OT - Fedor Emelianenko (apparently) retires
It seems that "The Last Emporer" has decided to call it a career following his second career loss (and second straight) after being stopped by Bigfoot Silva in the Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament. Should Fedor retire his fanboys will now have the opportunity to spend far more time playing WarHammer and/or worshipping Anderson Silva.
Still, this is something of a surprise; the real debate will now be whether or not Fedor is the greatest Heavyweight of all time or if his career is tarnished by his fighting tomato cans since 2005.
February 13th, 2011 at 12:15 AM ^
I combined the two.
.Ghost posted first but pic wins. What he said:
"Fedor gets pounded by Bigfoot Silva and then suggests it might be his last fight ever. That would suck, and it's too bad he never fought through the UFC ranks while he was still in his prime. Dana White must be loving it."
February 13th, 2011 at 12:21 AM ^
Fedor coud still fight for a while if he moved down to 205. Pretty tough to fight a guy who has 50 pounds on you on the night of the fight. His heart doesn't seem to be in it any more though. Always sad to see a legend reach the end of the line.
February 13th, 2011 at 12:32 AM ^
I hope he does retire. Nobody wants to see Babe Ruth with warning track power because he's hanging on too long. Anybody who questions whether or not he was the best heavyweight ever should be directed to his Pride fights, particularly the classic with Nogeira for the title. They will see a true master of his craft, a real life Drago. Not a fan of his career since '05, but he deserves the utmost respect.
February 13th, 2011 at 12:51 AM ^
I agree with the thrust of your point, but I think he could still compete at a high level at light heavyweight. In my opinion, he hasn't lost it yet as much as he can't compete with the guys who have to cut to 265.
February 13th, 2011 at 1:09 AM ^
He's definitely at a major disadvantage in today's heavyweight division, especially at his age, but he used to smash guys that had the same size advantage while in his prime. I don't think there would be any point in continuing. For what? The tons of people who live off his career (I'm looking at you M1 Global) will probably push him to fight again, which is a shame. I agree that he could be highly competitive at 205 and probably take the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt (the UFC version may be another story), but he's already a legend and has nothing left to prove. I would just rather see him ride off into the sunset rather than lose to another guy who doesn't deserve a win over Fedor on their resume.
February 13th, 2011 at 1:25 AM ^
Again, you have a great point. I think I just selfishly want to see him smash more people.
February 13th, 2011 at 9:42 AM ^
I'm really disappointed that we never saw a Crocop-Fedor 2 in PRIDE when both were at their peaks (rematch). Fedor was Fedor and Crocop had just come off the OWGP victory. It would have been great if the two had clashed after that, but alas, it wasn't so.
The sad thing is that Fedor sort of looked like that photoshop after that fight. His eye was that fucked up. Oh and of course, Dana celebrated:
February 13th, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^
I think he is a great fighter but due to not fighting the best ... i can not say he was the best.. i do think he was top 5 but i cant even put him there because his resume does not support my argument.
February 13th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^
You do know there are more sanctioning bodies than UFC in the world, right? Pride disappeared because Dana desperately needed heavyweights. Too bad he didn't want to pay them well as opposed to giving Brock "Cock on my Chest" Lesnar a $2M deal.
I hope he does retire. He's fought a who's who in MMA and come out on top. His power was nothing short of awesome to watch in Pride. Even recently when he fought in the Affliction fights his power was amazing!
February 13th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^
Kharitonov destroying Arlovski
February 13th, 2011 at 3:14 PM ^
Fedor seriously hasn't fought anyone I would consider top competition since CroCop back in c. 2006.
Legend for sure, but if he continues to look like a doughy blob that is outweighed by 40 pounds, call it a career.
He looked totally disinterested and its obvious that he hasn't lifted wieghts in years. If he hit the treadmill he should easily make 205.