There’s a common denominator in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s decisive losses, at least, the decisive ones. That common denominator is Fedor Emelianenko.

Nogueira has lost four professional mixed martial arts fights. Two have been by controversial split decision, and the other two have been to Fedor. That said, there’s a reason why Fedor beat Nogueira twice, and there’s an opponent who can give Nogueira a serious problem in the same department as Fedor.

Nogueira follows a classic dictum that stands among a lot of grapplers and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters who have made their way into mixed martial arts, and his dependence on this dictum is, at least in my mind, what has caused him the most serious problems.

Most analysts are quick to point out that when two top grapplers are fighting, the matchup almost always comes down to who is the better striker. Nogueira has taken this seriously and his boxing has improved a great deal. His standup led him to wins over grapplers like Josh Barnett, who he could control on the ground and beat standing up, which the judges generally acknowledge in their decisions.

Read the full story

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.