Team Fedor Needs to Move on Instead of Making Excuses for Loss

Filed under: Strikeforce

Fedor Emelianenko lost on Saturday night, and while a doctor's stoppage is not the most conclusive way to win or lose a bout, there's no denying that Emelianenko got decisively beaten up in the second and final round. Antonio Silva took him down and smashed him up for nearly the full five minutes. Even if Fedor himself says he could have continued, fighters agree to compete under the care of the referees and doctors in regards to their long-term health and protection, and the ringside physician feared for Emelianenko's vision after seeing his right eye completely closed.

It's only a few days later, but coaches on his team have been quoted many times in the Russian sports media talking about the loss. It's their right to explain what went wrong, but what about when they start floating conspiracy theories?

The most ridiculous one floated? One by his trainer Vladimir Voronov, who claimed in an interview with Lifesports.ru that illegal methods of psychological warfare were used. His claim? Hypnosis.

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Video analysis: What's next for Fedor?

Fedor Emelianenko has a big decision to make. The legendary Russian heavyweight looks overmatched against the giant big men of 2011. After taking a vicious beating at the hands of Antonio "Big Foot" Silva, a sad Fedor said that it might be the end of the road. He's only 34 years old, but Fedor faces an uphill climb at 6-feet, 230 pounds.

Adam Hill from the Las Vegas Review-Journal joined us to talk about what Fedor said after the fight and who'll ultimately make the decision for Emelianenko. He can retire or move on to the next fighting challenge. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker floated the idea of getting Fedor back in the mix as a tournament alternate.

"There's absolutely a possibility he could be a replacement," Coker said during the postfight press conference. "That's the beauty of the tournament. You don't know what could happen in the next leg of the tournament. As this tournament unwinds over the year, there could be an injury, and you could see Fedor back in the tournament."

Good idea? We think not. It might be wiser to have Fedor face the loser of April's Alistair Overeem-Fabricio Werdum fight. Hill shoots that down by pointing out that whether he wins or loses against Werdum, Overeem is still the champ. Could you really sell an Overeem-Fedor fight before allowing the Dutch kickboxer his chance to fight the tournament champion at the end of the year?

 

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UFC and GSP cautioning fans, don't look past Shields

The Canadian media was excited to finally see the UFC officially land in Toronto. Dana White and Georges St. Pierre were on hand to push the Apr. 30 card at Rogers Centre. The slate is loaded with Jose Aldo and up to 42,000 may pack the giant stadium. Plus there's going to be cool innovations, like eight massive viewing screens for the fans. And oh yeah, Jake Shields will be there too.

With the talk around swirling about a potential superfight between UFC welterweight champ GSP and middleweight champ Anderson Silva, the welterweight title challenger is an afterthought for many right now. So when the questions about GSP-Silva starting flowing forth at the UFC 129 press conference, the fighter and promoter both said "hold your horses."

"You put me on the spot, now," (St. Pierre) said with a laugh, according to the Canadian Press (VIDEO). "I'm not sure, I don't even know what's going to happen after this fight (with Shields). I'm taking one thing at a time."

White went into sales mode, talking about Shield's win over Dan Henderson and his unbeaten streak dating back to 2005.  

"This guy's so stealth it's unbelievable," White said. "But that's how (Shield's) been his whole career."

St. Pierre got full of himself when he first won the UFC title back in 2006. There's was talk of him being unbeatable. He listened and had to learned a lesson. 

"This thing for me, I take it (Silva talk) like a distraction from my fight. My immediate goal is to win against Jake Shields," said St. Pierre. "I made a mistake in the past, looking past an opponent. And I'm never going to do it again, because last time I did that I got beat by Matt Serra."

Let him get this win, against one of the top grapplers in MMA, out of the way first. 

"For me it would be foolish to look past Jake Shields," he added. "I don't know what's going to happen. Maybe it's going to happen or maybe it's not going to happen -- this super-fight. I will see. . . It's too complicated to say. We'll need to wait until after Jake Shields to talk about it."

Both fighters raved about Silva's win over Belfort. Shields (26-4-1, 1-0 UFC) said Silva's front kick KO was par for the course from the champ. St. Pierre called him a "true mixed martial artist."

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Video analysis: Toronto's fans earned their stripes, does that mean Dallas is out?

Dana White knew he was taking a risk by placing UFC 129 in the cavernous Rogers Centre instead the home of the Maple Leafs and Raptors, the Air Canada Centre. His boss and pal, Lorenzo Fertitta was right in pushing for the bigger basebal/football stadium. The UFC knocked it out of the park by selling 55,000 seats in less than five days.

What does that mean for future events that have stadium potential? Will Anderson Silva have to fight in front 50,000-plus Canadian, if his fight with Georges St. Pierre goes down? Yahoo! Sports' lead MMA writer Kevin Iole answers these question and got the reaction from boxing icons Bob Arum and Mike Tyson. 

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