Fedor Emelianenko Lost - Now What?

So what does this mean for the future of the sport? Let’s look at some people who will be affected by this cataclysmic event.

FEDOR EMELIANENKO
It was the first legitimate loss in Fedor’s career. His only other career loss came nearly 10 years ago due to a cut. He was 32-1 (1NC) coming into the fight and had won TWENTY-EIGHT consecutive fights. That’s a long time for nothing to go wrong.  His resume includes Babalu, Heath Hearing, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Mirko Cro Cop, Minotauro Nogueria and Matt Lindland. Once the consensus #1 fighter in the world, Fedor is a certified legend of the sport.

We knew Fedor was a man – a God would not be bullied by the Russian mafia. This loss to Werdum can be the beginning of the end for Fedor, or it can just be a speed bump.How close is he to walking away from the sport? He doesn’t love to fight and some people think he will enter politics. (I know I said most of this on Friday.) It’s up to him.

There’s no shortage of interesting fights for Fedor in Strikeforce. There are the obvious fights at heavyweight with Allistair Overeem, Antoino Silva and a rematch with Fabricio Werdum. Because Fedor is a smaller, less than lean heavyweight, he could fight any number of light heavyweights. Cage Potato suggest King Mo Lawal. Don’t forget Dan Henderson and a possible rematch with Babalu.  And of course, there’s the slim possibility that he could finally sign with the UFC.

People still want to see Fedor fight. There are about three dozen fights I’d love to see him take. Mixed martial artists lose. Anderson Silva has lost before and he will lose again. Same for Georges St. Pierre, Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar and BJ Penn.

If Fedor chooses to keep fighting, there’s a lot for him to do. What happens next is up to Fedor and his management. Hopefully, he takes another big fight in Strikeforce and gets back to winning. I’d love to see him fight Overeem and coming off a loss, I think Strikeforce will acknowledge that he’s finally earned that title shot. Unfortunately, they’ll probably do a rematch, which Werdum immediately asked for* and Fedor will likely win. Then it’s 1-1. Rubber match? No thanks. I want to see him fight Overeem.

*Have you ever in your life heard of a fighter winning and then asking for a rematch? In his opponent’s home country? That’s how important Fedor is historically.

Does this loss actually make people want to see Fedor in the UFC any less? Fedor has one fight remaining on his contract and he remains Dana’s white whale. Fedor is still the one that got away. And now there’s a guy out there that has beaten the best in the world that isn’t under contract to the UFC. Werdum lost to Junior Dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski in the UFC. He beat two guys that are still under contract with the UFC. At 14-4-1 and coming off three straight wins, Fabricio Werdum should be back in the UFC.

Oh, and don’t forget Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, Sergei Kharitonov and Allistair Overeem. There’s not just one top guy out there that the UFC should try and sign. There’s five in the heavyweight division alone. Make no mistake that whoever wins the Lesnar-Carwin fight this weekend is the top heavyweight in the world, but there are five guys outside the UFC that I wouldn’t mind seeing fight Lesnar, Carwin, dos Santos, Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez in the near future.

Some people are saying that the UFC’s popularity has plateaued. Well, guess what? People love heavyweights. Casual fight fans absolutely love them. You think that making the 265-pound weight class the deepest in the organization is the way to bust through to the next level of popularity? I do. So Dana can smile all he wants at Strikeforce’s misfortune, but they have some guys that could help make the UFC continue to grow.

Fabricio Werdum
How many times does Werdum win if they fight five times? Two? Maybe three? Just this once? I’m not sure. Fedor made a mistake and Werdum took full advantage. This doesn’t make him the best guy in the world, but it cements his place in history. He was the first one to stop The Last Emorer.

Werdum was always a good fighter, but now he’s going to be recognized as one of the top guys in the heavyweight division. He could very well lose his next fight, no matter who its against. That’s what makes this sport great. As I said before, I’d like to see Werdum back in the UFC. I was surprised when he was dropped the first time.

They’ve got an interesting middleweight tournament coming up and some guys they can build the brand around. Cung Le is exciting, even if overrated**, and Cris Cyborg is the scariest woman alive. They should just combine their ShoMMA, Challengers Series and all their other weird event permutations and rebrand everything as Strikeforce. Look Scott Coker, you guys had better learn to live together or you’ll die alone.

**While I nailed the big upset, I missed on Le-Smith II. I blame Smith for being way too aggressive. He should have let Le tire himself out. Oh, well.

Stephen Douglas
That’s me. I called this upset. I said it on Twitter. I said it on a podcast. I predicted Werdum by submission at The Rumble. I said it here. I was so right about this that I wasn’t even mad when clown texted me Saturday night while I was at a wedding and spoiled the fight for me. Now if anyone can get me a screener of Predators so I can ruin the ending, I’d greatly appreciate it.

[Tweets via Twitter, Hand raised via Getty, Fedor post-fight courtesy Strikeforce and Ester Lin]

***Yes, I stole the asterisks/footnotes in the middle of the post idea from Sepinwall. You should only steal from the best and he’s the best in the business.