Five Non-MMA Sports Combat Competitors That Could Challenge Fedor

That’s right, sports fans, other types of sports combat still exist!

Is there anyone in the world who could defeat Fedor?

Possibly, but you have to look outside of MMA to find them.

Here is a list of five men that could challenge Fedor in a Mixed Martial Arts event.

1. Alexander Karelin

The toughest man in the world, so they say—and they could be right. Karelin is, without a shred of doubt, the greatest wrestler that has ever lived.

This man could pick up a prone Brock Lesner off the floor and suplex him. He has made a habit of grabbing writhing 300-pound bodies up into the air for a short painful ride.

If ever there was a man that would actually be favored in a fight against Fedor it would be this man.

Karelin possesses three Olympic Gold Medals. Karelin’s only Silver Medal was won at the Sydney Olympic games in 2000. In addition to his Olympic accomplishments, Karelin has won 21 World and European Championships.

He went undefeated for many years and was defeated only once in his entire career by an American wrestler named Rulon Gardner in the Sydney Olympics Gold Medal match.

Although Karelin is 42 years old, he is still in amazing condition and could certainly pose a large number of challenges for Fedor.

Even if Fedor fought Karelin in the man’s prime, I think Fedor would likely win because Karelin is obviously very one dimensional. However, as he says, “I train every day of my life as they never trained a day in theirs.”

If Karelin wanted to succeed in MMA there is little doubt that he would dominate. If he trained for MMA he would be champ. No question whatsoever.

Fedor would probably agree.

It is hard to disagree with the idea that Karelin is the toughest man alive. He is so strong and so successful he has often been referred to as a Russian “experiment.”

Whatever the case may be, Fedor would be hard pressed to defeat this monster of a man.

2. Alain N’Galani

This man has been nicknamed “The Panther” and he has displayed those animalistic tendencies in the ring many times. He is a two-time Muay Thai Champion and trains in a wide variety of martial arts disciplines.

He holds a black belt in Judo, Shotokan Karate, Kyokushin Karate, Koshiki Karate and Brazilian Jui Jitsu. He has also studied other disciplines that include kick boxing and even Savate. It goes without saying that he is a Muay Thai expert as well.

Alain is a citizen of China and fights out of Hong Kong. He is originally from the Ivory Coast, Africa, and has fought all over the world. He is a healthy 220 pounds and is only 33 years old.

During a recent interview, Alain indicated that he intends to eventually fight in the UFC. If any of these men described here could step into a ring with Fedor today and have a shot at winning, it is this man.

His training regimen is similar to Karelin’s in terms of its intensity. He has been known to push himself beyond safe limits, and quite possibly over trains at times, which could be a weakness.

That weakness hasn’t shown up in his Muay Thai battles, which usually end in a nightmarish knockout. He is a four-time African National Kickboxing Champion in addition to his world titles out of Hong Kong.

Keep your eyes on this fellow—you will be hearing more about him later, for sure.

3. Hossein Rezazadeh

Weight lifting is not exactly a combat sport, but when a man can clean and jerk almost 600 pounds you have to take notice. Considered the world's strongest man by many, with training he could pose insurmountable difficulties for Fedor. This man could stack two Fedors on top of each other, lift them up, and toss them out of the ring.

Conditioning is perhaps his greatest weakness, so Rezazadeh would be unbelievably formidable were he to spend a year training with Bas Rutten. In addition, his jaw has never been tested. It is very difficult, however, to look past this man due to his unbelievable raw strength and power.

Still, strength does not an MMA champion make, he would have to lose some weight and get his cardio up. He would need to learn to strike and wrestle. Probably too much to expect.

Maybe he should train with Hans Marrero.

In any event Hossein is an Olympic and world record holder. If he were to apply the type of dedication he displayed in order to obtain his medals and records, it is a sure thing that he would have posed quite an interesting challenge.

It should be noted that MMA is not legal in Iran, his native country.

4. Hans Marrero

Gunnery Sgt. Hans Marrero, formerly the chief instructor of hand-to-hand combat for the Marines, is considered by many to be one of the toughest men alive.

Take a gander at this demonstration. It's very impressive. 

http://break.com/index/not_taser_tough.html

He has demonstrated this many times. Once, he was able to withstand multiple bare knuckle punches and didn’t flinch. They beat him, choked him, tried to break his limbs, they even Tasered him. He moved around at times but did not show any pain or fall.

Hans is obviously an expert at dishing out damage. The combination of his expert striking and seemingly endless resistance to pain make him a particularly difficult challenge. He would be giving up many pounds to Fedor, but he would not be giving up anything else.

Fedor could probably expose his weaker ground game, but he would find this man a difficult opponent to defeat. It is doubtful that Fedor could score a knockout but a submission might be possible. The problem with submitting Hans is that he does not tap. Break his arm, he does not tap. Choke him out, he does not tap.

In many people's opinion, Fedor would have to sink in a full guillotine and put Hans to sleep in order to get the win. 

Please do not confuse this man with an MMA fighter by the same name. He is covered by Sherdog, but is not the same man.

5. Blagoi Ivanov

"Saving the best for last" is an old saying, but it certainly applies in this case.

Ivanov is a the current Sambo World Champion. On Nov. 16, 2008, he defeated Fedor Emelianenko in the semifinals of the World Sambo Championship held in St. Petersburg, Russia. He went on to win gold by defeating Stefan Janos, a German Sambo Player.

Being the only man to ever beat Fedor in a Sambo competition raises the eyes of martial arts fans around the world. If he could defeat Fedor in Sambo, could he repeat that success in an MMA event?

Well it appears that we may find out one day, as Blagoi recently signed a three fight contract and will begin his MMA career at Sengoku 9 on Aug. 2, 2009 against Kazuyuki Fajita.

Talk about being thrown to the wolves.

MMA fans will discover very quickly what potential Ivanov has when he is pitted against one of the toughest MMA competitors to ever live.

Kazuyuki is famous for his hard head and ability to strike. Fajita is the only man to ever truly come close to knocking out Fedor Emelianenko. As Joe Lupoli, of the Bleacher Report says, “He had him doing the fish dance.”

And he did.

In any event, Blagoi’s potential cannot be denied. Since he has beaten Fedor in Sambo, he very well could be a monster in the MMA ring.

Only time will tell.

There you have it. Five men who are not MMA competitors, that have the potential to be Fedor beaters. Will any of them get the chance?

What do you think?