MMA Weekly is confirming that Fedor Emelianenko will take on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in matchup between two top five heavyweights on July 19th of this year. Previous rumors that have been leaked out suggest the bout will take place in Dallas, Texas at American Airlines Arena with HDNet providing the broadcast and Affliction footing the bill. Details aside, this matchup will be the first to prove if Fedor Emelianenko still has the tenacity and skills we've seen in the past, and it will put him well on his way to proving to the fanbase that he is in fact deserving of being the greatest.
This is a bout that has taken years to happen and has been years in the making. In the days when PRIDE reigned supreme and feud between which promotion's fighters were better, Tim Sylvia vs. Fedor Emelianenko was a dream matchup that fans very much wanted to see happen. Rumors surfaced that Fedor had ducked Sylvia, and Sylvia had ducked Fedor, but both rumors didn't have much weight behind them. Sylvia was bound by the UFC's contracts, and Liddell was chosen to head to Japan for the Grand Prix to take on Wanderlei Silva. Of course, we all know that the matchup between Liddell and Silva didn't happen, and the rumor surfaced that Sylvia was ducking Fedor. The fact is that the matchup just wasn't available in those days, and now we'll finally get to see the showdown.
The difference between then and now is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture. During Fedor's PRIDE reign, it wasn't inconceivable to believe that Sylvia had a great shot at defeating Fedor with his huge size. Today, many fans still believe he can simply stand and pepper Fedor to a victory. Nogueira submitted Sylvia with nice transitions, and Couture rocked Sylvia with an overhand that helped him neutralize Sylvia for the rest of the bout. Both fights made Sylvia seem vulnerable, a much different perception than the previous years he had.
How should this fight play out today? Fedor remains an explosive fighter with the best transitional MMA skills that we've ever seen. He's good to great in nearly all areas of the game, and his ability to reverse his fortunes in the middle of a fight is a testament to his survivability and diversity in his skillset. In my opinion, Sylvia is outmatched decisively in this matchup.
Sylvia has a non-existent ground game to finish a fight, and his only real advantage on the ground is his length. Length has been something that Fedor Emelianenko has never had problems attacking. His size likely won't stop Fedor from taking him down, and the only opponent that Fedor had problems taking down was the real life Goliath in Hong Man Choi. Fedor has explosively put bigger opponents to the ground with ease, and Sylvia will likely be no different.
The only advantage that appears to be valid is Sylvia's standup skills. While he does have crisp strikes that don't loop like many heavy handed heavyweights, will he be able to put Fedor out with a few? Not before he gets put to the floor. While I think this is a great matchup for Fedor and Sylvia, Fedor should prevail easily. One-dimensional fighters such as Sylvia are a beast of the past. Nonetheless, get ready for a showdown in the deep South.
Above is the bout between K-1 World Champion striker Semmy Schilt and Fedor Emelianenko. Schilt is a better striker than Sylvia by far, yet has no ground game. He shows some impressive submission defense, but gets crushed throughout the fight by Fedor's superior ground tactics. This could very well be what could happen. The only major flaw here is that this fight took place in Fedor's first PRIDE battle, and he's probably much better nowadays against seemingly the same type of fighter as Schilt.