What We Learned from Fedor’s Loss

Here we are, just minutes after Fedor’s first “real” loss in his illustrious mixed martial arts career, and it’s just as you might have imagined it would be.

Fedor fans are holding impromptu candlelight vigils in their Clinch Gear shirts in San Jose’s HP Pavilion. Forums are inaccessible due to ridiculous levels of traffic, as “nuthuggers” and “haters” hurry to have the definitive say on what just happened. Dana White is buying everyone in a five-mile radius drinks while leaving a voice mail to Vadim Finkelstein that he can take his contract demands and $*&$& %&@* $*$&@&9%*$*&!!!

One wonders if, in the distant future, everything in MMA after this point will be called part of the “Post-Fedor” era.

Wait a minute, though. Let’s hold up just one second. I know it’s exciting. I know it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement. Still, this deserves some sorting out, even as Fedor himself is probably just now getting the tape cut off of his gloves. Let’s do what they taught us all in preschool, and think about what we learned from tonight’s events…as well as what we didn’t learn.

What Did We Learn?

1. This one may seem obvious now (in the Post-Fedor Era) but we learned that Fedor Emelianenko is human.

Strangely enough, this didn’t seem so clear even a couple of hours ago. When Fabricio Werdum maneuvered into position for the final triangle choke/arm bar attempt that added a loss to Fedor’s record, I remember thinking, “You know…this guy can be choked. His arm can be broken.” It’s strange, but it was Werdum’s entire mantra before the fight: Fedor is a man. He can be beaten just like anyone else.

For years now, MMA writers and fans have penciled Fedor into the “W” column when making predictions for Pride, Affliction and now Strikeforce events. I’ll admit that earlier today, it’s not as if I had a precise idea of how the fight would take place, or where Fedor would catch Werdum in order to preserve his legend. I just know that somehow, he would make it happen. It’s strangely similar to growing up and realize that your dad probably can’t beat up every other dad in town.

2. Fedor, no matter how stoic on the outside, can get just as excited as the rest of us.

It’s kind of funny- we all look back on the mistake that Andrei Arlovski made in his fight with Fedor and shake our heads. Who ever thought that Fedor would make a similar mistake by over-committing to a finish after catching an opponent? A part of Fedor’s legend has always been that he doesn’t react with emotions before, during or after a fight. Tonight, we saw the man show not only that he has physical limitations, but that he also can make mental mistakes like the rest of us. Again, it may seem obvious, but only in hindsight.

What Didn’t We Learn?

1. Fedor Emelianenko isn’t the best heavyweight in the world anymore.

There is this tremendous pressure whenever a top-ranked fighter loses to drop him from the top spot of the rankings immediately. You can’t be the best anymore, right? You just lost after all. The only problem is that everyone in the sport loses, and everyone can lose. It also depends on what you think rankings should be. Should they be an earned status based solely upon results? Should they be a qualitative assessment of who the best fighter is, regardless of whether they have faced Fighter A or B, or whether they have lost recently?

If Anderson Silva gets taken down enough to drop three rounds and lose a decision to Chael Sonnen, does that make Sonnen the best fighter in the division? Does that mean Silva suddenly isn’t? Or does it simply mean it was a poor matchup for Silva, or that he had a bad game plan, or Sonnen had a once-in-a-lifetime performance? Was Matt Serra automatically the best welterweight in the world after he improbably beat Georges St. Pierre years ago?

This loss doesn’t automatically mean that Fedor isn’t the best heavyweight of all-time. All of the others in the discussion have lost, too. It doesn’t even mean he’s no longer the best heavyweight in the world right now (as Werdum himself said after the fight). It just means that now, we can finally have a real discussion about it. Starting now, you’ll want to write your heavyweight rankings in pencil rather than pen for awhile, in other words.

2. Brock Lesnar would beat/is better than Fedor Emelianenko.

This goes along with my last point, really. If Fedor’s no longer number one, who is? Does Werdum leapfrog Lesnar, who is right after Fedor on most lists? Does Lesnar assume the top spot, even though his only truly impressive wins are against Frank Mir and Randy Couture?

Then, there is the most ridiculous of all so-called logic: Lesnar would clearly manhandle Fedor. I don’t have to look, I know people are saying this right now, and it’s crazy. Unless you think Lesnar can pull off a triangle choke on Fedor from his guard while Fedor pummels away at him, I don’t see how this fight makes a fantasy matchup between the two any more clear than it was two hours ago. Furthermore, the loss doesn’t make Lesnar’s resumé any better than it was earlier today, either. It doesn’t answer questions about how Lesnar would do in the championship rounds of a fight or how he will do against a similarly-sized opponent (like Shane Carwin). How can a fight that couldn’t possibly look any different from what a Lesnar-Fedor fight would look help us decide whom would win if it were to take place?

Look, one thing that holds true about the MMA community is that it is home to the most biased opinions, knee-jerk reactions and gross exaggerations this side of a political rally. Honestly, it’s hard not to get caught up in the moment when a fighter who has been the best in his weight class for seven years finally tastes defeat. However, all we really learned is what we already should have known- that Fedor is capable of making mistakes and that no one is truly unbeatable.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Tags: Brock Lesnar, Dana White, Fabricio Werdum, Fedor Emelianenko, Strikeforce, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum