Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson: Was the Fight Stopped Too Early?

After an exciting round of action, the clash of titans came to a close with a controversial TKO victory for Dan Henderson.

It appeared to some that Fedor Emelianenko was knocked out, while others believe that it wasn't clear he was out and that he should have gotten more time to defend himself.

The following is an objective breakdown of the fight stoppage, followed by my own thoughts.

With 54 seconds left in the round, Henderson lands the uppercut on Fedor.  Fedor's arms and legs give way, going face first onto the mat.  Henderson lands a light blow to the body as he falls.

At 53 seconds, Henderson throws his first follow-up punch.  Fedor's hands go from resting limp at his side to coming in under his shoulders.  As the first punch hits him, his arms shake and maintain position.  A second blow hits at the very end of the 53 second mark, shaking his arms again.

At the very beginning of the 52 second mark, Fedor rolls toward Henderson as Herb Dean rushes in to stop the fight.

At 51 seconds, Fedor finishes rolling over and uses his left arm to impair Henderson's punches.  Herb Dean is still stopping the fight.

At 50 seconds, the fight is broken up.  At 48 seconds Fedor sits up and the fight is officially over.

In less than two seconds Fedor went from being thoroughly rocked to competently defending himself.  A TKO stoppage makes absolutely no sense.  Three undefended shots is far too few for a legitimate TKO stoppage.

I'll assume the official call was incorrect and that Herb Dean stopped the fight because he thought Fedor was knocked out.

After the big blow, Herb Dean was probably trying to determine if Fedor was unconscious.  Whether Fedor's arms were moving up his body simply due to the awkwardness of the position or Fedor's own will, might not have been easy to determine.

However, when it's hard to tell if the fighter is out or not, the fighter should get more than two blows and one second to defend himself.  Since extended viewings of the replay don't give a clear indication Fedor was unconscious, but rather than stunned,, I think it's reasonable to say the stoppage was premature.

Video of the fight can be found here.