The current poll up on Sherdog is a question regarding Randy vs. Fedor. It asks “Will Randy Couture ever fight Fedor Emelianenko.” With the answers being “Yes, No, or don’t matter, I’m no longer interested.”

When I wrote this there was 11,730 votes and of these votes 28% of the people who voted said no and another 28% said they don’t care they are no longer interested. That is way too many people that have no interest in this fight. Possibly one of the best heavyweight match ups ever!

How can this be? I was beyond shocked when I saw these numbers. I understand that there have been controversy after controversy about these two fighters, and the fight seems more distant than the Chuck and Wandy fight back in the day, but c’mon! This is Randy and Fedor! I understand that Randy seems to be doing more legal fighting than MMA fighting, and Fedor has been running around with the Olympic torch and sleeping his way through the Sambo tournament, but it is Randy vs. Fedor!

Do you remember that feeling you had right when the bell rang for Chuck and Wandy? If you are like me I said to myself, I can’t believe that these two are finally fighting! Here we go! Would it not be the same feeling if not more?

Speaking of here we go, we are almost in a similar lull that we had prior to that fight. As of right now it is unsure if these two legendary fighters will ever square off. It is like that time when your parents said there was no way you were getting that Nintendo, but in a way you knew you would still get it… I am hoping
that one day soon we will get that surprise package under the tree and inside will be a Randy vs. Fedor PPV!

I can understand why many of the fans have lost interest. I get that, I only hope that the minute that the fight is announced that those same fans will change their mind. If they don’t it is possible that they could miss one classic battle! At the same time, if these two never fight, every single fan of the sport will have been done wrong, and all in the name of money!

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.

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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?

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Fedor Emelianenko recently annihilated his competition during his Combat Sambo tournament. Jeff Monson just finished dominating the Absolute Division of the NAGA Arnold Classic this weekend. Now both men are looking to get back into MMA action this spring in a fight supposedly held on U.S. soil. In a new interview with MMA Fightline, Emelianenko talks about Randy Couture, Hong Man Choi, and his next fight.

It’s not Randy vs. Fedor, but at least it’s Somebody vs. Fedor.

Monson, the man we dub “Snowman”, might just be the first test for the virtually undefeated Emelianenko since he fought both Mark Hunt and Mark Coleman back in 2006 in Pride. While Hunt was only 5-3 and barely pulling off split decision wins over Wanderlei Silva and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Coleman, however, had wins over Maurico “Shogun” Rua, Don Frye, and many other old-school legends of MMA. He was also recently inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame if that still counts for anything anymore (thanks to Dana White saying that Tank Abbott is next). The fights against the Marks were just two months apart and the results were the same; submission wins for Emelianenko. After defeating Matt Lindland, who many say wasn’t a top contendor because he moved up two weight classes to fight, in April of last year, Emelianenko only recently emerged on New Years to beat the unnaturally huge K-1 kickboxer Hong Man Choi. Some fans rejoiced while others laughed and called it a circus. And who could blame them?

So can all of the name-calling and can-fed accusations finally end for Emelianko? Is Monson, a guy who went on a 16 fight win streak between 2003 and 2006, good enough to satisfy MMA fans who want to see Emelianenko up against “real” competition? Monson does have losses to Chuck Liddell and, surprisingly enough, Forrest Griffin back in 2002, but he also carries a decade of experience.

We’ll soon find out if the fight will be made official and when it will be held. As far as who will be lucky enough to host this - will it be held by EliteXC on prime time television in April? I really doubt that, but it is somewhat amusing to even think about it. Perhaps HDNet Fights will televise the first M-1 production or maybe a Japanese promotion has some crazy idea to attempt another event similar to K1 Hero’s Dynamite!! You know, the the kind of unorganized event you would expect to come out of Japan.

But either way, we can hopefully expect to see a real fight that goes the distance. Then maybe someone can really solidify themselves at the top #1 heavyweight in the world. Or not.

At one time the most anticipated MMA fight was Chuck Liddell versus Wanderlei Silva. Now that we were able to witness that battle, the next super fight on everyone’s mind, is the possible fight between Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko. This could be the battle to determine the best heavyweight in MMA history. These fighters are both great, but have been doing very different things of late. One has denied all odds and seems to get better with age, while the other seems to be fighting subpar competition around the world. Many hold Fedor as the top heavyweight in the world, while others hold Randy at that spot. It seems they both are deserving of the title, but who deserves it more? Who is the real heavyweight champion of MMA?

Randy “The Natural” Couture could be the most amazing 44 year old fighter on the planet. He is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC but lately he has done more fighting with Dana White and the UFC, than in the Octagon. Even though he isn’t fighting right now he should be considered one of the top 2 big guys in the world. The only other person in my eyes that could be ranked above him is Fedor. Randy is a smart fighter with a wrestling background, a veteran in the game of MMA, and has fought all levels of competition. If there is one argument why he should be ranked over Fedor, it is the caliber of recent opponents. In his last 3 fights he has fought Gonzaga, Tim Sylvia, and Chuck Liddell. After he lost to Chuck, no one expected him to return from retirement and fight Timmy for the heavyweight title. Not only did he fight him, but he dominated Sylvia throughout the entire fight, and almost finished it very early. Randy has an amazing amount of built up aggressions toward Dana and the UFC, and if he is bottling that up for his next fight, the opponent could be in trouble. Randy is a legend in the sport of MMA, and is the best heavyweight in UFC history. In a recent turn of events, it appears that he has reached a deal with Mark Cuban’s HDNet fights, and could be fighting again by the end of the year.

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