Fedor Emelianenko is still the toughest SOB in MMAп»ї

Fedor Emelianenko got his butt kicked by Anotonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

Everybody is talking about that.

Fedor Emelianenko needs to retire.

That is a popular opinion too, although the butt kicking is more of a fact.

MMA has passed Fedor Emelianenko by.

Been hearing a lot of that. Not so sure it is accurate, but that is for another post.

But what almost nobody seems to be talking about the was the tremendous grit and class displayed by Emelianenko throughout the main event. Even though he lost, and count me on “he should retire list”, I consider Emelianenko’s loss to Silva to be one of his signature fights.

Sure he was dominated by the better man on that night from the opening of round two. But during that time, anybody with any doubts should have learned why Fedor might just be the greatest of all time.

He seems to have lost a step. He might not be able to compete with the younger, bigger guys in the heavyweight division today. And it was painful to watch M-1 basically sabotage his career. But Fedor Emelianenko is still every bit a champion.

He showed that by continuing to maneuver and fight back despite that fact he was being choked and hammer-fisted by Andre the Giant knuckled hamhocks for a full five minutes.

Long after most men would have gone down, Fedor closed the round with what turned out to be a harmless leglock on Silva. It was born out of a reversal of a leglock Silva had attempted on Fedor. Honestly, it looked like Ric Flair reversing a figure-four on Tully Blanchard. Apparently, both leglocks did about the same amount of damage as pro-wrestlers would too.

But who didn’t, at least for one second, think that Silva had made a grievous error and that the “Last Emperor” would pull off another furious comeback and miracle victory?

Alas, it was not meant to be. Fedor Emelianenko got his butt kicked. And when he did, he was every bit as gracious to his opponents as he was the 31 times he had been the one doing the butt-kicking.

Fedor has long stood in the minds of many as the ultimate human fighting machine. Too others, he is a poser.

If you still think he is a poser, I want you to go back and watch that fight. Take a good look at Fedor’s eye, and see for yourself that he was ready to step back in there half-blind and in serious need of medical attention. And all he likely had to look forward to was another serving of Andre the Giant knuckle with a side of brain damage.

After you do that, go look in the mirror and look into your own eyes. Ask yourself what you would do if you ever found yourself in the situation Fedor was in against Silva.

Then tell me who is the champion and who is the poser.