Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko suffered a spate of ignominious defeats in his has last trio of fights for Strikeforce, the San Jose-based promotion.
Following those losses, questions were asked as to the legitimacy of his credentials to being one of the best heavyweight mixed martial artists of his generation.
There was speculation that the evolution of the sport had passed him by—he was a relic of the once-lauded PRIDE organization—his past competition were low- to mid-tier fighters.
Concisely put, the accolades bestowed upon him were unwarranted—he was really never that good.
And so on and so forth.
Truth be told, the once indomitable aura of The Emperor has evaporated into thin air, never again to resurface in a ring or a steel cage.
To suggest, however, that his three-fight loss streak was tantamount to his inability to compete with the upper-echelon heavyweights is unjustified to say the least.
Fedor ruled the heavyweight realm of MMA for nigh on 10 years, and regardless of the label ‘cans’ associated with his wins, he did just that: win.
Prior to his loss to Fabricio Werdum, Fedor was riding a 27-fight win streak (the NC against Antonio “Big Nog” Rodrigo Nogueira not inclusive).
What should also be taken into account is that he was 31-1-1NC preceding that loss as well.
I’ll make the case that his three losses from 2010 to 2011 were as a result of complacency, which I’d like to refer to as flukes and nothing else.
Let’s take a look.