Fedor vs. Silva Wasn't the First Time: Top 10 MMA Fights Where the Wrong Guy Won
On Feb. 12 2011, the legendary Fedor Emelianenko was easily disposed of by fringe top 10 competitor Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, much to the chagrin of Strikeforce CEO, Scott Coker.
Fedor was one of Coker's and Strikeforce's most marketable stars. His loss shattered the plans that the star-crossed promoter had for the tournament.
Coker was hoping that Fedor would smash Silva in order to set Fedor up in a potential match against recent K-1 champion—and possibly the best heavyweight fighter in the world—Alistair Overeem.
If Fedor had won his match, Coker would have been set to make a substantial sum of money. All that needed to happen, assuming Fedor won, was for Overeem to beat the only other man to best Fedor, Fabricio Werdum.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Alistair Overeem would have garnered an enormous amount of attention—and money along with it. Coker may have even made the fight a pay-per-view!
Even if the improbable happened and Overeem lost to the Brazilian, Coker would still see dollar signs since he would be able to market a Fedor-Werdum rematch via the "avenging the only real loss of his career" card.
The success of the tournament depended on Fedor winning his fight, almost everything else was inconsequential.
Fedor lost. The marketability of the tournament was shattered along with his mystique.
However, this was hardly the first time that the "wrong" fighter won. It has been seen throughout MMA for years. What follow are the top 10 fights where the wrong guy won.
If you disagree with any of the fights that I have chosen, then make your case in the comments section below.
The honorable mentions include: Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson, Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione, Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson, Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman and Amir Sadollah vs. C.B. Dolloway.
10. Gerald Harris vs. Maiquel Falcao
1 of 10
After his epic KO victory via slam over David Branch, Gerald Harris—former TUF alum and IFL veteran—was on top of the world. His victory was being touted as one of the greatest knockout victories in recent memory, he was praised for being respectful since he did not hit Branch once he saw that Branch was out, and he was even invited onto SportsCenter.
Gerald Harris was the next big thing.
Or at least he was until he met Brazilian powerhouse Maiquel Falcao. Falcao dominated Harris in the opening round and would have likely choked him out had it not been for a bizarre error made by the timekeeper that caused the round to end early.
Ironically, Harris would have benefited had he been choked out because the next 10 minutes of the contest proved to be about as exciting as a staring contest—a violent, testosterone-filled staring contest—but a staring contest nonetheless.
Since Harris was behind on the scorecards, many thought he would attempt to pick up the pace in the second and third rounds. He did nothing of the sort and was blamed for the ultimately lackluster fight. Afterwards, he was cut from the UFC.
The situation did not seem too bad at that point. Falcao was explosive in the first round and had an intimidating look. He definitely could have been marketed as an unstoppable heavy hitter that could one day bring Anderson Silva to his knees. Unfortunately for Falcao and for the UFC, Falcao was arrested only days after the fight. Falcao eventually managed to settle his legal troubles but has not fought since due to injury.
While the damage wasn't terrible, the "wrong" guy certainly won.
9. Wanderlei Silva vs. Micheal Bisping
2 of 10
Wanderlei Silva is one of the most legendary fighters in the sport of MMA. As such, a victory over him catapults the winning party into the next level of stardom. This was what the UFC had in mind when they put Silva against the poster boy for British MMA, Michael Bisping.
"The Count" had recently received one of worst knockouts in recent MMA history. The image of Bisping being hit by the devastating right hand of Dan Henderson is one of the most widely circulated MMA knockout pictures and one of the most lampooned, second only to the infamous picture of Rashad Evans after his loss to Lyoto Machida.
Needless to say, the UFC could not have their marquis star in the U.K. become a laughing stock. They needed a fight that he was sure to win, preferably over a big name. While Bisping did manage to beat the highly praised Denis Kang, he needed to decisively beat someone with greater name recognition.
Enter Wanderlei Silva. Silva had hit a slump in his long career. He was 1-5 in his past six fights, with his only win being over Keith Jardine. Many in the MMA world considered "The Axe Murderer" to be a washed-up has-been.
Therefore, there seemed to be little risk in giving Silva to Bisping. Bisping would beat Silva, re-establish himself and earn a victory over one of the legends of the sport all in the same night. Or at least that was the plan.
Reality turned out to be very different when the two met at UFC 110. Silva managed to take the fight to Bisping and outwork him—almost finishing Bisping towards the end of the fight—en route to a unanimous decision victory.
The UFC's British star appeared to be fading and an aged Wanderlei wasn't the man who could replace him, at least in terms of marketability in Britain.
Wanderlei hasn't fought since the Bisping fight due to injury.
Bisping managed to recover well from the loss so, ultimately, the "wrong" guy winning did not have too dire of consequences.
8. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
3 of 10
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović—or just "Mirko Cro Cop" as he is known in the UFC—was one of the most feared strikers in Pride. When the ill-fated organization folded and it was stated that Cro Cop, a man known for his devastating head kicks, would come fight in the UFC there was a tremendous amount of anticipation.
The Croatian debuted at UFC 67, where he defeated journeyman Eddie Sanchez.
In his next fight, he would take on Gabriel "Napao" Gonzaga. Many expected Cro Cop to walk over Gonzaga. "Napao" was only 7-1 at the time and had not faced the same level of competition that Cro Cop had.
If you had gone back in time to the minute before the fight and told everyone that the fight would end with a head kick, everyone would have thought that Gonzaga would be on the receiving end. Everyone would have been wrong.
The Cro Cop-Gonzaga fight was truly an upset.
Gonzaga dominated Cro Cop on the ground for a majority of the first round. When Cro Cop finally managed to stand up, Gonzaga knocked him out with one of the most spectacular head kicks of all time. Cro Cop fell to the ground like a ton of bricks and his ankle appeared to roll back underneath his body, much to the dismay of the referee, Herb Dean.
All of the marketing was behind Cro Cop and he was humiliated, with his own trademark move no less!
Cro Cop would never be the same fighter again. Since then, he has gone only 5-3-1, with two of those wins coming outside the UFC and one coming by way of a controversial eye poke against Mustapha al-Turk at UFC 99.
The UFC tried to capitalize on the situation by giving Gonzaga a shot at Randy Couture's heavyweight belt, but he was crushed by "The Natural" and has never returned to proper form. He was recently let go from the UFC.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
7. Bobbly Lashley vs. Chad Griggs
4 of 10
Believe it or not, Strikeforce once tried to emulate the UFC's success with Brock Lesnar by promoting their own former WWE star, Bobbly Lashley.
There was already considerable hype behind Lashley thanks to his time in the WWE, prowess on the amateur wrestling scene and victory over Bob Sapp. After some controversy in selecting an opponent for him, Wes Sims was finally chosen.
Lashley was far too much for Sims and needed only two minutes and six seconds to earn a TKO victory.
For his next fight, Lashley would take on Chad Griggs, a paramedic and part-time fighter that hadn't fought in over a year. To use professional wrestling terminology, Griggs was a "jobber"—he was brought in to lose to Lashley so that Lashley would look good.
As is the pattern on this list, the fight didn't go how it was supposed to.
While Lashley did dominate the opening round, he gassed severely in the second. Griggs was mercilessly hammerfisting Lashley's head as he attempted a halfhearted takedown towards the end of the round. Lashley survived the onslaught but did not answer the bell for the third round.
The "next big thing" of an organization losing to a nobody is bad enough but even worse, Lashley was taken to the hospital after the fight. He lost to, and was hospitalized by, a jobber. Needless to say, Bobby Lashley has not fought since and Strikeforce lost a star with major name recognition.
6. Chuck Liddell vs. Keith Jardine
5 of 10
In the volatile UFC light heavyweight scene of today, it is hard to believe that there was once a man who ruled the division with not one iron fist, but two.
His name was Chuck Liddell.
Liddell was a dominant light heavyweight champion and the first mainstream star that the UFC produced in the Zuffa era, being the first MMA fighter to grace the cover of ESPN the Magazine. When one mentioned the UFC, Chuck Liddell immediately came to mind.
Therefore, when Liddell was knocked out cold by Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, a man only the "hardcore" fans knew about, it was a complete shock to the system—the fact that the same result had happened in Japan four years prior notwithstanding.
The UFC needed to get its marquee star back on track. Ideally, they needed to put Chuck Liddell in a fight against someone that would stand up with him and that had a somewhat questionable chin. Such a fighter would come out swinging against the counter puncher, Liddell, and swiftly get knocked out, bringing Liddell back into the swing of things.
Keith Jardine was to be this fighter. He had just lost via knockout to a virtual nobody in Houston Alexander at UFC 71. The fight lasted less than a minute.
It seemed like there was no chance Jardine would best Liddell. While Jardine did manage to beat Forrest Griffin, Griffin had an almost self-defeating brawling style and a questionable chin. Chuck was disciplined and had a chin of granite (hard to believe now, I know), he would simply pick Jardine apart and knock him out!
What followed at UFC 76 perhaps only Keith Jardine expected; Jardine outpointed "The Iceman" to earn a split decision victory over the legend.
Liddell was visibly disappointed—he had dropped two straight for the first time in his career! The UFC's most marketable star had lost to a gatekeeper!
Chuck Liddell went 1-3 after the Jardine fight, with all three of those losses being devastating knockouts.
5. Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski
6 of 10
After seeing Andrei Arlovski's subpar—but, sadly, characteristic at this point—performance during the quarterfinals of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament, it is difficult to remember and even conceptualize a time when he was one of the most feared men in the UFC.
Arlovski had it all, at least from a marketing perspective. He had the look, the name and the fighting style (the mouthpiece with fangs helped too). Many believed him to be a fearsome, unstoppable striker that would dominate the heavyweight division for years to come.
Of course, all of this was after his win over Tim Sylvia at UFC 51 in which he won the UFC interim heavyweight title.
"The Pit-bull" actually had a rough beginning in the UFC, losing his first two fights with the organization, which brought his record to a disappointing 4-3.
Arlovksi eventually pulled things together and his record was 7-3 by the time he fought Sylvia at UFC 51.
Still, giving Arlovski hype before a title fight and the subsequent hype and marketing he got afterwards represents a substantial amount of time and money promoting a fighter. Unfortunately, this time and money spent would ultimately accomplish little.
If there was a fighter, again talking from the perspective of marketing, that was the opposite of Andrei Arlovksi, it was Tim Sylvia.
Sylvia was slow, plodding, pale, flabby, wasn't very charismatic—neither was Arlovski but it was due to the language barrier, so the whole "mystique" of the foreigner worked in his favor—and had a more conservative fighting style. He was not someone who was easy to package and sell.
After his UFC 51 loss to Arlovski, Sylvia went on a winning streak and earned another shot at Arlovski at UFC 59—this time for the true UFC heavyweight title since Frank Mir was stripped of his title due to injury.
Arlovksi hurt Sylvia early but then let his guard down when he rushed in to finish him off. This proved to be disastrous as Sylvia landed a counter punch that knocked Arlovksi down and allowed Sylvia to earn a TKO victory and the UFC heavyweight championship.
Arlovski was given an immediate rematch at UFC 61—a true sign that the "wrong" guy won—but was extremely tentative due to the results of the last fight. Sylvia jabbed his way to a decision.
Arlovski would eventually fade in relevance as his chin would fade in strength. His story is a sad one indeed.
4. Dan Henderson vs. Jake Shields
7 of 10
One could only imagine the glee experienced by Scott Coker when he signed former Pride and UFC star Dan Henderson. Dan Henderson was not the typical case of a "UFC reject" joining a smaller organization. Henderson was actually coming off a win, a legendary knockout of Michael Bisping that was mentioned earlier in this list.
Henderson was slated to face Jake Shields, a grappling standout and star of the Strikeforce organization, for the promotion's middleweight title.
All of Strikeforce's promoting power was put behind Dan Henderson. He was expected to win the fight and to do so decisively. Coker would then have a former UFC star at the helm of one of his divisions, a fact that would bring the organization a significant amount of prestige and hype.
Unfortunately for Scott Coker, his grand designs—as was seen with Bobby Lashley and will be seen with another fighter on the list—never seem to work out.
Jake Shields dominated Dan Henderson for the last 20 minutes of the 25-minute contest. Henderson only put on a good showing in the opening frame.
To add insult to injury, Shields not only crushed the heavily promoted Henderson, but left the organization for the UFC afterwards. Strikeforce and Scott Coker were stuck with a beat-up, overpaid Dan Henderson and no middleweight champion.
3. Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez
8 of 10
When one simply mentions the name "Brock Lesnar" amongst MMA fans a whirlwind of debate soon follows. This, in large part, is due to his humiliating beat down at the hands of Cain Velasquez and the unparalleled amount of hype that the former WWE star and NCAA champion received.
Brock Lesnar was, and still is, one of the UFC's largest draws. As such, he was hyped to a nearly insane level for a fighter who had so few fights. He was being touted as an unstoppable Viking-like warrior that would dominate all challengers with his unrivaled strength and size.
His fight against Cain Velasquez shattered any such perceptions.
The image of Brock Lesnar essentially doing a pirouette while attempting to run away from Velasquez is now burned into the memories of millions of MMA fans.
Dana White's face after the fight was priceless. The only time he has ever looked so upset was during the press conference after Anderson Silva's "fight" with Demian Maia at UFC 112.
However, White and the UFC managed to recover by putting Lesnar as a coach in the Ultimate Fighter opposite Junior Dos Santos, "JDS" as he is known, but nothing short of a complete domination of JDS will convince people that Lesnar is for real thanks to what happened against Cain Velasquez.
2. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum
9 of 10
Fabricio Werdum defeating Fedor Emelianenko was one of the greatest upsets in MMA history and one of the worst moments for Strikeforce.
Strikeforce had signed Fedor after his brief run with the now defunct Affliction promotion. Strikeforce's signing of Emelianenko signaled their desire to compete with the UFC and no longer be thought of as a mid-tier regional promotion.
The Fedor acquisition worked out well in the beginning with Fedor defeating Brett Rogers via knockout.
Fedor was then matched up with Fabricio Werdum, the winner was to take on Alistair Overeem—a man who was garnering significant attention from the MMA fanbase for his recent increase in size and increased abilities—for Overeem's Strikeforce heavyweight belt.
A Fedor vs. Overeem fight would have been a massive draw; Scott Coker had delusions of pay-per-view grandeur.
Unfortunately, it was not in the cards for Strikeforce.
Fedor Emelianenko would be dispatched in only one minute and nine seconds via a triangle choke/armbar courtesy of Brazilian jiu-jitsu master, Fabricio Werdum.
Scott Coker's hopes of Fedor vs. Overeem were crushed but the resourceful CEO found a way out of the situation, or so he thought. He would concoct a tournament using the best heavyweights outside the UFC, including Fedor and Overeem, and make it so that a Fedor vs. Overeem meeting was all but inevitable.
Only one thing needed to happen...
1. Fedor Emelianenko Vs. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva
10 of 10
That one thing was for Fedor Emelianenko to defeat Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. Many thought this was a given but some, such as myself, pointed out that Fedor was not guaranteed to win this fight. In any case, Fedor winning this fight was essential.
Even if Overeem lost to Werdum, the success of the tournament could still rest on Fedor's shoulders because it would be seen as his "return to greatness."
But things went poorly for Strikeforce. In the end, all they were left with was a weary Russian contemplating retirement. There would be no massive pay-per-view event; there would be no more interest in the tournament.
The Fedor issue has been done to death so I don't feel the need to discuss it further.
As stated earlier, if you disagree with any of the fights that I have chosen, then make your case in the comments section below.
If you missed them in the introductory slide, here are the honorable mentions: Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson, Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson, Stephan Bonnar vs. Mark Coleman and Amir Sadollah vs. C.B. Dolloway.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
