Fedor Emilianenko, “The Last Emperor”, has signed up with NBC’s Strikeforce for a three-fight deal, the first of which is still to be announced. The collective breath that MMA fans were holding, expecting and hoping for a UFC sign-up announcement, was noisily and explosively released yesterday, to be replaced by a nationwide scream of “AW, COME ON!”
So, what does this mean to us? For one thing, barring the sudden sign-up of an unsuspected fighter, it’s possible that we’ll see a Fedor vs. Paul Buentello match-up. For another thing, it’s another notch in Fedor’s belt as he mows through the competition. For a third thing, M-1 and Fedor will receive more attention from a slightly wider audience than anything Affliction could have mustered. And finally, Dana White will continue to aggressively pursue Fedor, only this time, with even greater confidence that he’ll eventually have to sign up.
Why, you ask? Because the problem with being the Greatest Heavyweight Fighter in the World is that you’re not really the Greatest until you’ve taken on all credible opponents. Right now, that means guys like Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin. And while money might not necessarily be Fedor’s reason for holding out, it’s guaranteed to be a huge factor for M-1. Sooner or later, Fedor will either lose to someone or run out of opponents, after which time his star will fade. Dana White will crow that his guys had the stuff to take on The last Emperor, but too bad they never had the chance to find out once and for all.
And let’s not forget the fighter’s favorite emotion: pride. No matter how humble Fedor might be, he has the arrogance to be a fighter in the first place, which means that he’s interested in taking on all comers. Is it really conceivable that he’s going to shrink from the idea of getting his hands on the fighters of the largest MMA organization in the world? Once again: this WILL happen; it’s just a question of when.
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