Originally Posted by rivethead  Both Anderson and Georges are amazing fighters. I'm sure some people take any criticism I might post on them as hating on them, but I'm actually in awe of their skills.
But they're not Fedor, not even close.
Fedor has always been willing to face his opponents where they are strongest, and beat them at their own game. Anderson is one of the premiere strikers in the industry, easily top 3 without any question--and yet, he's not as well rounded as Fedor. He's shown that repeatedly by being unwilling to go to the ground, or being outclassed on the ground. He and Soares have shown an absolute unwillingness to face fighters in rematches, which is something Fedor welcomed. When Henderson earned/was promised a title shot and Soares whined Anderson's way out of it, it was very hard to swallow as a fan of Silva. Legends aren't made by refusing to go to the ground with Thales Lietes. They're made by losing a round to Dan Henderson and choking him out in the second, and then doing it again a couple years later. They're made by dropping Lietes and then jumping into his guard and finishing him anyway.
Georges is closer, not only because he's been more than willing to host rematches, but in that he's a more complete fighter than Anderson--more well rounded but without the absolute elite-status singular skill that Anderson boasts--but he's still a fighter who focuses on exploiting his opponent's weaknesses while minimizing his own.
There is a golf movie with Kevin Costner--I can't remember the name of it because I've never actually played golf, and really because I brewed a killer rauschbier for the holiday, but he essentially fails spectacularly by refusing to play it safe and hitting balls into the water hazard over and over again, blowing his lead instead of taking two strokes to clear it. To me, that was Fedor vs. Werdum. Fedor could have played an Anderson, and feared the ground game of an elite grappler, kept it standing to the point of a horribly boring fight. Or he could have simply said go big or go home and followed the best HW grappler to the mat, trusting his sambo vs. the best big jitz on the planet...and came up short.
So no, I don't see Anderson as being close to the next Fedor. I see Georges as being closer, but not the total package, as he fights too smart, too safe.
And none of that is the the point of this thread. Unless you're a hater, Fedor's accomplishments in the ring are undeniable. But in making the thread, I think Joe was talking about his integrity, his unwillingness to bend and sign a restrictive contract and work for a punkass who had publicly insulted him. Sure, that action/inaction gives ignorant haters fuel for their ignorant hate, but at the end of the day, Fedor's family is fed, he's still able to face some of the best HW's on the planet, and he doesn't have to kneel at dana's altar to obsessive egomania.
I'd love to see Fedor vs. Cain. I think it legitimately has the opportunity to be the best HW matchup in the last 5 years. I'd love to see him face Junior. But I'm not so arrogant of a fan that I feel he should sacrifice his integrity, to work for a mouthy little wannabe fighter as dana.
So yes, I think the world needs more Fedors in general. Not just in MMA, either.
Integrity is good.
The only problem that I have is that Fedor's window of being Fedor seems to have closed. We hear more from the Fink than we do from him. We get he-said/she-said drama from him and AO, to the point where it overshadows AO's unwillingness to face him when he first signed with Strikeforce. Sure, AO was a punkass two years ago, but nothing was keeping Fedor from being the bigger man this last year. AO is probably on roids, but I doubt Olympic-level testing was going to change anything except insuring that M1 didn't lose a Barnett-sized investment in another bout. Fedor should have just had a clause that said if AO failed a test he pays whatever promotion fees were necessary, and then gone on to take the belt from him and relegate him back to the obscurity he deserves.
MMA's golden age is over. The concept of the best fighting the best has been KTFO'd by the almighty dollar. Sure, money doesn't have elite-level skills, but it's got cardio to keep coming and coming and eventually, it's broken the back of the sport, even if most fans don't realize it. And Fedor, via the Fink and his machinations, is just as much a victim of that defeat as if he'd signed with dana in the first place. Sure, we don't have to watch him fight for an asshole who said he wasn't a top 5 HW and hadn't faced anyone since 2005, but now we have to watch him not fight for an asshole who talks just as much shit as dana ever did.
Is he still the GOAT? In my mind, he is. Will we ever see his like again? I doubt it, even in his own future bouts.
rh |