Fedor Emelianenko: You Truly Can't Stand Up Until You Fall

Many are quick to judge the loss of Fedor Emelianenko with a list of excuses to explain why and how the seemingly unbeatable champion lost his first fight last night against Fabricio Werdum.  Fans are often quick to criticize and discredit accomplishments when a fighter fails to take home the win.

The proud Russian said it best himself “The one who doesn't fall doesn't stand up.”  How many times have we seen great mixed martial arts combatants fall to a fighter that we did not expect to win the fight. 

There are several examples most notably Anderson Silva losing to Ryo Chonnan after out striking the Japanese fighter for the entire fight.  When it seemed to be over Chonnan pulled off an incredible submission for the win. 

Another top fighter to fall to a fighter who was counted out by fans is the popular Welterweight champion George St. Pierre.  In his first title defense he was knocked out with a vicious barrage of strikes from the compact and powerful Matt Serra.    

We all know that the one sure thing in the sport of mixed martial arts is that nothing is for sure.  With so many ways to win or lose there is a very small margin for error in fights against top competition.

With 32 wins and one official loss on his record Fedor has had an amazing run of competition.   Fedor  openly admitted to making mistakes in the fight at last night’s post fight press conference in San Jose.  “I hit Fabricio and I wanted to finish as soon as possible and at that very moment I made a mistake.” 

When asked to express what emotions he felt Fedor answered “I’m really very sorry and it’s a pity that I disappointed people who really believed in me and trusted in me but everything in life happens for some reason.” 

As we have seen time and time again it is often a loss that teaches you more than a win.  It is all about the preparation for the next fight and how you rebound from the loss that counts. 

Let us not count out someone who has given us some of the most fabulous performances in MMA history.  As Fedor said himself “The one who doesn't fall doesn't stand up.” let us all as fans of the sport give this great fighter a chance to stand back up.