Fedor Emelianenko vs Dan Henderson: 5 Bold Predictions for This Fight

Strikeforce Fedor vs. Hendo is on the horizon and will feature a classic super-fight battle between two veteran warriors in Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson. These fighters have had very great and parallel careers that have run beside each other for many years.

Henderson has always competed one weight class lower than Fedor throughout his career and this will be a new test for him, as Fedor will have a significant size and age advantage.

These fighters are on absolute opposite trends right now in their careers as Hendo is on a tremendous roll while Fedor is coming off two humbling defeats. It is extremely hard to tell which way this one will go but simple physics says that Fedor wins the day with size and strength. But does he have the fire left? We will have to tune in to see.

Here are five Bold Predictions for the fight.

5. Fedor vs. Hendo Will Not Be a Fast-Paced War

This is no disrespect to these two legends and warriors but Henderson is 41 years old and Fedor is 35. Hendo has a tendency to stalk in a fight and Fedor is a cerebral, plodding counter fighter, ready to handle whatever you want to throw at him. These two factors could make for some real lulls in action.

I hope they prove me wrong, but it will be up to Fedor to push the pace being the younger fighter and something tells me that Fedor just won't be in to being the aggressor.

4. You Will See More Right Hand Bombs Thrown Than in Any Fight Before

Both of these fighters can tend to rely heavily on the power of their respective right hands. They will stalk and lead their opponents to a spot in the cage where they are most vulnerable and then unleash the power bomb.

How will this play out in real time? Will it make for the most frustrating fight since Shamrock-Severn, or will it be an intriguing chess match of legendary will?

3. The Smaller Henderson Will Push Fedor Around

Sometimes being the bully is a state of mind and until I see a fire back in those eyes of Fedor, I will question whether his heart is still with him when he steps in the cage.

If Henderson wants it more than Fedor, we will see that very quickly in the way he battles for leverage and position when the two greats lock horns in the middle. Something has been missing in the will of Fedor in his last two outings and he will have to get it back against a bull like Henderson.

2. The Winner of This Fight Immediately Goes to Contender Status in the UFC

These men have both been to the top of this sport and back, there is no question, but whoever wins this super fight will put themselves in position for one more possible run at a title fight.

Henderson will put himself right in the mix of light-heavyweight greats with a win and will be at the end of his contract. Fedor will revive his legend and his bandwagon will once again be overflowing a la Tito Ortiz.

They will have no one else left to fight but the top dogs in the UFC.

1. Henderson Will Knock Fedor into Retirement

I think the fire has gone out of The Last Emperor. I thought it had gone out a few years ago. That is sometimes a tough thing to gauge with a robot like Emelianenko, but I see Henderson as his last stand. If Henderson knocks him out, his fighting spirit will be broken and he will hang up the MMA gloves for good.

I believe that Henderson sees this as a bigger fight than Fedor does. That will be a bad recipe for Fedor and Henderson will land his bomb before Fedor.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA (also a correspondent for MMACanada.net).

Catch him on Twitter @wakafightermma.