Bellator 290 - Bader vs. Fedor II (4th Feb)

[Egg Shen]

forgot to mention it in my post, but this deserved a mention:

[jimufctna24]

I found this in my bookmarks the other day. It's a series of interviews Josh Gross did with various people before Fedor's final bout - https://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/1/Stories-from-the-Road-Fedor-Emelianenko-189067

It's a great read. Although Coleman does exaggerates how much Fedor grabbed the ring ropes in their 2006 bout.

On 2/7/2023 at 3:57 PM, wandshogun09 said:

It’s weird because his ground game was as big a part of his skillset as anything. Probably the main strength he had. When you look back at his best and biggest wins, the grappling was the thing that usually decided it. Whether it was him doing the unthinkable at the time and staying in Nogueira’s guard and ground and pounding the bollocks out of him in their first fight or controlling and beating up Cro Cop on the ground after a competitive spell of striking on the feet. Then there’s the nights where his submissions were his get out of jail card against Fujita and Randleman, demolishing and choking Sylvia in seconds, even the hilarious meme armbar finish on Hong Man Choi. From about the Arlovski knockout onwards though, it’s seemed like it’s purely been brainless shootouts. He probably hasn’t had a proper training camp in well over a decade.

Fedor's back was knackered and he had other injuries - An interview with Fedor's striking coach | Sherdog Forums | UFC, MMA & Boxing Discussion

That partially explains why he regressed from a well rounded tactician at his best into a limited brawler in the 2010s. The other reasons were that his striking regressed, his left hook was rarely seen after the Sylvia bout for example, and his tactical nous pretty much vanished. So he had fewer tools and didn't use them especially wisely. He additionally aged, so his chin and his ability to recover from being rocked (the latter of which was freakish in his prime: see the Fujita and Cro Cop bouts) regressed as well. Not ideal for a dude partaking in brainless shootouts as you put it. 

As for Fedor's biggest strength during his peak as a fighter, I believe it was executing clever gameplans. They helped make effective use of all the tools he had and greatly helped him net his biggest wins. He fought Nogueira the third time completely differently to how he had during their first meeting, and then used a completely different gameplan to beat Cro Cop. Even against Coleman in 06 and Arlovski in 09 (the latter of which his trainer scolded him for not training properly for), there was evidence Fedor and his team had put some thought into his gameplan (he knew Arlovski could be timed as he threw the flying knee, and according to Coleman improved his takedown defence between 04 and 06 )

Edited September 2, 2025 by jimufctna24

[Carbomb]

I think the Rogers bout probably knocked a bit off his durability. Sure, he made quick work of him, but Rogers got a fair chunk of damage in, including breaking Fedor's nose.

[jimufctna24]

32 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

I think the Rogers bout probably knocked a bit off his durability. Sure, he made quick work of him, but Rogers got a fair chunk of damage in, including breaking Fedor's nose.

That's certainly possible. He also took a beating and a half from Big Foot a little over a year later in early 2011.