Will Fedor Fade?
After his loss to Fabricio Werdum, will Fedor Emelianenko's legend fade?
The fanfare is dying down. The headlines have been recycled, and the forum buzz is back to its normal level of a loud, angry hum. Fedor Emelianenko lost. Strikeforce: Fedor versus Werdum was held on June 26, 2010 in San Jose. At one minute and nine seconds of the opening round, Fabricio Werdum locked the undefeated Russian powerhouse in a triangle armbar, to which the once-inimitable Russkie tapped, lest he lose an arm or consciousness.
The replay shows that Werdum, at worst, lost his balance from the opening haymakers, characteristic of the Slavic superstar. Fedor then fell into the deadly guard of a decorated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master as he attempted to finish the fight on the ground. It was the first time Fedor worked the guard of a submission master in a professional fight since he faced Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira twice in 2004. Did Werdum consider this and train for an early submission? The answers range from obviously to probably.
Regardless, it’s been six years since Fedor last found himself in a Brazilian heavyweight’s guard. Nogueira couldn’t submit Emelianenko in three fights, yet the almost identically sized Werdum did. Incidentally, Werdum and Nogueira both hold black belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo, and Nogueira defeated Werdum by decision back in 2006.
All things considered, it is no surprise that Fedor lost; eventually, everyone loses. At first glimpse, the two-pronged shocker is both the nature of the loss – a submission, considering Emelianenko is a sambo champ and has 16 submission victories – and the man Fedor lost to: arguably a second-tier heavyweight who was dropped by the UFC.
A good game plan is often enough to defeat a seasoned veteran or champion. Witness Matt Serra’s defeat of Georges St. Pierre. Serra isolated a weakness in St. Pierre’s standup through observation and trained to exploit it. Voila: upset. Werdum, no doubt, carefully observed Fedor’s weaknesses with his camp and trainers. Fedor is a swarming striker with a good chin who relies on tenacity to eventually bring his opponent to the ground. Once there, he brutalizes his victim into stoppage or submission.
Werdum played possum, and trapped the hapless Fedor in an early triangle. Fedor hadn’t yet begun to sweat, which is a major advantage when dealing with a submission expert. Sweat acts as a lubricant when attempting to extricate one’s self from submission holds. Fedor usually explodes out of armbar or triangle submission attempts, no doubt with the assistance of sweat as a natural lubricant. This time, he lacked this indispensable advantage.
Now that Fedor’s defeat makes sense, what happens next? Emelianenko can face Werdum, as Werdum suggested, for a rematch. The white, or perhaps more accurately, the Dutch elephant in the room is Alistair Overeem. The Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion recently returned to North American soil, defeating Brett Rogers in the defense of his heavyweight belt on June 15 of this year. That was the first time “The Demolition Man” defended the belt in nearly three years. Scott Coker, CEO of Strikeforce, needs to set up a pair of quick matches. Let Overeem continue to solidify his heavyweight record overseas, in DREAM or related promotions. However, Werdum and Fedor require a quick rematch. If it is not within the next three months, six at maximum, the fanfare will have faded, and Fedor’s relevance as once-emperor of most pound-for-pound rankings will be a thing of the past. The winner should then face Overeem by the end of the year at the very latest.
By Roy Kok
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer