Author: Andrew Saunders

Fedor Emelianenko Officially Retires After 84-Second KO of Pedro Rizzo

Fedor Emelianenko’s comeback trail has come to a spectacular ending. Moments after knocking out former UFC title contender Pedro Rizzo, Emelianenko announced to the world that his days in mixed martial arts have come to an end.The fight lasted only 84 …

Fedor Emelianenko‘s comeback trail has come to a spectacular ending. Moments after knocking out former UFC title contender Pedro Rizzo, Emelianenko announced to the world that his days in mixed martial arts have come to an end.

The fight lasted only 84 seconds, and Emelianenko was in control the entire time. Despite pushing forward, Rizzo looked uncomfortable from the get-go. The former PRIDE champion was unconcerned as he waited to unload.

When all was said and done, The Last Emperor shared in joyous hugs with his family and friends and took the microphone. For onlookers who do not speak Russian, it appeared to be little more than a victory speech. However, LowKick.com has translated the words of Emelianenko:

I think it’s time. I’m retiring from sports. I still have the SAMBO World Championships. My family is the reason I will not be fighting again. My daughters are growing without their father, so it’s the right time to leave…There’s no ‘fantastic’ offer that could tempt me out of retirement. I’m retiring to spend more time with my family.

Many believed that Fedor was lucky enough to benefit from overmatched opponents during his final years. Others would accuse him of ducking the elite fighters in the UFC after he and management M-1 Global elected to sign with Strikeforce back in 2009.

Stoppage losses to Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson sent Fedor spiraling out of the organization, and gave support to the argument that The Last Emperor didn’t have what it takes to compete with the best.

After his less-than-spectacular run in Strikeforce, many pundits begged Emelianenko to call it quits and get out before he did too much damage to his legacy. Thankfully, he didn’t listen.

Emelianenko retires now with the momentum of three wins. Two of those wins came over UFC title contenders Jeff Monson and Pedro Rizzo, while the third came over Olympic judoka Satoshi Ishii. 

With his recent upswing, Fedor Emelianenko gets to ride off into the sunset with his head held high. Very few fighters are able to get out of MMA while they are still capable of being competitive at a high level. Considering that Emelianenko may go down as the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time, his ability to turn things around will forever play an important role when discussing his legacy.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 147: Did the Endless Injury Plague Distract Us from a Tragic Injustice?

With major injuries plaguing UFC 147, 148 and 149, the summer has become a graveyard of exciting fights that could have been. When world title fights are being cancelled and postponed on a horrifyingly consistent basis, it’s easy to lose sight of the w…

With major injuries plaguing UFC 147, 148 and 149, the summer has become a graveyard of exciting fights that could have been. When world title fights are being cancelled and postponed on a horrifyingly consistent basis, it’s easy to lose sight of the whole picture.

Top names like Vitor Belfort, Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz have fallen to the wayside, as have pivotal matchups that had fans on the edge of their seats. Those injuries blurred the vision of fight fans and we have largely ignored a tragic injustice.

The Ultimate Fighter has proven to be a successful vehicle for winners and losers alike. Tournaments are a popular format that fans can keep track of. They build anticipation for future bouts and give bragging rights to the eventual winner.

The title of “TUF winner” is a marketing tool that has permitted humdrum and irrelevant matchups like Mac Danzig vs Efrain Escudero and Amir Sadollah vs anyone to somehow grab the interest of fans who would otherwise sit apathetically.

Although the coaches’ fights have been plagued by injuries that postponed or cancelled the highly anticipated matchups, never in the history of The Ultimate Fighter has a finalist been injured between the time he earned his spot in the finals and the time that the fight was originally scheduled to take place.

Until now.

Daniel Sarafian was not only a promising fighter, but he was also the favorite to win the tournament. When UFC.com reported on Monday that the Team Belfort fighter would have to bow out, it simply became a footnote in regards to the recent plague of injuries that has ravaged the main card of the summer’s biggest events. However, a bigger story is being overlooked.

When a fighter earns a title shot and has to bow out due to injury, it is common that someone else will replace him in the championship bout and he gets his shot after recovering. With the TUF plaque, there is no defense of the title. It’s a one-time thing that is non-transferrable down the line.

How can you crown either Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira or Sergio Maraes as The Ultimate Fighter when the rightful finalist has not been defeated? For the sake of preserving the prestige of TUF, shouldn’t the finals have been postponed until Mutante and Sarafian were both available to do battle? If successful on Saturday night, can anyone call Maraes the true tournament winner after his incredible KO loss to Sarafian?

Sure, top fighters like Matt Hamill have been injured on the road to the finals and replaced along the way, but this marks the first time that a fighter has already seen his ticket to the final punched and then been forced out.

For the sake of Daniel Sarafian, I hope that the UFC awards him the same contract as the winners of the show. He deserves better than to miss out on the six-figure contract that comes along with a tournament win.

Author’s Note: Before you comment about Jesse Taylor being a rightful finalist, save your breath. He was removed from the Season 7 competition due to behavioral issues that required disciplinary action. Sarafian is in a completely different boat and has done nothing wrong that justifies him missing out on this golden opportunity.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

10 Individuals Deserving of UFC Hall of Fame Induction

At UFC 148, the UFC Hall of Fame will open it’s doors to welcome their ninth member: Tito Ortiz. The Huntington Beach Bad Boy is a list-topping fighter, and he holds three major records inside the Octagon. No one else has ever defended the UFC Lig…

At UFC 148, the UFC Hall of Fame will open it’s doors to welcome their ninth member: Tito Ortiz.

The Huntington Beach Bad Boy is a list-topping fighter, and he holds three major records inside the Octagon. No one else has ever defended the UFC Light-Heavyweight championship five times, let alone done it in consecutive bouts. Additionally, Ortiz will improve upon his record for most career fights in the UFC, as his battle with Forrest Griffin marks his 27th appearance.

Ortiz is also a member of the elite group of fighters who have collected the Fight Night Trifecta: Fight, Submission and Knockout of the Night. This unofficial honor is rare, as less than five men hold the distinction. Ortiz is the first man to enter the Hall of Fame with this accolade.

Although we could spend many an afternoon debating the merits of Ortiz, this article isn’t about him. It is merely inspired by him. This is a look at 10 individuals who should be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Begin Slideshow

10 UFC Records That We Want to See Broken

How do you determine the best of the best? Do you look at their competitive records? Do you look at their title runs? Do you look at the quality of opposition?There are a lot of statistics in mixed martial arts that have prompted fans to have tremendou…

How do you determine the best of the best? Do you look at their competitive records? Do you look at their title runs? Do you look at the quality of opposition?

There are a lot of statistics in mixed martial arts that have prompted fans to have tremendous debates regarding everything from the best knockout artist of all time to the worst weight cutter. Oftentimes, those fans will point to the record books to help make their cases.

For that reason, we here at Bleacher Report MMA have decided to open the record books and see which feats of inhuman ability are most impressive.

Today, we look at the 10 UFC records that fans want to see broken.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 149: UFC.com Announces Big Nog’s Replacement

Yesterday, we learned that former heavyweight champion of both PRIDE and UFC, Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira, has been forced from his UFC 149 battle against Cheick Kongo.Today, UFC.com has announced that Big Nog will be replaced by none other than Shawn…

Yesterday, we learned that former heavyweight champion of both PRIDE and UFC, Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira, has been forced from his UFC 149 battle against Cheick Kongo.

Today, UFC.com has announced that Big Nog will be replaced by none other than Shawn Jordan. 

Jordan is a former Strikeforce competitor who put on an exciting battle against strongman Oli Thompson at UFC on FX back in March. The contest saw Jordan win via TKO after two rounds of back and forth action.

The American fights out of Greg Jackson’s camp and compiled a 3-1 record in Bellator, before going 1-1 in Strikeforce, where he holds a submission win over Lavar Johnson. 

Despite his 13-3 record, this fight represents a major step up in competition for Jordan, as Cheick Kongo is a mainstay of the UFC Heavyweight division and holds wins over the likes of Mirko Cro Cop and Assuerio Silva. To date, Kongo is the only man to go the distance with former champion Cain Velasquez. 

This fight is the first for Kongo since a TKO loss to Mark Hunt back at UFC 144 in Japan. After stating on multiple occasions that he is hoping to get the title shot that he eluded him throughout his 17-fight UFC career, 37-year-old Kongo will need to be successful against the rising prospect if he has any realistic hopes of getting his shot. 

UFC 149 takes place on July 21, 2012 and will be headlined by the Interim Bantamweight title fight between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva II & the 9 Least Likely UFC Main Events

As the recent string of injuries have shown us, fight cards are always subject to change. While the main event is occasionally altered, usually a suitable replacement is found. Other times, we are left scratching our head, and wondering how the cards p…

As the recent string of injuries have shown us, fight cards are always subject to change. While the main event is occasionally altered, usually a suitable replacement is found. Other times, we are left scratching our head, and wondering how the cards possibly fell in such a manner.

Did a middle tier fighter end up in the final fight? Was a solid co-main event suddenly bumped into a lackluster main event? Did a late switch-er-roo completely change the top fight of the card?

Here is a look at the nine least likely main events of the Zuffa Era.

For the sake of this article, only pay-per-view fights were considered. Events that aired originally on cable were ruled out.

Begin Slideshow