What to Make of Fedor

The MMA Underground is a funny scene. The pound-for-pound debate rages on pretty much an hourly basis as to who the king is. For many fans, the king is actually the emperor. The Last Emperor, that is.

Fedor Emelienenko remains the sole megastar in MMA to elude the Octagon. His talent is unquestionable, and it's easy to make an argument for someone as dominant as him being the absolute best in the world. With that said, there are two massive questions regarding the Russian Sambo master...

1. Where does Fedor really rank?

2. Will he ever compete in the UFC?

Taking a look at the first big question, to me, Fedor is in the top three for sure. However, he remains behind Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva. (I should note that to me, Silva and GSP are tied for first right now... next weekend's fight with Forrest Griffin should determine if Anderson deserves to remain the sole top dog or if he slides behind St. Pierre. I reserve judgment until then)

The biggest argument against Fedor since the collapse of Pride for years was that he wasn't in the mix with top level talent. After years of fighting the best heavyweights (Nogueira, Filipović, Coleman, etc.), the heavyweight talent pool thinned terribly, and Fedor was left to "prove" himself against Matt Lindland, who normally competes at middleweight, and Hong-Man Choi. The problems with the latter fight almost don't warrant comment. Putting a 7'2" kickboxer with a 1-0 MMA record against the sport's undisputed top heavyweight is almost criminal. This isn't pro wrestling where you can take any guy with acromegaly and make him look like a stud.

In spite of this string of farcical fights, there were still countless Fedor apologists out there (Josh Gross at SI comes to mind) who placed Fedor atop the P4P rankings.

To be fair, a lot changed when Affliction tried their hand at promoting. At least they brought in a top ten challenger in Tim Sylvia. Not that Sylvia faired any better than the Korean Monster. He was dispatched in just over 30 seconds. Fedor's next test would come in a supposedly rejuvenated Andre Arlovski. Going into the fight, pretty much everyone felt Arlovski had the best chance of beating Fedor to date. He was looking good for the first few minutes, but a well-placed right hook ended such speculation.

In the time that elapsed between those contests and the demise of Affliction, Sylvia was obliterated by the well-past-his-prime Ray Mercer in a match that shouldn't have happened, and Arlovski was bested in 22 seconds by Brett Rogers.

To me, this yields some very serious questions about the quality of these guys as fighters in spite of their top ten ranking. Keep in mind that when Sylvia and Arlovski excelled in UFC, the heavyweight division was the thinnest weight class in the promotion. Frank Mir was recovering from his injury, Randy Couture was in the light heavyweight division or retired, Noguera and Filipović were still in Pride. You could argue that with so little genuine competition, these guys were mediocre top dogs.

Think of a used car lot filled to the brim with junkers, and then two reasonable late 90's model Corollas. They'd seem like BMW's in the mix of things. That's Sylvia and Arlovski at the time.

So, given that fact, it's hard to justify placing the Last Emperor's throne ahead of Rush and the Spider. Admittedly, Josh Gross makes me mental with his unabashed Fedor man-crush. As much as I love Anderson Silva, you could argue he doesn't deserve the top spot based on his last two outings. But to take anything away from GSP after his last five fights is outright criminal.

You have to put your personal preferences aside when considering these things. Anderson Silva remains my favorite fighter, yet I'm perfectly comfortable admitting GSP may have his number. Fedor is not ahead of either, though. Plain and simple. He's undoubtedly the top heavyweight, and I don't foresee anyone giving him trouble in the near future. I think he would've handled Josh Barnett easily, and he may still. Save maybe Brock Lesnar, I don't see anyone challenging his crown.

This brings me to the second, more intensely burning question. Is Fedor ever going to be in the UFC? If the waters weren't muddy enough already, this topic is at the epicenter of the MMA Underground right now. Arguably Zuffa has the top fighter for every major weight class on the UFC and WEC rosters right now. Except Fedor. With Barnett's career in question, Lesnar may soon ascend to the #2 spot. But until he bests Fedor, that's as high as he'll get.

Negotiations between Zuffa and Fedor's management have been rocky at best. They've tried to come to a consensus before, but it just doesn't seem to be in the cards. After last week's announcement about Affliction, this seemed like the most opportune window for UFC to acquire the man... however, the sole sticking point seems to be M-1 Global. Time and again, when these talks have come up, Fedor's management is adamant that the Last Emperor get treated like royalty. The unwillingness to keep Fedor exclusive to UFC and the demand his fights be a co-promotion between UFC and M-1 are both asinine and dangerous.

Dana White knows the sport. He also knows boxing. One of the reasons the sweet science has faltered dramatically in fandom these last several years (outside of probable corruption in the heavyweight division) is because of the proverbial alphabet soup. While Manny Pacquiao is clearly the best boxer in the world, the rest of the landscape is more questionable than Tyson's facial tattoo. It's impossible to know who the best fighters in their weight class are, because there ar four sanctioning bodies involved. That's four recognized titles per weight class. And at 17 weight classes, it's pretty much impossible to reach a consensus.

If UFC were to co-promote Fedor with M-1 and permit him to fight elsewhere, it would threaten the credibility of the sport. As much as I would love to see a Fedor-Brock showdown, I have to side with Zuffa on this. Yeah, Dana White is brash and can be abrasive. His methods can be questionable at times, but he is 100 percent right in this instance.

The following quote comes from the silent majority of UFC, Lorenzo Fertitta:

"We made him the best offer out there, more money than anybody offered him –- so you can't say it's about the money. Then they come back and they say, 'Well, it's a one-sided contract.' Let's break this down from a logical standpoint. We offered the exact same contract that three hundred other guys have signed, including Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, GSP, all the top stars. Why is that contract not good enough for Fedor? What Fedor wants is this. He doesn't want to be exclusive. So, it's like saying, okay, Tom Brady: 'I'm going to play for New England Patriots one Sunday, but you know what? After that game's over, I want to be a free agent and go see where I can play for the rest of the season.' Every weekend he's going to skip around and play for whoever he wants. How does that make sense for us as a business or for the fans?"

When you put it in that perspective, how can all the Fedor apologists out there still badmouth Zuffa, Dana White, the Fertittas and UFC as a whole for being unable to procure the guy? They've established themselves as the dominant brand in the business, and to permit one fighter to have that much mobility is just silly. There's something to be said for protecting your investment.

Of course, with M-1's already stellar track record of whoring Fedor out, would you really want to deal with them? Affliction... dead. Yarennoka!... dead. BodogFight... dead. Try as they might, there's no way to rationally justify their demands.

It's a pity, because there are two big losers in this equation. First off, the fans lose because they never get to see all the dream matches they've lusted for. Brock-haters will never see him shut up at the hands of Fedor. The long-awaited Couture-Fedor battle will never happen. They will have to go above and beyond their means to even see him perform.

The other loser is Fedor himself. If he genuinely wishes to cement his legacy in the sport, he needs to abandon M-1 Global. They are doing absolutely nothing for him, and the trail of dead promotions in his wake is beginning to resemble his fight record. Eventually, I can see his ranking in the pound-for-pound rankings slipping behind the likes of Miguel Torres and Lyoto Machida. After Barnett, there's no one else outside the UFC to present a credible challenge. I'm sure he'll find plenty of fights overseas, but none will come close to presenting him with viable competition.

The likely scenario to unfold at this point is Fedor signing with Strikeforce. This is better than nothing for American fans, as his performances will no longer be limited to obscure venues. Fedor will get what he wants (or maybe it's M-1 who will get what they want) as he'll be able to fight wherever he pleases. Strikeforce has shown overlap with other promotions such as Affliction and EliteXC already, and it will be a win for them as they continue to build their name as the #2 promotion behind UFC. So at least it's not a total loss.

But in spite of those positives, it's still not what anybody wants. Until he gets rid of his management, the Last Emperor will continue to show off his new clothes while his unclaimed throne in Las Vegas gathers even more dust.

Before I close, I just wanted to note that next weekend I'll be attending my first UFC pay-per-view. I'm incredible excited and will likely return with some thoughts on the experience, the show and the fighters. Expect a lengthy examination of Anderson Silva. Until then, folks...