Bas Rutten: For Fedor to stay at the top he is going to have to fight top competition

[KnowledgeKnown]

Originally Posted by UFC-chef/Hughes-fan

I don't know why fedor has ducked the UFC. If he's so good he should run through all the heavy weights he needs to prove it by coming and facing guys like Tim Sylvia.

I'm not sure ducking would be the right word. Somehow I don't think Fedor is scared of facing Tim Sylvia, or anyone else. I really believe it was the UFC saying he couldn't compete in the sambo championships that prevented him from coming to the UFC. It seems to be a pride thing for him. Pun intended.

[Gmunit]

Originally Posted by UFC-chef/Hughes-fan

I don't know why fedor has ducked the UFC. If he's so good he should run through all the heavy weights he needs to prove it by coming and facing guys like Tim Sylvia.

Arrrrrrrg is right, Knowledge

[BigBanda]

Originally Posted by UFC-chef/Hughes-fan

I don't know why fedor has ducked the UFC. If he's so good he should run through all the heavy weights he needs to prove it by coming and facing guys like Tim Sylvia.

lol sorry but you were starting to make some sense until you mentioned Tim Sylvia. I mean wouldnt be bad to see Fedor face him to pound his face in or submit him but Sylvia is not the most of his worries in the UFC HW division.

[Clint]

Originally Posted by Gmunit

since its slow on here today I will respond (again) to this, and I'll try not to be long-winded:

Everyone talks about how Fedor hasn't fought anyone in years, Well with Pride folding this year and him having to pull out of the OWGP last year ('06) due to injury, it can look that way, but only because of the opponents that were available for him to fight at the time. He had already beaten the all the "Top Tier" guys in Pride (except Barnett) so the owners started pitting him against other guys who the JAPANESE fans wanted, while having Barnett, Crocop, Nog fight eachother (or other opponents)

Since deciding that the UFC wasn't for him, he's found a new org to fight in (M-1) who's owners will rent him out (so to speak) and allow him to defend his World Championship Sambo title which is obviously important to him and his country. When they decided to have him fight at the NYE event it was on pretty short notice and the opponent they gave him was HMC. Who is a big name in the Japanese market and a dangerous kickboxer as well. So again we have a "freak show" match that could've gone either way (keep in mind everyone has a "punchers chance" especially at 7'2" 350lbs, and he's the one that took Fedor down for GnP).

Which brings us to the present, where the only "competitive match" (IMO), who he hasn't beat, is still Barnett, who M-1 wouldn't allow Fedor to fight in place of HMC as his first match under their contract (and not event under their logo/show) in case he loses. Or he could fight Randy in a little while who (again IMO) has no business calling out Fedor, but I will let it go b/c of the time constraint due to Randy's age

So I ask: How is Fedor "ruining his legacy"?? by fighting when he is able to against the people that make sense to the owners of the companies (and THEIR fans) who hold his contract?? If he was in the UFC he wouldn't be able to turn down ANY fights, so his first one would probably be against Antoni Hardonk or some shit. BTW to those who will bring up "choosing" Lindland as an opponent, the guy is a world class wrestler and most-likely the only guy (at the time) that the UFC wasn't having contract negotiations with

If you want to talk about dropping him from number 1, then fine, but to say he's "ruining" something is ridiculous because no matter what he does in the future he still beat the fuck outta Nog and Crocop in their primes.

In a lot of cases I feel its mainly the UFC fans who talk shit about Fedor because they want to believe (or are mis-informed) that they are watching the "best fighters in the world" BAR-NONE, but that is not the case at all

(a lot of you guys believe what you will about the ranks and Fedor , and probably disagree with me and I'm not calling everyone who disagrees a "UFC Nut-hugger" because first, its not definatly true and second, there's nothing wrong with that as long as you realize there's a lot more Ultimate Fighting worldwide, LOL)

I agree that continuing to fight is not ruining his legacy. However he has stopped growing it. He has the chance to show the world that he is the World's Undisputed King of MMA (as his book calls him) however that undisputed part is getting iffy since there are fewer and fewer top ten opponents that he has faced aas time goes on. His legacy up to this point though, I agree should stay the same.

Just like guys like Shamrock, Frye, Coleman, etc have past legacies that should be remembered even if they are not still living up to them.

Originally Posted by CESSPOOL

While I agree 100% you have to fight the best to reamin at the top, but is his Sambo being overlooked?

Yes it was a side show to watch him fight HMC, but he is the Combat Sambo champion for how long? This is no walk in the park I'm sure. It isn't a "this organization has this great HW" thing either. The best in the world show up and Fedor wins. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Combat Sambo closer to MMA/vale tudo than it would be to say, Tai-kwon-do? I think that is very legit and should play a big part in keeping him ready for a legit MMA fight. Just cause he fought HMC doesn't mean he should drop all these places on the top 10 HW and Pound for pound rankings. I think the Sambo Tournies need to be factored in also.

I think it is kinda crappy of Dana to want him to cut them out too inorder for a UFC contract. This is a big part of who he is as a fighter and you could even argue it is a part of his training for MMA. I know some other fighters under contract do NAGA. While it is grappling only, it is still a combat sport.

I think the fight with HMC was blown out of proportion. A fight with someone that big would be a challange for anyone. Besides, it was amusing....

From what I read about the last tournament 3 people other than Fedor showed up and one refused to fight fedor, so he only had to beat 1 person to win the Tournament. Fedor has also said that much of the time competitors ask him to take it easy on them.

Either way though Sambo is not MMA and should not impact our rankings, just like Lindland's gold medal or Hong Man Choi's K1 victories shouldn't impact the rankings.

Also Fedor wanted much more than to compete in Sambo, if that was the only problem they probably could have worked things out. His management was complaining about things like them not being able to pick Fedor's opponents and mentioning that they wanted the UFC to do shows in Russia produced by Fedor's Management's Organization.

Originally Posted by Fightfan001

GMUNIT : Nicely said. You make the most sense out of anyone that has posted about Fedor situation.

In regards to the rank I still wonder where everyone would actually put Fedor on the list if they want him removed form the top ?

Who has been so dominating the last 2 years while he has been out of the mix that deserves that spot ?

I am curious for your answers. I sure hope whoever you pick has not suffered a loss in the last two years.

I think he should be removed completely for inactivity. Just like many people removed Barnett for not fighting in the past year. Fedor should be removed until he defeats someone in his own weightlclass with more than 1 MMA bout.

[Fightfan001]

Originally Posted by Clint

I think he should be removed completely for inactivity. Just like many people removed Barnett for not fighting in the past year. Fedor should be removed until he defeats someone in his own weightlclass with more than 1 MMA bout.

Inactivity, and not fighting who you want him to fight are two very different things.

Barnett = inactive, that I understand.

Fedor= not fighting top guys does not make him inactive.

I am a Fedor fan and I agree with you I want him to fight top guys. My patience is running thin as well. But the fact remains that there is no one better deserving of a top spot because no one in the HW division has gone undefeated in the last 2 years.

This may be a result of fighting top competition as you see it, but if you can't beat top competition what makes you better than the guys that has, even with 2 to 3 years out of the box ?

Yes Fedor needs to be tested again. He will need to prove he belongs there. But until he proves he does not belong there by losing a fight he stays.

[Clint]

Originally Posted by Fightfan001

Inactivity, and not fighting who you want him to fight are two very different things.

Barnett = inactive, that I understand.

Fedor= not fighting top guys does not make him inactive.

I am a Fedor fan and I agree with you I want him to fight top guys. My patience is running thin as well. But the fact remains that there is no one better deserving of a top spot because no one in the HW division has gone undefeated in the last 2 years.

This may be a result of fighting top competition as you see it, but if you can't beat top competition what makes you better than the guys that has, even with 2 to 3 years out of the box ?

Yes Fedor needs to be tested again. He will need to prove he belongs there. But until he proves he does not belong there by losing a fight he stays.

He has only had one fight against a HW in the past year and that was HMC who has 1 fight. To me not fighting opponents who are atleast top 25 is close enough to inactive.

[jj413]

Originally Posted by twankydawg

Funny how no one is rushing into here to say Bas is a douche for saying what he did about Fedor, the truth is the truth, doesn't matter who says it.

Bas isn't a douche, he's stating the truth, Fedor should DEFINITELY fight at least Barnett this year, and if we're all lucky Randy. I just think it's uncalled for that a lot of fans are ragging on Randy/Fedor, thinking they're ducking talent or screwing over the fans. It's not Fedor's fault he has to fight Hong Man Choi (I thought it was a pretty entertaining fight), he's willing to fight anyone. This year should change that though.

[Robthom]

Originally Posted by Gmunit

..... He had already beaten the all the "Top Tier" guys in Pride (except Barnett) ....

Eh, 2 or 3 of them (if your counting Hunt). He didn't exactly clean out prides HW division.
I understand only being able to fight who's available and I understand the entertainment aspect of Japanese MMA that necessitates freak shows from its champions, but there are plenty of guys who were and are currently available that would be a lot more legitimate for the allegedly greatest HW in MMA. He should start slipping one or two decent matchups in as soon as he gets around to it because Japanese drama matches offer nothing towards legit rankings.

[Gmunit]

Originally Posted by Robthom

Eh, 2 or 3 of them (if your counting Hunt). He didn't exactly clean out prides HW division.
I understand only being able to fight who's available and I understand the entertainment aspect of Japanese MMA that necessitates freak shows from its champions, but there are plenty of guys who were and are currently available that would be a lot more legitimate for the allegedly greatest HW in MMA. He should start slipping one or two decent matchups in as soon as he gets around to it because Japanese drama matches offer nothing towards legit rankings.

fair enough, but which guys are you talking about?

[Bullock]

Bas is saying what most sensible people have been saying for a while.

He's a "hater" too I guess.