want to see him fight someone that matters. PERIOD.
Stop with all the bullshit excuses and political bs and get the big paychecks, best in the world?
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I do believe yeah if Fedor wants to cement his number 1 fighter status, then he should go to the UFC, but i believe that if he doesnt then its no biggie.The heavies of the UFc are up and comers. When Fedor beat Tim and Arlovski, they were still relevant. They became irrelevant AFTER they lost. and Sambo is a big thing for him, he doesnt do this for the money, its for his country.
That being said if he really wants to prove to everyone that he’s the best then he should go and clean up the UFC HW’s.
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I for one totally agree with big_evil on this one. Why does everyone think it’s just about money with Fedor? Sambo is something close to his heart because of it being a national sport.
However, it would be great to see him in the UFC after he’s finished with his obligations with Affliction.
The upcomming fight with Barnett could turn out to be a great fight, reminiscent of the one Fedor had with CroCop. Barnett poses a threat to Fedor and could walk away with an upset…But I doubt it.
When it comes to Fedor vs Lesnar, I believe Fedor is going to “rape” Lesnar with his fists or with an submission where limbs are broken.
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When Arlovski left the UFC to go fight for Affliction Dana White said “The fighter i regret not being able to re-sign is Arlovksi”.
So even though he got completely dominated by Rogers in his last outing he was very relevant when he fought Fedor.
I would love to see Fedor in the UFC as much as the next guy, but I guess proving to everybody that he really is the undesputedly the best HW in the world isnt such a big thing for him as long as he gets to test himself like he said in a previous interview.
But i have no doubt that Fedor would finish every HW in the world that the UFC could put in front of him.
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the problems with being the best are that theres always going to be people who doubt your abilities, always a new challenge, always be someone new to fight, a new threat who is always bigger and badder than all the others who came before. so all of his victories will always be scrutinized, all of his efforts will be judged by “who’s left” rather than who fills his win column. only because there are a small handful of dominant fighters even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath, his greatness is being reduced to the worth of his remaining possible opponents.
under that same twisted logic, should Anderson Silva, having run through all contenders at 185 in the UFC start to go and fight the potential contenders outside the UFC to justify his legacy? and if he decides not to, should his greatness now come into question?
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@pzykomatle- You are entitled to your opinion about Fedor crushing Brock Lesnar or “raping” him with brutal poundings or submissions, but let’s take a look at Brock and compare him with other opponents that Fedor has fought.
First off, Fedor is an excellent fighter hands down, I will not take that away from him. He has a great stand up game, superb submission techniques and great precision. Now lets get to his main flaw, speed. Fedor has not really been tested by a power/accurate puncher in a looooooong time, perhaps never. Yeah Arvloski gave him a couple knicks here and there, but Brock is massive and throws a level higher than haymakers at your face and lets not forget he is pretty damn fast for his size. Now, Fedor does not like to move out of the way much. Instead he tends to constantly move forward looking for a take down or a precise knockout punch.
This reminds me of someone, perhaps Frank Mir. He has been classified as one of the top submission artists in the heavyweight class in the world and what did he do at ufc 100? Not a damn thing accept get introduced to the meat grinder and to the “models gone wrong” club. If Fedor is not careful, (grant it if Fedor and Brock ever meet, better yet if Brock retains his heavyweight title) I believe Brock will bull doze through him like a wrecking ball. Not only will he do this, Brock will have nearly two years of extra training (because Fedor still under his belt which in my eyes will not only advance his techniques, but Brock will also add on new techniques.
So to sum this mega-future-fight, yes this fight could be the fight of the decade (if it ever happens), but I do not think Fedor will eat him up by any means. Brock has size, power, technique and superb wrestling. On the contrary, Fedor is slow, but highly talented. Perhaps my opinion is wrong, but just like other opponents, I see Brock being way to big for Fedor to handle. The only other big person besides his upcoming fight with Barnett is Sylvia, who is slower than a three toed sloth and depends on punching only.
As an avid MMA fan though, this is a fight we all look forward to. We all know its not about the fame or the money for Fedor, it is about pride and the love of the sport, but this is a business and in order for businesses to keep prospering, you have to please the customers. So Fedor, do us all a favor, sign the contract with UFC and show us if you really are # 1 heavyweight in the world…
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MMA Punk Reply:
July 21st, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Thank for comments everyone keep them coming. Everyone have different opinions but is seems everyone would like to see Fedor in the UFC. I don’t think we will every see Fedor is the UFC in it a shame for the sport and the fans.
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well said Brendan Crawford, hehe me i just want to see fedor fight, better is he would test himself inside the octagon (ufc), ever since broc entered the ufc, lossed, then won, saw a great deal of chance that he can be polished or grow to a threat in the HW division, and with all the hype, ’soon be the next talked about fighter to fight fedor, and what do know, it came way sooner than i expected hehe man i hope fedor and dana can finally come to an agreement to end it all and finally the talk of who the best heavyweight or the baddest man on the planet be proved inside the Octagon.
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Fedor is stupid for not fighting the best and allowing everyone calling him number 1. His grandkids and on will always be teased cause he will go down in history for ducking the best when he was ranked number 1. It’s sad for a great family to be shamed like that. It wasn’t so bad these past few years for not fighting the UFC guys, but now it has came to a point where he’s a pussy if he don’t beat the top 3 UFC has to offer. I say clean out UFC and go back to sambo and DANA will stop talking shit
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I somewhat agree with Jason that it would be great if Dana White stopped bashing Fedor and who he has fought, but from a business point of view for him it makes sense. Plus lets not forget that without Dana and the Ferttitas we prob. wouldnt even be talking about all this. And to say that Fedor has fought a fast striker in a long time or ever might be somewhat since it was a few years ago he fought Cro Cop who was titled “the most vicious striker” of MMA back then. But if you look at a lot of Fedors fight he has never been afraid to take the fight to his opponents strong side, he stood up with Cro Cop most of the time with made no real sense to me at the time, he fought Arlowski on his feet and nogeuira on the ground. So to say that hes dodging people I believe is wrong!
I believe that he´s just a generally nice and kind person that cares about the rest of his team and wants other people that he cares about to be able to take a ride on his success train. and even though that leads to these kind of disscussion wheter he is the best HW or P4P king or not. Not to talk about the dissapointment of us fans that doesnt get to see him fight the likes of Brock or Carwin or who ever else the UFC has to offer. But i just think he cares more about the people around him than to prove to Dana White that he´s better than Brock Lesnar, right or wrong, I honestly dont know.
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MMA Punk Reply:
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:42 am
Blues you make some really good points about Fedor. Jason makes some good points too. All I want to see is Fedor fight better fighters no 7th and 8th place fighters and be called #1. thats just not right. I really don’t care to see Fedor fight Brock Lesnar. I would really like to see Fedor fight Frank Mir. That to me would be a great fight.
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I agree! it would be great to Fedor fight Mir or Cain or Carwin. I just think it would be a great feeling to say that he´s definately the best MMA fighter in the HW or that he´s not. Sure then we would have to find another subject to talk about
But i feel that this has been going on for so long, so to quote Robbi Lawler “Lets go, lets see who really is the best”.
But it is damn sad that the Fedor vs. Barnett fight isnt gonna take place! I have been looking forward to that fight for yeeeears!
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If Fedor wpuld stop fifgting Mechanics and has beens it would be easy to say hes great but He keeps fighting guys not good enough to be in UFC or they’d be in UFC. I know he chose to not be but everyone else would be in UFC if they could. Call me crazy but M-!’s dog will remain in question until he fights a real apponent!!! AND YOU KNOW IT!!!
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Well, this is ridiculous to say that Fedor is slow. You could see that he was much faster than Rogers. Look here, guys. Fedor has a contract for two more fights with Strikeforce and he will probably fight against Werdum and Overim who are not the weakest. And then comes the turn of UFC, three more mega fights against Broc, Shane and Cain or probably Dos Santos. Josh has comprimised himself with steroids and I don’t think Fedor is really interested in him. I am positive he will beat all those guys in UFC and then retire with millions in his pocket. Broc has no experience compared to Fedor and he has just overcome mononucleosis. Fedor has a stamina and attitude as nobody else. The size does not matter much. Did the size help Arlovski, Sylvia or Brett Rogers against Fedor? He never surrenders. He now runs 10-mile cross every day in the run-up to his fight against Werdum. Who else does that? He has amazing coordination and knows the right moment for striking or kicking. He has a perfect submission technique.
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