MMA: Why Brock Lesnar Can Beat Fedor Emelianenko Right Now

MMA purists are going to hate this article, but unfortunately, it appears that Emelianenko’s best days are behind him. 

The argument as to whether or not Fabricio Werdum caught Fedor with the triangle choke last June will likely never be settled. 

However, in his loss to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, there is no question that Emelianenko simply got dominated and flat out looked outclassed. 

To put things into perspective, it is pretty outlandish that Fedor had about 5-to-1 odds in his matchup with Silva. Even prior to his fight with Emelianenko, educated fans knew that Silva was no slouch. Obviously, he has tremendous size at 6’4" and apparently getting as heavy as 285 pounds. 

He isn’t nicknamed “Bigfoot” for no good reason. 

Furthermore, Silva is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo and Karate and is also a regular practitioner of Muay Thai. 

Nevertheless, Fedor was expected to coast to a comfortable unanimous decision victory in a worst case scenario. 

That outcome never came to fruition, as Silva completely controlled the second round against “The Last Emperor.”

After a quick double leg takedown, Bigfoot absolutely owned Silva on the ground. His superior jiu-jitsu skills overwhelmed Fedor, as the decorated Russian fighter had no counters or really any defense in general for Silva’s mounted attacks. 

So Fedor looked like a shell of his former self, and Silva has made a case to be an undisputed top-10 heavyweight in the world.  

We already know this. 

So where does Brock Lesnar come into play? 

Well, the former Minnesota Gopher has a lot more in common with the big Brazilian (Silva) than initially meets the eye. 

Lesnar is well known for having fantastic power and amazing wrestling, so few heavyweights can keep off their backs for long when taking on this formidable foe. 

Taking down Emilianenko would be a joke for someone with Lesnar’s credentials.

Certainly, this is just one aspect to winning a fight, and it would be unjust to declare Brock a hands-down winner based on excellent takedown ability.

However, also consider that accomplished wrestlers excel at applying constant pressure to opponents and are also very good at maintaining good positioning like side control and mount. 

Rewatching any of Lesnar’s previous fights exhibit this; Chael Sonnen and Georges St. Pierre are two other examples of a consistently well-executed wrestling game.

Now, it is easy to recognize that Lesnar’s jiu-jitsu skills and striking are not as good at Silva’s. 

However, he is basically the same size (6'3" and has to cut to make UFC’s 265-pound heavyweight limit) and is way stronger than Silva. 

Additionally, it is clear that Emelianenko’s days of beating guys 80 or even 50 pounds heavier than him have long past. 

If Lesnar should gain a dominant position on Emelianenko, there is no question the fight would end early. 

This is not to disrespect what Emelianenko has accomplished in the past; let us all openly acknowledge that he is hands down one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.

The reality though is that as of right now, Brock Lesnar is a better heavyweight fighter than Fedor Emelianenko and is capable of beating him one on one.