In our first installment, we took a look at a young Fedor Emelianenko as he ascended the PRIDE ranks in his first two major bouts in the organization. After an introductory bout with Semmy Schilt, Fedor took on the Texan Heath Herring in which Fedor was considered a heavy underdog in the fight. Herring was considered a contender for the Heavyweight title at the time as well. Fedor was dominating and earned himself a title shot against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at PRIDE 25 - Body Blow. Fedor's relentless ground and pound was enough to secure an unanimous decision against the expert ju-jitsu heavyweight. In Fedor's next few fights, he would prove that his standup was world class and his recovery and composure in tight spots was amazing.

"He got caught!"

Fedor's first title defense was at PRIDE 26 against Kazuyuki Fujita. Fujita was renowned for having a very strong chin, great striking skills, and some world class wrestling in his repetoire. Nonetheless, he came in as a huge underdog. Here's a quick look at how the fight transpired and how Fedor Emelianenko was able to beat Fujita, even while on the verge of being defeated himself.

Early on in this fight, you can really see Fedor's balance and quickness come into play. Unlike some Judo fighters who normally set opponents up into the ropes or cage and then try to hook the leg for the takedown, Fedor does this all in one motion. He is able to actually control Fujita's body and almost trip him into a takedown while he pushes him out in the middle of the ring. Another great aspect of this fight that is shown in Fedor's game is his quickness with his standup. He is able to drop huge rights on Fujita with nearly no defense from Fujita. His reaction time to Fedor's shots isn't enough to even remotely stop the onslaught. It's one key factor many fans overlook when matching up Fedor with another opponent. His standup is just as good if not better than the top guys in MMA.

At the half way point in this matchup, Fedor and Fujita have a huge exchange in which Fedor lands two solid punches and then pays the price by eating a hook from Fujita that stuns Fedor. Fedor immediately grabs a hold of Fujita and brings the fight to the ground where he is unbelievably able to recover very quickly. Almost immediately after the takedown, Fedor looks visibly recovered from the hit and is fending off Fujita's ground tactics. This is a testament to Fedor's conditioning. It is a well-known fact that conditioning can be a key to recovering from shots taken in the ring, and in this case, Fedor took a fairly wicked blast from Fujita's right hand. Fedor is able to get up pretty easily against a tiring Fujita. Fujita's ultimate failure in this matchup was after this standup. Fedor still looked wobbly and Fujita allowed him to recompose himself and then fire off a few big shots along with a body kick that set up another huge blow that shook Fujita. Nonetheless, his recovery time and defense against subsequent attacks while he recovered was astonishing.

Submitted!

After two successful fights, one against  Gary Goodridge   and another against Yuji Nagata, Fedor was back at PRIDE - Total Elimination 2004 against   Mark Coleman  . Coleman, who pioneered the ground and pound technique, was an accomplished wrestler with an NCAA championship and a 7th place finish at the '92 Summer Olympic Games under his belt. Coleman was a very large intimidating opponent who used his strength and size to throw opponents to the ground and pound them. As you will see in this fight, the submission that Fedor pulls off is probably one of the fastest transitioned submission armbars the MMA game has ever seen. When you watch this clip, you can compare the position of Coleman's arm to almost any ground fight imaginable and wonder how Fedor is able to successfully move his body with such agility. You really wonder why other fighters are unable to transition as fast as Fedor does in this battle because the position that Coleman is in is very standard among ground fighters. Enjoy!

Fedor's Sambo transitions from his back are unbelievable. If you actually watch the timestamp on the fight video, he pulls this submission off in a matter of seconds. From his back to the stoppage, there is only a matter of about three to five seconds from which Coleman is controlling on top to Coleman tapping out. Fedor was beginning to see bigger opponents with wrestling backgrounds in the ring against him, and this is really when his submission game began to amaze the MMA community.

His next matchup against Kevin Randleman at PRIDE - Critical Countdown 2004 would be no different. His recovery skills along with his transition Sambo would be tested at the event, take a look:

Randleman tries to use his strength and wrestling ability much like Coleman did. He is able to pull of a huge suplex that nearly lands Fedor straight on the top of his head. A lot of people felt that Fedor used his body positioning to help him land more of the blow to his shoulder than his head, enabling him to be unhurt by the throw. Whether or not he was able to do that or not remains unknown, but Fedor has stated that he was in control of himself during the throw. Fedor easily transitions his body from a north-south position into a reversal and rolls over on top of Randleman. He was then able to isolate Randleman's arm and pull off a kimura and end the bout. Again, he was able to use smooth transitions from being controlled on the ground to controlling his opponents while on top. His ground game was spectacular and beautiful for many of us to watch and admire. He was simply outthinking these strong wrestlers who really thought they could just overpower him and end it.

Can he beat Fedor?

The biggest question on everyone's mind coming into PRIDE - Final Conflict 2005. Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic vs. Fedor Emelianenko. I wasn't able to add it to the page since I can't double size it here, but the link takes you to Google for an entire look at the fight. This was a fight that defined a complete Fedor Emelianenko. He was able to really use every aspect of his skill, and at the same time, outstrike one of the greatest strikers in MMA history. Fedor's gameplan was executed thoroughly in this fight. The only way to beat a striker who strikes by utilizing range is to take the range away. Fedor stalks CroCop for most of the fight. His defense was crisp, blocking multiple high kicks. His striking was amazing and landing at will after the 1st round. He was able to just completely tire Mirko and take the fight over after the first round flurry had ended. In Mirko's defense, he wasn't sloppy during this fight. He was actually able to avoid a lot of Fedor's attempts at pounding him on the ground and that ultimately enabled him to finish the fight. He wasn't able to do much of anything against Fedor however. In my opinion, this was a fight that really showed CroCop's weakness and solidified Fedor's legacy as a fighter who really has no weaknesses. His striking is amazing, his ground game is on another level, he has fast recovery time, and tons of cardio to help him go even in the late rounds.

The Future for Fedor Emelianenko

After his most recent fight against Matt Lindland in Bodog Fight - Clash of the Nations, Fedor has been taking time off. He is currently unsigned with any organization, and remains in talks with the UFC, K-1, and any other organizations offering a contract. He has been rumored to have signed a deal with K-1 for 5 fights at one million dollars per fight. This has been denied by his agent, but the rumor is still floating around that we may see him on the September 17th K-1 Heroes card. Dana White, president of the UFC, has recently made comments regarding Fedor's agent as crazy, and the demands of the PRIDE Heavyweight Champion  to be ridiculous. The rumors flying around the MMA community include: Source

• Fedor will be able to attend and perform at the Russian World Sambo Championships. He is the current Champion, and has been for the last 2 years.
• He reportedly wants the UFC to sign various Red Devil Camp fighters, it hasn't been said which fighters yet.
• His agent would like to hold a joint MMA event in Russia, but only if the UFC produces it through him.
• He fights only big name fighters, the best of the best, and gets paid handsomely for it.

As I've argued many times before, these demands should be met except for the demand that his Russian agent be included in production of a UFC card in Russia. As with many Russian fighters, MMA in Russia is very pride oriented. Their fighters usually have a strong connection to their country, and are looked upon by the young people of Russia as role models. The Sambo tournaments in Russia have made Fedor a celebrity and role model in his country. He should be allowed to fulfill the duty of competing in the tournaments in front of his fellow countrymen.

Obviously, he should be paid handsomely for each fight he takes, especially if we will be throwing the likes of Couture, Gonzaga, Arlovski, Sylvia, etc... at him. But signing his Camp fighters? What's the benefit in that? It gives the UFC more fighters, period. We could be seeing some great Russian fighters who we haven't seen before come into the UFC and dominate. We could have the chance to see a generation of Russian fighters who are as exciting as Fedor is. It's a win/win for the UFC. It solidifies a connection with the Red Devil Camp in Russia, and it will give exposure to the MMA world in Russia. If the UFC is pulling in close to 25 million per pay-per-view event, they could easily enlist more fighters and hold more events in the future. They could also use the fighters for WEC, which is Zuffa owned and operated. But according to ProphetFighting.com, the UFC is still not willing to let Fedor fight in the Russian Combat Sambo Championships, and is unwilling to hold a Russian event, but are willing to match K-1/HEROES offer. This is the contract game, and it looks like Fedor will be signed with an organization soon enough.

This concludes a small in-depth look as to why Fedor Emelianenko is my favorite fighter, and is considered the greatest MMA fighter of all-time. There is some debate to that title, but overall, Fedor's game is extraordinary. I hope I have given you some insight into his skills with some good supporting evidence into why his MMA skillset is so great. I hope to see Fedor signed somewhere soon, preferably in the UFC, so we can all enjoy watching him entertain us.

First part of our in-depth look at Fedor Emelianenko