Well, first Fedor was submitted. Now, Fedor has been finished.
No, it wasn't the unceremonial, unconscious finish we've seen from fighters like say, Chuck Liddell,
but Bigfoot Silva will take it.
Silva finished Emelianenko for the first time in his long illustrious career Saturday. Due to a ref stoppage after 2 rounds, the man known as Bigfoot will move on in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, to face the winner between April's quarterfinal match with Strikeforce Heavyweight kingpin Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum.
Fedor came out like a house on fire, throwing hooks and uppercuts in the early going, but Bigfoot was able to stun Fedor and take him down as the first round ended. The second round was dominated by the Brazilian, who scored a takedown and used his sheer size to his advantage and pounded Fedor's face with a bombardment of shots that closed the Russian's eye. Dan Margliotta could no longer let Fedor sustain damage, and ended the fight after 2 rounds amid some confusion. Again, Fedor made no excuses, but made clear this is probably his final time in the cage.
"Something went wrong from the very beginning, and I didn't re-adjust myself," Emelianenko said through an interpreter. "Maybe it's time to leave."
"Maybe it's the last time," Emelianenko said. "Maybe it's high time. I thank God for everything. I've spent a great, beautiful, long sport life."
Next for Fedor : Retirement. Perhaps a gig in Russian Politics. He was 27-0 before going to Strikeforce. He's 1-2 since that gamble. Maybe he'd have finished 0-3 in the UFC but who will know now?
Next for Silva : The winner of Werdum-Overeem.
In the other quarterfinal, Andrei Arlovski looks as close to being done as Fedor after suffering his 4th straight loss overall and 3rd in Strikeforce. Sergei Kharitonov showed that despite his long layoffs here and there due to injuries, when healthy he can still be a force as he pushed forward and scored a 1st round KO victory over the former UFC heavyweight kingpin. Kharitonov has been dubbed by many as a "Dark Horse" in this field, and he certainly showed it in his dismantling of the man known as the "Pitbull".
Next for Kharitonov : the winner of Barnett-Rogers.
Next for Arlovski : If he isn't retiring, he's definitely going online to look up how much "Rosetta Stone" is, so he can learn how to properly say "Watashi wa Andrei".
The night was not all a total loss, as Strikeforce announced that standout women's MMA fighter Gina "The Conviction" Carano will fight this year, possibly in June. Obviously she was completely stunned, as she looked as giddy as a schoolgirl during her interview. I wonder if she had too much to drink?
Well, what do you think? What is the legacy that Fedor has left now? feel free to get back to me, at mmarmaggeddon@gmail.com
Until next time, fight fans!
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