Age, injuries and the taste of defeat have now caught up with Fedor Emelianenko, the former number one pound for pound fighter in the world. After the second consecutive loss of his legendary career, “The Last Emperor” is at a crossroads.
By Michael Cunningham
For the second time in consecutive fights the former heavyweight kingpin Fedor “The Last Emepror” Emelianenko has lost. The defeat to Werdum, as many Fedor fans rushed to point out, was a mental lapse. Just a mistake.
This second loss, however, especially in the way Antonio Silva battered Fedor from top position with gigantic clubbing blows, was devastating. The doctor stoppage was definitely warranted as Fedor’s eye was starting to look truly gruesome at the end of the second round.
It has to be recognised that Emelianenko’s abilities have declined as age, inactivity and sub-standard levels of competition have led the world’s most dominant heavyweight to this point in his career.
Emelianenko had only fought for less than six minutes in total since the Silva fight in 2008. Ring rust is a real factor and fighting only once in 2010 must have cost Fedor in the lead up to participating in the Grand Prix.
A battered Fedor looks on as Silva celebrates
Up until his fight with Werdum, Fedor spent time facing opponents like Hong Man Choi, Matt Lindland, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski. Not exactly a murderer’s row given their recent records – with Lindland, Arlovski and Sylvia suffering humbling defeats in recent outings. His management much take some of the blame for this, as they are well known to be tremendously difficult negotiators.
The Brett Rogers fight should have rung some alarm bells for fans of the Russian, given the way the fight began. Fedor struggled at the beginning of his fight with Rogers, having his nose smashed while pinned against the cage. Normal order did resume, however, and Fedor rallied for the TKO stoppage.
While it has not been much of a problem up to this point, Fedor’s size is now starting to be a real hindrance given the current landscape of the heavyweight division. According to M-1 Global’s Evgeni Kogan, Silva outweighed Emelianenko by up to 60lbs by the time he entered the cage.
Were Emelianenko to begin his career now, he would certainly be advised to try and cut to 205lbs. Fedor has faced large weight differences before but the new breed of giant heavyweights are also vastly superior to their predecessors. Silva is a black belt in BJJ and attempted numerous submissions besides pummelling the Russian.
During the post-fight interview after his loss to Silva, Fedor implied that he may retire: “Yes, maybe, it’s the last time. Maybe it’s high time. Thanks for everything. I spent a great beautiful long sport life. Maybe it’s God’s will.”
He has since backtracked on this statement, saying he was too hasty in making the comments and also expressing interest in returning to Grand Prix, presumably as an alternate should another competitor get injured. Talk of retirement has not been far from Emelianenko’s mind for a number of years. In his promotional obligations in the week leading up to the Silva fight, Fedor again expressed the opinion he could retire after another year in the sport.
Some of Fedor’s best moments:
The elimination of Fedor from the Grand Prix may have been as shocking to Strikeforce as his first loss was back in June. Signing Emelianenko was a massive coup for Strikeforce after the negotiation between M-1 and the UFC eventually collapsed over co-promotion issues. While nothing can be guaranteed when it comes to fighting, Strikeforce must be disappointed with the performances of their most prized acquisition.
They will surely try and squeeze Fedor back into the tournament if it is possible, but the potential match up with Overeem, assuming he comes through Werdum, has certainly lost some of its lustre given Emlianenko’s performance against Silva.
Fedor’s pedigree is too high to deny he can come back and become a dominant force once again. A 28-fight winning streak is something that may never be seen again but it will take a re-dedication to fighting from “The Last Emperor” to get back to the top.
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