Dana White Is Right in Keeping Fedor Emelianenko out of the UFC

Fedor Emelianenko isn't the fighter he once was. That's a safe assumption at this point.

Gone are the days when Emelianenko, a skinny fat guy if there ever was one, dominated the heavyweight ranks with an unreal combination of power and speed that few in the sport have ever been able to match, regardless of weight class.

Fedor, as we so lovingly call him, halted a three-fight losing streak with a pair of wins over Jeff Monson and Satoshii Ishii in November and December last year. The Russian recently said that we may ultimately see him fight inside the Octagon, but according to UFC president Dana White, that's not the case.

"Not even a little bit," told MMAJunkie.com. "That was a guy who was made an incredible offer, and they laughed at it. They aren't laughing now."

While I love the idea of finally seeing Emelianenko in a UFC cage after all these years, there's really no point. The guy is a washed-up fighter. That's not to say he was never any good, because he was quite obviously the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet during his PRIDE heyday.

But these are no longer those days. Age and time catches up with every fighter. For some, it happens early, when a combination of training wear and tear and a life lived in nightclubs causes your skills to deteriorate before you're ready. For others, like Randy Couture, life truly only begins in your 40s. 

Emelianenko is not Randy Couture. He'll never beat the likes of Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem or Cain Velasquez, and—as my good friend E. Casey Leydon pointed out to me—his price tag is too high.

Five years ago, we'd be singing a different tune. But this is not five years ago. 

I'd like to remember Fedor as he once was, and not what he's become over the past two or so years. If that means I never get to see him fight in the Octagon, I'm okay with that. 

You should be, too.