Since Brock Lesnar's dominating destruction and disfiguring of Frank Mir at UFC 100, there has been only one fight on every MMA fan's mind: Lesnar vs. Emelianko. Lesnar's victory all but assured there is no heavyweight in the UFC that has a chance of defeating this freak of nature. That leads to the talk of Fedor Emelianenko. The Russian Military Experiment, quite possibly the greatest MMA Fighter of all time. Emelianenko is as close to the opposite of Lesnar as two fighter's can be. First, he is not physically imposing. At 6'0 230 lbs, of not so chiseled Russian beef, he really doesn't look like much of a fighter, much less a champion. He is quiet and reserved, and never boastful. Emelianenko really embodies what the Martial Artist is supposed to be.
Fedor's Credentials
He has defeated practically every big name heavyweight in the history of the sport. From Mark Coleman to Cro-Cop, Matt Lindland to Mark Hunt, and most recently, easy victories over former UFC Champions, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski. His lone defeat is controversial, and came in his 5th professional fight. The fight was stopped 17 seconds into the fight due to a cut. Fedor has certianly proved his worth, but to really establish himself as the best, he must take on the best in the business, and to accomplish that, he needs the UFC.
UFC Heavyweight Division
On the other hand, the UFC and Brock Lesnar need Fedor to legitimize their champion. The UFC Heavyweight Division is much stronger now, with the addition of fomer Pride talent such as Antonio Nogueira, but it wasn't long ago the division was a joke. Having a fighter with three professional bouts on his resume win the title didn't do much to add to the division's credibility in some critics eyes. But Lesnar is not your average newcomber.
Lesnar's Credentials
Despite being most known as a former WWE Superstar, he is a superb athlete and former Division 1 National Wrestling Champion. Lesnar is an aggresive, scary guy, who resembles something out of a comic book. He displayed some old WWE habits after his victory over Mir, flipping off the crowd and insulting the sponsors. Despite his crushing performance, some MMA fans and critics are still not convinced, and believe Lesnar is ultimately bad for the sport. But one thing is certain about Lesnar, he knows how to sell himself, something Fedor is obviously lacking. This may be a large reason why Emelianko has yet to work out a deal with Dana White and the Undisputed Top Dog of MMA, the UFC.
UFC'S MMA Monopoly
The talks have heated up in the past few weeks, but still there is no deal. Fedor's option are even more limited since Affliction decided to bow down to the UFC, and return to doing what they know how to do: selling t-shirts. The delay is really a mystery. The UFC probably has 90% of the world's best MMA Fighters signed to their company, so they would obviously want to have the best fighter in the world right? Ofcourse. The real question is whether Emelianko and his handlers want to join the UFC. Dana White has been trying to sign Fedor since the UFC purchased Competitor Pride Fighting Championship in 2007, with no luck. This is the one trophy fish White hasn't lured in yet. Hopefully, for the fans sake, he can soon.
