Strikeforce: 5 Reasons Why Fedor Will Be No. 1 HW in MMA with Tournament Win
Even when Fedor Emelianenko was dominating the top fighters in the world in PRIDE, the debate has long been on about which fighter in MMA is the true No. 1 heavyweight.
While most experts agreed that it was Fedor, there was always that question of how he would do inside a cage, in the big spotlight of the UFC. A lot of this was fueled by the UFC hype machine itself, but it became an even bigger question when PRIDE collapsed and Fedor didn’t sign with them.
With so many other fighters, particularly heavyweights, struggling when they came from PRIDE to the UFC, the discussion continued for years about whether Fedor was really the best of the best.
Then came June 26, 2010.
On that night, UFC President Dana White seemed to get his wish when Fedor lost his first fight in over eight years to former UFC fighter Fabricio Werdum by way of submission in the Strikeforce cage. Fedor’s mystique had been broken and the MMA community looked on as the UFC crowned Brock Lesnar and subsequently Cain Velasquez as the top heavyweights in the sport.
But Strikeforce fought back by creating the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix that kicks off this weekend in New Jersey. With some of the best heavyweights in the world competing, Fedor should be able to assert himself again as the No. 1 ranked heavyweight MMA fighter in the world—if he can come out on top.
Here are five reasons why.
5. Previous No. 1 Ranking
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Fedor Emelianenko was widely considered the greatest heavyweight on the planet for a span of over seven years.
When he defeated the seemingly unbeatable Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in March 2003, Fedor became the PRIDE Heavyweight champion and began a reign of dominance the sport had never seen before. This humble fighter from Russia had truly proved his excellence against the best in the world.
It was from that point on that Fedor was practically the unquestioned top heavyweight in the world, as he mowed through the PRIDE Heavyweight division until the company closed. He never lost his title.
With Fedor already being ranked in the top-5 on almost every heavyweight rankings list, a tournament win would help establish the fact that his loss to Werdum was just a momentary slip-up.
4. Career Record
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With a ridiculous career record of 31-2-1, it’s no wonder Fedor Emelianenko is considered by most to be the greatest heavyweight fighter in the history of the sport. Some people even say he’s still the best right now, even after his loss to Werdum.
Though records can be deceiving in mixed martial arts with fighters often padding their records against subpar talent, Fedor Emelianenko’s record is, without question, the most impressive in heavyweight MMA history.
After defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to become the PRIDE Heavyweight champion, Fedor went on to dominate top contender after top contender, defeating almost all of them in the prime of their careers, finishing most of the fights as well.
Though he lost his last fight, he has so few blemishes on his record, and no other heavyweight in the world has as many wins over top competition as he does.
3. Tournament Opponents
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Though the current world rankings almost unanimously have UFC Heavyweight Cain Velasquez as the top heavyweight fighter in the world, the rankings after him are very much up for debate.
While the UFC has guys like Brock Lesnar, Junior Dos Santos, Shane Carwin, and Frank Mir; Strikeforce counters with Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Antonio Silva, and Josh Barnett.
The Strikeforce heavyweight division is easily the weight class that can best compete with the UFC given their current talent, and I believe that’s a lot of the reason why they created this tournament. The UFC was originally a tournament-based organization, but it has gone to the now more common approach of just pitting fighters against each other when it feels right.
Though that strategy has worked well for the UFC and helped them to grow, it’s hard not to love the tournament concept in MMA. By putting all of the top guys in one tournament, we get to see the best of both worlds with super-fights in the first round as well as the buildup to the finals.
Four of the consensus top-10 heavyweights in the world are in this tournament and whoever wins it will have a very legitimate claim as the best heavyweight fighter in the world.
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2. Other Potential No. 1 Fighters
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Right now the UFC Heavyweight division is going through a bit of fluctuation. In fact, it has been for quite some time now.
While PRIDE had its same champion, Fedor Emelianenko, for years and years; the UFC has struggled to find that type of dominant heavyweight that they can truly build their brand around. They might have thought they had it in Brock Lesnar, but that all changed when he got pummeled by Cain Velasquez.
With Velasquez recovering from an injury, the heavyweight division is in a stand-still likely until late-2011 or early 2012 when Velasquez will defend his title against either Lesnar or Junior Dos Santos.
In the mean time, this is Strikeforce’s chance to truly push their brand as being the place for the top heavyweight fighters. They already have the current Strikeforce/K-1/DREAM Heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem, on their roster and that doesn’t even take the other excellent talent into consideration.
If Strikeforce can promote that they have the best heavyweight competition in the world with this tournament, it only makes sense that the winner will also be considered the No. 1 heavyweight world.
1. Nostalgia
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Whether we want to admit it or not, all of us long-time Fedor fans truly want him to be the No. 1 heavyweight in the world.
If you were anything like I was, I went into the Werdum fight fully confident that my favorite heavyweight would walk out with a victory. When I saw him knock Werdum to the ground, I thought it was over. I almost laughed in a way because of how quickly it appeared the fight was going to be over.
Then things went crazy. Werdum wasn’t out. In fact, it looked like he had baited Fedor in. When he went for the first triangle, I thought, “There’s no way this is going to work.” I was right for a minute. Then I was dead wrong.
When I saw Fedor tap out, it was like my entire grasp of what MMA was got flipped upside down. It was like I was in a bizarre, fantasy world where Fedor wasn’t an unstoppable, giant-killing machine.
As good as Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum are; none of them quite feel right as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world.
Even if he doesn’t win the tournament in his usual dominating fashion, as long as Fedor wins the tournament in some way, I believe we’re going to see the majority of MMA rankings place him back as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world.
Like eating warm chicken noodle soup, it just feels like home to see Fedor on top of the world.
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