A new year a new Fedor in the UFC thread! Interview inside

- Your promoter, Vadim, said that your next fight will be in summer. Can you say something more certain about it?
- I can say that it will be June or July. But we don't know where it will take place.

- Where do you want to fight? In Russian, Japan or USA?
- Of course I would like to fight at home, for my compatriots. But right now, the most powerful and authoritative organization is located in USA. It's UFC. And to compete against best athletes I have to go to USA.

- One of the most intriguing matches might be your fight against Josh Barnett. Would like to fight him?
- Vadim has negotiations about it. It depends on him. I think the situation will become clear in a near future. About Barnett, that was the third time when our fight was cancelled (in 2009). To be fair I don't want to fight against him. We are friends for a long time. Possibly, he is the only fighter that I don't want to meet in a ring.

- There will be fight between Overeem and Dos Santos in Las Vegas. Do you think they are the best in the world right now?
- Yes, I think they are the some of the best in the world right now.

- Some time ago there was a talk about possible fight between you and Cain Velasquez. What can you say about it?
- We have no agreement right now. To this moment relationship with UFC is uncertain. Maybe, in a near future it will become more clear.

- Cain Velasquez says that you are the best heavyweight of all time. Can you name other fighters that contributed the most to the sport of MMA?
- It's interesting to watch Top5 UFC fighters. About contribution to sport? It will be Barnett, Mirko Filipovic, Nogueira brothers, Randy Couture.
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Allright lads im sure some of you are convinced this will never happen but I read that Fedor actually has 1 fight left under his Strikeforce contract!

Does anyone thing he will fight the winner/looser or the GP? He is coming off a few wins and for Barnett or Cormier it would still be a big deal to have a win over him. I wonder if Fedor fought and won again in SF would UFC take him with the rest of the devision or is this flogigng a dead horse?

M-1 must know Fedor has less options than ever in terms of good opposition and big organisations that can meet his pay.

If it were to happen (Fedor in the UFC) I think it would be better and more interesting for him to cut to 205lbs and fight Jones/Rashad. Most of the top UFC HW's would beat him now IMO.

He would be better off at 205. He'd dominate the division IMO.

But he'd walk through quite a few of the UFC's HW division. JDS is the only one I'd back to beat him right now.

I would cut my right arm off to see Fedor at LHW, in the UFC. For me, he tears the division apart. At HW? I think JDS beats him, Overoid I'd have as a slight favourite, and I would probably back Cain against him as well (but only just). I'd back Fedor against the rest (including Mir)

Do you think Fedor would beat Bigfoot in a rematch?

Jon Jones easily beats him at LHW for me,but I'd still love to watch it.

But just like everyone,I'd just love to see Fedor in the UFC

Fedor would beat Jones IMO. Don't even think it'd be close. Right hand to the chin, good night Mr. Jones. Or Jones uses his legs to get his usual sloppy takedown and Fedor grabs an arm and Jones taps. Fedor is better than Jones in every aspect. He's also used to facing opponents much bigger than him. Jones' only advantage is his length, don't think that would bother Fedor who's used to a size disadvantage. Big Foot Silva's reach is almost as long as Jones's and he hits much harder. Fedor handled him standing.

Fedor vs BigFoot in a ring under Pride rules would go one way. No spoiling allowed, Fedor would destroy him the way he destroyed everyone else. Fedor vs BigFoot in a cage under unified rules which promote spoiling techniques (Silva gave a masterclass in wall and stall in that first round and demonstrated a little bit of lay and pray right at the end of it and then began the second with a minute or so of lay and pray and then there was another minute or so of lay and pray between the two sloppy submission attempts by Silva) could possibly go another (same way as the last fight). A lot depends on Fedor's skin of course. First fight was stopped because of the swelling. Who knows what would have happened with a 3rd round. Fedor ended the second round going for a sub remember, so for all Big Foot's positional dominance in that round, he wasn't really close to stopping the fight. He had about 90 seconds or so where he was throwing bombs from the mount but a lot of them missed, the majority in fact missed or where blocked. And the two subs were just poor efforts. how he failed to get the arm triangle from that position is a mystery. Going into the third Silva was up probably 19-18 with Fedor taking the first round and Silva taking the second 10-8. If Fedor had done in the 3rd what he did in the first, then it would have ended a draw. Had he really gone for the kill, he probably could have KO'd Silva ala Cormier. On the flipside of course, Silva could have just taken him down, humped him for a bit, then done his donkey kong impression again and taken the round for himself.

Fedor has 3 losses. 1 to Werdum where he made a mistake and jumped into a submission. Jones isn't a world class grappler and he's not going to sub Fedor. Then the Silva fight which was stopped because of swelling. Silva had a 55lb weight advantage on fight night, Jones won't. and the Hendo loss. Hendo hits ten times harder than Jones and has a much better chin. If Fedor hit Jones with the punch that dropped Hendo, they'd be organizing a funeral. Not much to suggest Jones beats Fedor to be fair. Machida is by far Jones' most impressive win, and he lost the first round in that. Machida is great but he's not Fedor.



Fedor vs Cain is an interesting one Pete. Could Cain's chin stand up to Fedor's right hand? Fedor has subbed powerful wrestlers off his back before as well. Cain would have to fight the perfect fight to beat him.

i think Fedor would beat Jones, like Anfield says.
Fedor would be in serious danger if Jones starts with a ground and pound attack though, those elbows would shredd fedors baby skin into pieces.

Cain has a good style of wrestling to beat Fedor IMO.

Jones would have to get a dominant position in order to throw those elbows though. He throws them from Fedor's guard, he's likely going to get subbed because be leaves his arms open to it. And he doesn't have really top level top control so I don't know if he could get set to throw them from side position without getting reversed.

If Cain went straight for the TD and then worked his top control tight and safe and used some GnP, then he could prob decision Fedor. If he fights like he did against JDS and invites a stand-up fight, we know how that's ending.

Anfields5thKing wrote:
Fedor vs Cain is an interesting one Pete. Could Cain's chin stand up to Fedor's right hand? Fedor has subbed powerful wrestlers off his back before as well. Cain would have to fight the perfect fight to beat him.

I think too much has been made about Cains chin TBH, that shot from JDS would have stopped anyone, as it was right on the temple and effected Cain's equillibrium, more than anything else, he then gave no chance of recovery, with his speedy GnP. I know that some will point to the Kongo fight, as further proof, but it was a relatively clean shot, from a powerful striker, and he recovered well enough IMO. For me, Fedor can get a little sloppy with his striking, and whilst most can't exploit an opening, I'd see Cain being able to. It would be a fun fight though....And very close.

With regards to Jones vs Fedor, as I said, I personally think it ould be close, although I don't think anyone could put him under the type of pressure, that Fedor would. The one thing you would need to be able to do (when fighting Fedor) is to fight off the back foot. And I'm not sure that Jones has shown e can (as yet). It may be, that he can't, and therefore Fedor wins, or we see another improvement in Jones, but for me, it would be a 'pick em' fight.

I would love to think that Fedor could avenge his loss to BigFoot, but, in a cage, I'd see it going the same way.

I don't think Cain has a bad chin, but I just don't think he could take a huge clean shot from Fedor. I don't think there are many that can. I'm a big Cain fan, and he fights the perfect fight, he can beat him. But I'd be worried about his gameplan.

Jones has some of the worst footwork I've seen in a top level fighter. He might fall over himself if he tries going backwards.

Jones walks through Fedor at LHW but Fedor wuld beat all other LHW's in the UFC.

At HW I think Fedor would stand a better chance against JDS than against a Bigfoot re-match or facing Cain.

Possibly the best fight for us would be Fedor v Shogun at 205

Jones would beat Fedor fairly handily I fear, I'm one of Fedors biggest defenders but it's clear he isn't what he used to be. A prime Fedor does to Jones what he did to HMC, Schilt etc etc, drags him to the floor and snaps his arm.


I still stand by the notion that if ever I hear Bruce Buffer shouting, "FAYYYYDORRRRRRR THE LAAAAAAST EMPERORRRRRRRRR..." Then I will eat my own head.

He is still under contract with Zuffa isnt he? I honestly think were in for a supprise.

As far as we know the winner (and maby looser) of the SF Gp are getting one more fight. But who will it be against?

Bigfoot, Werdum, Overeem, SDR, Griggs, Lavar...

Rodgers has been released from SF, Monson is really unlikely as both have already beat him.

So as far as I can tell outside Monson there are 2 Hw's left under contract with SF to fight the GP winner, Sergei (who Barnett already beat) and Fedor.

Fedor was SF's biggest draw so I dont see the why they wont allow him to fight 1 more fight, he is a credible opponent as he has strung togeather a few wins now. I could see Zuffa assuming Fedor isnt up to beating the finalist after getting put out of the tournament and loosing to a Mw... they risk the winner fighting Fedor in a huge PPV.

What you think?

rudeboyben84 wrote:He is still under contract with Zuffa isnt he? I honestly think were in for a supprise.

As far as we know the winner (and maby looser) of the SF Gp are getting one more fight. But who will it be against?

Bigfoot, Werdum, Overeem, SDR, Griggs, Lavar...

Rodgers has been released from SF, Monson is really unlikely as both have already beat him.

So as far as I can tell outside Monson there are 2 Hw's left under contract with SF to fight the GP winner, Sergei (who Barnett already beat) and Fedor.

Fedor was SF's biggest draw so I dont see the why they wont allow him to fight 1 more fight, he is a credible opponent as he has strung togeather a few wins now. I could see Zuffa assuming Fedor isnt up to beating the finalist after getting put out of the tournament and loosing to a Mw... they risk the winner fighting Fedor in a huge PPV.

What you think?

He never was under contract with Zuffa, it was Showtime wasn't it? I think they'll have him back to fight the GP winner, if the GP winner sticks around for another fight after the tourney that is. If not I think Fedor will just waste away in Russia fighting has beens/never weres.

Was Fedor reallly a draw?

Of course he was a draw. All the events he fought on did great numbers and he's still really really popular.

Fedor definitely doesnt have a contract with ZUFFA. He had a contract with Showtime, but anyway Dana went and said http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/White-Fedor-Cut-from-Strikeforce-34507

What sort of numbers? Lesnar/GSP numbers? Or something more like Anderson?

I'll be honest I don't want to see Fedor in the UFC at this stage of his career at HW certainly not It would be heartbreaking to see him lose to someone like a Travis Browne or a Kongo.

Fedor was a draw definitely and still is even on the downside of his career he can draw interest just look at his Showtime numbers and his lone CBS fight they drew big numbers and his Showtime numbers are very impressive considering Showtime is a Premium channel and in only around 25M homes in the US (or something like that).

uly wrote:Of course he was a draw. All the events he fought on did great numbers and he's still really really popular.

Fedor definitely doesnt have a contract with ZUFFA. He had a contract with Showtime, but anyway Dana went and said http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/White-Fedor-Cut-from-Strikeforce-34507

I'm sorry, but, Dana is a complete and utter dick. He quite clearly has been waiting for this moment, you can just imagine his BS right now.... 'I told you Fedor was shite'....

Once Mohawked Pete wrote:

uly wrote:Of course he was a draw. All the events he fought on did great numbers and he's still really really popular.

Fedor definitely doesnt have a contract with ZUFFA. He had a contract with Showtime, but anyway Dana went and said http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/White-Fedor-Cut-from-Strikeforce-34507

I'm sorry, but, Dana is a complete and utter dick. He quite clearly has been waiting for this moment, you can just imagine his BS right now.... 'I told you Fedor was shite'....

Pete, tut tut tut...

The_Axe_Emperor wrote:

Once Mohawked Pete wrote:

uly wrote:Of course he was a draw. All the events he fought on did great numbers and he's still really really popular.

Fedor definitely doesnt have a contract with ZUFFA. He had a contract with Showtime, but anyway Dana went and said http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/White-Fedor-Cut-from-Strikeforce-34507

I'm sorry, but, Dana is a complete and utter dick. He quite clearly has been waiting for this moment, you can just imagine his BS right now.... 'I told you Fedor was shite'....

Pete, tut tut tut...

Cheers dude.......Was just about to edit it, you beat me to it.

Anfields5thKing wrote:Fedor would beat Jones IMO. Don't even think it'd be close. Right hand to the chin, good night Mr. Jones. Or Jones uses his legs to get his usual sloppy takedown and Fedor grabs an arm and Jones taps. Fedor is better than Jones in every aspect. He's also used to facing opponents much bigger than him. Jones' only advantage is his length, don't think that would bother Fedor who's used to a size disadvantage. Big Foot Silva's reach is almost as long as Jones's and he hits much harder. Fedor handled him standing.

Fedor vs BigFoot in a ring under Pride rules would go one way. No spoiling allowed, Fedor would destroy him the way he destroyed everyone else. Fedor vs BigFoot in a cage under unified rules which promote spoiling techniques (Silva gave a masterclass in wall and stall in that first round and demonstrated a little bit of lay and pray right at the end of it and then began the second with a minute or so of lay and pray and then there was another minute or so of lay and pray between the two sloppy submission attempts by Silva) could possibly go another (same way as the last fight). A lot depends on Fedor's skin of course. First fight was stopped because of the swelling. Who knows what would have happened with a 3rd round. Fedor ended the second round going for a sub remember, so for all Big Foot's positional dominance in that round, he wasn't really close to stopping the fight. He had about 90 seconds or so where he was throwing bombs from the mount but a lot of them missed, the majority in fact missed or where blocked. And the two subs were just poor efforts. how he failed to get the arm triangle from that position is a mystery. Going into the third Silva was up probably 19-18 with Fedor taking the first round and Silva taking the second 10-8. If Fedor had done in the 3rd what he did in the first, then it would have ended a draw. Had he really gone for the kill, he probably could have KO'd Silva ala Cormier. On the flipside of course, Silva could have just taken him down, humped him for a bit, then done his donkey kong impression again and taken the round for himself.

Fedor has 3 losses. 1 to Werdum where he made a mistake and jumped into a submission. Jones isn't a world class grappler and he's not going to sub Fedor. Then the Silva fight which was stopped because of swelling. Silva had a 55lb weight advantage on fight night, Jones won't. and the Hendo loss. Hendo hits ten times harder than Jones and has a much better chin. If Fedor hit Jones with the punch that dropped Hendo, they'd be organizing a funeral. Not much to suggest Jones beats Fedor to be fair. Machida is by far Jones' most impressive win, and he lost the first round in that. Machida is great but he's not Fedor.

I thought bigfoot won the first rd,it was close but i'd of scored it for bigfoot.
Even when fedor was throwing his wild combos,i thought Bigfoot was the one coming out of them better,tagging fedor with some nice clean shots that seemed to stun him,then add in the way he controlled fedor up against the cage,plus the takedown is the reason i think bigfoot won the first.
Then the second rd was just a one sided beatdown,no arguing a 10-8 for bigfoot there.
20-17 going into the last rd for me.

Fedor did finish the second with a sub attempt,but he was no closer to ending the fight with it,than he was with his guillotine or kimura attempt he made in the first rd,infact bigfoot was mocking it at the end.

It's impossible to say exactly,but I can't see how Fedor could of got back into that fight if it had of gone to a third.
I think Fedor was done after that second rd,Fedors legs looked shot as he stumbled to his corner at the end.

As for Fedor vs Jones,I don't think Fedor has fought anyone as good or as well rounded as Jones in his whole career,infact (this will go down like a lead balloon with many)i'd just about go as far to say that Jones has probably beaten better fighters in the last year or so than fedor has in his whole career.

I think you under estimate Jones's power to be honest,he might not have the one punch power of a Hendo,(not many have)but he still hits hard,just about every fighter he's faced,have been made to wince before he's finished them and the beauty of jones's game is not in his one punch KO's anyway,it's in the way he dismantles his opponents before he finishes them.
Jones has finished everyone in the last few years and looked bloody impressive doing so,while Fedor has well to be polite,not had such an easy ride in the last few years.

I think fedors legend carries more weight than the actual fighter does nowadays,don't get me wrong i think he will be competitive against any of todays top fighter,the guy is world class and was without a shadow of a doubt the best HW in the game,but i don't think he can beat the best fighters of today,which jones,clearly is one of.

payneNglory1 wrote:

As for Fedor vs Jones,I don't think Fedor has fought anyone as good or as well rounded as Jones in his whole career,infact (this will go down like a lead balloon with many)i'd go as far to say that Jones has probably beaten better fighters in the last year or so than fedor has in his whole career.

I think you under estimate Jones's power to be honest,he might not have the one punch power of a Hendo,(not many have)but he still hits hard,just about every fighter he's faced,have been made to wince before he's finished them and the beauty of jones's game is not in his one punch KO's anyway,it's in the way he dismantles his opponents before he finishes them.
Jones has finished everyone in the last few years and looked bloody impressive doing so,while Fedor has well to be polite,not had such an easy ride in the last few years.

I think fedors legend carries more weight than the actual fighter does nowadays,don't get me wrong i think he will be competitive against any of todays top fighter,the guy is world class and was without a shadow of a doubt the best HW in the game,but i don't think he can beat the best fighters of today,which jones,clearly is.

Whilst I am not diminishing Jones's career to date, it is filled with promise, but, Fedor's wins against the likes of Nog, CroCop, Coleman and Hunt were better than what Jones has achieved to date. Let's also bear in mind, that we have basically a LHW fighting throughout his career at HW, and not the other way around. He dominated HW for several years, and whilst it can be argued, that in the latter years, the calibre of opponent was nowhere near, where it should have been, I don't think we can say that Jones as surpassed what Fedor achieved.

I am not suggesting, for a minute, that Jones will not become a great, but to suggest that he has already achieved more than Fedor, I'm not buying. I think that there is as much of a risk that some will over estimate Jones's talents, than some under-estimating them. He has good power, amazing physical advantages (which Fedor did not have to be fair), and is learning very fast, but he still hasn't been fully tested, Fedor has been, and with the exception of his last few years, Fedor has come through all of those tests. We quickly forget the absolute awe, of seeing Randleman, suplexing Fedor on his head, and then having his arm wrenched in a kimura, less than 40seconds afterwards.

I don't think Jones has surpassed Fedors achievements,he's got a long way to go to match Fedors records and achievements in the sport,even if some of the caliber of opponent in his undefeated streak can be questioned.

what I was trying to say,is that I think Jones has just about beat as many top fighters in his short time as Fedor has in his longer career.

Nog - Machida
Cro-Cop - Shogun
Arona - Rampage
Coleman - Bader

I think it's wrong to say Jones hasn't been tested,when he's cleared out a division,going 10-0 in the UFC(Hamill included in that),defeating 3 recent former champs and former #1's back to back and he's going on to make it #4 on the bounce when he fights Rashad.
what more does he need to do before he's to be classed as tested?

When has fedor ever fought that caliber of talent back to back?

payneNglory1 wrote:

Anfields5thKing wrote:Fedor would beat Jones IMO. Don't even think it'd be close. Right hand to the chin, good night Mr. Jones. Or Jones uses his legs to get his usual sloppy takedown and Fedor grabs an arm and Jones taps. Fedor is better than Jones in every aspect. He's also used to facing opponents much bigger than him. Jones' only advantage is his length, don't think that would bother Fedor who's used to a size disadvantage. Big Foot Silva's reach is almost as long as Jones's and he hits much harder. Fedor handled him standing.

Fedor vs BigFoot in a ring under Pride rules would go one way. No spoiling allowed, Fedor would destroy him the way he destroyed everyone else. Fedor vs BigFoot in a cage under unified rules which promote spoiling techniques (Silva gave a masterclass in wall and stall in that first round and demonstrated a little bit of lay and pray right at the end of it and then began the second with a minute or so of lay and pray and then there was another minute or so of lay and pray between the two sloppy submission attempts by Silva) could possibly go another (same way as the last fight). A lot depends on Fedor's skin of course. First fight was stopped because of the swelling. Who knows what would have happened with a 3rd round. Fedor ended the second round going for a sub remember, so for all Big Foot's positional dominance in that round, he wasn't really close to stopping the fight. He had about 90 seconds or so where he was throwing bombs from the mount but a lot of them missed, the majority in fact missed or where blocked. And the two subs were just poor efforts. how he failed to get the arm triangle from that position is a mystery. Going into the third Silva was up probably 19-18 with Fedor taking the first round and Silva taking the second 10-8. If Fedor had done in the 3rd what he did in the first, then it would have ended a draw. Had he really gone for the kill, he probably could have KO'd Silva ala Cormier. On the flipside of course, Silva could have just taken him down, humped him for a bit, then done his donkey kong impression again and taken the round for himself.

Fedor has 3 losses. 1 to Werdum where he made a mistake and jumped into a submission. Jones isn't a world class grappler and he's not going to sub Fedor. Then the Silva fight which was stopped because of swelling. Silva had a 55lb weight advantage on fight night, Jones won't. and the Hendo loss. Hendo hits ten times harder than Jones and has a much better chin. If Fedor hit Jones with the punch that dropped Hendo, they'd be organizing a funeral. Not much to suggest Jones beats Fedor to be fair. Machida is by far Jones' most impressive win, and he lost the first round in that. Machida is great but he's not Fedor.

I thought bigfoot won the first rd,it was close but i'd of scored it for bigfoot.
Even when fedor was throwing his wild combos,i thought Bigfoot was the one coming out of them better,tagging fedor with some nice clean shots that seemed to stun him,then add in the way he controlled fedor up against the cage,plus the takedown is the reason i think bigfoot won the first.
Then the second rd was just a one sided beatdown,no arguing a 10-8 for bigfoot there.
20-17 going into the last rd for me.

Fedor did finish the second with a sub attempt,but he was no closer to ending the fight with it,than he was with his guillotine or kimura attempt he made in the first rd,infact bigfoot was mocking it at the end.

It's impossible to say exactly,but I can't see how Fedor could of got back into that fight if it had of gone to a third.
I think Fedor was done after that second rd,Fedors legs looked shot as he stumbled to his corner at the end.

As for Fedor vs Jones,I don't think Fedor has fought anyone as good or as well rounded as Jones in his whole career,infact (this will go down like a lead balloon with many)i'd just about go as far to say that Jones has probably beaten better fighters in the last year or so than fedor has in his whole career.

I think you under estimate Jones's power to be honest,he might not have the one punch power of a Hendo,(not many have)but he still hits hard,just about every fighter he's faced,have been made to wince before he's finished them and the beauty of jones's game is not in his one punch KO's anyway,it's in the way he dismantles his opponents before he finishes them.
Jones has finished everyone in the last few years and looked bloody impressive doing so,while Fedor has well to be polite,not had such an easy ride in the last few years.

I think fedors legend carries more weight than the actual fighter does nowadays,don't get me wrong i think he will be competitive against any of todays top fighter,the guy is world class and was without a shadow of a doubt the best HW in the game,but i don't think he can beat the best fighters of today,which jones,clearly is one of.

Fedor beat the number 2 and 3 HWs of all time. Prime CroCop and Nog were far better than Jones. Jones fights guys much smaller than him and uses it to his advantage. Jones is nowhere near as well rounded as Fedor, has no power in his hands (makes people wince with knees and kicks, not punches) and would have been destroyed had he fought the people Fedor fought in Pride.

Fedor won the firstagainst . Was close, but he outlanded and outgrappled Big Foot. You being a Couture fan, I know you see wall and stall and get excited, but in the real action of the round, Fedor got the better of him. His legs weren't done. He got up no issues for the third. Halfway through the rest period he was up and ready. Silva was the one breathing heavy.

Fedor - smaller than almost every opponent he's ever had.

Jones, always much bigger than every opponent except Bonnar who's mediocre.

Fedor is a LHW who went to HW and became the best ever.

Jones is a HW who hides out at LHW because he's afraid to fight people his own size.