Fedor Emelianenko is the most exciting HW since Mike Tyson

[Liquidrob]

Lets make this simpler

If I asked you guys who was the most exciting HW fighter in boxing and MMA since Mike Tyson who would you say? They still have to be great of course, you know I'm not talking about Kimbo Slice here

Would you say Lennox Lewis? Evander Holyfield? Igor Vovchanchyn? Big Nog? Randy Couture? Wladimir Klitschko? Fedor?

Who would you say?

[Steel Mamba]

Lets make this simpler

If I asked you guys who was the most exciting HW fighter in boxing and MMA since Mike Tyson who would you say? They still have to be great of course, you know I'm not talking about Kimbo Slice here

Would you say Lennox Lewis? Evander Holyfield? Igor Vovchanchyn? Big Nog? Randy Couture? Wladimir Klitschko? Fedor?

Who would you say?

Sure if you take Tyson out then Fedor is easily the top guy, no question. Maybe you could argue Holyfield, but not retiring when he should have tarnished his legacy a bit. Lennox Lewis would def be in the discussion too, but I'd still say Fedor. Including excitement kinda leaves the door open to argue for other guys tho.

Still the thing is when you're talking about someones dominance, the first part to being a dominating fighter is cleaning out your division and doing it in style. I used Silva and GSP as examples earlier because those guys have done that whereas it's debatable whether or not Fedor has. With that it's hard to say that he beats out Tyson because at one point Tyson was running through everyone in his division in a much more dominating fashion than Fedor and I personally think Tyson was more exciting to watch.

[Liquidrob]

I brought up 'excitment' as the main point because Tyson was something special during those times, not sure how old you are, but when Tyson was going to fight it was just different, I think Fedor right now is at that level


I lived your the Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis and now Klitschko era, none of those guys brought the excitment level like mike Tyson, I am a Lennox Lewis fan, but he doesnt have that excitement or level or killer instinct that Mike brought, Lewis just got the job done

In MMA I have been here since the beginning, Coleman, Kerr, Igor, Nog, Cro Cop, Fedor, etc... Fedor just has that something, Igor would be 2nd, but he is still 2nd to Fedor

he goes in there to finish, to destroy and hasnt been beaten yet, this isnt a debate, its a statement or if you dont think it, who would be your pick?

[EmpireWF]

Before the Gonzaga fight, I'd say Cro Cop.

Fedor is something special but not being able to fight the UFC crew will hurt some of the excitement factor. Outside of the UFC, what big fights are left for him that are appealing? Fedor/Barnett is one (ugh), Fedor/Overeem may be one and that's it.

He's the best heavyweight but what's left to see?

[Steel Mamba]

I brought up 'excitment' as the main point because Tyson was something special during those times, not sure how old you are, but when Tyson was going to fight it was just different, I think Fedor right now is at that level


I lived your the Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis and now Klitschko era, none of those guys brought the excitment level like mike Tyson, I am a Lennox Lewis fan, but he doesnt have that excitement or level or killer instinct that Mike brought, Lewis just got the job done

In MMA I have been here since the beginning, Coleman, Kerr, Igor, Nog, Cro Cop, Fedor, etc... Fedor just has that something, Igor would be 2nd, but he is still 2nd to Fedor

he goes in there to finish, to destroy and hasnt been beaten yet, this isnt a debate, its a statement or if you dont think it, who would be your pick?

Im only 23 so I was too young back then, I didn't start to see Tyson fights until the mid 90s. Being the fight nerd that I am tho I have his entire career along with a bunch of other fighters on my computer so I know my history pretty well.

For me it's Tyson, Fedor, Nog in that order. No one crushed guys the way Tyson did.

[SHOGUN]

Before the Gonzaga fight, I'd say Cro Cop.

Fedor is something special but not being able to fight the UFC crew will hurt some of the excitement factor. Outside of the UFC, what big fights are left for him that are appealing? Fedor/Barnett is one (ugh), Fedor/Overeem may be one and that's it.

He's the best heavyweight but what's left to see?

The same argument can be made for if he comes to the UFC. Do you really want to see him beat the piss out of Nog again? Fedor should really face Pillowhands (Velasquez), Brett Rogers 2.0 (Carwin), Mr. Zero Takedown Defense (Kongo) or Frank 'If-I-didn't-beat-a-novice-Lesnar-I'd-be-cut' Mir? None of those guys bring anything worthwhile to the table outside of Mir and his douchebaggery.

The ONLY big fight for Fedor in the UFC is Lesnar. Let's not act like not being the UFC is going to blackmark him. Only those to take Dana's word as gospel will think so. Fedor has cleaned out PRIDE and everyone who got in his path afterwards. Two of his last opponents were ranked Top 3 (rated higher than those you mentioned) and Rogers was ranked 5-8 depending on who you were talking to, so it's not as if he's been fighting cans since PRIDE folded.

But yes, for pure excitement I'd put CroCop above Fedor. But since it's a combo thing, then yeah it's Fedor.

[EmpireWF]

Brett Rogers = Carwin?

Since when does Rogers have great wrestling skills?

Hold on, Sylvia was not a top 3 heavyweight when Fedor fought him. Arlovski, maybe top 5.

Fedor/Lesnar obviously, Velasquez/Fedor or let's do Big Nog/Fedor again. These are interesting fights compared to what's available outside the company.

But I'll stop writing about it since Fedor will never fight in the UFC. Sucks, but it's the case. Hopefully Overeem does come to the US (Coker said he is and will headline a Showtime card early in 2010) and they can bring in a clean piss test version of Barnett over to finally fight his good buddy.

[SHOGUN]

Brett Rogers = Carwin?

Since when does Rogers have great wrestling skills?

Since when has Carwin beat a legit heavyweight? JDS, Brown Pride, and even Brett Rogers have proven they are more legit and more worthy of a title shot than Carwin at this point. Dude has fought nothing but cans prior to Gonzaga and was close to losing that one had GG not decided to go for the takedown like an idiot. Carwin is a fine prospect, but he's still raw and at this point overhyped.

Hold on, Sylvia was not a top 3 heavyweight when Fedor fought him. Arlovski, maybe top 5.

Sylvia ranked #4 on Sherdog prior to Fedor fight (an inactive Couture listed at #3)

Andre Arlovski ranked #2 on Sherdog prior to the Fedor fight.

I'm not just blowing smoke here.

Fedor/Lesnar obviously, Velasquez/Fedor or let's do Big Nog/Fedor again. These are interesting fights compared to what's available outside the company.

I'd rather see Fedor/Rogers II than Big Nog/Fedor III (as much as it hurts me to say that) and please explain how the Cain/Fedor fight is interesting? Dude has sloppy hands, lacks power, has OK submission defense and doesn't have any high level wrestling that Fedor hasn't seen before. Yes, having Greg Jackson formulate a strategy for Fedor would be very interesting, but still I don't think Cain has the skillset to beat Fedor. It's not like he could use a hefty size/strength advantage like the other HWs.

[EmpireWF]

To me, Rogers is just as much a prospect as Carwin is without a solid wrestling base. He's a brawler. A rematch with Fedor is not going to be much different than the first.

I'll agree Carwin doesn't deserve a title shot with his biggest win coming against Gonzaga, but I'm not sure he's being overhyped all that more than your average main eventer. He's basically Brock Lesnar without the pro wrestling background.

I would love to see on of the elite Zuffa wrestler heavyweights (Brock/Cain) fight Fedor, just to see 2010 Fedor fight the power monsters. Coleman was 40 when he first fought Fedor.

Cain/Fedor is sweet because Velasquez has the reputation of being the best fighter in the gym and is as powerful a wrestler as Brock. The big knock on him is not having legit KO power. Thus, like I mentioned before, I want to see if Fedor can handle with the younger, stronger wrestlers of today.

[Kuzzy Powers]

Tim Sylvia is more exciting.

On the real tho.. shame on you Rob for not even throwing Igor out there in the most exciting discussion.

[Liquidrob]

Tim Sylvia is more exciting.

On the real tho.. shame on you Rob for not even throwing Igor out there in the most exciting discussion.

you're right, besides mentioning him a couple times I never mentioned him once, lol

[Rush]

Lesnar and Fedor NEED TO FIGHT.

[Liquidrob]

[CrimsonGhost56]

fedor is exciting inside the cage. outside... not so much. their was always a spectacle surrounding tyson everywhere. fedor just chills in his little village in russia, never hear a peep from him.

[Liquidrob]

let me ask you guys a question, what does 'since' mean to you?