The big news in Mixed Martial Arts is that Dallas Mavericks billionaire owner Mark Cuban—with the help of Dallas native and MMA great Guy Mezger—is now starting a new MMA promotion.
This is great news for MMA fans everywhere because we all know Cuban will spend a ton to get the top talent in the world and he has already mentioned the name of pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko. That has to be bad news for UFC president Dana White, who has been struggling in his negoitiations with the legendary Russian.
The sticking point is that White reportedly does not want Fedor to continue fighting in Russia's tough Sambo circuit, the reasoning being that UFC does not want to have it's champion risk losing in a nontitle match. Common sense thinking that has brought White so much success.
Now I acknowledge I have never heard Dana White ever say those words—but every internet fan and so called expert has anointed Fedor as the UFC champion, even before he steps in the cage. The big problem is that they already have a living legend as champion in Randy Couture. How many times is the MMA world going to write this man off?
I bet even if he beats Fedor we will no doubt hear what an upset it is. I will never question Fedor Emelianenko's greatness but there are some factors to consider before we just hand him the undisputed Heavyweight title
1. Pride fighters have struggled to adapt to the octogon.
Remember how Mirko Cro Cop was supposed to dominate UFC and take Couture's title? Well that never worked out. Dan Henderson faded in his unifaction with Rampage Jackson, who is one of the rare pride guys to succeed in the octogon.
2. Level of competition.
Fedor has with all due respct not exactly beaten the best around lately.Matt lindland is a great fighter but he is a middleweight contender not a heavyweight or even lightheavyweight. 2 wins over a badly faded Mark Coleman who was years past his prime. Same goes for Kevin Randleman. Nayoa Ogawa and Yuji Nagata were pro wrestlers the only real top notch competition has been Antonio Noguiera who has struggled in UFC and Cro Cop who has been a major bust.
3. Never count out Randy Couture.
Period. How many times can he keep pulling out the wins? That is the question from the doubters well I say lets give him the benefit of the doubt until he is 100% done and beaten.Fedor Emelianenko may dominate MMA for a long time, but he has to come to where the best competition is, and that is the UFC. Until then I will have a real hard time Worshiping him like the rest of the MMA world seems to.
Besides: maybe Couture will pull another "miracle" out again. I will not bet against him.
21 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
I believe the natural can beat fedor... bring him on!!!
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
me too thanks for reading
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
me too thanks for reading
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Joe Garrigan about 1 year ago
Fedor has fought under various rules and pretty much messed up every opponent put in there with him ...As much as i love couture hes a sacrificial lamb as far as fedor goes....Fedor beat hunt ,nogueira twice, herring ,cro cop , everyone whos been put in there even Kohsaka in a rematch .I seriously doubt that couture can pull off his strategy against fedor..the only time fedor hits the mat is when hes ready to submit you...otherwise he stands up throwing major bombs that can ko anybody he hits with them..He even got a flash knockdown on nogueira who has fought some very heavy handed guys....And crocop underestimated gonzaga,and cheick plus got hit with some low blows in the second and supposedly dilocated or broke a rib in the first round of that fight...Whereas fedor pounded on crocop for the three rounds of that with a rumored to be broken hand
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Joe Garrigan about 1 year ago
And also White called couture unbeatable..with Barnett sitting within like twenty feet....we all know how that fight went and if you don then jeez...and couture has been beaten by guys that werent half as skilled or as heavy handed as fedor....
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
couture is number one right now and fedor is number two until they fight in the octagon not a ring big difference.rampage is one bad dude he made chuck chuck look like a saturday nite at the bar fight. always waiting for that lucky punch i would like to fight chucky he is the worst fighter in the ufc!!! i think he better stick with acting like dorito ortiz!!dana white needs to get a mans name and get some real fighters on his little acting show!!!they seem to me to be all wanna be ultimate acting punks! i am a die hard hungry fighter sign me up mrs. dana white!!
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
you said dude
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
Hey joe what happened with cro cop in his last fight? oh yeah he got beat so he is not a strong refferance point
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
Thanks for reading
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
jesus christ, use a spell check next time you post your article. let's hope you didn't actually get paid for this.
outside your "egg in the face" spelling errors. i agree with your points.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
I find Couture boring to watch, in fact the only reason I watch the UFC is for the ex Pride fighters.
Fedor will destroy Couture. What really annoys me is uneducated American fans are.
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
What really annoys me is uneducated American fans are.
dont you mean how uneducated american fans are?
and you anonymous cowards screw with me for spelling how educated are you you loser?
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
yeah and all pride guys are gods they have done so well here so far
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Look at simple statistics. Couture (16-8=24 fights) 7 tko, 2 submission, 7 decision, 8 losses. Randy has caused the ending of 9/24 of his fights. That's 37.5%. Fedor (26-1=27 fights) 6 tko, 13 submissions, 7 decisions. Fedor has caused the ending of 19/27 of his fights. That's 70.4%. Randy is statistically not nearly as dominant of a fighter as Fedor. Fedor has more tools and is a fight stopper. Randy has many losses and is not a fight stopper. Much respect to Couture, he rocks. But, anyone who considers him #1 HW in MMA is confused.
People like to say Pride fighters haven't done as well. I say we haven't seen many enter the UFC yet. My guess is that the top 4 LHW will soon be dominated by Pride. Rampage (already proven), Shogun, The Axe Murderer, and Henderson. We'll see what happens. Only time will tell.
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
Shogun did real well last night losing to a up to that point mid level UFC light heavyweight.
also when did I say Fedor was not number 1 all I said was DO NOT write off Randy yet
and stats do not prove squat look at Shogun he never tapped before last night
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
The writer of this article is obviously bias (seemly against ex-pride fighters). First of all I do not believe there is any way in hell Couture (who is as Coleman was depicted also passed his years) could beat Fedor. His (Randy's) figting days are, as Dana White alluded to, numbered. Unlike Fedor who has much left in him. Next, Fedor has beaten nearly all the best fighters in the world while they were in their prime. Please note that Fedor was consistent with these victories which consecutively accumulated to (what I and anyone with common sense and knowledge of his career) a PERFECT RECORD! We are not gonna count that one he lost due to the cut above his eye because anyone with half a brain could clearly see that was b.s. Now let us examine Couture in like manner. Randy has done well for himself in the UFC. But Despite his career I have never seen Couture DOMINATE his opponent in the way Fedor does his (assuming one can opportunely coin Randy's victories as "dominating" at all). If anyone wants to know what a "dominant victory" looks like please observe the Fedor vs Hunt, Fedor vs Goodridge, and Fedor vs Crocop fights. Particularly the one against Mirko where Fedor seemly had him running in circles the entire fight and rightfully so for Emelianenko was out for blood! Mind you Mirko was at the top of his game and I have never seen him beaten so such a fashion. Even his trademark left-high-kick was rendered ineffective as Fedor ran through it like it was not even there. Octagon or ring, Randy Couture could not clinch such an emphatic victory over Mirko even now much less during Crocop's prime. Yet Fedor has! So how could any sensible person even think Mr. Couture capable of defeating Fedor. Furthermore, I truthfully cannot even picture Couture defeating any of the fighters (i.e. Mirko, Hunt, Randellman,etc) particularly in their prime that were defeated by Fedor. And even if Mr. Couture did win they certainly would not be dominating victories nor would they be consistent. For instance, if Couture (in his prime) fought oh lets say...Mark Hunt (also in his prime) twice I would wager Hunt clinching at least one of those victories. Now Fedor in his prime (which is still current) would lose to no fighter I know of regardless of how many times they competed and whether they were in their prime or not. Many people would rightfully argue that Fedor is the best by far and his FLAWLESS record certainly indicates so. Therefore, one cannot simply just wake up and decide they wanna fight Fedor one day. No my lad you must EARN the right to compete against the best. If Randy in his ripe old age can defeat the likes of Rampage, Randleman, W. Silva, Noguiera, Henderson, Rua, Crocop, etc (none of which he has never even face but most of which Fedor has already defeated) THEN and only then can he and his fans RIGHTFULLY expect him to challenge the likes of Fedor. But to do so considering the current circumstances is simply ludicrous. Besides if Couture defeats those I mentioned I am certain Fedor will take notice and will inevitably seek to pit himself against "the natural." Fedor wants to fight the best fighters and he has and in doing so has also defeated them. What right has Couture to expect to fight Fedor???? Because he (RC) defeated Gonzaga? Or perhaps it was because he has defeated Chuck another "UFC hotshot" who could not cut it in Pride and even defeated Couture VIA KNOCK OUT...TWICE. Not to mention "the iceman" got dismantle by Rampage (a fighter Randy has yet to even face) in both Pride and the UFC. So now lets see Mr. Couture-a fighter who got knocked out twice by a fighter (Liddell) who was decimated twice by Jackson (a Pride-caliber fighter) in both the Pride and UFC circuit can rightfully challenge Fedor- a fighter that has lost to no one??? Sounds quite foolish. If one wanted to play the statistical game Fedor has more experience then Couture as far as records are concerns. And Fedor has fought and defeated some "name brand fighters." Unlike Couture who can only boast of beating the likes of Ortiz, Liddell, Belfort, Tim Silva, Gonzaga, etc. fighters who do well in the UFC something they certainly would not be able accomplish in Pride. Please have no illusions on whether I am bias against the UFC fighters for Belfort and Arlovski are to of my favorites and I even admire Couture for being such a classy and humble fighter/man. However, can anyone imagine Wanderlei Silva, Ricardo Arona, Rampage, Hunt, Crocop, Randleman, the Ruas, The Noguerias, the Emelianenkos, etc hounding their managers and their organization to fight against the likes of Hughes, GSP, Ortiz, Liddell, T.Silva, Abbott, Arlovski, Belfort, and the "legendary" Couture before the UFC acquisition of Pride????? Certainly not and why??? Because the first group did not revere the latter as the best. Instead they focused on those within their own circuit for they knew the best was around them. Unlike the UFC characters who can't seem to be content with their status within their organization but rather insist place the bullseye on Pride fighters as well. That is the equivalent of top-notch IFL fighters wanting to challenge the upper echelon of the UFC. "Don't count out Couture???" If there is anyone not to count out it is Crocop. The Croatian has gotten off to a bad start but I assure you he is far from done. Unlike Couture who simply does not have much left in his tank, has not defeated some of the world's greatest (must less fought them), and therefore has no right to challenge Fedor. Who has Randy beat that Fedor cannot? No one. And who has Fedor defeated that Randy CAN also beat? No one (Crocop, Noguiera, Hunt, etc.). So how can one rightfully put the two in the same ring? They are not even in the same ballpark. Fedor is at the top of the MMA mountain and Couture, although on top of the hill, must ascend that mountain if he is to rightfully challenge the Russian for his spot rather than simply expecting Fedor to meet him half way. It simply does not work that way. This is not video games where one can utilize cheat codes to merrily skip to the final stage and face the boss. And frankly I do not even believe Couture could successfully climb that MMA mountain (especially now at the age of 44) to even reach Fedor. Emelianenko on the other hand has proven himself time after time by beating ALL of the best. Couture challenging Fedor is reminiscent of Jerry Stackhouse calling out Michael Jordan. Randy has had a good career in the UFC but lets leave it at that. Couture's "legacy" in the UFC DOES NOT BY FAR grant him the right to fight Fedor. He has not earned the right to fight Fedor Emelianenko nor do I believe he can!!! Fedor DOMINATED Pride whereas Couture could not even dominate the UFC. He needs to stick to retirement or go pick on some of those IFL guys or Chuck Norris WCL fighters. Fedor is out of his league.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
With the exception that Couture did beat Randleman back in 2000 I still stand by the rest of my statement :-D
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
I have nothing against ex pride guys but they have flopped over here and that is a fact and how do you justify Fedor beat Matt Lindland? he is a middleweight
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
First of all I wanna thank you for your service to this country and helping to keep America safe. It is greatly appreciated.
As far as the Fedor/Lindland thing is concern. I agree Lindland was really no match for the Russian and perhaps should not have been competing against him to begin with. However, Fedor has already beaten all the greats of world (twice in some cases for those controversy-addicted debaters whose magic word is "fluke"). Honestly, who else is there to even give Fedor a good run for his money? Must Emelianenko continue to defeat the same fighters (as improved as they maybe) over and over again in order to cement the fact that he is the best fighter in the world by far in our minds??? Fedor has defeated world-class warriors of various sizes, disciplines, strengths, and skills. As far as Lindland goes that is just one more fighter Fedor has proven he can beat. Lindland is a good wrestler but was out of his jurisdiction going up against Emelianenko. Cheers.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
The whole adapting to the cage crap works both ways, hmmm lets see who is the middle weight UFC champ- exPride fighter.And lightheavy weight champ?Pride too.What about heavyweight?Oh yeah Big Nog was Pride champ until the one true Heavyweight MMA fighter in the world Fedor dethroned him very convincingly!Randy is a great fighter but lets be serious he is not in the same league here.Sorry all you Captain America fans time to grow up and stop readin comic books Fedor would wear Pappy I mean Randy out like a pair of old socks.
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John Falcetta about 1 year ago
jesus I never said randy would beat fedor read the article I said do not write the goddamn guy off so easy
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