The Greatest MMA News Column 11.10.09: The Appeal of Fedor

Posted by Dan Plunkett on 11.10.2009

411's Dan Plunkett tries to make sense of everything that happened in Strikeforce's main event on Saturday, including if Fedor was exposed by Brett Rogers. Plus, why Strikeforce needs Fedor, Gina Carano, Nick Diaz, and King Mo on their next Saturday Night Fights event and much more!

Fedor Emelianenko is widely considered the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. He has a track record in the sport like no other: 31 wins, defeated such fighters as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, Coleman, Herring, Fujita, Sylvia, Arlovski, Sobral, Hunt, and Arona, only 7 of his 33 bouts have gone the distance, and he's never really lost. This utter dominance of what the general public sees as the division in combat sports (let's face it, people love the heavyweights. No matter if it's in MMA or boxing.) has lead to many call Fedor a machine.

That couldn't be further from the truth.

Fedor is human. He is no different from you or me. This wasn't just shown on Saturday night when his nose broke on the first punch and punches were being rained down on him. In 2000 Fedor was cut by Kohsaka, losing him the fight. Ricardo Arona had Fedor in a dominant position much of their fight. Kevin Randleman picked Fedor up and slammed him on his head. Fujita rocked Fedor badly. Matt Lindland opened up a nasty cut on him. It was in January that Andrei Arlovski baffled Fedor with his speed and had him backed up in the corner.

What do all of those men have in common? They all "exposed" Fedor. Another thing, they also lost to him.

Everyone jumping to the conclusion that Fedor was "exposed" against Brett Rogers is wrong. The Fedor we saw fight Brett Rogers is no different than the Fedor we saw destroy Tim Sylvia a year ago. Brett Rogers turned out to be a very tough opponent that Fedor beat the way he had to. Was I impressed by his performance? Not really, but I didn't think he performed badly. Had this fight been held in PRIDE, the fight would have been over in the first round when Fedor had the opportunity to soccer kick Rogers.

The cage was also a factor in the fight. Being the bigger, stronger man, Rogers was able to push Fedor up against the fence and land knees to the thigh. There was also the point where Fedor nearly ambarred Rogers after seemingly being battered by ground and pound. Being backed up against the cage hurt Fedor there whereas in a ring he may have been able to extend and get the armbar victory.

It doesn't matter what a different fighting environment would have done though. I think the fight was great as it was with both fighters gaining from it. This fight wasn't for me or most of the people reading this. Strikeforce and CBS wanted the casual fan to watch and enjoy this fight, and for the most part they did. First they saw Fedor's introduction. Only it wasn't just a fighter introduction. The audience in attendance treated him as not only a star, but an icon of the sport. Jimmy Lennon Jr's introduction of Fedor lasted nearly 40 seconds, compared to just 23 seconds for Brett Rogers. I would have included "The Last Emperor" before saying Fedor's name, because it's great nickname, but it was a good introduction that made the TV audience look at Fedor like a star.

As for the fight the action was back and forth with heavy striking going both ways and a good amount of ground work. The most important things that the casual audience saw was Fedor getting his nose broken and then when it looked like he was about to be finished with ground and pound (replays showed only 2 shots hit cleanly). After all that Fedor still landed that highlight reel knockout punch, which reminded me of a more spectacular Arlovski/Buentello. Fedor may be human, but his recovery and ability to persevere through any situation is extraordinary. I believe this will finally make Fedor a star in America. As a result of the fight and performance on Saturday night, every Fedor fight will become an event.


"I met a bear in the zoo. A bear is very strong; very hard for a human to kill a bear with simple methods." -Fedor Emelianenko

Who's Next for Fedor?

After his defeat of Brett Rogers, there is a question of who Fedor's next opponent will be. There's one man everyone wants to see Fedor fight, and that's Alistair Overeem. I don't see that fight happening next though, so I'll play Scott Coker here and book Fedor's next few fights with Strikeforce. Remember, Fedor has 2 fights remaining on his contract as far as we know.

Fight #1: Fedor vs. Fabricio Werdum on CBS: This fight just makes sense. Werdum defeated Bigfoot Silva on Saturday in a good fight and a top 10 heavyweight. To me, this is just another fight to showcase Fedor. I don't see Werdum as being much of a threat to "The Last Emperor," despite his world class ground game. Then again, we haven't seen Fedor fight a great submission fighter since 2004 against Nogueira. It's also been awhile since we've seen his famous ground and pound, which can only be described as "brutal" and "battering." I can see this taking place on either the ground or standing and it should be exciting either way. If Fedor wins this fight, it would be by knockout or decision. The former is most likely.

Fight #2: Fedor vs. Alistair Overeem on CBS: There are two Fedor fights I really want to see in the near future. One if Fedor vs. Lesnar, and the other is Fedor vs. Overeem. "The Demolition Man" is ginormous nowadays and presents a lot of threats to Fedor. Overeem, who has looked great in his last two fights where he defeated two guys who shouldn't have been in the cage with him, has great strength, very powerful stand-up, and a good ground game. I think it would be way too risky for Fedor to stand with Overeem in this fight. With that said, Fedor should be able to take Overeem to the ground, where he'd have the advantage. It's an extremely interesting fight.

The biggest problem would be just getting this fight to happen. Overeem seems intent on not fighting in the United States and wants to fight Fedor in Japan in April. For Fedor, I would only take that fight if it was held in a ring. If DREAM continues its use of the cage, which Fedor still isn't used to, I wouldn't take the fight there. It just doesn't make sense for him. Scott Coker needs to get Overeem back into Strikeforce to defend his title, unless that happens it's just a fancy belt, nothing more. If Overeem doesn't get his wish to fight Fedor in April in Japan, its possible Overeem's desire to fight Fedor will lead him to fight for Strikeforce again.

If Overeem decides not to come back to Strikeforce to take on Fedor, I would strip him of the title. It's been two years since he won the belt and he still hasn't defended it. Should that be the case it will be interesting to see who Strikeforce picks to challenge Fedor. Do they bring in Josh Barnett? Call me crazy, but I think Fedor vs. Dan Henderson (should he sign with Strikeforce) would be a fun fight.


Strikeforce on CBS

Unless the rating for the main event is terrible, Strikeforce will probably get another chance on CBS. In the case of EliteXC, the first show did great ratings, but the second show's ratings were down nearly 50%. It wasn't because people lost interest in EliteXC, because just like Strikeforce now, people didn't care about EliteXC. The viewers cared about 2 people: Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano. Both were huge ratings movers in the first event but didn't fight on the second event. Instead, the event was headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith, who had a good fight on the first Saturday Night Fights but that doesn't really matter. Viewers didn't care about either fighter, so they didn't tune in.

Strikeforce needs to avoid a drop off in their second show. The ratings were good for Saturday's show, but they weren't spectacular like EliteXC's were. A 50% decline in viewership would be a death sentence for Strikeforce on CBS. To avoid this, Strikeforce needs Fedor to headline the next Saturday Night Fights. As previously stated, Fedor's performance was one that will make viewers want to tune in to see the greatest fighter in MMA history's next fight. I think Strikeforce should go all out for the next show. Right now, they are on a show-by-show basis. Ultimately, the fate of their next show depends on how well the previous one did. Strikeforce needs to stack their next CBS show with fighters who can draw so they can get a multi-show deal.

The first key presence is Fedor, who is one of Strikeforce's top 2 drawing fighters. Gina Carano is the other top drawing fighter Strikeforce has. She has fought twice previously on CBS and both fights gained more than a million viewers. Carano and Fedor fighting on the same card is going to bring in bigger ratings than the first show.

I would also like to see Strikeforce start to build up their more marketable talent on the next CBS show. With Carano and Fedor filling two slots on a four fight main card, that leaves room for Nick Diaz and Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal to be showcased. Both are very entertaining inside the cage (especially Diaz), and King Mo is sure to gain a following with his entrance alone.

Another thing I'd like to see is more emphasis on the fact that this is a Strikeforce event. EliteXC had three shows on CBS; two of them drew very good ratings. I guarantee you many more than half the people that watched those shows will claim they've never heard of EliteXC when asked. Not because they're in denial, but simply because they didn't know the name of the promotion they were watching. Strikeforce made a similar mistake on Saturday, focusing more on the fact that this was Saturday Night Fights more than a Strikeforce event. They need to let the viewer know they are watching a Strikeforce event. That's the first step in gaining brand recognition like the UFC has.

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What Happened to UFC 108?

Just a week-and-a-half ago, it looked like UFC 108 was going to be the "can't miss event" of the year. Then a week ago, it went from "can't miss" to "very good" when it was announced that Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida wouldn't be ready to compete at the event. Now, the undercard looks great, but there's no main event.

Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin for the heavyweight title was supposed to headline the event after Silva and Machida pulled out, but Lesnar is still sick and won't be ready in time. This makes the top fights on the card Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez and Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva. Neither of those fights is main event worthy at this point, especially on an event with such high standards.

Now there are four champions (possibly five depending on how healthy the winner of Penn/Sanchez is) that will be ready and willing to fight somewhere from February to April. Here's how I see it going down:

UFC 109 on February 6, 2010: Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin
UFC 111: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort
Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua
UFC 112: Georges St. Pierre vs. Swick/Hardy/Koscheck/Johnson

Its possible Machida vs. Rua could happen at UFC 110 in Australia, but by the looks of it that event may be on free TV and I don't know if they want to give up that rematch for free. The UFC may want to stack UFC 109 with two title fights, but I think putting Silva/Belfort and Machida/Shogun 2 on the same card would be a better option.

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That's all for this week. UFC 105 is this weekend on Spike TV. There are three good fights on the main card, but there's two fights that should be on a Fight Night or TUF Finale. I'm looking at you, Pearson vs. Riley and Wilks vs. Brown. Surprising to see Pearson is matched up with Riley right out of the gate, as that's a really tough fight for him. Matt Brown is no joke either; James Wilks has his hands full. Well thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a comment or email me using the link that says "email Dan Plunkett." And don't forget to follow me on twitter!


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