Fedor Emelianenko: The Floyd Mayweather Jr. of MMA?

The two most polarizing figures of their respective sports, Fedor Emelianenko and Floyd Mayweather Jr., could not be further apart in terms of personality. However, there are similarities in both fighters.

Mainly, that they were both at the top of all "pound for pound" lists and, increasingly over the past few years, have been criticized for their competition and inactivity.

For the three years between fighting Mirko Cro Cop in 2005 and Tim Sylvia in 2008, Fedor never took on a legitimate threat. It is up to the reader to decide how much of a threat Fedor's last three fights have been to him.

Sylvia turned out to offer nothing in terms of offense, but his credentials did earn him a place in the ring with Fedor. Andrei Arlovski was coming off of three wins at the time of his meeting with Fedor and looked terrific up until his stunning first-round knockout. And Brett Rogers was a giant undefeated knockout artist, also coming off a first-round knockout of Arlovski, and he was stopped in the second round.

These are all legitimate fights, but no matter how Fedor handles them, he is criticized. Taking out Sylvia and Arlovski too quickly makes them look like tune-ups in retrospect. Taking some damage from Rogers made Fedor look weak against a slightly unheralded opponent.

The question is, in 2008, who should he have fought?

Brock Lesnar didn't get his first win in the UFC until more than halfway through the year. Randy Couture would clearly be called an easy opponent if Fedor would have handled him early. Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez were'nt even on the scene yet.

With the fans, it is always about what have you done for them lately. If he doesn't completely clear out the division, then he is for the birds.

As for Mayweather, most would agree that he hasn't fought a real threat since his pair of fights with Jose Luis Castillo in 2002.

The most notable since then were Zab Judah, who was coming off a loss to journeyman Carlos Baldomir, and Oscar De LA Hoya, who was 1-1 in the three years leading up to that fight. Not world class statistics if you ask me.

However, if Floyd can get past Shane Mosely on Saturday, then he will be devoid of criticism for some time, right? No, of course not. As soon as he wins, fans will be screaming Pacquiao's name and pointing to Shane Mosely's age.

To summarize their main similarity, both built up a terrific resume early on, then let business dictate their competition. Floyd Mayweather has been living off of victories over Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, while Fedor has been living off of wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Cro Cop.

Can you blame them though? If Fedor was to dominate Brock Lesnar right now, people would point to Brock's inexperience post fight. If Floyd were to destroy Pacquiao, people would say Pacquiao was the smaller man and Floyd should have beaten him.

It really is never enough.