By Matt Molgaard
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

Today’s mixed martial arts fans may not grasp the impact of Fedor Emelianenko’s (who announced his retirement following his first round destruction of Pedro Rizzo) departure from professional competition. That’s not an insult to modern fans, it’s just a simple fact: a large portion of those following the sport today were reeled in by the early years of Spike’s The Ultimate Fighter; a series that didn’t end until Fedor had already really run the gamut in the Pride heavyweight division.

You can’t fault a fan who only aims to be a fan and not historian. And, let’s be real, not every follower is going to sift through countless hours of the sport in order to “catch up”. Just imagine if fans attempted such a feat with boxing…

Without digressing too much, I’ll say this: many men missed the heyday of the greatest heavyweight fighter on the planet. Circa 2000-2005 Fedor was a man deemed unbeatable, and he proved it inside the ring. For over nine years the Russian went unbeaten, and he didn’t maul bottom feeders to amass a padded record. He beat legit competition. Heath Herring, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Crocop were just a few elite opponents to fold under “The Last Emperor’s” attack. Many came before, and many followed. Those are the days I will always choose to remember. It’s not often we see what looks to be a damn cyborg compete, all tests passed.