Fedor Emelinenko: Why he's your favorite fighter's favorite fighter...

[Guest]

I don't think there's doubt in anybodies mind that Fedor has the most credentials to be called the #1 heavyweight. What a lot of people have problems with is acknowledging that the heavyweight division has been weak and unstable for a long time. Finally there's some life coming in a division in which Fedor has been the only consistent factor.

 

People who think Fedor would run through the UFC heavyweight division with ease are delusional. There is better competition in the UFC than Fedor has faced so far.

 

My prediction for 2010:

- Nogueira is going to lose to Velasquez, who stylistically should be a perfect matchup for him. After that he will lose again to a top 10 heavyweight.

- Fedor will win against any opponent that Strikeforce is able to feed him, except in the unlikely event of facing Overeem.

- Mir will rule the UFC heavyweight division, till suffering a freak KO or Lesnar returns to the UFC.

 

I don't get the hype around Carwin, we haven't seen enough of him yet.

[Guest]

I never thought I would say it, but probably Lesnar. This, of course, is a big hypothetical based on what happens with his surgery, etc. I think it would provide the most interesting matchup, anyway. I would say it would probably be closest to his fight with Randleman, in terms of style. Of course, that was over 4 years ago.

 

I also believe Freddy Roach when he says that he's got some serious gaps in his striking game. He has incredible power, but his technique isn't exactly world class. It gets the job done (especially when you leap into one of his overhand rights, ie Arlovsky), but I think it could possibly be exploited. I would say the most top notch striker right now in HW is probably Velasquez, but who knows, really?

 

Honestly, I don't want to pick one matchup for him, though. I want him to sign to the UFC and fight them all. Instead, we will sit around and hope that once a year he fights someone who is worth a damn. I think he is worried about his legacy and knows that if he does sign, he won't be able to control that legacy the way he wants to.

 

I think he is the greatest p4p of the decade, hands down. But of the last few years? No, not in the least. And that pisses me off because I think he could be and he only has his management to blame. As it stands, he has not fought a top contender since Cro Cop in 2005. Arlovsky is obviously not as legit as some thought, Rogers IS Kimbo (way worse competition than Carwin, if you look at the numbers.), and Sylvia's a whipped dog.

 

Velasquez has marshmellows for hands, how can you call him a top notch striker and still look at yourself in the mirror every morning?

[Guest]

Velasquez has marshmellows for hands, how can you call him a top notch striker and still look at yourself in the mirror every morning?

I would like to see you get punched by one of his marshmellow hands.

[ElGeecho]

Achilles' post made me look up MMA Elo rankings and I have to say that it's really interesting stuff. Just casually perusing that list has challenged some of my perceptions.

[Guest]

i'm not sure who wins between cain and nog yet. i'm just not sure how we can confidently say cain will win. what does he do...take nog down all night? i'm not sure messing around on the ground with nog for 15 minutes is the best idea. does he stand? as mentioned earlier...not the hardest puncher, and we saw nog's boxing is better than people say it is against randy. i dont know which way to go on that one yet.

[iloveme8]

My prediction for 2010:

- Nogueira is going to lose to Velasquez, who stylistically should be a perfect matchup for him. After that he will lose again to a top 10 heavyweight.

- Fedor will win against any opponent that Strikeforce is able to feed him, except in the unlikely event of facing Overeem.

- Mir will rule the UFC heavyweight division, till suffering a freak KO or Lesnar returns to the UFC.

 

I don't get the hype around Carwin, we haven't seen enough of him yet.

 

Why is it that you can confidently predict Cain beating Nog but say we haven't seen enough of Carwin?

[Guest]

Why is it that you can confidently predict Cain beating Nog but say we haven't seen enough of Carwin?

I wouldn't say confidently, but we've seen more from Cain than from Carwin, background, skillset, previous fights and so on.

[Mexinaco]

I think anyone who believes Fedor is as recognized or more recognized than the GSPs, Randy Couture, Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell's are outright delusional.

 

To the very, very, very few casual fans who know who Fedor is, they know him as "that Russian guy that knocked out that big black guy. That was cool."

Are you talking world-wide or just in america?

 

 

I don't think there's doubt in anybodies mind that Fedor has the most credentials to be called the #1 heavyweight. What a lot of people have problems with is acknowledging that the heavyweight division has been weak and unstable for a long time. Finally there's some life coming in a division in which Fedor has been the only consistent factor.

Oh rly Mirko, Big Nog, Aleksander, Werdum, Sergei, Fedor and Barnett in the same company does not seem weak to me at all.

 

My prediction for 2010:

- Nogueira is going to lose to Velasquez, who stylistically should be a perfect matchup for him. After that he will lose again to a top 10 heavyweight.

The perfect match for Cain??? WTF??? Someone who is a better striker, has a granite chin, and a dangerous ground game IS the perfect match?

- Fedor will win against any opponent that Strikeforce is able to feed him, except in the unlikely event of facing Overeem.

- Mir will rule the UFC heavyweight division, till suffering a freak KO or Lesnar returns to the UFC.

I think Fedor Will beat Overeem and Carwin will ko Mir.

[Guest]

The perfect match for Cain??? WTF???

Perfect match for Nog genius.

 

I think Fedor Will beat Overeem and Carwin will ko Mir.

Carwin KO'ing Mir is possible, Fedor beating Overeem less so. It would be the first time I ever that I wouldn't take Fedor to win. I wouldn't have taken Fedor if it was Lesnar or Mir either, but those matchups seems even less likely than Overeem.

[Guest]

wait...you're saying arlovski isnt better than gonzaga?

 

the SAME gonzaga who got beat down by werdum? the SAME werdum that lost to arlovski?

 

see what i did there?

 

i will say that i think gonzaga and arlovski are pretty close in terms of skills. i wouldnt say you cant compare them, but gonzaga has been out of the top 10 for awhile. arlovski was up pretty high for a good while.

 

No, what I'm saying is that Arlovski has always been grossly over-rated. Arlovski's only truly impressive win may be that W over Werdum.

 

Gonzaga suffers from the same thing. He tends to punish cans and choke in big fights.

 

 

[Guest]

people throw the word overrated around too much. tell me a guy who isnt overrated? brock lesnar?

 

come on, heh.

[Guest]

I don't think Arlovski is overrated. I think he's underrated. One time he might win to the best fighter in the world and the other time he might lose to the worst. He just isn't consistent, he makes too many mistakes.

[iloveme8]

Perfect match for Nog genius.

 

Carwin KO'ing Mir is possible, Fedor beating Overeem less so. It would be the first time I ever that I wouldn't take Fedor to win.

 

You wouldn't take Fedor? If Rogers went off at six to one, I don't think Overeem could go off at anything better than three to one. That's probably pretty close to what Werdum will go off as.

 

Does Overeem have any wins of significance in the past three years or so?

[Guest]

Werdum has no shot at beating Fedor. Overeem has a shot, but I'm not 100% sure he'll pass a drug test in the U.S. after how jacked he's gotten in the past couple years.

[Guest]

You wouldn't take Fedor? If Rogers went off at six to one, I don't think Overeem could go off at anything better than three to one. That's probably pretty close to what Werdum will go off as.

 

Does Overeem have any wins of significance in the past three years or so?

Previous wins don't count when you step in the ring, it's about skillset. Overeem is a better striker and Fedor wouldn't be able to take him down. Overeem has been inconsistent in the past, but he's striking has improved and he's a lot stronger. I don't just think Overeem would win, that fight wouldn't even take long. Either Overeem knocks Fedor out in the first 3 minutes or Fedor does it to him, something that sounds much less likely.

[scabscar]

Overeem passed drug tests fine when he beat Buentello for the Strikeforce strap. It's all about the horsemeat.

 

And he's been lighting pro kickboxers and ex PRIDE cans up in Japan. Not that it means anything, but his last victim was the only person to rock Fedor. Regardless, he is still Overeem, and will still find a way to lose.

[iloveme8]

Previous wins don't count when you step in the ring, it's about skillset. Overeem is a better striker and Fedor wouldn't be able to take him down. Overeem has been inconsistent in the past, but he's striking has improved and he's a lot stronger. I don't just think Overeem would win, that fight wouldn't even take long. Either Overeem knocks Fedor out in the first 3 minutes or Fedor does it to him, something that sounds much less likely.

 

The beauty of records is that they're objective. Determining someone's skillset is so subjective that I don't think it's even relevant. Rogers' striking was comparable to Fedor's and I would say Arlovski is a better striker.

[Guest]

Previous wins don't count when you step in the ring, it's about skillset. Overeem is a better striker and Fedor wouldn't be able to take him down. Overeem has been inconsistent in the past, but he's striking has improved and he's a lot stronger. I don't just think Overeem would win, that fight wouldn't even take long. Either Overeem knocks Fedor out in the first 3 minutes or Fedor does it to him, something that sounds much less likely.

 

i think overeem has a lot of skills, but he also has a lot of things going against him. first of all, he's gotten a lot slower since he's put on the weight. he kind of just plods forward now and it works against most guys. he's able to just walk straight in and do whatever he wants, but that has only worked against lesser competition. the second problem with overeem is that he has no real defense when it comes to striking. as mentioned...he jsut goes forward. his only defense is putting his hands up. he has no real head movement or any of that. he doesnt slip punches or try to parry...he just plods forward and hopes he can overwhelm people. he even did that in k-1. that won't work against fedor. fedor is one of the fastest heavyweights and moves a lot, he always resets his range to make sure he's safe. there's a statistic on fightmetric that says fedor is the least hit fighter in mma, less hit than even the great machida and anderson. so i highly doubt that alistair will just walk in and knock him out like it's no problem at all.

 

fedor's ability to defend against punches and slip them is very underrated. people dont realize he's so good at that because he's usually the aggressor and looks sloppy, but watch his fights and see how often he gets hit. it isnt that often. everyone thought arlovski was owning him on the feet....but watch it against closely. arlovski never really landed any punches. fedor was moving out of the way or rolling with the punches. rogers landed one jab on the feet, heh. so i'm not really sure if i'd say alistair was the better striker. yeah, his striking looks prettier and cleaner, but that doesnt mean it's more effective. alistair would be a very big and slow target for fedor's punches, heh. fedor as a striker really isnt bad at all.

 

obviously you dont want to get hit by alsitair, i just dont think he'd be able to land on fedor all that consistently. i'd be more interested in seeing how the clinch game worked out. alistair has shown very dangerous knees and we havent really seen anyone try to really use a thai style clinch on fedor. you run the risk of getting thrown down to the ground if you clinch with fedor though, which is the danger zone.

[Guest]

watch his fights and see how often he gets hit. it isnt that often. everyone thought arlovski was owning him on the feet....but watch it against closely. arlovski never really landed any punches. fedor was moving out of the way or rolling with the punches. rogers landed one jab on the feet, heh. so i'm not really sure if i'd say alistair was the better striker. yeah, his striking looks prettier and cleaner, but that doesnt mean it's more effective.

See that's the problem... I can't argue with things that just didn't happen.

 

I agree that Overeem has a lot of holes in his game, but so does Fedor. Overeem is slow, Fedor is quick but predictable. Both fighters have static defense, and neither fighter can fight going backwards. This last is a determining factor. Neither fighter is going to want to back up, and Overeem knows the only punch to watch out for is Fedors signature right hand. Eventually either Fedor has to back up, or the fight moves into the clinch. Overeem is too strong in the clinch, and Fedor won't be able to take him down.

 

If Overeem keeps his head cool and doesn't make stupid mistakes he should win. Overeem keeping his head cool is probably the most difficult thing for him.

[Guest]

Overeem is too strong in the clinch, and Fedor won't be able to take him down.

I think Overeem stands as good a chance as anybody against Fedor, but this sounds a bit over the top to me. Fedor is a Master of Sport in combat sambo in Russia, which is like being a BJJ champion in Brazil, an NCAA wrestling champion in the US, or a Judo champion in Japan. He's also a pretty decent judo player, come to think of it, although I'm not sure what belt he holds. I think if Overeem clinches with Fedor, Overeem will be up a creek without a paddle.

[Guest]

See that's the problem... I can't argue with things that just didn't happen.

 

I agree that Overeem has a lot of holes in his game, but so does Fedor. Overeem is slow, Fedor is quick but predictable. Both fighters have static defense, and neither fighter can fight going backwards. This last is a determining factor. Neither fighter is going to want to back up, and Overeem knows the only punch to watch out for is Fedors signature right hand. Eventually either Fedor has to back up, or the fight moves into the clinch. Overeem is too strong in the clinch, and Fedor won't be able to take him down.

 

If Overeem keeps his head cool and doesn't make stupid mistakes he should win. Overeem keeping his head cool is probably the most difficult thing for him.

 

the right hand is fedor's only punch? i'd say his lead left hook is as dangerous if not more dangerous. i also wouldnt say his striking is really predicttable. if anything it's the exact opposite since his striking style is completely his own.

 

who has overeem proven his clinch against?

 

it wasnt too long ago when sergei kharitonov made alistair turn his back and run away after getting hit. i'm interested in seeng what happens when alsitair gets hit cleanly in mma again, heh.

 

i do think alistair is probably the biggest threat out there to fedor, but i dont agree with the reasoning. i also dont believe he's really proven too much of anything at heavyweight. he's looked good in k-1...but mma isnt kickboxing.

[Guest]

Fedor never opens up with his left hand. Kharitonov is one of the best standup fighters in MMA. He's an excellent boxer. A lot better than either Overeem or Fedor.

 

Overeem hasn't proven anything in the heavyweight division, but it's about skillset. Overeem has proven to be more than capable in the clinch on several of his previous fights. Not against a top opponent like Fedor though.

 

I guess we'll see what happens if the fight ever takes place. I have no problem admitting that I'm wrong when the fight turns out differently. I was also wrong when thinking that Fedor would impose his gameplan on Andrei, or that Arlovski would make quick work of Rogers.

[Guest]

fedor never opens up with his left hand?

 

go rewatch fedor/choi and fedor/sylvia, heh. he throws the elft a lot. he swats down the opponents jab and jumps in with the left.

[Mexinaco]

the right hand is fedor's only punch? i'd say his lead left hook is as dangerous if not more dangerous. i also wouldnt say his striking is really predicttable. if anything it's the exact opposite since his striking style is completely his own.

 

2:48

 

[Guest]

there it is again, heh. thanks.

 

i think the left is dangerous in a different way. fedor's right has definitely finished more fights, but when he throws the left hook...a clinch and a barrage of punches are coming right after. it sets up a lot of other things.