Fedor says he'll fight on, not retire

**bzkfn** · 02-17-2011 08:29 AM

Fedor Plans To 'Fight More,' Says Retirement Declaration Was Rushed - FightLine.com

Wht do you guys think? Is this a good idea?

Coker has been saying he could be Tournament alternate or he could face the loser of Overeem vs. Werdum. Imagine if Werdum beat Overeem...that would mean Fedor would get a title shot coming off the back of 2 losses. Still, I guess I shouldn't pay attention to the belt, more the quality of the fight.

**Captain America** · 02-17-2011 12:07 PM

I'm not opposed to the idea of Fedor fighting more, he just needs to avoid 285lb monsters with black belts in BJJ.

Fedor's lost a step, but I don't think he's washed up, his terminal lack of a gameplan killed him vs Werdum. He should've avoided his guard like the black plague! If he fights smart, I think he could beat Werdum handily in the rematch. Fedor has the better striking, Werdum had the better matt grappling (ADCC champ), Fedor's clinch game is phenomenal, and Werdum's takedowns aren't the best, but Fedor doesn't have the best takedown defense either. This fight comes down to Fedor's ability to: a) get the quick KO, or b) stick to a gameplan, but he hasn't done that since (or before) the 3rd Nog fight.

Fedor vs Overeem is so fucking intriguing to me! Alistair has better striking on paper (K-1 GP champ), but Fedor has the more proven hands in MMA. Overeem won ADCC European trials and half his wins are by submission, Fedor's won numerous gold medals in combat Sambo and half his wins are by submission. Overeem's 35lbs heavier, but he doesn't have as good a top game Big Foot or the guard of Werdum. This fight comes down to two things: 1. Is Alistair as good as he looks? Thus far he's been a phenomenal can-crusher at HW, his only big win is Rogers (and Kharitonov years back, but it was kind of flukey, and Sergei murder-raped him in the rematch). 2. Does he still have the chin, heart and cardio he had at 205? His chin seems great, it held up in K-1. But he's yet to be in a war at HW, we haven't seen his heart or cardio put to the test in years. Fedor will make it an ugly dog fight, will Overeem crumble like he used to?

I'd also like see Fedor vs Barnett before he retires (I still have the Affliction: Trilogy poster on my wall), this fight could be epic! Fedor has a clear striking advantage, Barnett has a size and strength advantage, grappling is close, but I'd give Josh an edge due to his size. Josh also has a pretty clear wrestling advantage, he could theoretically stall this fight to a UD, but Barnett's too active (in regards to pasings and sub attempts) for Fedor to not sweep him or escape eventually (plus, Josh is bigger, but not big enough to really just smother him). I think this fight invariably hits the ground, then it's a toss up! If Fedor stays on top, it's his fight to lose. If Barnett stays on top, it's his fight to lose.

Three more, then retirement, I hope.

**therealremi** · 02-18-2011 12:33 AM

On one hand, last week Fedor looked bored/demotivated/depressed even before the fight. He lost his Tyson effect too. Plus the fact that he never seemed to love fighting like most guys - he said he never dreams about fights nor likes to watch them.
On the other hand: he still has fans, people would watch him. And come on, would we be discussing whether any other fighter should quit after only two defeats?
So it boils down to whether Fedor is motivated. If he finds the motivation from the best years of his career then I believe he could again dominate seriously big guys. But how could he do it? Religion doesn't seem to help him.

**Captain America** · 02-18-2011 02:20 AM

He was supposedly really stressed leading up to the last fight because his priest wasn't there.

**VictorCharlie** · 02-18-2011 06:49 AM

M1 and his manager have always seemed pretty shady to me. If he wants to fight I'll be there to watch I just hope its his decision alone.

**Kev** · 02-18-2011 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by Captain America

I'm not opposed to the idea of Fedor fighting more, he just needs to avoid 285lb monsters with black belts in BJJ.

Fedor's lost a step, but I don't think he's washed up, his terminal lack of a gameplan killed him vs Werdum. He should've avoided his guard like the black plague! If he fights smart, I think he could beat Werdum handily in the rematch. Fedor has the better striking, Werdum had the better matt grappling (ADCC champ), Fedor's clinch game is phenomenal, and Werdum's takedowns aren't the best, but Fedor doesn't have the best takedown defense either. This fight comes down to Fedor's ability to: a) get the quick KO, or b) stick to a gameplan, but he hasn't done that since (or before) the 3rd Nog fight.

Fedor vs Overeem is so fucking intriguing to me! Alistair has better striking on paper (K-1 GP champ), but Fedor has the more proven hands in MMA. Overeem won ADCC European trials and half his wins are by submission, Fedor's won numerous gold medals in combat Sambo and half his wins are by submission. Overeem's 35lbs heavier, but he doesn't have as good a top game Big Foot or the guard of Werdum. This fight comes down to two things: 1. Is Alistair as good as he looks? Thus far he's been a phenomenal can-crusher at HW, his only big win is Rogers (and Kharitonov years back, but it was kind of flukey, and Sergei murder-raped him in the rematch). 2. Does he still have the chin, heart and cardio he had at 205? His chin seems great, it held up in K-1. But he's yet to be in a war at HW, we haven't seen his heart or cardio put to the test in years. Fedor will make it an ugly dog fight, will Overeem crumble like he used to?

I'd also like see Fedor vs Barnett before he retires (I still have the Affliction: Trilogy poster on my wall), this fight could be epic! Fedor has a clear striking advantage, Barnett has a size and strength advantage, grappling is close, but I'd give Josh an edge due to his size. Josh also has a pretty clear wrestling advantage, he could theoretically stall this fight to a UD, but Barnett's too active (in regards to pasings and sub attempts) for Fedor to not sweep him or escape eventually (plus, Josh is bigger, but not big enough to really just smother him). I think this fight invariably hits the ground, then it's a toss up! If Fedor stays on top, it's his fight to lose. If Barnett stays on top, it's his fight to lose.

Three more, then retirement, I hope.

This is horrible though. Fedor has long enjoyed the reputation as the greatest fighter in the world, he was like the Ray Robinson or Ali of MMA. Now you're saying he needs to handpick his opposition, and you'd be ok with that?

No boxer arguing for greatness could possibly get away with that. The Fedor myth has been smashed imo. Maybe he is past his best, maybe he was never as good as people thought, perhaps a combination of both, but rightly or wrongly this is the man who was regarded as the greatest heavyweight of all time, and now people are suggesting he move down to light heavy, or making excuses that some guys are just too big for him.

I don't see Silva as a big a threat as Brock Lesnar and Cain Valasquez completely dominated him.

The Strikeforce tournament is entertaining, and they have some good fighters, but this result just highlights that the real top heavies are in the UFC imo, Valasquez, Dos Santos, Lesnar, Carwin et al is where the action is now.

Fedor's time has come to an end.

**Captain America** · 02-18-2011 10:52 AM

Yes, the "Fedor myth" has ended! 10 years and 31 wins over top competition before losing two fights! What a sham that was! How many top guys, not named Marciano or Rickson, didn't accumulate a few losses at the end of their career?

I'm suggesting he "handpick" two top ten HW's (Werdum being top 5, and the rightful number 1) and the man who was supposed to be the first to beat him (Barnett, who would be top ten if he'd remained active). Why fight Big Foot again? That left ZERO questions! Werdum and Overeem are the two highest ranked fighters in his organization, Barnett will be top ten by the end of this tournament. That's not handpicking fights, it's fighting the best available in StrikeForce.

Why is Lesnar more dangerous than Big Foot? Brock has better takedowns. Big Foot has better striking and BJJ. Big Foot has much better grappling than Mir (1-1 with Brock) and better striking than Carwin and Cain.

What have Brock, Cain, JDS and Carwin ever done to be considered the top guys? Carwin is 1-1 vs ranked opponents, JDS is 1-0 (on a 5 fight can-crushing streak since Werdum), Velasquez is 2-0, Lesnar 2-1(Couture was unranked due to inactivity by the majority of sites, 3-1 if you rank him). Fedor is 15-2. Over twice as many top ten wins as the UFC's big four combined, with the same number of losses.

Many fighters in the UFC gain rank faster just by virtue of being the UFC. Brock ascended to number one after sitting out almost a year and watching Fedor lose. Matt Sera went from unranked to number 1 after beating GSP, Edgar went from 9 to 1 after beating Penn, Werdum went from 7 to 3 after subbing Fedor (who'd been number 1 for over 7 years). The UFC practically owns the MMA media. Mir got back in the top ten by beating 1-0, unranked Lesnar. Lesnar got in by beating unranked Heath Herring, then beating unranked Couture and number 5 Mir launched himtis number two. Cain got in by beating unranked Cheik Kongo. Carwin got in by beating unranked Gonzaga. JDS legitimately entered by beating Werdum, but then rose to the top five by beating 5 unranked opponents.

With the exception of Fedor, none of the top eight are very proven. And now that Barnett and Kharitonov are back in the cage with top guys, they'll be right back in the top ten with a few wins. StrikeForce has the more proven HW roster, UFC has brand recognition and marketing. To say one is clearly better than the other is foolish, without copromotion it's impossible to really tell.

**Captain America** · 02-18-2011 10:57 AM

^ and the weight difference between Silva (285lb on fight night) and Fedor (230lb) is the same as between Velasquez (240lb) and GSP (185lb on fight night)

**mattboxingfan** · 02-18-2011 11:26 AM

His fight with Bigfoot Silva was a good fight and very entertaining so why stop if you can put on those good fights and entertain the fans then keep doing it. Its when he isn't competitive anymore, thats when we should have this discussion.

**imp** · 02-19-2011 09:22 AM

Why is it that after fedor loses he is now ready for retirement and everyone thinks he is past it? If he had won his last two fights everyone would think he is still invincible! Give credit to the fighters that beat him and beat him well. No excuses! Look how many times randy coutre has lost and he still a great fighter! Fedor is still in his prime and he just got beaten by better fighters on the day..whether hes priest was there or not..lol