The Assassination of Fedor Emelianenko

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.