The 411 MMA Top 5 11.02.09: Week Eighteen – Top Fedor Moments

Posted by Larry Csonka on 11.02.2009

From his recent victories over former UFC champions and surviving a near death experience against Kevin Randleman to winning the PRIDE Heavyweight Title and even Fedor’s “PUNCH-OUT!!!”, the 411 MMA writers rank the best Fedor moments ever! Check out the full column to see which moments made the lists and why!



Welcome:
Welcome back to the MMA Top 5! What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 MMA will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. At the end, based on where all of these topics rank on people's list, we will create an overall Top 5 list. It's highly non-official and final.

For this week, since the guys wanted to pick some fun stuff, there will be no overall top five. But some of them have included some cool videos for your viewing pleasure. Thanks for reading!


This week's topic is…



TOP FEDOR MOMENTS!


Jonathan Solomon

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Fedor is NOT amused -


5. Fedor, As Told By PRIDE - The PRIDE documentary (aired towards the end of the promotion) was pretty damn good. Here is the section that dealt with Emelianenko with highlights and interviews from some of his peers. For those who may not know of Fedor, here's everything you need to know.



4. Fedor vs. Naked Cowboy - During one of his media trips to New York City, Fedor met the Naked Cowboy. He's some (famous?) dude in the city who dresses in only underwear and a cowboy hat while playing his guitar. Even in the winter, he will only wear those articles of clothing. Well, here's evidence of the meeting and I'm proud to say the Naked Cowboy is still walking the earth. Thus, Fedor had to be amused.



3. Fedor Avenges His Only Defeat - Fedor suffered his only defeat via a cut in 2000. Less than five years later, he had a chance to avenge that defeat against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at PRIDE Bushido 6. The fight lasted one round because of the beating Fedor laid upon Kohsaka, his face was wrecked. Ironically, the doctor's stopped the fight.



2. Fedor Begins Fighting UFC Heavyweights - Well...former UFC heavyweights. The first Affliction show featured a main event of Fedor vs. Tim Sylvia. People did not know how bad Sylvia would become as a fighter and some even expected an upset. It took Fedor less than forty seconds to end the fight with a rear naked choke. By the way, it was Fedor's sixth straight victory by submission.



1. Try to Break His Neck? You Will Tap Out! - In 2004, Kevin Randleman nearly broke Fedor's neck with a sick German suplex. Luckily, The Last Emperor tucked his head, regained his composure almost instantly, reversed position and grabbed hold of Randleman's arm. Seconds later, the fight was over as Randleman gave up due to a Kimura.

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Samer Kadi

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Fedor destroys Sylvia - The fact that it took me to write this only a few seconds less than it took Fedor to choke out Tim says it all.


5. Fedor and Cro Cop finally square off - The only reason this isn't higher on the list is because in my opinion, the fight itself is a tad overrated. Don't get me wrong it's a great fight, but not nearly the all time classic (in terms of action) most make it out to be. With that said, the sense of the occasion, the magnitude, the anticipation, the build up and the electric atmosphere take it to another level. Fedor faced the biggest challenge of his career and came through in dominating fashion.

4. Fedor knocks out Arlovski… in mid air - For three minutes, it looked like Fedor might be in trouble for the first time in a long while as Andre Arlovski was displaying some very sharp boxing skills to control the fight. But against the greatest heavyweight of all time, one mistake is all it takes. Andre went for a flying knee but came crashing down as he was met with a Fedor overhand right square to the chin.

3. Fedor almost gets knocked out… and wins the fight a minute later - After winning the PRIDE heavyweight belt by defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor was set to take on Japanese slugger Kazuyuki Fujita in what seemed like a pretty pointless fight. As Fedor pressed the action early, he was met with a huge right hand by Fujita that rocked his world. The Japanese fans erupted, and Fujita was a second punch away from putting The Last Emperor to sleep. But no fighter in the world possesses Fedor's composure. He somehow had the presence of mind to clinch up while avoiding the extra shot, and managed to weather the storm. A clearly dazed Emelianenko knew he had to end the fight quickly as he looked to be struggling to recover. A liver kick sent Fujita stumbling and two hooks and a rear naked choke later sealed the victory for the superhuman Russian.

2. Fedor captures the PRIDE belt - Coming into the fight against Minotauro Nogueira, few believed Fedor stood a chance. The Brazilian submission machine was tapping out opponent after opponent with relative ease. It was thought that Emelianenko - a ground and pound specialist - could never survive on the ground with Big Nog. The result was beyond anybody's expectations as Fedor laid a brutal three round beating that would have stopped any other man. This remains in my opinion, the greatest performance of Fedor's career.

1. Fedor gets killed dead… then wins the fight by submission - What happens you a man as strong as Kevin Randleman suplexes a guy right on his head with full force? In all likelihood, the victim would at the least suffer a broken neck. If the victim happens to be Fedor however, then he sweeps Randleman seconds later and submits him with a Kimura.

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Dan Plunkett

5. Destroys Tim Sylvia - It only took 36 seconds. Fedor rocked Sylvia with big punches sending the big man to the floor. He soon locked up a rear naked choke for the victory.

4. Gets rocked, wins anyway - Never in his six year reign atop the heavyweight division has Fedor been in more danger than he was on June 8, 2003. His opponent, Kazuyuki Fujita, rocked "The Last Emperor" with a punch. Showing incredible recovery ability, Fedor came back and knocked down Fujita, winning soon after by rear naked choke.

3. Defeats Cro Cop - Fedor vs. Cro Cop may very well be the most anticipated fight of all time. Cro Cop had won seven fights in a row, one of them a head kick knockout over Fedor's brother Aleksander. Fedor had looked nearly unstoppable since winning the title two years earlier. Incredibly, Fedor backed up the striker standing and won a decisive decision.

2. Rises from dead; submits Randleman - Kevin Randleman would have been the cause of the first death in a major MMA event had he fought anybody else on June 20, 2004. However, his opponent that night was Fedor Emelianenko, who we all know is not human. After being suplexed on his head, Fedor came back to submit Randleman.

1. Wins the PRIDE Heavyweight Title - Minotauro Nogueira was considered the best heavyweight in the world at this point. He had beaten Heath Herring to become the PRIDE Heavyweight Champion, made an incredible comeback against Bob Sapp, and had just avenged his only defeat against Dan Henderson. The fight was only Fedor's third in PRIDE. In his last fight, he brutalized Heath Herring with ground and pound, forcing the doctor to halt the contest after the first round. The championship contest didn't go as anybody expected it to. Fedor escaped Minotauro's submission attempts while landing some of the most devastating ground and pound in MMA history. Despite not finishing Minotauro, Fedor showed he was the best heavyweight in the world in this fight. He never looked back.

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Daniel Bonnizzio

5. Fedor hook GREATER THAN Andrei knee - In their fight for the first three minutes or so, Andrei was visibly bothering the reigning king of the heavyweights with his technical boxing and strikes, but then he got greedy and decided to try a fancy flying knee. The result? Andrei takes a canvas nap as Fedor gets his hand raised once again.

4. Fedor avenges the loss he never had - Fedor suffered his first and thus far only loss to one Tsuyoshi Kohsaka from a controversial cut. 17 wins and one no contest later, they met again only this time Fedor came out on the winning end, coincidentally enough by a doctor's stoppage.

3. Defends against the Croatian Sensation - This is a classic example of where the 'wrong man' won the fight. Cro Cop wanted to be the champ, the fans wanted Cro Cop to win the belt, even PRIDE wanted Cro Cop to beat Fedor. Many expected the headhunting Cro Cop to walk in and deliver a trademark left high kick to finally dethrone the Last Emperor, then walk out the new champion. Instead, we saw the traditionally grappling oriented Fedor use his striking to dominate Cro Cop and beat him down en route to a decision win to keep his belt.

2. The beating saw round the world - Going in, Minotauro Nogueria looked unbeatable. He handed Heath Herring a devastating loss to become the first PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion, avenged his only loss by submitting Dan Henderson, and went on an overall tear through the PRIDE Heavyweights. Then came Fedor, and after a brutal twenty minutes he was declared the new PRIDE Heavyweight Champion, and continued to this day to be unstoppable.

1. Broken neck? Nope, kimura! - Coming into the fight, not many thought Randleman had a chance to beat the reigning FRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion. Then Randleman decided to go ahead and try hard anyways, used his vastly superior wrestling to take Fedor's back, lift him up and deliver the sickest suplex I have ever seen. A normal man would have died or at least had a broken neck. Fedor? Sweeps him moments later and secures a fight ending kimura to advance in the Heavyweight GP. Still the baddest moment in Fedor history and it shows his true endurance.

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Patrick Mullin

5. Fedor vs. Nogueira The Final Chapter - Fedor emerged onto the PRIDE scene and upset heavyweight champion Minotauro Nogueira to take his title. In their rematch an accidental clash of heads led to ridiculous accusations of Fedor wanting out and calling his win in their first bout a fluke. In their third fight The Last Emperor left no doubt as to who was the better man and dominated Nogueira for the brutal and hard fought victory at PRIDE Shockwave 2004.



4. Fedor bests Crocop - PRIDE wanted Mirko Crocop to be their heavyweight champion. A lot of their fans wanted him to be the PRIDE heavyweight champion. The problem was the best heavyweight in the world held that title and wasn't giving it up to anyone. Despite all the hype and promotional dollars behind him and highlight reel KO's, Fedor was simply the better fighter and proved it by dominating Mirko over the course of their fight.

3. Fedor Doesn't Sign with the UFC - A lot of people will hate on this, but hear me out. The UFC and all MMA promotions treat fighters like commodities. They take them and maximize their earning potential and get rich off of them. Then when they aren't what they used to be they get kicked to the side by said promoters and someone else is put in the spot they used to have. Fedor took control of his own destiny by becoming his own promoter in conjunction with M-1 and told the biggest organization to go fuck themselves when they wouldn't agree to co-promote. I loved it.



2. Fedor's Neck Cannot Be Broken - A lot of guys might get knocked out when a world-class wrestler on steroids drives them into the mat headfirst. Some may even break their necks. When it happens to Fedor, he shrugs it off and attempts to break an arm moments later for a submission victory.



1. Fedor Emelianenko's Punch-Out!!! - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!! is one of the great video games of all time. Fedor Emelianenko's knockout of Andrei Arlovski is one of the great KO's of all time. Put them together and you have video awesomeness that just cannot be described. It's better than the GSP video.

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Come back next week for another edition of the MMA Top 5~!

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