After Barnett Fight, Huge Decision Awaits Fedor

Fedor Emelianenko has been the consensus #1 heavyweight in the world for as long as anyone can care to remember.  Most trace his stature back to when he first defeated the then-top ranked heavyweight, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.  Since then, Emelianenko has continued to win fights against both great and dubious competition.  After his biggest fight in some time against Josh Barnett, a big decision looms for Fedor.  What will he do?

First of all, let’s not underscore the importance of the fight against Barnett.  Barnett is one of the few truly top heavyweights of Fedor’s era that the Pride Heavyweight Champion has yet to face and defeat.  Others that were at one time considered to be top level heavyweights that Emelianenko has fought include Nogueira, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Mark Coleman, and Heath Herring.  While some of those names have fallen on rather hard times since, all of them were considered to be serious challenges to Fedor when he took them on, which is what counts.

After Barnett, though, there are few other fights that truly make sense for Fedor.  Fighters that could face him in Affliction are either ones that he has already faced and beaten (Arlovski, Sylvia) or that would present an underwhelming matchup, at best (Ben Rothwell, Paul Buentello).  There are a couple of somewhat interesting fights that could happen against Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem or Brett Rogers, but he would likely only face one of them as the two will be facing off before long.  Then what?

If Fedor Emelianenko was able to finally come to terms with the UFC, the top heavyweight in MMA’s short history could really cement his legacy by taking on and conquering a whole new era of emerging heavyweights.  Fights against the likes of Frank Mir, up-and-coming prospects such as Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin, or a superfight against Brock Lesnar would have Fedor’s dance card filled for quite some time.  If he were able to clean out the UFC’s heavyweight division, he would not only reinforce his standing as the world’s best heavyweight, but also have put together a career that would be very difficult for future heavyweight champions to compare to.

Not only that, but he would make a lot of money in the process.  Affliction pays well, as any MMA fan knows, but how long can they afford to keep doing so?  In all likelihood, they will not be able to continue giving out huge paydays, even if they are having more success than any of the UFC’s previous competitors in the realm of pay-per-view sales.

A successful run in the UFC would grant Fedor the kind of mainstream recognition that he could previously only obtain in Russia or Japan, and with it, the possibility of tons of endorsements and lucrative sponsorships.  Fans who don’t already know “what the fuss is all about” with the Russian heavyweight would quickly learn, and if the UFC was smart and didn’t immediately shove Fedor into a fight with Brock Lesnar, a Lesnar-Fedor showdown could be the biggest MMA fight of all-time.

The question is, will Fedor sign on the dotted line?  It seems rather unlikely, even though a deal would make a tremendous amount of success for all parties involved.  All parties, it would seem, except perhaps Fedor’s notorious management team.  The affiliation between Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global, which seemingly only exists because of Fedor, is probably the biggest sticking point of them all.  Fedor’s management, which comes across as more than a little bit slimy, wants to be able to co-promote with the biggest organization in the world, just as Affliction has somehow allowed them to do.  This, and not the occasional sambo tournaments that Fedor enjoys competing in (which Lorenzo Fertitta said could be worked out), is the problem.

Fertitta has openly wondered whether Fedor ever even saw the deals that were offered him by Zuffa in the past, as it would seem that Fedor’s management are extremely “protective” (read: controlling) of the superstar.  If the situation is as dire as it seems, only a split between Fedor and his management team would probably allow MMA fans and pundits to see fights between Emelianenko and the remaining top fighters that he hasn’t faced.  Is that likely to happen?  Well, no.

In short, let’s not cross our fingers regarding seeing Emelianenko in a locked octagon with the likes of Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Randy Couture, or any other UFC heavyweights.  As long as Affliction is around to concede to all of the ridiculous stipulations of Fedor’s managers, the only thing that can rectify the situation is if Fedor decides that he just can’t pass up on facing the likes of Lesnar, Mir, Couture and the rest any longer.

by Jon Hartley for Fightmania.com

Tags: Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Brett Rogers, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Fedor Emelianenko, Frank Mir, Josh Barnett, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Shane Carwin, Strikeforce, Tim Sylvia, UFC