Fedor Emelianenko set to retire after loss
In a Strikeforce and M-1 Global co-promoted main event Saturday night, heavyweight Antonio "Big Foot" Silva scored a victory by TKO over Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko when ringside physicians elected to stop the bout before the start of the third round in East Rutherford, N.J.
The loss by Emelianenko (31-3, 1 NC) was a total surprise to many MMA fans, but the biggest surprise was that the greatest heavyweight in mixed martial artists history was calling it quits.
Speaking with Showtime announcer Gus Johnson after the bout, an emotional Emelianenko said: “Thank you very much for the support. And what happen, maybe I didn’t manage to re-adjust myself and something went wrong from the very beginning and I didn’t re-adjust myself. Maybe it’s the time to leave.”
Johnson was caught off guard by Emelianenko's statement. The fighter continued: “Yes, maybe this is last time, maybe it’s high time [to retire]. Thank God for everything. I [had] a great, beautiful sporting life. Maybe it’s God will."
M-1 Global director of operations Evgeni Kogan said after the fight: “The commission erred on the side of caution in stopping the bout when Fedor wanted to continue, and we put our trust in their decision. A fighter’s safety is always paramount. Fedor trained harder than he ever had for this fight against Silva, and we’ll never know what the outcome would have been had they entered into the third round. Tonight was disappointing.”
In Emelianenko’s previous fight, he lost by submission to Fabricio Werdum. After the lost to Silva, Werdum questioned Emelianenko’s training. He said he believes Emelianenko isn’t being pushed enough in the gym.
Many believe this was the reason UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar lost his last bout against Cain Velázquez. A fighter is only as good as the trainers and fighters he surrounds himself with and trains against. If no one pushes him in the gym and he has “yes men” in his camp, he will never reach his potential.
I believe Emelianenko is making the right decision to retire. Too many times, we see the aging fighter get dominated by a younger and much stronger opponent.
Clearly in Saturday night's main event, Silva had a huge size advantage. He looked to outweigh Emelianenko by 40 pounds. This looked similar to the UFC heavyweight fight between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar in which Lesnar looked to be about 50 pounds heavier he out-muscled the smaller Couture.
Do you believe this should be Emelianenko’s last fight?
Below are results from the undercard:
Sergei Kharitonov def. Andrei Arlovski via knockout (strikes) - Round 1, 2:49
Shane Del Rosario def. Lavar Johnson via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 4:31
Chad Griggs def. Gian Villante via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:49
John Cholish def. Marc Stevens via submission (kneebar) - Round 2, 3:57
Igor Gracie def. John Salgado via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) - Round 2, 3:04
Sam Oropeza def. Don Carlo-Clauss via submission (strikes) - Round 1, 4:10
Josh LaBerge def. Anthony Leone via TKO (cut) - Round 1, 5:00
Jason McLean def. Kevin Roddy via split decision
Kevin Richardson has been a fan of mixed martial arts competition ever since UFC 3, when 600-pound sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough was beaten by Keith Hackney. Kevin will cover the world of MMA — in Baltimore, nationally and internationally. He plans to take readers into the locker rooms and MMA schools, where they'll hear from local fighters and trainers. If you have a news tip or suggestions for the blog, please 
Comments
its a shame he didnt go down in the big leagues...
Posted by: hah | February 13, 2011 2:46 PM
no! no i do not. did you see how fedor never gave up even when he was mounted by the baheemeth? always moving, keeping his hand protecting himself the best he can, head movement from the canvas, i was so dam pumped he survived the second round! and he even went for a last second sub. grrrrreat dam fight. i think fedor should train his a$$ off and come back and fight 1 or 2 more fights(knowing ufcs impossible), taking werdum, then overeem, then retire once u got another belt. dont go out like this fedor. u said somthing like, u cant get back up if u dont get knocked down. well get up man
Posted by: noooheshouldnt | February 13, 2011 2:49 PM
This isn't the way I wanted to see Fedor retire. He could definitely beat Werdum but no matter how hard he would train I think Overeem would murder him in the ring. Fedor is only fighting around 220. I would really like to see him train hard and drop to 205 and fight light heavy weight. If Fedor fought 205 he would be the guy out muscling his opponents. I think he would go on a tear. So FEDOR!! Work off the gut!! Drop to 205!! Come to the UFC and run through the light heavyweights for a few years!!
Patrick,
Fedor would be awesome at 205. If he lose the gut, he could make the weight.
Kevin R.
Posted by: Patrick | February 13, 2011 5:20 PM
I think it is pretty far fetched to compare Fedor to " those ageing fighters" this is the same man two fights ago everyone said he was p4p best, and one loss ago still considered on top with a fluke loss. He is an even better champion if he does the smart thing and goes back to the drawing board. 205 would be interesting though the sad truth is strikeforces lightheavy division is a complete joke.
Chris N,
I never agree with Dana White, but I took a look at Fedor's record going back to 2005. He hasn't beaten anyone that's considered a top heavyweight.
Here's the list.
Wagner Martins in 2005 (Who)
Mark Coleman in 2006 (Over-the-hill)
Mark Hunt in 2006 (A K-1 fighter not a MMA fighter)
Matt Lindland in 2007 (A true middleweight)
Hong-Man Choi in 2007 (Freakshow)
Tim Sylvia in 2008 (Really)
Andrei Arlovski in 2009 (Glass jaw)
Brett Rogers in 2009 (Still to young in the fight game)
Neither of these guys are consider top heavyweights.
Kevin R.
Posted by: Chris N | February 13, 2011 7:08 PM
hell no he shouldn't retire! if he was going to retire, the time to do it would have been BEFORE his first loss. retire undefeated so the legend can live on. but the next best thing to that would be to disappear for awhile, go on a Rockyesque hiatus of montage like personal refelection and introspection. then when people have forgotton your name, return to the ring suddenly, emerging from the shadows, stronger than ever, and tear all your opponents a new a$$hole, THEN retire.
Jack,
This sounds like a kung fu movie.
Kevin
Posted by: jack | February 14, 2011 12:21 AM
I think several UFC fighters need to come out and fight like Silva and Fedor. The both were fighting to finish the fight. Win for strikeforce!
Posted by: Atlanta Roofing | February 14, 2011 1:05 AM
Fedor, who was deemed as the best fighter in the world suddenly drops to two defeats. That makes things more interesting. After this huge defeat, and if Fedor decides to fight again, I am curious about the changes that he will make in his game plan. His aggressive head hunting style has been a success for the past 10 years, but it seems to have lost its magic in hist most recent fight with Silva. Perhaps he should further hone his over-all skills. Or perhaps his training camp should focus more on adjusting to specific opponents. Or perhaps he should change camps. Or perhaps he should put up more weight. There are lots of things to consider. Fedor is still Fedor. We'll see in the coming weeks/months if the Last Emperor decides to continue fighting.
Posted by: The Crack Hub | February 15, 2011 4:01 PM
Let's see Fedor fight Hendo at 205 before retirement. C'mon man.
That would be a great fight Ballz.
-Kevin R.
Posted by: Ballz Mahoney | February 17, 2011 11:19 AM
He should train at Black house...
Posted by: Ello | February 20, 2011 3:43 AM
I hope he dosen't retire. He still has a lot to offer. Would love to see him fight Overeem.
Posted by: Bread Maker | February 22, 2011 12:39 PM
I'm with those who believe he shouldn't retire, but really needs to drop to 205.
Posted by: jed3d | March 22, 2011 1:22 PM