Is Fedor Emelianenko the Iron Mike Tyson of Cage Fighting?

The Russian heavyweight mixed martial arts cage fighter known as Fedor Emelianenko won his national television fighting debut in style last Saturday night, when he came back from the brink of defeat to end the night for Brett "The Grim" Rogers with a bone-crushing overhand right to the jaw.

The Rogers vs. Fedor matchup was the headliner in the event—which was a collaboration between Strikeforce and Russian M-1 global promotion,—and after being served up hot off the grill—on CBS prime time television—the result was certainly a satisfying feast of pugilism, which undoubtedly quelled even the most casual fight fan's appetite for blood and violence.

Long before the Emelianenkos, the Strikeforces, or the sport of cage fighting became popular, it was boxing's heavy-handed pugilists who thrilled the world with their concussive short-circuiting of opponents' messages from brain to legs.

In boxing, one could find the solid punchers, the slick lateral movers, and the crafty jabbers, but more importantly, the most devastating knockout artists in the world.

Very much similar to Emelianenko, there were plenty of power-punching heavyweights in boxing who could also knock their opponents out cold with one well-placed crack on the jaw. 

Names like Sonny Liston, who—after learning to fight while serving time at one of America's toughest prisons—went on to become one of the greatest punchers of all time with two huge knockout wins over the dominant heavyweight champion at that time, Floyd Patterson.

Before Liston came along there was another great young heavyweight named Joe Louis, who once fought a fighter named King Levinsky. Levinsky was so incapacitated by fear and frozen by his panic—concerning the fight with Louis—that he literally had to be carried to the ring.

No other boxer in history, however, was as feared, avoided, and revered for his murderous punching power as the man known as "Iron Mike."

Mike Tyson—by today's standards—was quite small for a heavyweight—a mere 5'11" and only 220 pounds—yet he could generate such devastating power from his tree trunk-sized legs and upper torso that he could literally knock out his foe with either hand.

Tyson also possessed another advantage, known as the "the fear factor"; his reputation for knockouts preceded him, thus he intimidated his opponents by his mere presence.

So badly, in fact, that most of them were beaten even before stepping into the ring with him.

Michael Spinks nearly fainted during the playing of the national anthem before his June 1988 knockout encounter with Tyson and at times seemed to be running to escape the oncoming pressure fighter.

There was no escape.

Spinks was knocked out cold in 91 seconds and never laced up gloves again.

That fight—many experts including myself feel—was during the brief period in which Tyson was undoubtedly at the fighting prime of his career.

Tyson, a pressure fighter, threw mostly all power hooks to the body and head, which came upward from his legs like a coiled spring. Very seldom could he be seen throwing a left jab or a straight punch, and that, I feel, is what led to his diminished skills later in his career.

While watching Emelianenko duke it out with Grim Rogers Saturday night, I couldn't help but reflect upon the historic boxing upset match between James Buster Douglas and Tyson in June of 1990.

Grim Rogers was not intimidated in the least by Emelianenko, so there was no fear factor; also to his credit, he had the presence of mind to see many openings—and that Emelianenko was vulnerable for a left jab, so he used it and scored well with it, breaking the Russian's nose.

Douglas, on the other hand—in his match with Tyson—literally picked the champion apart with many left jabs and followed them up with hooks, straight punches, and uppercuts.

The great lateral movement to Tyson's left—utilized by Douglas—also negated any opportunity for the champion to plant his feet in the proper way in order to unleash his knockout-style hooks, which he previously had become famous for.

I think Grim Rogers had the correct game plan, and he executed his boxing game well against the Russian, but not well enough.

Rogers needed more of those nose-breaking jabs and also—with lateral movement—to circle away from the right hand power of the Russian.

Of course, a boxing match it wasn't, and it also wasn't Buster Douglas facing Emelianenko. However, the Russian's stand-up punching game—in my opinion—is very similar to Tyson's.

Emelianenko loads up on every punch, is beatable with a jab and straight punches, and I feel if he ever found himself in the big show, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, he might need to learn a little bit more than that old, Hendo vs. Bisping style "look low, go high" punch.

It's old, and he has used the same punch in back-to-back fights with Andrei Arlovski and Rogers, and even though it has produced great crowd-thrilling results, someone, someday soon, is bound to solve that very simple equation.

However, there shouldn't be any fear of that happening at Strikeforce any time in the near future, as his next opponents will be hand-picked from the two Brazilian "Tomato Cans" which nearly put us to sleep on the undercard.

The ones who took turns playing slap-fest-patty-cake for three full rounds.

Yes, I'm speaking of Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Fabricio "Were-done" Werdum.

One of these two wannabes is a UFC exiled fighter, who regardless of hype and black belt credentials couldn't make the cut in the big leagues of the UFC.

The other, Silva—a subpar fighter and Sasquatch lookalike—has also gone as far as he is going. However, he will make a great gift for Emelianenko somewhere down the road, at a future Strikeforce event.

So it looks to be "business as usual" for Emelianenko, safe and sound at Strikeforce; because if not for the unforeseen future, there isn't another James Buster Douglas anywhere in sight.

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