Despite his legacy-damaging losing skid in 2010-2011 under the Strikeforce banner, the Last Emperor still managed to go out on top. Judging from his dominant performance against Rizzo — in which Fedor showed flashes of the speed and power that established him as a legend in the first place — he could have gone another five years beating up faded legends and local cans. Instead, he walks away with his health and his dignity intact, and riding a three-fight win streak since November.
Raise a glass of vodka to one of the greatest of all time, and enjoy ten classic video moments from Fedor’s career after the jump…
Despite his legacy-damaging losing skid in 2010-2011 under the Strikeforce banner, the Last Emperor still managed to go out on top. Judging from his dominant performance against Rizzo — in which Fedor showed flashes of the speed and power that established him as a legend in the first place — he could have gone another five years beating up faded legends and local cans. Instead, he walks away with his health and his dignity intact, and riding a three-fight win streak since November.
Raise a glass of vodka to one of the greatest of all time, and enjoy ten classic video moments from Fedor’s career after the jump…
(Fedor knocks out Hiroya Takada in 12 seconds at RINGS: Battle Genesis Vol. 6, 9/5/00. My God this lack of human emotion.)
(Fedor gets rocked by Kazuyuki Fujita, comes back to win by rear-naked choke @ Pride 26: Bad to the Bone, 6/8/03)
(Fedor destroys Gary Goodridge @ PRIDE Total Elimination 2003, 8/10/03)
(Fedor pulls off the slickest armbar of his career against Mark Coleman @ Pride Total Elimination 2004, 4/25/04)
(Fedor survives the “Randleplex,” defeats Kevin Randleman by kimura @ PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004, 6/20/04)
(Fedor defeats Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the second time at Pride Shockwave 2004, 12/31/04)
(Fedor harpoons Zuluzinho at Pride Shockwave 2005, 12/31/05)
(Fedor fends off a nasty keylock attempt by Mark Hunt before giving the Super Samoan a taste of his own medicine at Pride Shockwave 2006, 12/31/06)
(Fedor blitzes Tim Sylvia @ Affliction: Banned, 7/19/08)
(Fedor knocks Andrei Arlovski out of mid-air @ Affliction: Day of Reckoning, 1/24/09)
Fedor Emelianenko‘s hard work at the playground has paid off once again. Earlier today at an M-1 Global event in St. Petersberg, Russia, Fedor met Pedro Rizzo in his possible retirement fight, and knocked him out in the first round. “The Last Emperor” looked focused and light on his feet, and the stoppage — which came less than a minute-and-a-half into the fight — was classic Fedor. Watch as Emelianenko lands a crushing overhand right that topples Rizzo, then bounces the Rock’s head off the mat with some savage ground-and-pound.
Notable fight-fan Vladmir Putin was sitting ringside, and even more impressive was the appearance of Fedor’s brother Aleksander Emelianenko in his corner, so I guess those two knuckleheads have patched up their differences, which is nice to see. Without family, what do we really have, y’know?
Fedor Emelianenko‘s hard work at the playground has paid off once again. Earlier today at an M-1 Global event in St. Petersberg, Russia, Fedor met Pedro Rizzo in his possible retirement fight, and knocked him out in the first round. “The Last Emperor” looked focused and light on his feet, and the stoppage — which came less than a minute-and-a-half into the fight — was classic Fedor. Watch as Emelianenko lands a crushing overhand right that topples Rizzo, then bounces the Rock’s head off the mat with some savage ground-and-pound.
Notable fight-fan Vladmir Putin was sitting ringside, and even more impressive was the appearance of Fedor’s brother Aleksander Emelianenko in his corner, so I guess those two knuckleheads have patched up their differences, which is nice to see. Without family, what do we really have, y’know?
All praises be to the UG and Fightlinker for unearthing this bit of classic footage, which features none other than co-host of MMA Inside the Cage, Casey Oxendine (a.k.a. Tiki Ghosn’s evil twin brother a.k.a. the most despised man of the CP comments section) one-punch KO’ing a cornerman named Korey Hayes (a.k.a the coach of the Knoxville-based MMA team Cage Killers). The twist here is that Oxendine was not one of the men participating in the fight, but rather the man that was supposed to be keeping order. Given his popularity amongst you Taters, we figured we had to show you this on the off chance that you had yet to see it.
Though neither man has ever truly come forward with what exactly caused the confrontation in the first place, here’s a snippet of what Oxendine posted on the UG back when the incident occurred, detailing the consequences of his actions:
As the referee in this bout, there was alot of controversy as to whether I was justified in striking Mr Hayes during this incident. I wrote an extensive paragraph, stating that it was unlike me to strike another person outside of a combat sports setting. However, I felt as though I was in a dangerous situation and that he would have struck me if I hadn’t acted.
The event would evolve into the centerpiece of the issues concerning the legalization of the sport in [Tennessee]. When I attended the meeting that saw the state athletic commission finally pass sanctioning of amateur MMA, the incident was brought up. They wanted to make sure that if sanctioning were put in place, this sort of thing would not happend again. Everyone involved expressed openly that the incident cast a dark shadow on the sport, and felt we should move forward for the benefit of the sport.
Last night I attended an event at the National Guard Armory of New Tazwell, promoted Warrior Fighting Challenge. Only moments before my arrival, I was informed that ISKA had pulled their sanctioning, due to lack of insurance and security. The promoter insured me that the event would be run by “Sport Jiu-Jitsu” rules. Having attended the meetings of the State Athletic Commission, I was fully aware that all MMA event HAD TO BE SANCTIONED by one of three sanctioning bodies (ISKA, ISCF, and WKA). Realizing my fighters and cornermen could face later repercussions, I pulled them from the event. I arrived at the venue a few minutes later to collect my fighters. I passed the ticket counter and turned to walk down the hallway with Teammate Erick Jordan and my girlfrend. At this point, I noticed Korey Hayes out of the corner of my eye. Considering the nature of our last meeting and in the best interest of the event, I made it a point to avoid all contact. I did not make eye contact and I did not make any move toward Mr. Hayes whatsoever. However, as I turned my back and made my way toward the lockerooms, Mr Hayes struck me with a looping right punch from behind that shoved me into my girlfriend.
More from this story, including an alternate angle of the knockout, await you after the jump.
All praises be to the UG and Fightlinker for unearthing this bit of classic footage, which features none other than co-host of MMA Inside the Cage, Casey Oxendine (a.k.a. Tiki Ghosn’s evil twin brother a.k.a. the most despised man of the CP comments section) one-punch KO’ing a cornerman named Korey Hayes (a.k.a the coach of the Knoxville-based MMA team Cage Killers). The twist here is that Oxendine was not one of the men participating in the fight, but rather the man that was supposed to be keeping order. Given his popularity amongst you Taters, we figured we had to show you this on the off chance that you had yet to see it.
Though neither man has ever truly come forward with what exactly caused the confrontation in the first place, here’s a snippet of what Oxendine posted on the UG back when the incident occurred, detailing the consequences of his actions:
As the referee in this bout, there was alot of controversy as to whether I was justified in striking Mr Hayes during this incident. I wrote an extensive paragraph, stating that it was unlike me to strike another person outside of a combat sports setting. However, I felt as though I was in a dangerous situation and that he would have struck me if I hadn’t acted.
The event would evolve into the centerpiece of the issues concerning the legalization of the sport in [Tennessee]. When I attended the meeting that saw the state athletic commission finally pass sanctioning of amateur MMA, the incident was brought up. They wanted to make sure that if sanctioning were put in place, this sort of thing would not happend again. Everyone involved expressed openly that the incident cast a dark shadow on the sport, and felt we should move forward for the benefit of the sport.
Last night I attended an event at the National Guard Armory of New Tazwell, promoted Warrior Fighting Challenge. Only moments before my arrival, I was informed that ISKA had pulled their sanctioning, due to lack of insurance and security. The promoter insured me that the event would be run by “Sport Jiu-Jitsu” rules. Having attended the meetings of the State Athletic Commission, I was fully aware that all MMA event HAD TO BE SANCTIONED by one of three sanctioning bodies (ISKA, ISCF, and WKA). Realizing my fighters and cornermen could face later repercussions, I pulled them from the event. I arrived at the venue a few minutes later to collect my fighters. I passed the ticket counter and turned to walk down the hallway with Teammate Erick Jordan and my girlfrend. At this point, I noticed Korey Hayes out of the corner of my eye. Considering the nature of our last meeting and in the best interest of the event, I made it a point to avoid all contact. I did not make eye contact and I did not make any move toward Mr. Hayes whatsoever. However, as I turned my back and made my way toward the lockerooms, Mr Hayes struck me with a looping right punch from behind that shoved me into my girlfriend.
We bet you think Oxendine just laid down and let this chump kick his ass in front of his girlfriend, right? Think again, Potato Nation:
He continued forward in an attempt to tackle me to the ground screaming something in the nature of, “you will never hit me again”. I grabbed a single leg and drove myself forward until the onlookers separated us. Mr Hayes then exited the bulding in haste.
When the police arrived a few minutes later, I filed a report. While his best haymaker punch from behind was unable to knock me unconcious, I was left with severe lacerations to my lips that required stitches to close up.
While I am irate at the situation, it is primarily due to the involvent of my girlfriend. I have trained with some of hardest hitters in the sport and getting punched is something I can readily deal with. And although I don’t relish having my mouth split open, I will heal as I always have. When our altercation unfolded in Knoxville 2 months ago, it was handled face to face and without the involvement of any innocent persons. My girlfriend is not a fighter and had no place in that disagreement. I would have never placed his wife, girlfriend, or children in harms way over a personal issue between us. This is truly disgracefull behavior, and was intended to gain revenge for the initial event that was unfortunate and I feel that I had little control over to begin with. While I realize that I made a mistake in turning my back to someone that may have harbored resentment toward me, I truthfully felt that his words as a professional superceded his own egotistical agendas.
Korey Hayes demontrated a vengefull nature that showed in both the meltdowns that followed his fighter’s loss in Knoxville and his unprovoked attack last night. After he had left, I was told by one of his loyal students, that it was “even now, because you hit korey and now he hit you back”. It is disappointing to hear that this instructor’s teachings of ethics consist of, “an eye for an eye”, “set him up to take your best shot when he turns his back”, and “do whatever it takes to get revenge no matter how many innocent people it involves and even if it defaces the integrity of the sport”, display his respect for MMA. I assume he was humiliated by the Youtube fiasco and felt he could even the score by attempting to knock me out and embarass me in return. He was unable to do either. I stand rock steady and continue to move myself, my team, and Tennessee MMA forward.
So to sum things up: say what you want about Mr. Oxendine’s choice of facial hair, but there’s no denying his ability to throw and/or punch. On the other hand, perhaps if he chose a style of facial hair that didn’t make him look like the bad guy from a 1980′s motocross film, he would find himself in far fewer of these situations. On that note, we’d like to congratulate Casey for his induction into the CagePotato First-Punch KO Hall of Fame. Surely this bit of redemption will be all he truly needs to squash this beef.
In advance of this weekend’s UFC 146 headlining match between Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir, FuelTV has released video of JDS’s Octagon debut at UFC 90 in October 2008. At the time, Dos Santos was 6-1 prospect, completely unknown outside of Brazil, facing a seasoned grappling expert and PRIDE/UFC vet whose list of victims included Alistair Overeem, Alexander Emelianenko, Gabriel Gonzaga (twice) and Brandon Vera, all of whom Werdum beat by stoppage. We gave Junior zero chance to win — and he shocked us all with a earth-shaking uppercut that permanently altered the power-balance in the UFC’s heavyweight division.
In advance of this weekend’s UFC 146 headlining match between Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir, FuelTV has released video of JDS’s Octagon debut at UFC 90 in October 2008. At the time, Dos Santos was 6-1 prospect, completely unknown outside of Brazil, facing a seasoned grappling expert and PRIDE/UFC vet whose list of victims included Alistair Overeem, Alexander Emelianenko, Gabriel Gonzaga (twice) and Brandon Vera, all of whom Werdum beat by stoppage. We gave Junior zero chance to win — and he shocked us all with a earth-shaking uppercut that permanently altered the power-balance in the UFC’s heavyweight division.
Quick summary: Elias foregoes the glove tap like a gangster, lands first with a leg kick, then sprawls out on a takedown and puts Evans on his back. The fight is effectively over at this point; Cepeda eventually creates some distance and starts dropping bombs, then brilliantly scrambles to Evans’s back and finishes him with strikes from back mount. UFC veteran referee Rob Madrigal calls it at 2:02 of round 1.
Three cheers for Elias. Can anybody stop this man?
Quick summary: Elias foregoes the glove tap like a gangster, lands first with a leg kick, then sprawls out on a takedown and puts Evans on his back. The fight is effectively over at this point; Cepeda eventually creates some distance and starts dropping bombs, then brilliantly scrambles to Evans’s back and finishes him with strikes from back mount. UFC veteran referee Rob Madrigal calls it at 2:02 of round 1.
Three cheers for Elias. Can anybody stop this man?
Tomorrow night in San Jose, Josh Barnett will face the greatest challenge of his post-PRIDE career when he meets Daniel Cormier in the finals of Strikeforce’s World Heavyweight Grand Prix. (FYI, we’ll be liveblogging the Showtime main card starting at 10 p.m. ET, so don’t make any big plans.) Barnett’s comfort-level in the cage and catch-wrestling expertise have led him on a four-year winning streak, and one more victory could earn him an improbable return to the UFC. In honor of this pivotal moment for the Warmaster, we decided to round up his five greatest submissions. Enjoy, and shoot us your predictions for Barnett vs. Cormier in the comments section…
Barnett’s first submission in the Octagon came against gigantic kickboxer Semmy Schilt, who had made his UFC debut the previous month by smashing Pete Williams. Wisely, Barnett avoids the standup game entirely, immediately taking the Dutchman to the mat. Schilt is absolutely helpless underneath the Babyface Assassin, and eventually gives up mount. Barnett waits for the right moment then attacks Schilt’s arm, giving up position in the process. It doesn’t matter — Barnett sinks the armbar at the 4:21 mark of the first round and establishes himself as a fearsome heavyweight grappler.
Tomorrow night in San Jose, Josh Barnett will face the greatest challenge of his post-PRIDE career when he meets Daniel Cormier in the finals of Strikeforce’s World Heavyweight Grand Prix. (FYI, we’ll be liveblogging the Showtime main card starting at 10 p.m. ET, so don’t make any big plans.) Barnett’s comfort-level in the cage and catch-wrestling expertise have led him on a four-year winning streak, and one more victory could earn him an improbable return to the UFC. In honor of this pivotal moment for the Warmaster, we decided to round up his five greatest submissions. Enjoy, and shoot us your predictions for Barnett vs. Cormier in the comments section…
(Josh Barnett vs. Semmy Schilt; UFC 32, 6/29/01. Fight starts at the 1:45 mark.)
Barnett’s first submission in the Octagon came against gigantic kickboxer Semmy Schilt, who had made his UFC debut the previous month by smashing Pete Williams. Wisely, Barnett avoids the standup game entirely, immediately taking the Dutchman to the mat. Schilt is absolutely helpless underneath the Babyface Assassin, and eventually gives up mount. Barnett waits for the right moment then attacks Schilt’s arm, giving up position in the process. It doesn’t matter — Barnett sinks the armbar at the 4:21 mark of the first round and establishes himself as a fearsome heavyweight grappler.
(Josh Barnett vs. Yuki Kondo; Pancrase: 10th Anniversary Show, 8/31/03)
Following his steroid-related exile from the UFC, Barnett headed to Japan where he’d spend the next five years of his career. His first big fight was this Pancrase openweight title match against Kempo black belt Yuki Kondo. Once again, Barnett exploited his opponent’s lack of grappling ability, at one point pulling off a double-suplex on the outmatched Japanese fighter. Kondo was a game opponent, but eventually succumbed to a rear-naked choke in the third round; skip to the video’s 14:30 mark for the finish.
Barnett’s PRIDE career began disappointingly with a pair of losses to Mirko Cro Cop — one by injury, one by decision — but he hit his stride in 2006 with three consecutive submission wins. Here’s the second of that streak, against Aleksander Emelianenko in the opening round of PRIDE’s 2006 Openweight Grand Prix. Departing from his usual game-plan, Barnett spent the majority of the match standing and slugging with the Russian knockout artist, producing one of PRIDE’s most underrated classics. Eventually, Barnett goes back to his bread and butter, taking Aleks down, softening him up with knees to the dome, then finishing him with a keylock about two minutes into the second round.
(Josh Barnett vs. Mark Hunt; Pride Critical Countdown Absolute, 7/1/06)
You can thank Barnett for exposing the Super Samoan’s achilles heel; this was the beginning of depressing four-year stretch that saw Mark Hunt lose five out of six fights by some kind of armlock. At the time, Hunt had won five straight fights under the PRIDE banner, and went into the OWGP’s quarterfinal round with a reputation as an indestructible tank with a titanium-reinforced chin. But once Barnett scored the takedown, Hunt was operating on borrowed time. Babyface nailed the kimura, and made it look easy.
(Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov; Strikeforce World Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov, 9/10/11)
In fact, all of Barnett’s fights have looked easy lately. His Strikeforce debut against Brett Rogers looked more like a light training session against an XXL Bubba grappling dummy, and during his most recent performance in the Strikeforce heavyweight GP semifinals, he put an end to Sergei Kharitonov’s brief resurgence in trademark fashion. After giving Kharitonov about 45 seconds to try to knock him out, Barnett clinches up, scores the trip takedown, and goes into boa-contrictor-playing-with-terrified-mouse mode. Kharitonov rolls to get out of mount — giving up his back — then rolls again, giving up his neck to an arm-triangle. At the video’s 17:02 mark, the camera cuts to Daniel Cormier who doesn’t look too confident about what he’s just witnessed. Now, Cormier is saying that Barnett’s mileage is starting to catch up with him. We’ll see about that, won’t we?
