Brock Lesnar vs Fedor Emelianenko: “The Debate Rolls On”
Who would win a fight between Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko?
While UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar prepares for his July UFC 116 title bout with Shane Carwin, and Fedor Emelianenko readies for his June date with Fabricio Werdum, one can’t help but to ask, “What if?” What if, Brock and Fedor stood ten feet apart in a ring or cage ready to begin the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history? Reality aside, this fantasy fight would generate interest from anyone and everyone in the business, so let’s go ahead and play right along.
Promoting for this fight would be on a never-before-seen scale, picking up new fans for the sport on a daily basis. No matter who had the opportunity to promote these marketing machines, it would bring MMA profits to a whole new level. Both Fedor and Brock are currently at the top of their respective games making this make-believe bout that much more interesting.
Brock would first and foremost need to train on his stand-up, and in particular, tighten up on his boxing skills. Offensively, his boxing is solid making him able to compete with anyone, in large part of his bulk; it’s his boxing defense that would need to improve a great deal. If Brock trains extensively in that area, it would help him and make this a much more competitive fight. Otherwise, I could easily see Fedor walking across the cage and unleashing one of his patented flurries eventually leaving Lesnar lying on his back, similar to many of his previous opponents.
One area that Lesnar would be superior in is the wrestling aspect. While Fedor is much stronger that he appears to be, his strength is no match for the former NCAA wrestling champion. If Lesnar could get Fedor to the floor, and on his back, which doesn’t happen very often, he could use his size to smother the Russian, thus freeing up space so he could drop his number one weapon from the top – his fists.
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Not all is in Lesnar’s favor while on the ground. Fedor is a submission specialist, and in particular, prefers to submit arms and legs. While Lesnar has become a smarter fighter since his lone loss to Frank Mir at UFC 81, he would still be no match for Fedor if he got one of his limbs. The longer this fight stays on the ground, the more it would favor Fedor. If Brock doesn’t KO Fedor with an early bomb, Fedor will find a limb and pull on it until he gets the submission.
This bout could be debated many different ways, but the most important aspect of this fight has to be the mental aspect and experience. Yes, Lesnar has been in front of as many people and possibly more throughout his wrestling/MMA career, but, he is not as battle-tested as “The Russian Emperor” has. Fedor has defeated some of the world’s best including Mark Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman, Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic, Tim Sylvia, and many more over the course of his career. He, in my mind, would have a wide margin of advantage when speaking in terms of experience. Between Dana’s stubborn ways and M-1 Global’s greedy business model, this fight will probably never happen, and if it does, one or both of the fighters will be past their prime. That can’t stop us from simulating this “dream” fight in our own fantasy world. If this fight were to happen now, I would have to give the advantage to Fedor, although not by a large margin. Fedor has been tested, even as recent as in his last fight when Brett Rogers nearly pounded him out, but, he hasn’t been finished legitimately ever (his lone loss came from a cut). So, until that happens the debate will roll on as to who would win, in my mind though, the experience and durability of Fedor reigns supreme. |
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By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer