Fedor Emelianenko what's next. Emelianenko lost by knockout to Mitrion: what is the reason for Fedor's defeat
: "As a fighter, Fedor is stronger than Frank Mir, who did not show anything special in his last fights and has not fought for two years."
: "If we analyze the technique, versatility, universality of Emelianenko and Mir, then Fedor will have more advantages."
Alexey Oleinik: "I initially said that in percentage terms I regard Fedor's victory as 55-60 percent due to experience and speed."
In part, such forecasts are solidarity towards a compatriot. In fact, Emelianenko was an underdog. So, the popular portal MMAJunkie conducted a survey of journalists, and 15 people 12 voted in favor of the World. The American was also the bookmaker's favorite: bets on him were accepted with a coefficient of 1.7, on Fedor - 2.1.
CRUCIAL MOMENT
The fight was supposed to show whether Fedor should have come back at all.
It is clear that martial arts bring good money to Emelianenko. According to rumors, in Bellator, his fee for one fight is $ 3 million. Maybe this is an exaggeration, but it is obvious that the head of promotion Scott Cocker would hardly have been able to lure the Russian with a small amount.
Money is, of course, important, but Emelianenko has thousands of fans in Russia and in the world who sincerely worry about him, and they must be reckoned with. Fedor is not a showman. This is a hero from the people who, when he was the best in the world, rode the subway and trains. Who never finished when he saw that the enemy was no longer able to resist. He didn’t say a single bad word about his opponents (we don’t take into account the video of how he watches his brother fight with Mirko Cro Cop). Finally, he was not afraid to express his opinion, going against a very influential person in Russia. Emelianenko is not someone who is enough just to participate. The status of the once invincible champion and, one might say, the face of Russia in MMA, obliges even now to claim the status of the best of the best, even if it looks fantastic.
Of course, when Emelianenko announced in July 2015 that he was restarting his career, I wanted to believe in a miracle: that at 40 he would become the same as he was at 30, that he would beat the entire Bellator heavyweight division, and then the UFC. But he did not become the same - Fedor did not change the "new", with a stake on the rack, style, and, as it turned out, lost in coordination. He almost lost to the middle peasant Fabio Maldonado, did not notice the blow from the right of Matt Mitrione, which is why he soon ended up in a knockout. It was nervous and at the very beginning of the battle with the World - Fedor was knocked down. But he immediately got up, and then did something that he hadn’t done in battles for a very, very long time - a throw with a grab. Then - again a massacre in the rack, in which Fedor emerged victorious. I had to worry, but in fights with the participation of Emelianenko it doesn’t happen differently - every fight is drama. So it was in the 2000s.
The fight with the World, given the dubious victory over Maldonado and the defeat from Mitrion, was a turning point for Fedor. If he lost, then there would be no point in continuing to perform in Bellator (and in MMA in general) - after all, Emelianenko will turn 42 in the fall.
SONNEN'S TALK
Emelianenko's next opponent will be 41-year-old Chael Sonnen, a man who has no equal in MMA in terms of thrash current. There has never been such a thing that opponents before fights said something defiant, provocative about Fedor - only respectful words sounded all the time. Sonnen will anneal to the fullest. He has already begun.
After Fedor defeated Mir, Sonnen was called into the octagon to say a few words. At first he warmly greeted Emelianenko, and then gave out: “Most of all, what annoys me now is that I have to stand here in Chicago instead of you! I’m sure that you won’t have long to enjoy the victory!” Fyodor, who turned into a Russian flag, did not care at all. After an angry tirade, he hugged Sonnen again and smiled.
Another American said this: "If Fedor is not helped by the judges or someone else, he will sink twice as fast as a stone thrown into the water. I assure you, Fedor, our fight will not last long."
And here is what he said about Emelianenko before: "His strategy is now clear - to fight with passing opponents, while maintaining his mystical aura and earning money."
Or about the fight Emelianenko vs Maldonado: "Everything was bought. It always happens when you go to Russia."
And this is probably the main hit: “I crossed paths with him twice. The first time I stood with him in line at Starbucks. There he just blended into the crowd. Fedor was just a round-cheeked, bald guy in an ugly sweater who was waiting for his latte, like everyone else. And I thought he was a good guy."
This time, Emelianenko will not be an underdog. If only because Sonnen is not a heavyweight. Most of his career he fought in the middleweight division (up to 84 kg). In 2010 he fought for the title UFC champion with the great Anderson Silva, was close to victory, but eventually lost by submission. In 2012, he lost to Silva in a rematch. He did not compete for a long time, but then he left for Bellator, where he lost to Tito Ortiz and defeated Quinton Jackson (also not quite a heavyweight) in the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix. Sonnen is dangerous on the ground, but nothing on the stand. In general, everything is in the hands of Fedor.
As for Emelianenko's contract with Bellator, he was signed in November 2016 for, as Fedor himself said, "several fights." Shortly before the battle with the World in the MMA Hour program, the Russian was asked how many fights exactly the current contract implies. Fedor - a person from whom it is difficult to extract any information - answered in his own spirit: "Ask the organizers." As far as I know, the contract was concluded according to the "3 + 1 championship" scheme. That is, in the event of a victory over Sonnen, the agreement will be automatically extended.
The fight with the American is tentatively scheduled for September-October. In the months before him, Sonnen will say a lot of nasty things. Fedor needs to survive this, and then go into the octagon, punish him for talking, open his way to the title and take the belt in 2019. In the battle with the World, he proved that he was still in business.
« Fedya Emelianenko is the last emperor outstanding athlete. The question of returning to professional sports at this age is a personal choice. Defeat does not reduce his merits, Fedor - great athlete. Not everyone is given the opportunity to put themselves in order. It happens that an era is leaving, what can you do. But Fedya is just an outstanding athlete, and we supported him, we support him and we will always support him. It's his choice - he's trying to play at a big level."
Peter Theisse, coach of Fedor Emelianenko (prepared for the fight with Mitrion):
Photo sport-express.ru
“The tactic was that we wanted to quickly take the fight to the ground. But Emelianenko was simply unlucky. They hit each other, only Mitrion got up faster to complete the work he had begun. That's life, it happens."
Vladimir Voronov, coach of Fedor Emelianenko (did not take part in the preparation for the fight):
Photo by Vladimir Babich
“Fyodor trained in Holland, what else can I say? He really did not have time, but all questions should be asked where he was preparing. I think that he will cope psychologically well with this situation. ”
Alexander Michkov, coach of Fedor Emelianenko (did not take part in the preparation for the fight):
Photo by Vitaly Garkusha
"Just hit Mitrione turned out to be more timely, more accurate and harder. We didn’t really have time to evaluate Fedor’s form - how can you evaluate it, everything passed in a minute, there is absolutely nothing to evaluate here. It was a very hard hitting there. The knockout was specific. Now it will be necessary to take time, do an examination, be treated and recover. Still, a knockout is a serious thing.
I do not know how he prepared there, in Holland, so it is difficult to comment on this issue. I have no idea how it was, it's not my question. This time I did not participate in its preparation at all. Because it's hard to prepare here. Fedya is a kind person, people go to him. There are many friends and acquaintances here, someone needs something. He is a person who cannot refuse, responds to every request. And it's great to distract him. It's hard for him to prepare here, so maybe the idea was right."
Former Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko:
Photo Madbear.info
“Maybe it sounds rude, but Fedor failed to show in battle all that he is capable of. He made a fatal mistake that led to this defeat. Mitrion was larger, this was his advantage, and the advantage of a lighter fighter was in speed and endurance.
At Mitrione there was just such a chance at the beginning due to dimensions and more hard hit, unfortunately, this is what we saw - blow for blow. After these blows, the one with the greater mass survived. Fedor recklessly went forward, and in order to go like this and demolish heavy opponents, you need to have larger dimensions. IN last fights, with the same Maldonado, there was the same mistake - Fedor goes to the exchange too frankly and makes a big bet on punches. In the same battle with Mirko Cro Cop, and he is a better striker than Maldonado and Mitrione, Fedor kicked a lot, confused the opponent, and he did not have monotony. And here Fedor, unfortunately, again relied on his own hands. Although he has a rich arsenal in both wrestling and kicking.
It seems to me that the defeat will affect his career, but the main thing is the psychological impact. Hope when signing in Bellator were big, there was a lot of talk around this process. And after such defeats it is hard to come back and continue. But there are examples of good returns, you should not be very upset and give up, the most important thing is to draw the right conclusions.
The current MMA fighter Sergey Kharitonov:
Photo mmapunch.ru
“It was very painful for me to watch him lose. My friends and I watched the fight and were very supportive of Fedor, what happened was very unpleasant. This heavyweight, no one here is safe, that's all. But I did not expect such a turn. Fedor is an experienced fighter. He will pull himself together and train further if he wants to compete. But it's a very difficult situation."
The general producer of Fight Nights Kamil Gadzhiev (the organizer of Fedor's last fight with Maldonado):
Photo vestnikmma.com
“In general, Fedor has a traditional preparation: at the right moment, start with the right one and further develop the effect of the hit. Mitrion, apparently, noticed this and waited: he is a man who is well acquainted with boxing. Apparently, Fedor lost his instinct a little. It was necessary to build a duel a little differently.
It's not a question of age. Here Vener Galiev performs at the age of 42. Randy Couture fought at the level when he was already under 50. This is about something else. Fedor fails to win against fighters who cannot be classified as top ones. Mitrione may become a top fighter, but today I don’t consider him one of those.
There is no single reason for failure. There is another reason: MMA has changed. And today we have to deal with much more versatile fighters, to which it is increasingly difficult to pick up the keys. Fedor's rivals in the mid-2000s were outstanding guys, but each of them was outstanding in some way: someone is a great wrestler, someone is a great drummer. And now you can’t just make out a wrestler in a standing position, and you can’t just leave a drummer. Perhaps Fedor was not ready for these changes.
Alexander Konakov, head coach of the Russian national team in combat sambo:
Photo sambo-rd.ru
“Fyodor, of course, needs to end his career. He is our star, our legend, our national hero, but time is relentless. He needs to make a choice and direct his energy in other directions: coaching, the active development of MMA in Russia, to share their rich experience with young people. Fedor remains for us a great athlete, a good friend and comrade. And we are always with him: both in victories and in defeats.
Sergei Shevchenko
The absence of words with a huge number of thoughts - as a result of the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Matt Mitrione. New York, where the American dream came true again, destroyed tons of Russian first-aid kits and hopes. And the knockout of the “Last Emperor” at the Bellator tournament, although predictable, was so loud that the echo of the end of a career rings again from every corner.
It will be mainstream in the near future. "Fedya, it's time", "Emelianenko is not the same" and so on. If we have a national sport, then it is to hang our own expectations on the upcoming performance of domestic athletes, and then, when they are not justified, to swear at the athletes.
Now the last thing I want to do is to do this, as well as discussing a career.
What happened to Mitrion is what everything was going to. There were little hopes that the training camp in Holland would raise Fedor's hands - in the literal sense - on the eve of the meeting with the knockout, but no. With all due respect to all the participants in the fight between Emelianenko and Fabio Maldonado, Matt is not a light heavyweight who is not in his category, and when he hits, everything ends much faster.
The current Fedor cannot take such a blow. This must be accepted and reconciled, regardless of what happens next. Apparently in this moment he can't even fight. Perhaps trauma interferes. And together, these factors will not allow to keep the highest level world martial arts, and, sorry, Bellator at least about that.
However, now, when everyone is lamenting after the knockout, we slightly forget about how we demanded great achievements from Emelianenko “right now”. They swore at the unknown Singh, then they were dissatisfied with the Brazilian boxer, and everyone passed by them, as Fedor still went up the resumed career ladder.
And now "need gloves on the nail"? You can't please directly.
Yes, it hurts to watch The Last Emperor fall. New York added to the unpleasant collection of American places, and the windows in the night Russia that were lit in turn turned off after a few minutes with indescribable sadness. But Emelianenko is not taking part in veteran freak performances, but is trying to compete with guys like Mitrione - huge rugby players and a record in the UFC.
At the same time, cutting through the window for the posh generation Russian fighters who can follow him to go overseas. In principle, this is quite enough to continue your career and do it your own way.
We understand that despite all the frustrations and unfulfilled hopes, we will continue to watch and hope. With whom would not be announced the next fight. Hoping for the correction of mistakes, for the absence of injuries, for the victory over an eminent opponent ...
And now we just turn off the light and wait for a small curtain. But there, in the lengthened tunnel, there is still something at the end. Since history is cyclical, a new light is lit for the next fight of Fedor Emelianenko.
168 days ago, in 49 seconds, he knocked out 39-year-old Frank Mir, reached the semifinals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix and hit 41-year-old Chael Sonnen, who fought three times more often than Fedor (46 against 43 fights) and also lost three times more often (5 defeats against 15).
It seems that Emelianenko has done enough in his career to stop fighting. But, apparently, some incentives still remain. By the way, for one fight in Bellator he receives more than a million dollars, and right now he has the opportunity to become the best heavyweight in the second most powerful league in the world.
In the course of his career, Sonnen fought Jon Jones and Anderson Silva (losing to both, and Silva twice). These guys are called one of the best (if not the best) in the history of MMA. Of course, you could hear the same thing about Fedor Emelianenko. In this regard, Sonnen has amassed an already impressive collection. You can also add Tito Ortiz, Forrest Griffin, Demian Maia and Michael Bisping there.
Chael tends to talk a lot. In this material, for example, you will find many of his funny jokes and attacks on rivals. The Brazilians were especially hard hit.
It is all the more surprising that in relation to Emelianenko, Sonnen was quite calm. At some point, he resigned himself to the fact that it was impossible to rock this person, and if you act as a soloist in such a situation, then you can retrain from a cool trash talker into clowns.
Although, some of his repertoire went well. At one of the press conferences, when a journalist asked Fedor a question, Chale intervened in the dialogue.
“You might as well buy a train ticket, drive to the Brooklyn Bridge and ask him anything. It will be the same as asking Fedor a question. But there you will have the opportunity to look at the beautiful architecture.”
And the director of the Moscow circus Edgard Zapashny, who stably accompanies Fedor at his fights, believes that at first Sonnen said a lot of superfluous things about Emelianenko.
But Chale is right, Emelianenko's silence has not been good for him for a long time. At least in the same States, Fedor's fights do not wait as much as the release of the same Khabib. Even Russian-speaking New Yorkers remain indifferent towards Emelianenko.
And here is an example of Fedor's conversation with reporters before the fight.
But the lack of any interest and other difficulties associated with the media component do not worry Emelianenko much. He keeps going out and doing his job. Silently.
From the first seconds of the starting five-minute period, Fedor began to indicate his advantage in striking technique. 4 seconds after the start, Sonnen had already collapsed, but he raised his legs in time, preventing Emelianenko from finishing himself off. Further, Cheyle shook all over the cage, but once he managed to transfer Emelianenko to canvas, while remaining on top.
But this did not last very long. Emelianenko switched positions after Sonnen tried to do something crazy. In a couple of moments, Fedor already delivered a powerful blow to the head of the American Gangster, and then another fifteen shots. Ref could not stand it and stopped the fight. Notice how the US public rejoices at Fedor's victory.
Ryan Bader is waiting for Fedor in the final. They will fight for the Bellator belt on January 26 in Los Angeles. And there is an opinion that Emelianenko will have a very, very difficult time. The bookies have no doubt about it.
Why did this happen? What's next for Emelianenko? Should he consider ending his career? Russian media respond.
What we feared happened
Bellator did their job
“Bellator just did their job. The work of the promotion, which gave birth to another hero who beat Fedor. Now they have many options. Look - there is a guy who beat Sergei Kharitonov, they can meet with Mitrion. There is a separate Mitrion, which will now be sold in a completely different way.
In the name of Emelianenko, this time the industry made a new hero for itself and, as a result, money. Unfortunately, we do not have such an industry that we cannot afford to engage Fedor Emelianenko in fights that he would fight in Russian cities under similar financial circumstances.
A rematch with Mitrione is out of the question. It can be interesting only for one reason, with which we started - the marathon does not stop until the money runs out, ”writes in his column on "SE" famous Russian promoter Vladimir Khryunov.
