Fedor Emelianenko looks to add another piece to his incredible legacy as a living legend in the world of mixed martial arts when he takes on Andrei Arlovski Saturday night.
An Emperor is defined as the ruler of an empire. For Fedor Emelianenko, his kingdom, his land and his empire, is the world of mixed martial arts.
The Last Emperor is a fitting title for the 32-year-old Russian ruler of MMA's heavyweight division. With a record of 29-1-1, Emelianenko long solidified himself as the best the division has to offer; yet he is an unknown fighter to most fans of the sport. He is a stoic figure, an ambassador of good will and a complete terror in the ring.
Many have labeled some of the greatest athletes in sport by one name: Tiger, Jordan and Gretzky. In MMA, that label has long been reserved for the greatest heavyweight in the game: Fedor.
Standing six-feet tall and generally weighing in at 240 pounds, he is the polar opposite of what an professional athlete should look like. The Adonis body that many MMA fighters have is unfamiliar to the somewhat pudgy Fedor. The tattoo culture that is prevalent in the sport has bypassed the Russian as has the whole clothing fascination. There are many who often mock him for his wardrobe selection, but Fedor, it's all irrelevant.
What is relevant to the current WAMMA heavyweight champion is competition. To whomever dares stand across him in a ring or cage, the soft-spoken Russian's message is often quite clear. There will be no trash talk coming from the Russian Cyborg, nor will any chirping come from his camp. What will come is a force of nature whose reputation has been built inside the combat arena, not outside of it.
On Saturday night in Anaheim, Calif., Fedor will face another former UFC heavyweight champion in Andrei (The Pitbull) Arlovski. The main event for Affliction's second pay-per-view offering sits atop a card that is stacked from top to bottom. The co-main event sees Josh Barnett take on Gilbert Yvel, while middleweights Vitor Belfort and Matt Lindland will settle their differences as well. Add Renato (Babalu) Sobral vs. Thierry Rameau Sokodjou as well, and you have quite the MMA fan's delight.
In Arlovski, Fedor finds himself taking on a fighter from Belarus, who has been in the limelight before. "The Pitbull" has been a champion before and knows what it takes to dethrone another. But unlike Tim Sylvia, whom he defeated to become the UFC's interim champion in February 2005, Fedor is a completely different story. Fedor's last fight was against Tim Sylvia and the 36-second destruction he put on the American sent tsunami-like waves throughout the industry. At first, even UFC president Dana White was impressed, that is, until his tune changed back to the UFC's corporate positioning on "The Last Emperor."
White can say whatever he wants, but the fact remains, Fedor Emelianenko is on an another level than every other heavyweight fighter on the planet. Should Fedor dismantle Arlovski in quick fashion, or beat him down like he has done Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Cro Cop, my how I would like to be a fly on the wall to see and hear White's reaction. A dominating victory for Fedor, coupled with the rumoured demise of Affliction would surely have the UFC's negotiating team on stand-by to secure the Russian's services.
While I do not discount Arlovski's chances in this fight, I firmly believe Fedor will have his way with the Belarusian. Arlovski will likely employ a stick-and-move gameplan in hopes to force Fedor to over-commit his punches. But the way I see it, it will only be a matter of time before both are locked into a clinch. Once that happens, Fedor will likely take this fight to the ground and end it either by submission or by merciful referee stoppage.
The flipside to my prediction is what if Arlovski is victorious? Will the UFC look to bring back their former champ, a fighter White has publicly stated was a difficult one to lose for the organization? Or will "The Pitbull" follow in what his famed boxing coach, Freddie Roach, proclaimed, that Arlovski is heading to the world of professional boxing?
The cards appear to be stacked in Fedor's favour for this fight and a victory on Saturday night will only cement his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of MMA's first generation. His only knock to this point is the calibre of opponents he has faced, but much of this talk will dissipate with a dominant victory over another former UFC champion. His victim list would not only contain the name of Arlovski, but the aforementioned Sylvia, Cro Cop, Nogueira, as well as Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Heath Herring and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka -- all UFC veterans.
Nobody in the heavyweight division has a list with such notable names, nor has anyone in the division gone undefeated as long as Fedor. His last loss, and it was a controversial one, was Dec. 22, 2000. Over eight years of domination in what is often referred to in combat sports as "the money division." Come Saturday night, the ruler of the heavyweight empire, The Last Emperor, Fedor will look to be adding another piece to his incredible legacy as a living legend in the world of mixed martial arts.
