This should be interesting. I had just finished an article about Monte Cox and Adrenaline MMA when the news of a summer showdown between technically undefeated Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and ex-UFC fighter Tim Sylvia. Will Emelianenko finally fight an ex-UFC heavyweight champion this summer? Better yet, will Emelianenko fully regain his undisputed #1 heavyweight status with a win over the much larger Tim Sylvia? Or will the nay sayers continue to beat on the Russian fighter for being inactive for too long even though he has clearly dominated most of his opponents?
I doubt that most fans care either way. Although Sylvia is a league above most of Fedor’s past opponents like Hong Man Choi and Wagner da Conceicao Martins, It’s still not Randy vs. Fedor. Don’t forget about the fact that there’s still a risk of this fight not even happening. If you go back to my last article which referenced the Houston Chronicle article about Cox and Emelianenko, Cox said that it was difficult to deal with Russians because of the language barrier coupled with paying a fighter $2 million for a fight before any tickets are sold. Even top UFC fighters, like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, only make 1/8th of what Fedor wants before gate percentages and other endorsements are factored in. This is a huge risk in an attempt to please 25% of the MMA fanbase.
Even so, I’d kinda like to see it happen. I honestly don’t think Sylvia is going to stop Emelianenko in his quest to take on Randy Couture in what could be the biggest fight of the decade. After watching Emelianenko totally dominate an even larger fighter like Choi in the first round, I don’t think Sylvia will be able to use a reach advantage and will need to rely on keeping the fight standing without stalling. If you remember Sylvia’s last fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, once the fight got to the ground, Nogueira took immediate control and submitted Sylvia quickly. Speaking of the Brazilian, who wouldn’t want to see Big Nog up against the Russian again for what could be an amazing rematch? Their last fight on New Years Eve in 2004/2005 ended in a decision with their prior fight resulting in a no contest. Not many fighters have gone that far with Emelianenko in a ring lately so I’d love to see what the cage could do for both of them. See, it didn’t take long for me to get bored with Sylvia with the prospect of some other big fights this summer. But with Nogueira under contract with the UFC, I don’t know if that will happy anytime soon unless he pulls a Sylvia and leaves the largest MMA organization to fight the most dangerous heavyweight in the world.
Let’s hope that Cox can pull this all together and bring in more contenders for Emelianenko after the Sylvia fight. I’m tired of waiting to see him fight someone skilled and exciting again.
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I do still love MMA and have...
