Fedor Emelianenko… Stay Retired
Very few athletes retire or walk from their sport for a period of time, return and improve their legacies. Michael Jordan is one such man, Randy Couture is another. It takes a multitude of factors to be able to do this; talent is not the most critical factor either. It takes unshakeable determination, diligence in practice, the right conditioning and ability to adapt in how you approach your sport. I will give you an example. Here in Australia we have our national sport of Australian Rules Football. In 1999 Tony Lockett broke the lead record of 1299 career goals, retiring at the end of the year with 1357. The record he broke stood since 1937 and he was such a champion in his sport he is Hall of Fame and has one end of a football ground named after him. Three years later he attempted a comeback. It lasted 3 games and totalled 3 goals. The game had passed him by; he was too slow and too heavy and tactics had evolved. It became quickly obvious he was not capable of reaching his own standards.
I use this example because of the fast evolution of Mixed Martial Arts. Fighters are getting stronger, faster and more technical. It is a different era than when Fedor Emelianenko came into the sport. At thirty five years old, now is a good time for Fedor to walk away because there is nothing to gain from continuing to fight. The aura of invincibility is gone. There is obviously still respect for what the man can accomplish in a cage. Should Fedor reconsider his retirement it is unlikely he will go to the UFC. Post his three fight skid in Strikeforce he has beaten only irrelevant fighters since which does not get him in. In comparison, his fight streak is less impressive than that of Tim Sylvia and he can’t get back in despite being a UFC product. Both are not in Dana Whites good graces. The only chance Fedor has is when the UFC heads to Russia but I feel Dana will likely dig his heels in to make a point, a power play, like when UFC went to Japan. The UFC deliberately avoided Pride references to stand by their product; I feel Dana will want to make a statement to say they are a great product without bowing to pressure to M1 Global.
Fedor would find himself back fighting for the minor leagues again, winning against fighters well past their prime or up and comers without enough seasoning. This does not improve his legacy. Wins for the sake of wins are not relevant. Dan Severn’s record is now more notable for the sheer number of contests he has had, not for the quality of wins. It is better to walk away with a question of how you would fare in the big show and make it look like Dana is the bad guy and a bad business man for not putting you in. In reality Fedor would be competitive but not dominant in the UFC. He is on the downslide of a great career. If he were to make it into the UFC and go 3-3, it is worse than not going in at all, at least that keeps the mystery intact. If Fedor had of transitioned to the UFC at thirty years old when the division wasn’t stacked with talented and monstrous heavyweights, it would have been a different story but as a small pudgy heavyweight, he is in the wrong division. Junior Dos Santos would do a lot worse than Dan Henderson did because he hits very hard and faster than Hendo.
Could Fedor relaunch a career at light heavyweight? Yes, he could. I doubt that he will though. He has been a competitive combatant for many years and if he has not committed to a clean diet during a long and successful career, I cannot see a complete change in his nutrition. He is far better suited to the light heavyweight division. He gives up less reach and weight, with most fighters not hitting as hard as the big boys.
Here is where Randy Couture is better than Fedor, about the only win Randy could have over him. Randy was a consummate athlete for his age, a game planner and true professional with hard training and a clean diet. He moved divisions to where he felt he could be strongest at that time. He left the sport only to return to win a heavyweight title, in what was a weak division. He saw an opportunity to further his legacy and took it. Fedor could have improved his legacy by dropping a division to extend his career but didn’t. Dropping would have kept him interesting and more relevant, giving a whole host of potential exciting matchups rather than fighting Pedro Rizzo, inactive for nearly two years and thirty eight years old. To put it in perspective Rizzo’s previous three fight win streak was a washed up Ken Shamrock, brain damaged Gary Goodridge and fellow senior citizen Jeff Monson.
Hints that Fedor could return for a bout against Brock Lesnar should both return in the future raise the question: Why bother? What is to gain if you win against a man who has been debunked as a top of the food chain fighter? Brock Lesnar has 5-3 record. Brock Lesnar if he returned to the UFC could never again capture the title; there are too many fighters with takedown defence and willing to trade punches with him. Fedor defeating a man with a bad record and a suspect chin and bowel problems is not legacy building. Consider if he is taken down and smashed en route to a TKO by the vanilla gorilla. While not likely it can happen against a far smaller opponent. This would damage his standing considering the vicious beatings Lesnar sustained against Velasquez and Overeem in his final two fights.
Mixed Martial Arts is not sport you want to approach with anything less than total dedication and desire to compete. If you wish to fight part time, you are likely to get hurt. This is not professional wrestling when you can come back after four years and be on top because it is (spoiler alert) scripted. When my favourite boxer Kostya Tszyu stepped away from boxing in 2005 he did not announce his retirement. He hinted at a return as recently as 2010, five years after his last fight. After twelve months and despite my admiration for the man, I did not want him to return because I knew that was not the best Kostya Tszyu possible because he was not committed to the cause. Seeing him return at forty years old, regardless of the fact he is still in phenomenal shape would be a sad reflection of his greatness. It seems lately he has accepted that his time is over.
Like anything in life when we see or experience a good thing we want it to go on forever, it is just human nature. Like a good relationship that has run its course, it is better to walk away before things turn ugly. We reached that point. We can look back with fond memories. Ken Shamrock’s career is more like that lingering abusive relationship. He hurts us by fighting and we hurt him by watching. It should have come to a close years ago while we could still enjoy each other’s company. Hard choices soon will have to be made by several fighters for the same reasons. To go out on a high is the best way possible. When BJ Penn was battered by Nick Diaz, I wanted BJ to have one more fight as a lightweight so if he went down, it would have been more competitive. Now he has announced a comeback against another killer and I cannot see a happy ending there, which again doesn’t help his career. Should he get belted again we may see another BJ Penn retirement on the downslide of his career.
We need to resist the pull of seeing a legend mount a comeback. Igor Vovchanchyn walked away when the time is right, even if by Mixed Martial Arts standards he was far too young at 32. At 35, Fedor Emelianenko might still be youngish but he has made his money, has his celebrity and still has his health. I say congratulations on a fantastic career, thank you for the highlights. Good luck in whatever you chose to do next. I am sure your years of experience as a competitor will continue to be beneficial in your role as President of the Russian MMA Union. It is time for you to give back in other ways. Your impact can be even greater now than as a fighter; you can help guide the sport onto bigger and better things. Now you can negotiate things for yourself, instead of M1 Global making decisions in their best interests only. Thank you Mr Emelianenko, good luck.
By Alex Durward
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