4. Fedor’s Final Fight?
For years, it looked as if Fedor Emelianenko may end up retiring as the only top-level fighter ever to have performed for an extended period of time without suffering a [true] loss.
But the MMA world was flipped on its head when Fabricio Werdum sprung a trap and caught Emelianenko with a triangle/arm bar submission to break what many believe to be the most impressive streak in the history of the sport.
Suddenly our champion was not unbeatable. In an instant, he became human again. That human side came out with reports that Emelianenko could have been considering retirement.
But we were all happy to learn that not only would he be returning, but that he would also be competing in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament.
Unfortunately, that end got even worse as Emelianenko was manhandled and beaten by a much larger and stronger Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, marking his second straight loss.
This time, Fedor himself said that he was considering retirement. Then again, we were delighted when he heard the news that he would be fighting Dan Henderson in July.
Now with a looming third straight loss and with Fedor fighting in the last bout of his Strikeforce contract, there is growing belief that win, lose or draw; this may be his final fight.
In fact, his own manager, Vadim Fikelstein, even admitted that he expects this to be Fedor’s final fight if he does lose to Henderson.
“I think that if Fedor loses to Dan Henderson, he will retire from Mixed Martial Arts,” he admitted to the Russian media. “And like I said many times before, it will be his decision and we [M-1 Global] have no influence of any kind on whatever he decides to do. It’s all up to him.
"But we hope for the best. Fedor is very motivated, and will be more than ready for this fight. He has a new goal, and is fully concentrated on reaching it.”