Strikeforce Fedor vs. Silva: How Emelianenko Stacks Up vs. 5 UFC Heavyweights
May 21, 2000 is a date that isn’t quite revered much by the average human being but to those who religiously follow the sport of mixed martial arts, it is recognized as an incredibly significant point in time.
It was the night that Fedor Emelianenko made his professional debut.
In his native Russia, Emelianenko made quick work of his opponent, Martin Lazarov, at the Rings: Russia vs. Bulgaria event, winning by guillotine choke just less than three minutes into the second round. From that point on the man known as “The Last Emperor” would go on to forge one of the most legendary careers in MMA history.
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After 10 years of domination, Emelianenko only recently suffered his first legitimate career loss at the hands of Fabricio Werdum in Strikeforce this past June. In any case, one loss doesn’t take away from an unbelievable winning streak that includes championship victories in Rings and PRIDE.
The only downside to Emelianenko’s career is that he never has and likely never will compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Seeing the legendary Russian truly test himself against the cream of the crop of the UFC’s heavyweight division would really put the icing on the cake for Emelianenko’s status as the greatest heavyweight MMA fighter of all time.
Before Emelianenko returns to the cage this Saturday night to battle Antonio Silva in the first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, let’s take a look at how he would match up with the UFC’s elite heavyweights.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Cain Velasquez
Fresh off his destruction of top box office draw Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, Velasquez stands atop the UFC’s heavyweight division as king. With a 9-0 record and dominant wins over Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ben Rothwell, one could easily compare Velasquez to a younger version of Emelianenko.
Emelianenko was recognized as the sport’s No.1 heavyweight fighter for several years until his surprising loss to Werdum. Now, many media outlets consider Velasquez as MMA’s best heavyweight so clearly a bout between the two would be a fight of epic proportions.
I would have to favor Velasquez, though, if this fight ever came to fruition. Emelianenko is still a great competitor but he’s no longer in his prime whereas Velasquez is rapidly evolving into an unstoppable wrecking machine.
Emelianenko has beaten fighters with incredible speed, strength, and conditioning before but he’s never fought someone like Velasquez who possesses a limitless supply of all three of those abilities in addition to an All-American wrestling base and knockout power to boot.
Velasquez would win by unanimous decision
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Junior dos Santos
Emelianenko has faced his fair share of elite strikers in the past, names like Mark Hunt and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic come to mind, but dos Santos is a different breed and one that the Russian could have difficulties with.
Arguably the division’s best boxer, dos Santos is a massive heavyweight with tremendous punching power and precise striking. He also has impeccable takedown defense and an underrated BJJ game that he would likely use to sweep back to his feet if Emelianenko did potentially bring him to the mat.
Emelianenko is certainly no slouch when it comes to the standup game but if Andrei Arlovski was able to essentially out-box the Russian before making a mistake and paying for it, dos Santos should be able to follow through with a win.
Dos Santos would win by 2nd RD TKO
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar
When it comes to big money fights, there aren’t many MMA bouts that would draw as much revenue as a colossal meeting between Emelianenko and Lesnar. It would be the most high profile heavyweight fight ever and one that could easily go either way in terms of who would win and who would lose.
On one hand, Emelianenko could rock Lesnar on the feet and exploit the former WWE superstar standing up much like Velasquez and Shane Carwin did.
But one could also make a solid argument that Lesnar would be able to utilize his overwhelming wrestling base and top control to smother Emelianenko on the ground.
Of course, Emelianenko’s submission game is extremely dangerous so even if Lesnar were on top he might be at a disadvantage against “The Last Emperor”. Then again, Lesnar’s ground game has come a long way since his loss to Frank Mir at UFC 81 so he may be able to avoid Emelianenko’s submissions and pound himself to victory from the top.
Tough pick but I’ll side with Emelianenko for now.
Emelianenko would win by 1st RD TKO
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Shane Carwin
Emelianenko has a granite chin, he has taken direct shots from some of the toughest and biggest men to ever put on a pair of gloves and he’s never been on the losing end of a knockout. Carwin, however, has the heaviest hands in all of MMA and could definitely put Emelianenko in serious trouble if able to connect even with a glancing shot.
However, Carwin’s gas tank would cost him and his chances of winning would diminish if the fight went past the first round. It doesn’t matter how hard you train, when you are that big and bulky your conditioning will always suffer.
Emelianenko would win by 2nd RD submission
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Frank Mir
Mir is clearly no joke but of the five heavyweights mentioned, he would be the one that Emelianenko would have the least amount of worry with. Don’t misinterpret that as an indication that Mir would be easy pickings for the Russian because he wouldn’t be. In fact, if Werdum was able to catch Emelianenko in a submission, Mir might be able to rip one of the Russian’s limbs off if given the opportunity.
In addition to having an elite ground game, Mir has also shown improvements in his striking over the years and he does have the power to hurt Emelianenko.
That said, Emelianenko is far superior standing and Mir’s chin is questionable.
Emelianenko would win by 2nd RD TKO
Mitch Ciccarelli is the sexiest columnist in MMA. A staff writer for Heavy MMA, featured columnist for B/R and host of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun MMA Radio, Ciccarelli is also a future United States Airman, beginning basic training this March. He is also engaged to Eva Mendes and Jessica Simpson.
Follow Ciccarelli on twitter, unless you have herpes. @MitchCiccarelli
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