Filed under: UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Rankings, OverallFedor Emelianenko has been at the top of my list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts for a year and a half, since he beat Andrei Arlovski in January 2009. He’s obviously not …
Fedor Emelianenko has been at the top of my list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts for a year and a half, since he beat Andrei Arlovski in January 2009. He’s obviously not at the top anymore, after Fabricio Werdum submitted him in just 69 seconds on Saturday night.
But is Fedor still in the Top 10? Not on my list.
Some people would say Fedor’s body of work merits inclusion in the Top 10, but this isn’t a list of the greatest fighters of all time, it’s a list of the greatest fighters right now. And the soon-to-be 34-year-old Emelianenko, even though he is the greatest fighter of all time, isn’t one of the 10 best right now. My list, the first one I’ve ever put together without Fedor on it, is below.
While a lot of people thought that Lyoto Machida really lost for the first time in his career when he was awarded a controversial Unanimous Decision victory over “Shogun” Rua last October, it was understandable that he and his family / training partners, didn’t really see it that way. It was a close bout, and […]
While a lot of people thought that Lyoto Machida really lost for the first time in his career when he was awarded a controversial Unanimous Decision victory over “Shogun” Rua last October, it was understandable that he and his family / training partners, didn’t really see it that way. It was a close bout, and after all, Machida’s their boy; so heading into the rematch with Shogun they defended the judge’s previous decision. Things have changed dramatically since then, clearly, as Rua ruined Machida’s unblemished victory KTFO style in May.
So it will be interesting to see where Machida goes from here and how he handles the loss. The fact that we’re discussing Machida’s first loss, after fighting professionally since 2003 and facing dudes like Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva and Tito Ortiz in his last five fights, is pretty damn amazing. Well, in a recent interview with the Brazilian publication Tatame, it sounds like Machida is already on the rebound.
“Everything is a learning experience for me, a challenge. I’m trying to learn the most I can from this event. My father taught me that a true samurai loses seven challenges on his life, so this was only the first one. Many times we can only learn from the pain.”
Wow. He even got the samurai bit in there and everything. If that speech doesn’t belong in some martial arts epic what does? See, they don’t call him “The Dragon” because he’s really into Harry Potter. Your thoughts Mr. “Rampage” and hopefully next opponent Jackson?
Fedor Emelianenko has been at the top of my list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts for a year and a half, since he beat Andrei Arlovski in January 2009. He’s obviously not at the top anymore, after Fabricio Werdum submitted him in just 69 seconds on Saturday night.
