I first saw Fedor Emelianenko fight in 2002, when he took on Heath Herring, and just by looking at the guy, I was not impressed. He’s not big, he’s not muscular, and he’s not angry. But, I didn’t really know what it meant to be a fighter. Sure, I knew about the Gracies, but the way I had figured it, Rickson was built like a truck and he was the best, so it wasn’t like Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was this huge exception, where athletic prowess was irrelevant.
There is a moment in the lone round of the fight with Herring where Fedor picks Heath up and slams him down into the canvas, and I remember being twelve years old, watching that slam and going, “Damn.”
To say I follow Fedor with personal investment in his career is overstating it. There are fighters that I believe that I have a much bigger stake in, fighters who I have backed a little bit more than I realistically should have because I want them to get some extra attention. Still, there is something about Fedor that makes me, and every hardcore MMA fan I know, revert to the child/enthusiast in them, yelling and screaming at the TV.
Fedor is not as polarized as Muhammad Ali, nor as well covered as Mike Tyson. He does not have the mass media appeal of Bruce Lee, or the beard of Chuck Norris. Still, there’s no doubt in my mind that Fedor is the greatest fighter in the history of combat sports. He has dominated in a way that not even Rickson Gracie did, because Fedor has done it in the presence of men who, without him, would have been just as legendary, and anyone familiar with the history of the sport knows that Rickson only fought a handful of guys worth talking about.
Mirko CroCop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are titans of our time in a way that Sonny Liston and Evander Holyfield weren’t, because they bring aspects of the game that no one else does. They don’t talk big like Liston or boast some of the flamboyance that Holyfield did. They are, very much like Fedor, stone cold killers, who are explosive and dangerous and respectable, and they are well feared by those who are going to step in with them, a respect that doesn’t get pushed aside by big-talking boxers trying to make names for themselves.
People will ask me why Fedor is the greatest fighter ever, and I pull up Fedor vs. Randleman on youtube, or (if the UFC pulls it off for copyright reasons) the DVD I have of the Critical Countdown 2004 event where it went down. If they say that’s only one fight, I’ll point them to the Zuluzinho fight, the Goodridge fight or both Coleman matches. For those who understand how big the matchups between Fedor and his top rivals (fighters like CroCop and Nogueira) were, I walk them through Fedor’s game, and how he controlled those fights, even when it looked like he didn’t.
The fact is, nobody in the sport has stayed as dominant as long as Fedor has and, while people will dispute his status because he hasn’t fought top tier competition in a little while (though the fight with Mark Hunt wasn’t that long ago), when he fights Tim Sylvia in Adrenaline, he’ll remind us something very important: there’s a reason why he’s feared, because he is dangerous anywhere and everywhere.
I, like many of my fellow long time Pride fans, will be watching the approaching Adrenaline card, as it has offered us the opportunity to see Fedor fight a top heavyweight, even if that heavyweight is Tim Sylvia. Certainly, a war with the former UFC champion/ogre will be exciting. It will be the second time Fedor has fought an opponent with a size advantage and a supposed advantage in the standup department, but if Randy Couture can put the Maine-iac down with a punch, who’s going to say that Fedor can’t end this fight standing, as well as on the ground.
The sport is changing, but Fedor seems to evolve even faster. Hopefully, we will see a new level of performance in his fight with Sylvia. While a debut in the UFC seems unlikely, at least in the immediate future, the presence of Fedor as a force in the world of independent MMA and as the most dominant heavyweight in the world seems unquestionable.
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I do still love MMA and have...
April 28th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Can’t wait to see the fight. I want to see Fedor get back into fighting top tier opponents asap. It’s a real shame to see his undisputed talent wasted due to inaction or poor opponents.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
You can blame the management over there in Russia. They know once Fedor loses a fight, he also loses the big money drawing power. $2M a fight is a lot of money and it’s worth it to fight once a year instead of having to fight four times at half a million a pop.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
a little while? try years. he didnt even fight all the best in his own org, barnett, werdum. liddell was more impressive over randleman before fedor. he made his legacy off cro-cop and big nog. cro-cop has been exposed and nog is the only true great fighter he has beaten. fedor is a great fighter, but not the gretest of all time, not even close. your opinion is in the minority my friend. hed better win against sylvia or his whole legacy will be ruint. have the contracts been signed for this fight yet, w/ his manangement you never know.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Richie, I’m with you. Same for you, Brandt, the Russian market is really all based on Fedor right now, so they’re definitely playing it safer than I’d like them to.
Hulk, he fought Mark Hunt a year ago, and while that’s a long ass time to go without a top ten opponent, how long did Sylvia go in the UFC? At least 18 months. (Couture wasn’t even considered a top ten guy when they fought, though he was after delivering that ass whupping)
The point is, nobody in that division is fighting each other.
You really think that CroCop was always as week as he has been lately? You really think that the fact that CroCop’s age is beginning to catch up with him has any bearing on the fighter that he was when he fought Fedor?
If you do, then you’re just confused.
CroCop finished his way through the Open Weight Grand Prix beating four tough opponents (Minowa is questionable, the others are not). CroCop destroyed Barnett multiple times before that. He destroyed Aleks and Coleman and Vovchanchyn and Herring and Megomedov, all very respectable fighters. He was considered by some the #1 (yes, that’s one as in first) fighter in the world when he fought Fedor.
You think Couture is better than Fedor? His record is iffy as best.
You think Kerr is better than Fedor? Even beyond the steroid issues, he wasn’t as tough a fighter.
You think Sylvia is better than Fedor? You’re smoking crack.
Who has developed the game the way Fedor has? Who has dominated a division as competitive as the Pride division Fedor did? (in fact, who has seriously dominated a heavyweight division at all in this sport)
There is no-one else who can do it, that person just doesn’t exist.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:46 pm
kerr? who brought his name up? im not confused or use drugs i just look at things realistically not as a fanboy. fedor fought linland a year ago not hunt. i dont know if coture or sylvia are better than fedor, he hasnt foght either one or arlovski. thats my point, you say all hail the king, but he hasnt fought all the best fighters yet. pride is dead, get over it. dream will follow soon. if fedor beats sylvia then we can start talking randy. randy is the master at coming up w/perfect strategies to expose fighter weaknesess. fedor’s inactivity and docile competition over the last 3 years could come back to bite him in the butt. cro- cop just won the open weight gpx in 06 and youre telling me his age in 07 is why he has loked so bad. speaking of steroid issues they didnt quite test for them in japan did they. that might explain somethings. or alot of things.
May 1st, 2008 at 2:50 pm
i am going to see the advanced prewiew of the movie “ironman” tonight, but iam also cant wait to see the new hulk movie as well. dont know that it matters but isaw your handle was ironman.