During my long hours posting on various community MMA forums, writing columns, and generally making arguments as to why I think one fight will go the way I think it will go, I am faced with a question. Many of us have been faced with the same question, and it's usually a sigh of relief because it isn't your garden variety question that drills at your mind. At least not for me. "Who is your favorite fighter and why?", someone asks me. To some fans, this is a difficult question to deal with. They like so many fighters and can't decide. For me, the same answer that most MMA fans would give immediately comes to mind. "Fedor is my favorite fighter.", I reply. But then comes the question as to why is Fedor my favorite fighter. Why is anyone someone's favorite fighter? Because at some point in their career, they impressed you. They made you admire the skills that they showed you, and the skills that they will show you. As I explain all of this to the person asking, I always mention the fact that I think Fedor is the greatest MMA fighter of all-time. This sparks debate among MMA fans, but less fans than you think. Fact is, people know he's the greatest MMA fighter of all-time, but let opinions fall in front of them. So.. without further delay, I'm going to take an in-depth look as to why I think Fedor Emelianenko is the greatest fighter of all-time and my favorite fighter to watch.

Is that all he's got?

In order to really understand the vast skillset that Fedor possesses and to really feel what it must be like to go against such a versatile fighter, we must look at the skills he has compiled over his career. Many fans don't understand why Fedor is so dominant, but if you watch him, he seemingly disposes of opponents like it's a cakewalk. Fedor's strongest skill in the ring is his ground game. Once you hit the floor, you are in his world. In order to quickly dispose of opponents, he uses a martial art that combines many ancient martial arts into one complete package. This martial art is known as Sambo. Sambo was developed by Russia as a self-defense technique to stop armed and unarmed adversaries in the least amount of time possible. Sambo is a fairly new martial art in the world of martial arts. Many of the older arts have come from centuries of practice. If you look at Sambo more closely however, you will see that it is deeply rooted with many ancient martial art techniques and practices.

Sambo is actually a combination of the best techniques from various other martial arts. It includes techniques from Judo, Japanese Ju-Jitsu, Greco-Roman Wrestling, Karate, Aikido, and classical boxing techniques. Specifically, Fedor trains in the art of Combat Sambo, which adds the additional aspect of striking to the mix. It contains within it extensive forms of striking and grappling. This was a martial art that was carefully constructed by the U.S.S.R. and uses only the best techniques that the Russians felt were worthy to easily fulfill their goal of building a base self-defense system that could halt opposition the quickest.

Sambo isn't widely known or used in the MMA world. Andrei Arlovski was a Junior World Sambo Champion, but rarely used it in the Octagon. The most widely known practitioners are Fedor and his brother Aleksander. They are also considered two of the most successful Sambo fighters in the world. What does that tell you? Two top 10 ranked fighters who specifically use Sambo in their MMA game. Why aren't more fighters learning it? Fedor has an advantage that a lot of fighters don't have. He's actually from Russia, and trains with the best practitioners in the world. He has access to them, and Fedor is considered one of the best practitioners in the world already. He began learning Sambo when he was in elementary school, so his fundamentals in the art are a solid foundation. Let's get one thing completely out in the open, saying comments like "Fedor doesn't have a ju-jitsu game, he can get submitted easily." or "Judo throws would own Fedor" do not help solidify your intelligence to a community. Ju-jitsu and Judo are part of Sambo. A lot of post-fight interviews involve Fedor telling the media that he was never in any danger. That's because he's an expert at what he does. He knows what's going on, and he knows when he is in trouble and when he can control the situation. This fact makes him dangerous, even when the opponent thinks he can control Fedor.

Did you see that?

When watching a Fedor fight, you commonly hear the phrase above. Let's see one of his first fights in PRIDE, vs. Heath Herring. This will give you an idea of the crushing power Fedor possesses. In this fight, Bas Rutten is absolutely amazed at Fedor's power. This is one of the first times they have seen him, so it's interesting to hear their comments. Enjoy. If the videos do not show up here, searching a Google Video Search will bring them up.

These two fights were Fedor's introduction to PRIDE. He did fight Semmy Schilt, somewhat of a PRIDE gatekeeper at the time, in his first bout. These two fights really show you his power against any attacks. Herring had really no chance. Although Herring had proved in fights upcoming to the Fedor fight that he could escape a ground fight, he was never able to use his striking at any point during the matchup. Herring made the ultimate mistake by coming out with a midsection kick and being caught and thrown to the ground. At that point, Fedor's awesome power on the ground was unleashed in his nearly patented ground and pound game. This fight also displays Fedor's upper body strength. At one point, Herring is able to get back to his feet, in which Fedor grabs him by the torso and literally power bombs Herring back to the ground. Herring almost looks like a rag doll to Fedor's power. 

In his first bout with Minotauro Nogueira, Fedor was relentless in his ground and pound. He even went as far as jumping over Minotauro's guard in order to land one last punch before being pushed back out of his guard. Considering the fact that both of these fights were fairly early in his career, his pounding strikes were considered devastating even as a young fighter coming into the organization. His submission game had yet to be seen.

Next time: Fedor's submission game