More Options:  Print This Post  Email This Post  RSS Feeds Share:

Charles Jay
Commentary on MMA history….as it’s happening
MMA’S BIGGEST EVENT - IT’S FEDOR

The Affliction: Banned show which is taking place July 19 in Anaheim is, to me, the biggest MMA event of the year. Yes, bigger than Brock Lesnar’s first fight in the UFC. Bigger than the tripleheader that is scheduled for this weekend in Las Vegas. Bigger than any phony-ass fighter who has had a phony-ass phenomenon created around him.

The reason is that Fedor is coming.

You know, I’m continuing to get my feet wet in terms of evaluating these fighters, but for my money, Fedor Emilianenko is the best heavyweight - if not the best pound-for-pound fighter - I have seen so far in mixed martial arts.

As much as the UFC would like to spin that they have the best, whether it is Nogueira or Mir or whoever, I think this guy beats them all. He’s a cut above.

I consider him to be kind of a “Joe Louis of MMA”; someone who comes into the ring (or cage, as it were) without a lot of pomp and circumstance, just a pair of simple trunks and few words and ready to kick some ass. He doesn’t need to do any trash talking, a la Tito Ortiz, because he is the real deal, and is perfectly secure in letting his performance do the talking for him. That performance has resulted in him defeating everyone ever put in front of him, including Mark Coleman, Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, Kevin Randleman, Gary Goodridge, Mark Hunt, Renato Sobral, Heath Herring, Sammy Schilt and Matt Lindland.

This is truly a guy who walks softly but carries a big stick.

His understated presence is refreshing as we have seen over-hyped, unproven fighters capturing the imagination of a certain segment of the audience who may or may not understand what they’re watching. Fedor provides style, alright, but it is within the context of also providing plenty of substance. The timing of his arrival in the U.S. couldn’t be better, or more important, because the sport needs him.

People who question his roster of opponents, or what he’s done lately - and I have heard them - are foolish. And for those who are saying that he is withering with age should get real. Who are they talking about in terms of the “mega-match” for Fedor? A 43-year-old.

I’ve watched this guy as Randleman flipped him over onto his head, only to be shocked when he got right up and took care of business in short order. Ordinary fighters do not do that. And I’m one of those people, with a background in the boxing business, who closely watches the way MMA fighters throw their strikes, and even though I am not sure Fedor has the skill of a boxer, the way he throws strikes is extraordinarily effective, to the point where I would really be worried about having a boxer in with him, even it were in stand-up mode. Fedor can actually stand on his feet, over an opponent who is lying on the ground, and deliver blows with timing and force without having to go to the ground. that is unusual and special. And I have seen his left hook - it means business.

I know that his opponent on July 19, Tim Sylvia, is big and strong and talented; good in the stand-up and a former UFC heavyweight champion. But I do not think he is going to be much of a spoiler. Another thing: I know that there is a lot of talk about this prospective “showdown” with Randy Couture, which may or may not take place before the year is out. Well, I have heard so many stories about whether this can or cannot happen that I am bored with it, but the worst case scenario is that Couture could be a very old man by the time all the hurdles are cleared. Like I ask anyone who tells me it’s a “done deal,” show me the contract.

I just hope that people don’t get overly disappointed if the Fedor-Couture fight doesn’t end up taking place. I hope they will sit back and enjoy while a true virtuoso goes to work, whoever that work is performed against. As Fedor Emilianenko cuts a swath through the heavyweight division, that will indeed be history in the making.

Legitimate history.

And in the wake of the manufactured “stars” that have now become part of the landscape, that will be good news for the MMA business, I can assure you.