Fedor Emelianenko doesn’t matter in modern MMA, nor will he matter in MMA history.
Regarding the former point, look at what Emelianenko is up to now. The “Greatest of All Time” is set to fight Jeff Monson (a fighter who hasn’t beaten anyone decent since 2009) at an M-1 Global show in Moscow, Russia.
Ordering the event will set fans back $29.95 and a good night’s sleep, since it will air live from Russia at approximately 7:30 am EST/4:30 am PST.
Meanwhile, the UFC will be putting the two best heavyweights—UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior Dos Santos—against each other for free on FOX.
Now are you seeing why Fedor Emelianenko isn’t exactly relevant these days and why nobody cares about what he’s doing with M-1?
“So what? Everybody falls out of their prime! Fedor will still be remembered as one of the greatest of all time,” the typical Emelianenko or Pride fan would say.
However, there is no guarantee that Emelianenko will ever be remembered as one of the greats. In fact, it’s far more likely that he’ll be forgotten. There are two words that can prove this:
Frank Shamrock.
When Frank Shamrock was UFC light heavyweight champion, he was more than just that. He was the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world since he managed to beat the best in his weight class in the United States as well as in Japan (the only other country with a significant talent pool at the time).
He was one of the most successful fighters in the sport’s and the company’s history.
But is not history a set of lies agreed upon?
Shamrock’s personality clashed with UFC president Dana White‘s. As a result, Frank Shamrock was practically erased from UFC history (and by extension, MMA history, since the majority of fans don’t know anything outside of what the official UFC line is).
Shamrock is not in the UFC hall of fame; Shamrock isn’t mentioned in broadcasts or in anything that the UFC does. It’s almost as if he didn’t even exist.
If Shamrock—a man who worked for the company and was even a champion there—was erased from existence, what will happen to Emelianenko, a man who never even fought in the UFC?
He, too, will fade away.
There is no doubt that he was once the best heavyweight in the world. Back when the UFC was parading around guys like Wesley “Cabbage” Correira and Wes Sims as world-beaters, Emelianenko was actually beating the world in Pride.
Despite having better fighters on the whole (at least in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions), Pride fell, and it seemed like we’d see Emelianenko dominate in the UFC.
This wasn’t to be.
After Pride was gone, the UFC was the dominant force in mixed martial arts. By not signing with them, Emelianenko destroyed his legacy.
Instead of being remembered as a great fighter, he’ll be remembered as the guy who couldn’t hack it in Strikeforce and the minor leagues, and who only became famous by beating up guys who couldn’t perform well in the UFC or even make it to the UFC.
As the sport progresses, the UFC’s version of the sport’s history will eventually become the only version of the sport’s history.
The legacy of Fedor Emelianenko will live on only in Youtube highlight reels and in the mint-condition Pride DVDs of MMA historians and the world’s last remaining Pride fans, who will still be insisting that the long-dead organization is better than the UFC.
Tragic?
Hardly. While some are lamenting the fall of Fedor Emelianenko and the inevitable loss of his legacy, most MMA fans will be enjoying the growth of the UFC and the creation of new stars like Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos and more.
So it seems that the MMA world has finally gotten over Fedor Emelianenko. Have you?
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