Issue 046
February 2009
By Richard Smyth.
In an industry that prides itself on being black and white, win or lose, yes or no, there is one subject of discussion that is a deep uncertain shade of grey. The question that causes so much controversy: ‘Is Fedor Emelianenko still the number one heavyweight in the world?’
MMA fans who still mourn the passing of Pride will maintain that the fighters from that dead promotion will always be superior, and many maintain that ‘The Last Emperor’ is still the best in the world due to the fact that he’s not been defeated in a professional fight since the Tsuyoshi Kohsaka debacle in RINGS (an accidental headbutt was ruled a TKO win in Kohsaka’s favour). Some detractors, including Dana White, have said that Fedor’s relative inactivity should mean that the Russian can’t claim the top spot in the heavyweight rankings.
With wins over the middleweight / part-time light heavyweight Matt Lindland and the dangerous yet inexperienced Hong-Man Choi, Fedor wasn’t exactly fighting top competition (with all due respect to both fighters). But his 36-second domination of former UFC Champion Tim Sylvia proves, without a shadow of a doubt, that Fedor Emelianenko is still the standard-bearer within the heavyweight division in terms of skill and physical ability.
This opens up the debate as to whether winning fights consistently and regularly against decent competition outweighs winning impressively over elite opponents, but in fewer fights. Remember back to 2005, after his knockout of Mirko Cro Cop, Kevin Randleman was briefly thrust back into many heavyweight Top 10 rankings, while Jeff Monson was on a seemingly endless winning streak and was barely a blip on the radar due to the lower standard of competition he faced.
So is that what helps in making the rankings? It’s all well and good having a winning streak as long as your arm, but if nobody is there to see it, they’re not going to take any notice. Whenever Fedor fights, let alone wins, people take notice, because most fans with more than a passing interest in MMA love watching Fedor fight.
To those who remain uncertain there remains an obvious question. If not everyone’s favourite Russian, then who could be the top dog in the heavyweight division?
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
If Fedor had chosen another vocation, Nogueira could well be considered as the greatest heavyweight of all time. But after two dominating losses to his nemesis, Nogueira seems to be stuck in a perennial number two position, which is unfortunate for such a skilled and likeable fighter. Nogueira has fought consistently against a higher calibre of competition, and should he emerge the winner, the UFC’s pseudo-tournament (held to decide the undisputed heavyweight champion) could provide ‘Minotauro’ the necessary boost to reclaim the top spot. Even if he was to be declared the undisputed champ, nothing will take away those losses to Fedor.
Josh Barnett
‘The Babyface Assassin’ has a stellar record in MMA, but let’s take a closer look. He went 1-1 with Minotauro, holds a win over Randy Couture (that is now a fading memory to many people) but holds no less than three losses to Mirko Cro Cop (albeit the first loss was a freak accident). The losses on Barnett’s CV damage his case greatly, but now he’s signed with Affliction I see him fighting (and winning) more often. With his next opponent the Dutch striker Gilbert Yvel, we’ll really see if Barnett can keep moving toward the top spot. Let’s hope the greatly anticipated bout with Fedor can take place in 2009.
Brock Lesnar
Four fights into his MMA career and the man is already the UFC heavyweight champion. Despite the stigma of being a former pro-wrestler, Lesnar has made a loud noise in a very short amount of time. Still, even though he carries that big, shiny belt, is Brock ready to claim the number one spot so soon into his career?
Kimbo Slice
No? Moving on.
One name that was always on the lips of many MMA enthusiasts was indeed the legendary Randy Couture After wins over Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga, people were proclaiming that Couture was back on top. A self-administered hiatus of 12 months and a loss to the upstart Brock Lesnar has unfortunately cast ‘Captain America’ into a realm of uncertainty.
Fighters such as Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Fabricio Werdum can all make cases for being Top 5, but none have a realistic claim to the number one spot right now due to recent losses and some less than sparkling performances. But with a raft of future contenders coming through, as is always the case with this great sport of ours, literally anything can happen.
For every fighter there is always the inexplicable ‘however’ factor. Fedor always sticks in the mind because no matter how often he fights, despite company loyalties and business interests, we all know deep down that Fedor is still the gold standard in MMA’s heavyweight division (and probably Scrabble too, if he tried his hand at it).
So, in the interest of putting a stop to schoolyard bickering and name-calling, how about this? Let’s keep Fedor at number one for now. We’ll see how his fight with Arlovski goes in January, but should he win, even if he doesn’t fight again for a whole year, the man should stay at number one where he belongs.
