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| Yes | 45% | 27 votes | Total: 60 votes | |
| No | 55% | 33 votes |
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Add to FavoritesFedor Emelianenko is generally considered the greatest heavy weight in the world, many would say he is the greatest mixed martial artist period. With 29 fights on his resume, he has, in all honestly, never been beaten. The lone loss on his record (27-1-0-1) came at the hands of Tsuyoshi Kohsaka who opened up a nasty cut just 17 seconds into their first meeting. Hardly enough time to say anyone was beaten'. The no contest' on Fedors record was the result of a cut caused by an incidental clash of heads with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira back at Pride: Final Conflict 2004. Fedor exterminated any doubts however, by brutalizing Tsuyoshi in their rematch at Pride: Bushido 6 on April 3rd 2005, and completely controlling Nogueira just 4 months later at Pride: Shockwave 2004 (giving Fedor his second win over Antonio).
With a victim list nearly a mile long, cluttered with A class' opponents, it's easy to understand the following Emelianenko has established. At this point, you've got to wonder if this guy is some form of cyborg. Fedor holds victories over Renato "Babalu" Sobral, (3 time K1 Grand Prix winner) Semmy Schilt, Ricardo Arona, the aforementioned (current UFC Champion and former Pride Heavy Weight Champion) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, (former UFC Champion) Marc Coleman, (former UFC Champion) Kevin Randleman, (Pride 2006 Grand Prix winner) Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Mark Hunt and many more. With a resume like that, one would think Fedor could walk off into the sunset and claim his place in the history books as the greatest of all time.
Fedor has, instead chosen to continue fighting, and this is where things get a little interesting. After securing wins over the best opposition to be offered, Fedor (lately) has seemingly chosen a path which offers very little resistance. Inside of Fedors last 5 fights he's beaten Zulu, an obese unathletic and inexperienced super heavyweight. A blown up version of Matt "The Law" Lindland, and giant, (but terribly green in the world of MMA) K1 veteran Hong Man Choi. While none of these fights should be considered 'Sunday morning easy', these opponents do not possess the skill set required to even compete with a man of Emelianenko's pedigree.
Opponent selections have left a lot of fans questioning Fedors place in the heavy weight division. Is he still number one? Has he lost respect from the fans? Why hasn't he fought Josh Barnett, and when are we going to see Fedor/Couture? These are all questions that monopolize MMA magazines, radio and forums. Some questions may never be answered, some may. Regardless, to blame Fedor for lackluster match making is a mistake. Time and again Emelianenko has stepped in, and defeated great fighters. To doubt his courage now, would be incredibly foolish.
With Fedor fighting for the newly restructured M1, the future looks a little uncertain, but bright nonetheless. The first M1 related event was a huge success and it appears as though some of the more significant match ups could take place soon. Strong rumors currently swirl about a (finally) encounter between the Russian Emelianenko, and American stand out Josh Barnett. We may even get a real strike of luck and finally get that Fedor/Randy fight the fans have been screaming for.
Learn more about this author, Matthew Molgaard.
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No
Fedor Emelianenko is no question a great fighter but should he be considered the greatest? Best heavyweight maybe (and thats a big maybe) but best pound-for-pound? Simply put, no. Here is my case against naming Fedor Emelianenko the greatest mixed martial artist alive.
To start, lets look at whats most telling...his recent fights. In his last five (5) fights dating back to December 31, 2005 he has compiled a record of 5-0 which is impressive in itself until you start looking closer at who his opponents are: Zuluzinho, Mark Coleman, Mark Hunt, Matt Lindland and Hong-Man Choi. Zuluzinho (fought Fedor, 12-31-2005) has an official loss to Eric Esch A/K/A Butterbean on his record, Mark Coleman was nearly 42 when he loss to Fedor (10-21-2006), Mark Hunt is a legit fighter whom I have no qualms with, Matt Lindland is a middleweight who stepped up two weight classes to fight Fedor (4-14-2007) in which Fedor won with some controversy and Hong-Man Choi was 1-0 with no real chance of defeating Fedor when they met (12-31-2007). Hardly the opponents that earn you the title of the "greatest MMA alive" especially when compared to other fighters whom hold huge wins such as Rampage Jackson who is also 5-0 in his last 5 fights with notable wins over Chuck Liddell, Matt Lindland and Dan Henderson or Randy Couture whom at age 43 came back to the UFC to wins it's heavyweight title and then defended it successfully against Gabriel Gonzaga where he was an underdog in both fights.
Next, lets look at what the talks are for Fedor's future. Randy Couture would be the natural choice (no pun intended) but that fight may happen later than sooner so talks are now in the work for Semmy Schilt whom Fedor has already beaten once (6-23-2002) or against UFC title contender, Jeff Monson. Neither fight with Schilt or Monsoon would draw an interest to me and unless there was one great under-card I would not even think about paying for it.
In ending, Fedor was once the greatest out there. He has sick sambo and heavy hands and an impressive resume of wins over Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Heath Herring and others prove that but his recent wins have been a farce and I think many people know it. For example, Hong-Man Choi, who only had 1 MMA fight at the time, was supposed to be Brock Lesnar's first MMA opponent so how does Fedor, the greatest MMA fighter today, justify making Choi his 29th opponent? He can't. Let's not let happen to MMA what has been happening in boxing for the last 25 years and not get the fights that fans want to see and for the heavyweight picture there is only one mega bout, Couture vs. Fedor. That fight could end this debate in an instant but until Fedor starts fighting tougher opposition I would not be placing him at the top of your MMA list.
Learn more about this author, Matthew Soo.
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