Fedor Emelianenko: A victim of his own glittering legacy

Fedor’s resilience, and a tip of the hat from Dana

Dan White stuck up for Fedor, or at least his enduring marketability

For years, Dana and Fedor’s manager have been going back and forth about Fedor fighting in the UFC. Fedor’s dominance came not just because of his skill, but because of his resilience. Against the likes of Cro Cop and Randleman, Fedor came back from unfavorable situations to win his fights dominantly.

PRIDE was extremely notorious for not testing the fighters for TRTs and PEDs, but Fedor continued to dominate his opponents.

Dana White recently spoke about the Fedor – Maldonado fight, and had some positive things to say about Fedor.

“They were going to let him die before they stopped that fight, you know that? But a testament to how tough, durable and mentally strong Fedor is, man. He was out. He was out. Literally, when he got back up … when a guy is on crazy legs the way that he was on crazy legs, and it’s not like he was on crazy legs and able to avoid punches after that.

He continued to get hit with bombs by Maldonado and he made it through it.

But I’ll tell you this - those refs were willing to let him die before they stopped that fight, number one. And number two, Fedor’s got a chin and he’s a tough guy. We’ve been negotiating for many, many, many years. I’ll tell you this - Fight Pass did very well with that fight, so people do still want to watch Fedor.”

I’ve heard people talking about PRIDE’s numbers with Fedor as their poster boy, but one needs to understand that in terms of promoting the fights and dragging good numbers, UFC wasn’t doing that well in the beginning of 2000s either.

The sport has evolved, and Fedor’s fight in the UFC do great numbers too. If promoted right, he could rival any heavyweight in the UFC in terms of getting eyeballs and doing good numbers – either on PPV or on Fox.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but saying Fedor should quit just because he was matched up against a top fighter makes as little sense, as calling for Punk’s head in case he loses his first fight.