History Will Forget About Fedor Emelianenko

75 years from now, when Mixed Martial Arts has solidified its place as a mainstream sport, what will the sport look like? 

I recently had a conversation with a friend at work.  I told him my favorite sport was Mixed Martial Arts.  He’d never heard of that.  So I said “Ultimate Fighting” and suddenly he knew exactly what I was talking about. 

The UFC is the future of the sport, and the biggest reason for that is name recognition.  Not many people have ever heard of Pride, Affliction, K-1, Pancrase, or Strikeforce. Most people only know Mixed Martial Arts by one name: Ultimate Fighting.

There’s a lot to be said for name recognition and familiarity. 

AMD has been making a higher quality and less expensive computer processor than Intel for over a decade now, but the market is still dominated by Intel.  Any number of fast food restaurants make a much tastier burger than McDonalds, but McDonalds remains the most popular fast food chain by a huge margin.  The list of comparisons can go on and on. 

Now when it comes to any mainstream sport, the fans are much happier if there is one “best promotion” to showcase the best athletes of that sport.  It’s neater and tidier that way.  Most importantly, it’s less confusing. 

In the world of Mixed Martial Arts, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has locked itself in as the unquestioned leader of the sport.  A lot of things would have to go terribly wrong for that future to change. 

Okay, so now let’s consider Fedor Emelianenko, the oft-touted “best Heavyweight in MMA” by so many experts.  How would the world remember a professional football franchise that refused to join the NFL? 

Consider the Cleveland Browns for a moment.  The Cleveland Browns began their existence as a member of the AAFC (All-American Football Conference) in 1946.  They were so dominant in the AAFC (only lost one game in five years) that they effectively doomed the sports promotion to collapse. 

By comparison, this would be where Fedor was right after the collapse of Pride.  What did the Cleveland Browns do next?  They joined the AAFC’s hated rival, the NFL, and won three NFL Championships in the next six years—proving that they really were as good as everyone said they were. 

Okay, so what has Fedor done?  Fedor has gone off slumming it in one minor league promotion after another, searching for anyone who will take him and his M-1 Global friends too.  But under no circumstances is Fedor signing with the UFC. 

Fedor Emelianenko might very well be the best fighter MMA has ever known, but his refusal to fight in the UFC (no matter how noble his reasons might be in his own mind) doom him to join the AAFC’s other teams in history: The New York Yankees, the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Chicago Rockets, the Miami Seahawks, and the Los Angeles Dons. 

Anybody ever heard of those football teams?  Anybody care about them today?  No and No!  Nobody knows about them and nobody cares!   

And nobody will remember Fedor Emelianenko, the “eternal minor-league fighter.”  You’re sports experts might remember him as a minor footnote in Mixed Martial Arts earliest history: 

Sports Trivia Junkie 1: “Yeah there was this Russian heavyweight who was pretty-much unbeatable.  His name was Fedor something-or-another.  He’s the unremembered greatest heavyweight ever.” 
Sports Trivia Junkie 2: “Wow!  Never heard of the guy.  Let’s hear about the man!  How long was he UFC champion for anyways?”
Sports Trivia Junkie 1: “Oh, he never fought in the UFC.” 
Sport Trivia Junkie 2: “What?  How do you know he was a good fighter then?  Where did he fight if it wasn’t in the UFC?” 
Sports Trivia Junkie 1: “Rings, Pride, Bodogfight, Affliction and Strikeforce.” 
Sports Trivia Junkie 2: “Hmmm, never heard of any of them either.  So you’re telling me that this Fedor guy was greatest, yet he fought for a bunch of companies that sound like they might turn up at the Circus.  And how on earth does this make him, ‘The Greatest Heavyweight Ever.’  Didn’t the UFC exist back then??” 
Sports Trivia Junkie 1: “Yes the UFC existed, but Fedor repeatedly refused to sign with them.” 
Sports Trivia Junkie 2: “So he wouldn’t fight in the UFC?  Why not?” 
Sports Trivia Junkie 1: “ Um … nobody knows.  He just never did.” 
Sports Trivia Junkie 2: “Well that pretty much answers everything!  They guy might have been a wonderful carnival freak-show, but he was never a serious MMA fighter!  You're saying that he could have signed with the UFC and refused?  That’s crazy!  He must not have ever been a good enough fighter to compete in the UFC!  What kind of fighter refuses to fight in the UFC??  ‘Unremembered greatest Heavyweight of ever’ my butt!!   Sounds like the most over-hyped coward of all time.“
Sports Trivia Junkie 1: “Nevermind. ”

When the UFC is the last-man-standing atop professional MMA promotions, they will most certainly not put any effort into promoting the legacy of Fedor Emelianenko.  Fedor has tried and succeeded in making them look stupid at every opportunity, yet this most recent refusal to sign throws everything back into Fedor’s face. 

He could have been in the UFC, but chose not to.  They even offered him an unprecedentedly generous contract.  Not only will history look very dis-favorably upon Fedor Emelianenko for that.  History will eventually forget all about him.