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!

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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Zuffa’s Attempt (or Lack Thereof) to Recover From Disaster

Over the last six months, the UFC heavyweight division has been the Hurricane Katrina of promotional failures. Not only has the division failed to put on shows, but they have lost a champion to a contract dispute and every attempt at bringing in a big name star has been thwarted, except for one.

Since Gonzaga knocked out Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic (the UFC’s highest ranked fighter) at UFC 70, there has been a spiral of disaster, and the UFC has done little, if anything, to intelligently combat the rising water.

After Gonzaga’s knockout of CroCop and the loss of much-loathed heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia at the hands of Randy Couture, the prospects went thinner than Couture’s hair, and it became urgent for the UFC to find hairplugs. Those showed up in the form of Brock Lesnar, who failed to impress in his recent debut, despite being the most hyped debuter the UFC has seen in, well, ever.

It’s not a stretch to say that UFC heavyweight division looked like New Orleans after the Hurricane, and it’s not going to far to say that the UFC’s President did as little as the USA’s. He, and the rest of the Zuffa brass, did little to push a serious negotiation with Andrei Arlovski (finally set to return after a nearly 10 month hiatus) or to attempt to reason with heavyweight champion Couture when they started feuding over his contract.

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