 Saturday night Fedor Emelianenko kicked off another daunting contender climbing toward his throne, demonstrating why he's considered the greatest MMA fighter to have ever lived.
As the fight started, Arlovski looked extremely focused and Fedor calm as usual. Arlovski found his range a little the better of the two over the opening minute or so, using quick footwork and straight punches to beat the champ to the punch in most exchanges. Fedor subsequently tied Arlovski up in the clinch on the ropes, perhaps to re-gather his thoughts or change strategies. When the referee broke the two up and action commenced again Arlovski seemed to have found his range, landing a sharp punch combo to the body and one to the head.
What happened next has become a point of conjecture. Having seen Fedor feign being hurt many times, I consider that he exaggerated the effect of an Arlovski push kick, bounced of the ropes looking hurt and baited Arlovski into rushing onto a massive right hand. Many who saw Arlovski getting the better of the boxing exchange believe the Belarussian simply got too keen and went for a flashy flying knee finish. Either way, he paid the price, eating a huge right overhand which spun his bearded jaw and face planting into the canvas, knocked out cold. Regardless of whether Fedor forced the error or not, when two men have power and accuracy in their hands like these two one mistake is too many.
There have been cries for an immediate rematch, suggesting Arlovski was winning the stand up for the 3 minutes of the bout prior to the KO. It was to be expected that Arlovski would look the better striker since the bulk of Arlovski’s MMA training has been pure boxing lately. Anyhow, it is difficult to suggest that anyone could “win the stand-up game” despite being unconscious before hitting the ground 3 minutes into the fight. In the end Fedor’s astounding reactions, fighting brain and explosive physical power made up for his deficit in technical boxing skills. Another exceptional finish for the Russian wrecking ball. He will now likely fight his good friend, and probably the best heavyweight submission artist in the game, Josh Barnett.
Barnett himself struggled to put away Dutch KO artist Gilbert Yvel. From the very beginning it was apparent that Yvel was too much for Barnett standing and vice versa with Barnett on the ground. The difference was purely that Yvel was unable to stop Barnett taking the match to his territory. Once on the ground, Barnett easily found mount for nearly the entire 3 rounds. The Dutchman showed exceptional heart to stay in the fight in the face of some vicious elbows and punches from the top, even landing some good punches of his own. Eventually, in the third round, Yvel was unable to stop the shots getting through and tapped out due to a barrage of punches from a mounted Josh Barnett. It was unlike Barnett to be so shy about attempting submissions and he will have to find a better performance to test Emelianenko.
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