4 reasons why you need to watch Fedor vs Sonnen

#4 Both men are past their prime

Fedor and Sonnen are both past their primes, but that doesn't matter in this fight

Saying that both Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen are past their prime seems like an odd way to sell the fight, but just think about it for a second. MMA is a sport that waits for no man, and on seemingly every UFC card this year there’s been a sad scene involving a younger, hungrier fighter destroying a veteran whose skills have begun to wane.

That’s all well and good for the young fighter, but for fans of the veteran, it just isn’t a lot of fun to watch. But that shouldn’t be the case at all on Saturday as both Fedor and Sonnen are some years removed from their primes – Fedor had a steady decline from around 2009 onwards while Sonnen suddenly slipped somewhere around 2013.

That means that this fight is far fairer – and a far better indicator of where both men currently lie in the overall landscape – than something like Fedor’s horrible 2017 fight with Matt Mitrione. I mean really, did anyone need to see the great Fedor beaten by ‘Meathead’? I didn’t think so.

Fedor vs. Sonnen is a clash of iconic veterans – the equivalent of two old gunslingers going at it rather than the older man being beaten to the draw by a faster, younger opponent. And there’s definitely something to be said for that being a better idea for both men at this stage.