Fedor Emelianenko: A victim of his own glittering legacy

Fedor’s legacy remains untainted

Maldonado, in hindsight, wasn’t as easy a match-up for Fedor as some may have thought him to be

Let’s look at a few facts. While Fedor’s victory against Fabio has been a topic of discussion, Fabio has one of the best chins in the business. His fight with Teixeira proved just how resilient Maldonado is, who took the fight on short notice.

Fabio is highly underrated, and people often keep forgetting that he took various fights on short notice. The fact that people overlook Fabio’s impressive boxing and concentrate on trashing Fedor is astonishing.

Is Fedor the same fighter he was before he retired? Even before he called it a day, he knew he wasn’t the same fighter he was 4 years ago. In his prime, there was no one who could match Fedor. There is a reason why Fedor, about 8 years past his prime, is still one of the most popular fighters on the planet.

Can you put him in a fight against someone like Stipe? No. But pitting him against Fabio was always going to be a gamble too.

His return fight was against Singh Jaideep, a kickboxer with no real MMA pedigree, and Fedor schooled him with his ground and pound. However, he was facing a much more skilled, experienced and resilient fighter in Maldonado, which for a fighter who has been away from the sport for 3 – 4 years was going to be a tough task.

Fedor who fought in PRIDE would’ve put on a show, but at 39 years old, Fedor Emelianenko was given a very tough out.