Bleacher Report - Articles by Brett Puddy

When Nothing Remains: MMA and the Terror of Retirement

Brett Puddy — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:08:01 -0400

There is a fear that grips all fighters, regardless of their talent, a sense of awareness that what was once their future has now become their past and that they are powerless to make a new beginning in a sport that favors youth, strength, and speed.

Having relentlessly tester their skill in combat for the whole of their professional lives, many fighters are hesitant, if not outright unwilling, to submerge themselves in the bleak abyss of retirement.

Not content with coaching, commentating, managing, or any of the more mundane aspects of MMA, great fighters will often attempt to push themselves beyond their physical limits by competing against opponents who have evolved to such an extent that they have rendered the abilities of their predecessors obsolete (see Coleman vs. Rua II and Shamrock vs. Diaz for excellent examples of this phenomenon).

Fueled by past glories that were all too fleeting and the adrenaline rush they received when their hand was raised in victory, former champions see retirement as a form of acquiescence; a giving in to the ravages of time and a personal admission of their inability to perform at an elite level.

Oftentimes, the acceptance of one's mortality is a bitter pill to swallow, so bitter in fact that a fighter would rather risk injury or public mockery than admit that he is no longer capable of duplicating those feats of endurance and youthful physicality that initially made him such an overwhelming success.

While such battle-hardened competitors run the stylistic gamut from the absurd (Tank Abbot, Ken Shamrock, Phil Baroni) to the truly legendary (Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, Matt Hughes), all suffer from a failure to comprehend that their best fights are behind them and that the future holds no promise of another title shot.

Perhaps the most recognizable adherent to this lamentable trend is none of than perennial fan favorite Randy Couture, whose less than stellar outing against Brock Lesnar proved that time is quickly catching up with the former champion.

At 45 years of age, Couture is not only the elder statesman of the UFC but also the oldest fighter in the world to be battling top ten heavyweights.

His compulsive desire to compete, coupled with his refusal to relinquish his championship hopes, has blinded Couture to the fact that his skills, which formidable, will not be enough to allow him to advance in the heavyweight division.

Rather than continue to subject himself to the ignominy of death, Couture should have retired after he annihilated Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74.

Had he made a clean break from MMA in 2007, Couture would have saved himself the trouble of a lengthy legal confrontation with UFC president Dana White, as well as a disappointing "comeback" loss to Brock Lesnar.

As it stands, Couture is currently entrenched in the purgatorial portion of his MMA career. Even if he were to defeat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102, the chance of Couture receiving a title shot against either Frank Mir or Brock Lesnar are tenuous, at best.

While a victory against Nogueira would be a monumental achievement for Couture, placing him in a match for the UFC heavyweight crown would reek of both favoritism and sensationalism; there are already a number of lesser known (and less popular) fighters in line for a title shot, chief among them Cheick Kongo and future star Shane Carwin.

However, if Couture loses to Nogueira, as many predict he will, his MMA record will fall to 16-10 (which translates to a 63% winning percentage) and talk of another title shot will instantly become meaningless.

Still, Randy Couture isn't the only former champion who should seriously consider retirement. Known throughout the MMA world for his brutal fighting style and tireless work ethic, Wanderlei Silva has reached the point in his career where he can no longer compete at a championship level.

Boasting a record of 1-4 in his last five fights, Silva's position as resident headhunter in the light heavyweight division depends solely on his past achievements in PRIDE and not on his recent performances in the octagon.

In his bout against Quinton Jackson (a man whom Silva absolutely dominated in PRIDE), at UFC 92, Silva appeared sluggish, as if he were unable to keep up the ferocious pace that earned him the moniker "The Axe Murderer."

While such an uncharacteristic showing may not seems like a suitable reason for retirement, it should be remembered that, in recent years, three of Silva's four losses have come by way of knockout; the most memorable of which was a horrifyingly accurate head kick from Mirko Filipovic.

Despite the fact that Silva is renowned for his immense durability and dauntless fighting persona, such unforgiving punishment does nothing to help a competitor who has fought in over 40 MMA bouts and whose technique calls for him to charge headlong into battle, so as to provide fans with a memorable spectacle.

If Silva loses his upcoming match with Rich Franklin at UFC 99, he will have won only 17 percent of his past six fights, a record that will almost certainly spell his doom as a serious MMA competitor.

Yet, there are those in MMA who, unlike Couture and Silva, should unquestionably retire from the sport, not after their next fight, but immediately, so that they might save themselves from further professional embarrassment.

While many have argued that formerly dominant fighters like Matt Hughes, Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic, and Ricco Rodriguez should consider retirement within the years, perhaps the most eligible candidate for instant retirement is Mark "The Hammer" Coleman.

Notorious for his lack of conditioning when he fought as a heavyweight, Coleman appeared equally exhaustible during his 205-pound debut against Mauricio Rua.

A one-dimensional fighter when he was in his prime, Coleman's current fight game contains no dimensions whatsoever.

His trademark ground-and-pound tactics having been adopted by virtually every grappling-based fighter in MMA, Coleman should now be viewed as a MMA innovator rather than a promising competitor.

Much like the proverbial fish that refused to leave the familiar waters of his youth and learn to walk on dry land, Coleman has never evolved as a fighter; his present techniques are those of his mid 90's heyday, only now he is 44 years old and no longer able to dominate opponents with brute force alone.

An embarrassment to MMA (commentator Joe Rogan noted that in his last fight with Rua, Coleman looked like "a confused old man"), Coleman has not earned a victory over a worthwhile competitor since his May 2000 win against Igor Vovchanchyn.

Still, Coleman is not solely to blame for the farce that his career has become. It is obvious to those familiar with Coleman's rise to greatness that he currently is being exploited by Dana White for monetary gain.

For a man who supposedly wants to "protect" his fighters (as he protected Chuck Liddell by subtly forcing him into retirement after his April 2009 loss to Mauricio Rua at UFC 97), Dana White is using Coleman's past celebrity and drawing power to promote fights with the former heavyweight champion that have no business taking place.

His upcoming bout against a troubled Stephan Bonnar, while not as ubiquitously promoted as his second contest with Rua, should be the last time that Coleman appears in the octagon.

If, by some act of divine intervention, Coleman manages to emerge victorious then it is Stephan Bonnar, and not "The Hammer," who should consider the advantages of retirement.

While many fighters wisely make the decision to retire from MMA at the appropriate time, or else disappear into the vast network of lesser known MMA promotions, there exists a small minority of competitors who must be reminded that their period of greatness has come and gone.

Unfortunately, for such veterans, their unwillingness to accept their own limitations causes irreparable damage to their MMA legacy and ultimately works to undermine the integrity of the sport.

Perhaps there will always be fighters who don't understand that quitting while you are ahead is a far different thing from quitting altogether, because, as anyone who has ever been involved in MMA will tell you, quitting is never an option.

No More Worlds To Conquer: Anderson Silva and the Tragedy of Greatness

Brett Puddy — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:33:49 -0400

The bizarre spectacle that fight fans witnessed durning the middleweight championship bout at UFC 97 was, to put it bluntly, an embarrassment to the sport of MMA. What transpired was not a pairing of equals, but rather the result of Joe Silva's astute decision to pit a cat against a mouse. In essence, the five round debacle between Anderson Silva and Thales Leites was nothing more than an attempt by the UFC to cash in on Silva's massive celebrity.

Still, it shouldn't be assumed that Leites is a substandard fighter; his record alone renders claims of inadequacy irrelevant. However, it was readily apparent to all who saw the playful mauling that Silva administered to his less experienced adversary that Leites was simply not ready to compete with the man who has been dubbed by the UFC hype-machine as "the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world." The obvious opponent for Silva to have defended his title against would have been the much maligned Michael Bisping, whose nearly perfect recond in the octagon effectively assured him of a title shot. Yet, rather than allow Silva to fight the number one contender for the middleweight crown, the UFC did what it has always done and protected Bisping from an opponent who could almost certainly have defeated him. From a business standpoint, one cannot fault the UFC for their decision; Bisping is the UFC's marquis name in the United Kingdom and to tarnish his record would, presumably, cause European fight fans to lose interest in a sport that is already dominated by Americans, Brazilians, Russians, and the Japanese. Therefore, with Silva/Bisping title fight doomed from the start, it should have come as no surprise to MMA insiders that Joe Silva and his ilk chose Thales Leites as their sacrificial lamb, no doubt hoping that he would prove more of a challenge for the middleweight champion than Silva's last opponent, the ironically named Patrick "The Predator" Cote. Sadly, much like Cote, Leites was overwhelmed by the mere presence of the champion and mounted no offense whatsoever for the duration of the fight, suffering only superficial injuries from Silva, who somnolently toyed with his prey.

Yet, if Leites was hesitant to engage in a striking contest with Silva, preferring to ineptly illustrate jiu-jitsu skills that were once the bane of lesser mortals, who could blame him? Since his arrival in the UFC in June, 2006, Silva has demolished the competition at 185 lbs, earning impressive victories over top ranked fighters like Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt, and Rich Franklin. While his crushing defeat of respected brawler Chris Leben illustrated Silva's uncanny ability to quickly finish fights from the Thai clench, it was his domination of former middleweight champion Rich Franklin which proved that Anderson Silva was a fighter to be feared. Even though Silva's next opponent, Travis "The Serial Killer" Lutter, was certainly not afraid of him, as future competitors would prove to be, that didn't stop Silva from viciously defeating Lutter with a barrage of elbows to the skull while Lutter was simultaneously trapped in a triangle choke. A second display of striking prowess against Rich Franklin, followed by a submission victory over Dan Henderson, and a punishing knockout of James Irvin in his 205 lbs. debut cemented Silva's reputation as the most dangerous fighter in the UFC. With multiple wins via submission and knockout, pretenders to the middleweight throne quickly vanished as Rich Franklin fled to the light heavyweight division so as to escape the possibility of a third fight with Silva.

Still, it has been argued that Silva has not faced a truly worthy opponent since his victory over Dan Henderson in March, 2008. His past two bouts (against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites, respectively) have proven to be futile exercises in outlandish showmanship, with Silva playing the role of the charismatic champion, the disinterested genius, and the fidgety buffoon throughout the course of a given fight. The oddity of such vaudevillian performances was further enhanced by the fact that both Cote and Leites appeared to be wonderstruck by their good fortune at being involved in a championship bout with the peerless Anderson Silva. In their "fights" (if that is what one calls a pairing between a man and an inanimate object), Cote and Leites looked like rank amateurs, dazzled by the bright lights of a big city arena. It was as if any skill they previously possessed disappeared, as if they were magically enchanted by the aura of perfection that seemingly emanates from Anderson Silva.

Aware of his Svengali-like effect on Cote and Leites, Silva toyed with his opponents, daring them to fight back, oftentimes encouraging them to mount some semblance of an offense by holding his hands at his waistline, a gesture that is universally recognized as a sign of a fighter's contempt for his adversary's striking ability. Such eccentric showings by Silva have puzzled the MMA community, fueling speculation that Silva's unwillingness to finish his most recent fights is a form of protest and that Silva believes that he is not being truly tested as middleweight champion.

Yet, if someone is to blame for the fact that Anderson Silva is a ferociously dominant fighter who has scared off the competition, it is Anderson Silva himself. This recent wave of overly timid opponents and lackluster outings is not due to any failing on Silva's part, but rather a natural byproduct of Silva's unparalelled success in the UFC and is to be expected when a fighter rules his weight class with an iron fist. However, if Anderson Silva continues to defend his middleweight title against second-tier competition, the legacy of perfect that he has worked so hard to build will be irreprably damaged.

Nevertheless, the question remains, who is Anderson Silva to fight in the middleweight division? While opinions vary regarding such a question, the consensus is that Silva will have to move up to the ranks of the light heavyweights if he wants to seriously test his skills. There, Silva will not only find a treasure trove of talent but also a number of fighters who would gladly give him the challenge he so desperately seeks. Among the impressive list of potential competitors for Silva at 205 lbs. are former champions Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson, relative newcomers Luiz Cane and Thiago Silva, and, of course, current champion Rashad Evans. A Silva/Machida match would be a dream for fight fans, but would almost certainly never happen due to the close relationship that exists between Silva and the aspiring champion.

Whereas much of his future fighting career remains uncertain, it is only in the light heavyweight division that Silva can hope to end his MMA career and, therby, be fully recognized as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. With four fights left on his UFC contract before his alleged retirement, Silva has more than enough time to challenge himself to the absolute limit of his abilities.

Already considered by many to be among the best to have ever graced the confines of the octagon, it is the inevitable tragedy of greatness that has recently cast a funereal cloud over Silva's career; a tragedy that no dominant fighter can ever manage to escape...unless they lose, and the illusion of invincibility that once surrounded them disappears along with their former greatness. Anderson Silva is now entering the most dangerous era in his MMA career, an era in which he can either risk everything by fighting more aggressive opponents, and thereby confirm his status as a legend, or risk nothing, and become a cautionary tale, a walking monument to wasted talent.

Fearing the Reaper: The Rise of Aleksander Emelianenko

Brett Puddy — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:51:31 -0400

As a MMA competitor, Aleksander Emelianenko is both blessed and cursed. On the one hand his primary training partner is Fedor Emelianenko (the best fighter on the planet), on the other, Aleksander is Fedor’s younger brother and, therefore, will always find himself obscured by Fedor’s Atlas-like shadow.

Doomed to always be compared to and eclipsed by Fedor, it has been somewhat difficult for Aleksander to make a name for himself in the fiercely competitive world of MMA.

Hampered by a lack of focus and ongoing legal troubles, which have made it nearly impossible for him to fight in promotions outside of Europe and Japan, Aleksander has yet to reach his true potential as a fighter.

Possessed with wondrous hand speed and tremendous striking skills, Aleksander has all the tools to become a dominating force (perhaps even a champion) in whatever organization happens to sign him. Yet, for some reason, Aleksander has been unable to break into the ranks of the world’s perennial top ten heavyweights, perhaps because the majority of his opponents have not been among the greatest that MMA has to offer.

A two-time world Sambo champion, Aleksander shares many of the same characteristics that made his brother, Fedor, such an unparalleled success, among them, incredible speed, precision punching power, and outstanding grappling prowess.

Still, it should not be assumed that just because Aleksander routinely trains with Fedor that their fighting styles are at all similar. Whereas Fedor is known as a submission specialist, who often beats his opponents into a state of total insensibility while on the ground, Aleksander is a prototypical brawler and enjoys trading punches whenever possible.

With his relaxed hand-down stance and Ali-like footwork, Aleksander is one of MMA’s most unusual strikers. His apparent indifference to his adversary’s strengths is only overshadowed by his obvious belief in his own. Rarely engaging in ground-and-pound wars of attrition, Aleksander prefers to a unleash a rapid serious of strikes against his opponents which, more often than not, leave them sprawled unconscious on the canvas.

Yet, what separates Aleksander from garden variety knockout artists is the fact that he is continuously able to land overwhelmingly powerful strikes with pinpoint precision. (For an excellent example of this, see Aleksander’s fifteen second destruction of Brazilian “mutant” Ricardo Morais).

However, Aleksander’s preference for pugilistic skirmishes is not always a good thing. Unlike his brother, Aleksander can be knocked out, as Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic proved in 2004, when Aleksander (in his fourth professional fight) fell victim to the Croatian’s dreaded left high kick. Undaunted by his loss to Cro Cop (who was demolishing practically everyone in PRIDE, with the exception of Fedor, in 2004), Aleksander would go on to win his next five fights in a row before losing to Josh “The Baby Faced Assassin” Barnett via submission.

While Aleksander’s five sequential victories were against physical freak shows (Morais) and Neanderthal-like football hooligans (James Thompson) and other MMA disappointments, he managed to prove to all concerned that he deserved to be counted among MMA’s future luminaries.

Even in his match against a far more experienced Josh Barnett, Aleksander was able to land a number of well placed punches that rocked the former UFC champion, forcing him to take Aleksander to the mat in order to earn a victory.

Shortly after a tough, but not entirely unexpected, loss to Barnett, Aleksander found himself squaring off against Russia’s other rising star, Sergei Kharitonov, a fighter who also possessed fearsome striking skills. In what would prove to be the best performance of his career, Aleksander managed to weather a torrential storm of punches from Kharitonov and secure a TKO victory after landing a barrage of punches and knees while on the ground.

With his first defeat of a truly worthy opponent, Aleksander saw his stock in the MMA world rise quickly. His next fight, against Brazilian juggernaut Fabricio Werdum, was a must-win scenario for Aleksander if he wanted to continue climbing the ladder of success. However, the Aleksander who did battle with Werdum was not the same Aleksander who destroyed Kharitonov.

Looking uncharacteristically sluggish, Aleksander was pummeled on ground before succumbing to an arm triangle from the much more aggressive Werdum.

While Aleksander rebounded from his lost to Werdum, winning his next four fights in a row, his victories are somewhat hollow, in as much as Aleksander is fighting opponents that have not even attained journeyman status.

With the exception of Dan Bobish, an experienced but unexceptional fighter, Aleksander’s last four MMA outings have been more like sparring matches than actual fights. This failure to fight top level competition is causing Aleksander not to be taken seriously by MMA insiders, many of whom view him as being a byproduct of his brother‘s success.

However, such comparisons, while a matter of course, are not entirely fair to Aleksander, whose possess all the tools of a future champion, but none of the means to use them against worthy adversaries.

Aleksander’s much anticipated bout with Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello, at Affliction’s inaugural event, would not only have given the Russian an excellent opportunity to display his monstrous punching power in America for the first time, but also exposed him to an audience that is thirsting to watch MMA’s best from overseas.

A victory over a well respected combatant like Buentello would have undoubtedly led to future fights with top ranked opponents. Yet, in an unfortunate turn of events, Aleksander was not allowed to fight Buentello because he failed to meet CSAC licensing requirements.

Less than 24 hours before the fight, Aleksander was taken off of Affliction’s preliminary card and replaced by the ubiquitous Gary Goodridge, who subsequently lost via decision to “The Headhunter.” While the specific reason why the CSAC would not allow Aleksander to fight is unknown, many MMA analysts have speculated that Aleksander’s criminal record (he was convicted of robbery and spent three years in prison) kept him from competing in America.

Still, gaining acceptance in America’s fickle MMA community is the least of Aleksander’s worries; his record of 13-3 virtually assures that he will eventually find himself pitted against someone in the US, once his legal troubles are cleared up.

Rather, Aleksander’s biggest concern should be escaping his brother’s professional shadow; a shadow which has grown to such immense proportions (especially after Fedor’s annihilation of Tim Sylvia) that it now engulfs the entire MMA world.

As long as he remains in the same promotions in which his brother is the reigning heavyweight champion (formerly PRIDE, currently Affliction), Aleksander will never be able to truly become the multifaceted fighter he is capable of being.

Even if Aleksander were to dominate his future competition and earn a shot at the WAMMA heavyweight title, it is extremely unlikely that the Emelianenko brothers would ever fight each other.

While such a pairing would make for the MMA match of the century, Aleksander has a long way to go before he is ready for a title shot against any major champion, much less his brother.

With Affliction on unsteady ground, financially, and with Fedor as the beleaguered promotion’s champion, it would be wise for Aleksander to consider signing with another organization; one which would allow him to test himself against quality opponents.

Immediately out of the running are promotions like Elite XC, Strikeforce, and Cage Rage. Such organizations, while well established in the MMA world, simply do not have any fighters who would be capable of lasting more than a few minutes with Aleksander Emelianenko (and that includes media darling Kimbo Slice).

A match between Aleksander and pituitary anomaly Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva might make for an interesting fight, at least for a minute or so. The UFC might have been a good fit for the Russian, but due to Dana White’s brash antics and thoroughly unprofessional behavior during contract negotiations, neither Aleksander nor Fedor were able come to terms with America’s largest MMA promotion.

Rather, an excellent organization for Aleksander to consider signing with, one which is filled with exceptional fighters, would be DREAM. Having replaced PRIDE as the primary breeding ground for new talent in Europe and Japan, DREAM would be the ideal place for Aleksander to sharpen his already impressive skills.

In DREAM, Aleksander would be able to not only avenge one of his loses to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, but also test himself against other outstanding fighters such as Mark Hunt, Sergei Kharitonov and Alistair Overeem.

A further incentive for Aleksander to sign with DREAM is the fact that, at the moment, DREAM does not have a heavyweight champion. While it would not necessarily be easy for Aleksander to become DREAM’s first heavyweight title holder, it is entirely conceivable that he could claim the title when the opportunity presents itself and, thereby, begin a legacy of his own.

One of the most promising fighters in all of MMA, Aleksander Emelianenko has no choice but to seek out worthy opponents if he wants to become a champion anytime in the near future. With striking skills that are rivaled only by Fedor and a solid grappling background, Aleksander only needs a handful of quality victories to see himself rise to the ranks of the world’s top ten heavyweights.

While signing with an American promotion would definitely enhance his profile, Aleksander does not need his career hindered by the infighting and blatant favoritism that takes place in certain US MMA organizations; organizations that promote fighters who are past their prime while disregarding their younger talent.

If Aleksander signs with a promotion that will regard him as an unique individual, rather than Fedor’s younger brother, then he will be free to unleash his striking blitzkrieg on the MMA world once again and, with a little luck, capture the heavyweight championship that has thus far eluded him.

Slaying the Minotaur: Can Anyone in the UFC Defeat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira?

Brett Puddy — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:15:26 -0400

Slaying the Minotaur: Can Anyone in the UFC Defeat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira?

What is a fighter to do when they have been ranked as the No. 2 heavyweight in the world for the past four years? This is a question that fans of submission master Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira have been asking themselves ever since the Brazilian’s second loss to the apparently unbeatable Fedor Emelianenko.

A dominant fighter in Japan, Nogueira became the PRIDE organization’s first heavyweight champion by systematically dismantling his opponents with some of the most impressive submissions ever seen.

His uncanny ability to absorb absurd amounts of punishment, as witnessed in a memorable outing against Bob Sapp (Nogueira weighed 150 pounds less than “The Beast,” whom he defeated via armbar), proved that Nogueira was unlike any jiu-jitsu practitioner in the short but prestigious history of MMA.

Following a series of victories against MMA veterans such as Gary Goodridge, Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, Semmy Schilt, and Dan Henderson (the very man who had defeated Nogueira several years previously in RINGS), it appeared as if Nogueira would rule PRIDE’s heavyweight division with an iron fist.

Yet, unfortunately, this proved not to be the case for Nogueira, who was relentlessly assaulted by relative newcomer Fedor Emelianenko in a three-round war that resulted in Nogueira losing the PRIDE heavyweight championship.

Still, despite the fact that he would never regain the title, in the years to come, Nogueira would go on to defeat nearly every top-ranked heavyweight in the world, except Fedor, whom he would lose to for a second time in late 2004.

Highly successful, but never able to regain his position as king of the heavyweight mountain, Nogueira would not be able to escape Fedor’s shadow until the UFC bought, and subsequently closed down, PRIDE FC.

Immediately signed by Dana White, Nogueira instantly found himself a top contender in the UFC’s heavyweight division; a division that, as of July 2007, was seeing its talent disappear at an alarming rate.

With only an increasingly disenchanted Randy Couture, a virtually non-existent Andrei Arlovski, and a lackluster Tim Sylvia to keep the UFC’s longest-running division alive, the influx of new fighters from PRIDE was seen by many MMA insiders as a change for the better.

However, much to the surprise of fans and analysts alike, many of PRIDE’s most feared and respected fighters did not find success in the UFC. Heath Herring, who was the first high-profile PRIDE fighter to make the transition to the UFC, quickly found himself being defeated by the likes of Jake O’Brien and later (who could believe it) Brock Lesnar.

Similarly, Mirko “Cro cop” Filipovic, one of the most dominant combatants in the history of PRIDE, lost to French kickboxer Cheick Kongo and jiu-jitsu phenom Gabriel Gonzaga. In the light-heavyweight division, PRIDE sensation Wanderlei Silva met with a fate similar to that of his larger counterparts and lost his first match to a surprisingly reserved Chuck Liddell.

Still, Nogueira, who ironically faced Heath Herring (a nemesis of his from Japan) in his first bout, found immediate success in the UFC; winning via unanimous decision and thereby gaining his third-straight victory over “The Texas Crazy Horse.”

With no worthy challengers anywhere on the horizon, UFC fight-maker Joe Silva quickly scheduled a match between Nogueira and perennial title contender Tim Sylvia for the vacant UFC heavyweight championship, which had been abandoned by Randy Couture.

For the first time since his last battle with Josh Barnett, Nogueira was facing an opponent that could actually defeat him; an opponent that had been counted among the best fighters in the UFC for almost six years.

Yet, ultimately, “The Maine-iac” was no match for the dauntless Nogueira, who, after taking a number of punches that would have left a lesser man unconscious, managed to submit Sylvia with ease once the fight went to the ground.

With his defeat of Sylvia (who soon left the UFC and signed with Affliction), Nogueira was once again a MMA champion, albeit an interim one.

Soon after his impressive victory at UFC 81, speculation began to grow as to whom Nogueira would face in his first title defense. While many excellent fighters were considered, one name seemed to cry out for attention, that of submission guru and former champion Frank Mir.

Plagued by injuries and a continual lack of focus throughout his professional career, Mir seemed an unlikely choice to challenge Nogueira for dominance over the UFC’s heavyweight division.

The Mir/Nogueira showdown, which is set to take place in December, at UFC 92, might possibly be one of the most anticipated fights of the year. Naturally, many in the MMA world assume that Nogueira will easily pick apart the less-experienced Mir, whose most noteworthy wins have come against the likes of Tim Sylvia and Brock Lesnar.

However, it would be a wise move for such prognosticators to take into account a few facts before rushing to a decision about Mir’s chances, or lack thereof, against Nogueira.

While there is no question that Nogueira has faced more top-10 heavyweights than Mir, and has submitted the vast majority of his opponents in fairly short order, Mir is also among the most renowned submission experts in MMA and has never been submitted himself.

Of course, the same thing can also be said about Nogueira, who has never once been submitted or knocked out, for that matter, not even by his greatest rival Fedor Emelianenko. Rather, all four of Nogueira’s losses have come via judges decision after incredible showings against some of MMA’s best fighters.

Dissimilarly, Mir has suffered TKO losses against fighters whose skills are not quite on the same level as those of Fedor, Josh Barnett, and Dan Henderson (all of whom hold victories over Nogueira); fighters ranging from the ranks of the respectable (Ian Freeman and Brandon Vera) to the outright disreputable (Marcio Cruz).

On paper, Mir has already lost his upcoming fight with Nogueira. Mir’s size advantage is negligible and his submission game, while among the best in MMA, is simply not as good as that of the Brazilian.

Furthermore, it is extremely unlikely that Mir will be able to knock out Nogueira, since Mir has only scored one knockout victory in his entire MMA career. Unable to win by knockout or submission, Mir will be forced to attempt to win a decision victory, something that might prove quite difficult for the former champion, since he is not known for his conditioning.

Conversely, Nogueira is considered one of the best-conditioned athletes in MMA and is famous for constantly pressing the action of a fight by repeatedly attempting to apply his lethal submissions.

For Mir to defeat Nogueira, he will have to take the fight to the ground early on and hope that he can dominate the world’s best grappler. Mir definitely does not want to engage in a standup brawl with Nogueira, whose boxing skills, while rarely displayed, are not something that should be taken lightly by any fighter.

If Mir does somehow manage to gain a decision victory over Nogueira, he will see his marketability in the UFC soar to previously unimagined heights. If Mir fails, it might well be the final nail in the coffin of his MMA career.

So, the question remains: If Frank Mir can’t defeat Nogueira, who can?

With an abundance of good, but not necessarily great, fighters in the heavyweight division, the UFC does not have many options when it comes to finding opponents for a man who has vanquished some of the best competitors in MMA.

Perhaps the answer as to why Nogueira has not fought since winning the heavyweight title in February of this year is as simple as this: Dana White does not have any fighters in his stable that are capable of challenging the interim champion, much less capable of defeating him.

Immediately out of the running are virtual nonentities Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez, and Jake O’Brien; their lack of experience and victories over no-name competitors put them at the bottom of the heavyweight heap in the UFC.

Brock Lesnar, the new Tank Abbot of the UFC, is also not a viable candidate to fight Nogueira since, with his excessive muscularity, he would go the way of Bob Sapp and fall prey to one of Nogueira’s vicious submissions.

In truth, there are only a handful of fighters who have the skills necessary to seriously challenge a MMA legend like Nogueira; among them are rising stars Fabricio Werdum, Gabriel Gonzaga, and (the wild card of the bunch) Brandon Vera.

Having dropped down to the light heavyweight division after experiencing two tough losses in a row, it is highly unlikely that Brandon “The Truth” Vera will ever step into the octagon with Nogueira.

However, if he does make the transition back to the weight class in which he truly belongs, a Vera/Nogueira match up would make for am interesting pairing. A complete contrast in styles, Vera’s excellent striking ability would aid him tremendously against Nogueira and his inescapable submissions.

With six of his nine MMA victories coming by way of knockout, Vera would have to employ every trick in his striking arsenal (especially his deadly head kicks) in order to keep Nogueira off balance.

If Vera could avoid being taken down, or resist the temptation to engage Nogueira in a grappling war, it is not out of the realm of possibility that he could score a TKO victory with a suddenly flurry of strikes, much like when he beat Frank Mir into a state of semi-consciousness.

A knockout win for Vera is essentially impossible, since there is almost no chance of Vera being able to do what Fedor, Cro cop, and Josh Barnett were unable to do. Still, if “Minotauro” (as Nogueira is affectionately called) were to take down Vera, even once, the sun would immediately begin to set on Vera’s chances of being the first UFC fighter to win against the interim champion.

Realistically, Vera would lose to Nogueira by submission, just as so many have before him. Even so, a match between Vera and Nogueira would be perfect for those fans who enjoy watching strikers battle grapplers.

Another fight that would be quite interesting, and one that is much more likely to happen, would be Nogueira vs. Gonzaga. Known throughout the MMA world for his phenomenal jiu-jitsu skills, Gabriel Gonzaga has quickly become a force to be reckoned with in the UFC.

Famous for nearly decapitating Mirko “Cro cop” Filipovic with a monstrous head kick, Gonzaga boasts a MMA record of 10-3, his only losses coming from Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum, who has beaten him twice.

While not as experienced as Nogueira, Gonzaga is a highly evolved fighter that can quickly transition between striking and grappling and, in theory, would be comfortable challenging the current champion standing up or on the ground. Unlike a Nogueira/Vera matchup, Gonzaga’s theoretical fight with Nogueira would be a grappling masterpiece: an intensely technical chess match between two jiu-jitsu masters who have never been submitted themselves.

If Gonzaga could wear him down with his solid striking ability, he would stand a chance to win against Nogueira, either by submission or judges decision. Once more, a knockout victory seems highly unlikely but, then again, many MMA analysts thought that Cro cop would be the one to knock out Gonzaga, not vice versa.

Yet, if one could look into a crystal ball and see the future of a clash between Gonzaga and Nogueira, they would undoubtedly witness Nogueira winning a unanimous decision victory over the Mundials tournament winner.

All theorizing aside, there is no question that Nogueira’s greatest competition in the UFC will come from Fabricio Werdum, another jiu-jitsu world champion and one of the most fearsome strikers in MMA. A product of the prestigious Chute Box Academy, Werdum is more than capable of trading punches with Nogueira and is in little danger of falling victim to his submissions.

Having been defeated by Nogueira once before in PRIDE (via unanimous decision), Werdum has improved tremendously as a fighter and holds impressive victories over Brandon Vera, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Aleksander Emelianenko.

Much like his potential opponent, Werdum has never been knocked out or submitted, his other two losses coming from Andrei Arlovski and Sergei Kharitonov by way of decision.

Beloved for his furious striking assaults on his opponents, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that Werdum could pummel Nogueira so unmercifully that the referee would be forced to step in and put a stop to the carnage.

However, if Werdum does not overwhelm Nogueira with his superior striking ability, then a jiu-jitsu stalemate will ensue, with neither fighter able to apply a decent submission. In this hypothetical contest, a judges' decision could go either way, depending on which fighter sets the faster pace and attempts the most submissions.

Free from the possibility of having to face Fedor for a third time (at least temporarily), Nogueira is the man to beat in the UFC’s heavyweight division. While not quite as intimidating as his Russian adversary, Nogueira stands to dominate his opponents in the UFC in much the same fashion that Fedor dominated everyone he faced in PRIDE.

With a victory over Mir practically assured, it will be somewhat difficult for Dana White and fight guru Joe Silva to find challengers that are willing to have their careers significantly slowed down by Brazil’s premiere submission specialist.

Barring a catastrophic injury (or an act of God), it is safe to say that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will go down in history as one of the great UFC heavyweight champions.

They All Go Into the Dark: The Necessity of Evolution in MMA

Brett Puddy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:25:05 -0400

While MMA has gained legions of fans over the past few years, some of us are able to recall the earliest days of the sport; the days when less than stellar fighters attempted to display their skills in martial arts as diverse as ninjitsu, pit fighting (thank you, Tank Abbot), and, of course, everyone’s favorite—sumo wrestling.

These fighters, many of whom gave up their MMA careers after only a few losses, helped future generations to understand that certain fighting styles simply aren’t viable in the world of MMA.

One would think (at least we did in the earlier days of MMA) that a gigantic sumo wrestler would manhandle his smaller opponent, or that a self-professed ninja (Scott Morris, you clown) would dismantle whoever was foolish enough to cross his path. Alas, was anyone ever so young?

It quickly became apparent to fighters that if you wanted to succeed in MMA you had to have a ground game. Early UFC combatant Ken Shamrock definitely had submission skills, but when confronted with the devastating submission prowess of Royce Gracie, Shamrock looked like a rank amateur.

Suddenly, every fighter in America who wasn’t adamant about being a wrestler became obsessed with learning the secrets of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Within no time, Brazilian jiu-jitsu became the first line of defense and offense for fighters looking to improve their skills on the ground. Ground fighting, and by extension submission based grappling, became the means by which the majority of early MMA fights were won.

For you doubters, the truth of the previous statement is clearly witnessed by the fact that the main events for UFC’s I-VI were won by fighters using BJJ based submissions. It wasn’t until UFC VII, and the introduction of lethal striker Marco Ruas, that the merits of striking came to be more fully appreciated.

Yet, after his meteoric rise to greatness, Ruas disappeared back into the shadows, leaving MMA to be dominated by a series of fighters whose background was in wrestling, among them Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Randy Couture, and Tito Ortiz.

In the ensuing years, a silent war would be waged in MMA; a war in which grapplers battled strikers for supremacy of a sport that was experiencing exponential growth. In the UFC, high caliber strikers like Chuck Liddell showed the MMA world that a fighter didn’t have to have submissions, or even a ground game, to be successful. Similarly, Liddell’s pro-striking template would be mirrored by Wanderlei Silva and Quinton Jackson, both of whom scored monstrous knockouts against their opponents in Japan’s PRIDE organization.

For years, no single fighter (other than Fedor Emelianenko, who was still fighting exclusively in Japan and was essentially unknown in America) was able to grow significantly in each aspect of their MMA game.

Sure there were great strikers (Liddell) and excellent grapplers (Hughes), but none of them seemed to have the complete package. If they excelled in one aspect of fighting, they were deficient in another.

Then, in January 2004, at UFC 46, astrange thing happened. The world was introduced to a fighter by the name of Georges St. Pierre; a fighter who was more well rounded than any UFC competitor before him. Strong, fast, and extremely agile, St. Pierre used his outstanding striking skills and top level ground game to cruise to a unanimous decision victory over a far more experienced Karo Parisyan. While many were unaware at the time that a new era had begun in MMA, there were those who saw St. Pierre for exactly what he was: the future of the sport.

With the introduction of GSP, the fighting world witnessed an entirely new breed of athlete, one that had evolved to the point where he excelled not only at striking and grappling, but also had the endurance to finish a match without completely exhausting himself. (For an excellent example of how poor cardiovascular conditioning can influence the outcome of a match, see Mark Coleman vs. Maurice Smith at UFC 14).

Yet, the phenomenal thing about GSP is not that he is a tremendous athlete; the UFC, Affliction, DREAM, and even Elite XC are rife with incredibly talented athletes. Rather, its GSP’s (and those like him) ability to continuously evolve as a fighter that sets him apart from the more one dimensional crowd of common brawlers.

From the moment he stepped into the octagon, GSP has continued to evolve as a fighter. Not content to simply rely on his natural athletic ability, St. Pierre is constantly learning new skills and improving each aspect of his fighting game by training with a variety of world renowned coaches and sparring partners, among them Renzo Gracie, the Brazilian Top Team, Greg Jackson, Nate Marquardt, David Loiseau, and Keith Jardine.

It is this willingness to learn coupled with the desire to grow and change as a fighter that which has allowed GSP to demolish nearly every competitor he has faced in the UFC. While an early loss to Matt Hughes (via submission, if you can imagine that) seemed like a mortal blow to GSP’s championship dreams, St. Pierre learned from his mistakes and destroyed Hughes at UFC 79, winning, ironically enough, via armbar (the same hold with which Hughes defeated him with three years before).

St. Pierre’s second stumbling block came in the form of a tenacious Matt Serra, who surprised GSP with a flurry of punches that left him semiconscious on the canvas, as well as the formerUFC welterweight champion.

Yet, in keeping with his fierce work ethic and willingness to acquire new skills, St. Pierre avenged his second loss in Montreal, at UFC 83, by dominating Serra as few other have.

Still, despite his reputation as the number one welterweight in the world, GSP is not the sole model for fighters who are interested in evolving. Another outstanding example of how evolution equals success can be witnessed in the form of Anderson “The Spider” Silva. A powerful striker (just ask Rich Franklin) and master of numerous submissions (ask Dan Henderson), Silva has evolved to such an extent that he has not lost a match (by anything other than disqualification) in nearly four years. Before Silva dehumanized Franklin at UFC 64, Silva was considered by many to be a very good, but not necessarily great, fighter.

By annihilating Franklin, Silva not only changed peoples’ perceptions of what a proficient striker was capable of but also introduced American MMA fans to the wonders of the Thai clinch.

Yet, perhaps the best evidence of Silva’s ability to evolve as a fighter can be witnessed by his recent change in weight class. Bored with the competition at the 185 pound weight level, Silva recently tested himself in the waters of the light heavyweights and has done quite well, winning an effortless knockout victory over a fighter who refuses to evolve, James “The Sandman” Irvin.

While it might not have been seen as a significant moment in the annals of MMA history, Silva’s fight with Irvin was important in that it clearly illustrated how the constantly evolving fighter will always defeat the fighter who is content to stay the same. Gone are the days when a fighter could solely rely on his striking or grappling skills.

Knockout artists like James Irvin, Houston Alexander, Phil Baroni, Brian Stann, Mirko Filipovic, and even “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell are virtually obsolete in the sport of MMA. Liddell’s recent losses to Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans, both of whom have improved with each outing in the UFC, tend to confirm the fact that even the best strikers need to evolve before they are consumed by those members of the fighting species who are willing to change with the times.

Yet, lest it seem as if strikers are being unfairly criticized, let us now turn our attention to those grapplers who can’t, or won’t, evolve. Among the names on this inauspicious list you will find former champions Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz, and Royce Gracie. While it is anathema in some circles to criticize such legends, it should be noted that each of the previously mentioned fighters have become victims of their own success.

Hughes, with his brawny farm boy strength and background in collegiate wrestling, was able to easily defeat his opponents with ground-and-pound tactics…that is until he met Georges St. Pierre for the second time. Having improved every aspect of his MMA game, St. Pierre quickly defeated Hughes, who was still attempting to employ the same tired ground-and-pound technique he used in his first meeting with GSP.

Since his loss to the Canadian phenom, Hughes has fallen on hard times, losing yet again to St. Pierreby submission and by TKO to rising star Thiago Alves. Hughes’ lackluster showing against Alves, a well rounded fighter known for his punching power, is yet more proof that fighters who refuse to evolve will inevitably be left behind by those who continue to grow and change on a fight-by-fight basis.

Ironically, it was Matt Hughes, a less than multifaceted fighter, that exposed Royce Gracie to the world as a one dimensional fluke who, without his gi, was really quite harmless. Now, before you start sending me death threats, just hear me out.

First of all, those opponents that Gracie dismantled in the early days of the UFC wouldn’t even cut it as Kimbo Slice’s training partners. With the exception of Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock, all of Gracie’s UFC wins were against competitors who were either inexperienced or had no business at all calling themselves fighters (see 51 year old Ron van Clief for more details).

With no striking ability whatsoever, Gracie relied (and still relies) solely on his submission skills, which, while impressive, were not being tested against top-level competition. Once MMA made the transfer to no gi rules, Gracie became a fish out of water. Without his gi, which he often used as a weapon against his opponents, Gracie had to count on his own physical strength to hold his adversary in place while grappling. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, Matt Hughes was far stronger than anyone he had faced since fighting Dan “The Beast” Severn.

Unlike the jiu-jitsu master, Hughes didn’t need a gi to help hold Gracie down while he beat him unmercifully, forcing the referee to save Gracie from certain doom. Unwilling to admit that any other style of fighting could be superior to Gracie jiu-jitsu, Royce has been passed over by the new influx of MMA fighters; many of whom fondly remember him as an innovator, but no longer take him seriously as a competitor.

Dissimilar from Gracie and Hughes, both of whom have failed to modify their training regimen to fit the era in which they are fighting, Tito Ortiz’ fall from greatness is directly attributable to his status as a celebrity. Beloved by the media for his brash antics, Ortiz was among the first MMA fighters to achieve notoriety outside the octagon. While his early victories over top notch fighters like Wanderlei Silva proved that he was a force to be reckoned with, it was Ortiz’ five successful light-heavyweight title defenses that solidified his status as a great champion.

Yet, sadly, in recent years, success has proven to be a distraction for Ortiz who has not won a fight against a worthy opponent since his victory over Forrest Griffin at UFC 59 (those two wins against a washed up Ken Shamrock do not count).

Distracted by his forays into the more financially lucrative arena of television entertainment (Ortiz most notably appeared on Donald Trump’s highly rated program Celebrity Apprentice, before which he briefly dabbled in professional wrestling), Ortiz holds a record of 0-2-1 in his last three fights.

In his most recent outing against the highly evolved Lyoto Machida, Ortiz looked like a different fighter; a fighter who no longer hungers for the glorious thrill of victory. At odds with UFC kingpin Dana White, Tito Ortiz is currently a free agent with an uncertain future in MMA. While there is no question that he will be signed by another promotion (most likely Elite XC or Affliction), what remains unknown is whether or not we will ever again see the Tito Ortiz of old.

It is a hard fact of life that things inevitably change. Nowhere is this maxim more true than in the sport of MMA; a sport that is changing so rapidly that those who wish to succeed are forced to make a choice: evolve or die.

While not every fighter who evolves will experience success, history has already proven that those that do evolve dramatically improve their chances of having a long and fruitful career. Sadly, for those who choose tradition over change there is not much of a future and, in time, they will all go down into the dark.

The Assassination of Fedor Emelianenko

Brett Puddy — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:38:08 -0400

The Assassination of Fedor Emelianenko

While MMA fans will always be inclined to debate the pros and cons of their favorite fighter, it is quickly becoming an exercise in futility to argue about who is MMA’s greatest competitor.

Having never known the ignominy of defeat, at least not in the true sense of the word, Fedor Emelianenko has dominated the world of mixed martial arts like no other fighter before him.

Sure there were those who seemed invincible (Royce Gracie, Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, and Mirko Cro Cop come immediately to mind) but, as time has proven, these once feared fighting gods have been exposed as mere mortals.

Their reign as resident MMA badass was short lived, in as much as they were quickly replaced by ever evolving fighters such as Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre; fighters whose willingness to expand their repertoire of skills enabled them to make quantum leaps in the sport.

Yet, what separates Fedor from the Silva’s and the GSP’s is the fact that not only has he never lost a match, but it can be reasonably argued that he has never even lost a single round in over eight years of professional fighting.

Furthermore, he has never once been put in a disadvantageous position.

Even when it appeared as if Fedor might be in trouble, as was the case with Fujita, who almost knocked him out, and Randleman who applied a textbook suplex that would have ended any other fighter’s career, Fedor managed to submit both opponents less than a minute after it looked like he was certainly going to be defeated.

Such an uncanny ability to shrug off punishment is not just abnormal, it’s unheard of. While there have been many fighters who are able to absorb an absurd amount of abuse and still get their hand raised in victory at the end of the night (see Nick Diaz and his broken orbital bone), there has never been a fighter who appears to be immune to the physical suffering that often goes hand-in-hand with a top level MMA contest.

It is the aura of invincibility, whether real or merely imagined, that has allowed Fedor to cast a Rasputin-like spell over the world of MMA.

A legend in his native Russia and Japan, Fedor has resoundingly destroyed a veritable who’s who of MMA legends, among them former UFC champions such as Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Tim Sylvia, and current interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (twice). Yet, for some inexplicable reason, Fedor still struggles for respect in the United States and is even viewed by some (most notably UFC president Dana White) as having fought substandard competition…that is if you consider fighters like Matt Lindland, Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic, Kazyuki Fujita, Semmy Schilt, Heath Herring, and Ricardo Arnona to be substandard. Let’s face it, whether you like him or not, Fedor is the most fearsome, awe inspiring, champion in the history of MMA; he doesn’t just knock out his opponents, he annihilates them, and when he’s not putting his adversaries on “queer street” (sorry, Tim), he’s applying lightning fast submissions from which no one has been able to escape.

An enigma to even the most astute followers of MMA, Fedor’s rise to greatness defies logic. Firstly, he simply doesn’t look like a fighter, or even an athlete for that matter. In fact, Fedor’s appearance is so innocuous that you might mistake him for your beer drinking, football-loving, next door neighbor or that guy at the gym who’s constantly trying to lose those embarrassing lovehandles.

Yet, what Fedor lacks in terms of a well-defined physique he makes up for with technical prowess, superior striking ability, and, most importantly, speed. Still, saying that Fedor is fast is like saying that Russians like to drink vodka; it’s an oversimplification that doesn’t truly explain the numerous intricacies of the subject being discussed.

While many of Fedor’s loyal disciples claim that his speed is genetic, and therefore can’t be taught, others assert that his unfathomably fast reaction time is the result of plyometric and high altitude training. Simply put, Fedor moves like an athlete half his size; an athlete who has discovered the means by which speed and strength can exist in perfect harmony with one another.

This combination of raw muscularity and animal-like quickness has caused the myth that is Fedor to grow to epic proportions. Many of MMA’s top analysts believe that Fedor will retire undefeated, never once having been seriously challenged.

However, before Fedor can claim absolute dominion over MMA he must conquer the only man who has the ability to defeat him: Josh “The Baby-Faced Assassin” Barnett.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, Josh Barnett? Not the same Josh Barnett that lost to Crocop three times, tested positive for steroids, and who is a huge professional wrestling star in Japan? Yes, I’m talking about that Josh Barnett; a fighter of immense talent who has been somewhat unlucky in his professional career.

Barnett’s troubles started when, shortly after being crowned the youngest UFC heavyweight champion in history, he tested positive for anabolic steroids. Stripped of his title, Barnett was blackballed by the UFC and badmouthed repeatedly by the ever articulate Dana White.

Yet, what White refrained from telling UFC fans was that Barnett was independently tested for doping by the International Olympic Committee three months after his victory over Randy Couture and no traces of performance enhancing agents could be found in his system. Still, even with this seemingly exonerating evidence, the UFC remained quiet about Barnett’s future, forcing the former champion to seek greener pastures, which he soon found overseas.

Having left the UFC to fight in Japan’s wildly popular PRIDE organization, Barnett experienced a string of victories against quality competitors; that is until he was forced to confront Mirko Cro Cop. Losing their first battle due to a bizarre dislocated shoulder injury that put him on the shelf for six months, Barnett again lost to Cro Cop via unanimous decision almost a year later.

In between his second and third wars with the man who was quickly becoming his arch nemesis, Barnett gained impressive victories over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Hunt, and, last but not least, Aleksander Emelianenko, who just so happens to be Fedor’s brother and training partner.

On the night that Barnett and Crocop would meet for the third time, Barnett had already fought Nogueira to a three round split decision victory, while Cro Cop won a first round knockout victory against Wanderlei Silva. Barnett’s war of attrition with Nogueira didn’t do him any favors against Cro Cop, who quickly beat him into insensibility, leaving Barnett 0-3 against the Croatian.

Yet, whereas Barnett has improved tremendously as a fighter, defeating top level opponents and earning three solid victories in 2008 alone (Barnett even managed to avenge his first professional loss to Pedro Rizzo with an impressive second round knockout at Affliction‘s inaugural event in July), Crocop’s name has become synonymous with has-been.

Recently, when he’s not being defeated by the likes of Cheick Kongo, and nearly escaping decapitation by Gabriel Gonzaga, Crocop is living the good life in Japan, fighting inferior fighters that are handpicked for him by Japan’s DREAM organization.

If anything, Barnett’s losses to Cro Cop were something of a blessing in disguise, in as much as they taught him how best to deal with one of MMA’s most powerful strikers; a skill that will certainly help him to survive, and ultimately defeat, his next opponent, Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski.

While there is no question that Arlovski is a top five contender and a worthy opponent for Barnett, he simply hasn’t fought the same level of competition as the Baby-Faced Assassin. Having lost twice to Tim Sylvia, once to Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo, Arlovski’s most impressive victories are against Sylvia (although Arlovski holds a record of 1-2 against the “Maine-iac”), Fabricio Werdum, and a rugged Ben Rothwell.

The result of the Barnett/Arlovski match set to take place in January will undoubtedly result in yet another submission victory for Barnett, who has won his fights with everything from a triangle choke to a flying heel hook. Then, with Arlovski out of the way, Barnett will be free to challenge the man whom many MMA fans have been long awaiting him to fight: Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko.

This fight, if and when it takes places, will undoubtedly be the greatest MMA chess match in recent history.

Still, there are those who would argue that Fedor simply cannot be beaten, that he would run roughshod over Barnett, defeating him in much the same way as he defeated fellow grapplers Coleman and Randleman. Yet, in all fairness, it should be noted that Barnett’s grappling background is far different from that of “The Hammer” or “The Monster,” both of whom are excellent practitioners of freestyle wrestling.

Rather, Barnett’s enigmatic style of fighting, known only as “catch wrestling,” is so unorthodox and little used by mainstream fighters that it is safe to say that Fedor has never encountered a catch wrestler in the course of his career.

Placing a heavy emphasis on submissions, rather than typical ground-and-pound hooliganism, Barnett will be relatively safe from Fedor’s dreaded armbar; a submission Fedor often applies from the bottom, while his opponents are attempting to pummel him (see Coleman vs. Fedor pt. 2).

With surprising speed for a man of his size (6’3” 250 lbs.), Barnett should not have a tremendous amount of difficulty taking Fedor to the mat; both Coleman and Randleman were able to do so, although such tactics were not to their advantage. Once on the ground Barnett will have to use his size intelligently, by attempting to apply leverage specific submissions to keep Fedor from eluding him and regaining his feet.

Barnett has proven that this strategy will work in his favor, as was clearly witnessed in his victory over Fedor’s brother, Aleksander, whom he defeated on the ground by maneuvering Aleksander into a disadvantageous position and quickly applying a keylock.

If Fedor does somehow manage to return the fight to a stand up battle, it behooves Barnett to be elusive and not trade punches with the Russian, who is a superior striker.

Rather, since Fedor will be looking for Barnett to shoot in for the perennial double-leg take down, it would be wise for Barnett to use his greater size and employ clinch take downs, similar to those made famous by Randy Couture in his five round war against Tim Sylvia.

However, if Barnett is absolutely forced to fight a stand up battle with Fedor, he will need to close the gap with the champion in order to cut down on the strength of Fedor’s vicious punches, the most devastating of which Fedor throws from a discreet distance. If Barnett catches Fedor just right with a left hook, it is quite possible that Fedor could experience the first knock down in his career.

By using his superior size, submission skills, and world class grappling ability, it is highly likely that Barnett would be able to defeat Fedor Emelianenko, either by submission or judges decision; a knockout or a TKO victory is an extreme long shot and is more than likely to be the manner in which Fedor wins, if he wins at all.

That said, Barnett has an Everest-sized mountain to climb in his potential fight against Fedor. In essence, Barnett is the last fighter that Fedor has yet to face who could possibly defeat him. If Barnett fails, Fedor haters will have nothing left to do but pin their hopes on Brock Lesnar and Kimbo Slice.