The Best Fighter in the World is Still Not in the UFC

I’m not a hardcore MMA fan, but I’d like to think I know more than the average American male in his 20s; I know a little bit from watching Spike TV, reading internet threads, and streaming the occasional UFC event. I know Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva are hands-down the best pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC, and that Brock Lesnar has quickly become the champion heavyweight. What I didn’t realize until very recently was that the king of MMA has been outside of the UFC for the all this time. I had seen the name mentioned numerous times, and figured this guy was pretty awesome, but I was not fully aware until a couple of days ago. That was when I watched the following YouTube video:

Fedor Emelianenko scares me more than Mike Tyson in his prime. The guy is Russian, and he trains like Rocky in Rocky IV. So he’s like Ivan Drago and Rocky combined. Plus grappling and submission skills. The only fight he has “lost” was due to a cut from an illegal elbow, and due to it occurring in a tournament format where blood equals losing, he got fucked. So for all intents and purposes, he has never lost — this in a sport where a lucky punch or stupid maneuver on the ground can cost an entire match. Holy shit.

Keeping this information in mind, anyone can see why when the LA Times reported earlier this week that Fedor and the UFC were close to a deal, the entire MMA community was frothing in anticipation. When news came out about a rumored 6-fight/$30 million deal, fans got even more excited. But it never truly looked like it was going to happen, and by early this morning, the president of the UFC, Dana White, gave the final word. No deal.

I’m not going to analyze why Fedor and his handlers or managers or agent didn’t accept such an insane deal — I just wanted to post that YouTube tribute video because it’s one the most badass things I’ve seen on the internet. What a fucking animal. I wanted to see him destroy Brock Lesnar. Sigh.

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