Can power alone diffuse the greatest fighter ever? What will he do when he has to contend with a all around fine fighter?
Listen, Bret has better chance than most to beat Fedor because his only chance is better than anyone elses only chance, and that's to KO him with a lucky shot(Fujita style). The reason its better is because he has more power to get that KO. That is it. If Bret looks as solid standing up as did AA than it'll be as shocking as Gonzaga kicking Crocop into oblivion. It's not that he hasn't been KOed thats impressive, it's the fact that he's never been knocked down, that's right never been knocked down. Who else amongst world greats can say that? Anderson Silva and BJ Penn? Thats about it. I kind of know what you're trying to say but at the same time you can't deny the results and statistics. Same way I think Lesnar isn't very skillful at all in ANY department, but he is definitely efficient, and that is all that matters. I don't think age can really slow down his reflexes so much that it's going to matter any time soon. He was self taught in striking department for good part of his career(and not re-adjusted a whole lot later either). This means that it suits him perfectly and he is at his most efficient with it. If he becomes less efficient I'm sure he'll adjust accordingly. He HAS been consistently and steadily improving.
If I was going to pick a style to beat Fedor, it would be a guy with a solid Greco background who could could either strike better technically or had a height and reach advantage. Both of these things will cause Fedor problems standing (and have done in the past). A heavyweight Dan Henderson maybe. The thing is, its really difficult to 'sprawl & brawl' effectively at the very top level; you need a background in wrestling AND striking, like Chuck, or you need some sort of insane gift in one aspect (like how Hendos chin and power complements his wrestling). There are really not many heavyweight fighters who can fight that sort of fight well. Arlovski comes pretty close, but his chin is so woeful it detracts from his chances big time (though I still think AA could beat Fedor) - and btw, Fedor was quire definitely losing that fight; AA was completely controlling the exchanges and controlling where the fight took place; the fact Fedor may have slipped a few punches is really irrelevant; he was doing nothing else until AA decided to go for a flying knee and his eggshell cracked. Fedor was looking confused and a little dispirited to me. The main reason its a difficult tactic to pull off is because Fedor doesn't mind pulling guard )or getting to the ground any way poss.) against most fighters. BUt again, AA showed that he could do it. If Lesnar ever fought Fedor, I think he should use that tactic; with his 82" reach and natural power (and a little more skill work) it would be a good bet. All the 'Fedor is a brown belt at everything' talk is BS (Trigg); Fedor is a ground fighter; his wrestling is ok, nothing special, and his striking is ok (but not good enough to win fights by itself at the huighest level.) Anyway, I really dont think Rogers is the kind of fighter who could control the fight like that for extended periods of times, so his chance of victory is really reduced to a hail mary swing rather than a real gameplan imo. Unless his td defense is much better than I realized.
Everyone is an expert, I suppose.atsch Fedya is so damn lucky none of you guys are coaching against him and/or developing fighters. Fedya and his team of earstwhile Soviet coaches will no doubt have their hands full matching whits with that St Paul gym teacher at Team Bison who is preparing Rogers.:rofl
Goodridge is a better striker than Bret. And equally as powerful if not more. Fedor brutalised him. The thing to remember here Fedor is not a striker and he knows this. He simply uses his striking to get his opponent to the mat where they can be submitted or pounded. Fedor will not loose. He's too smart for that. unless Bret lands a hail mary of course...
This worries me as well...Fedor doesnt have good striking skills but he loves to use it against his opponents. But I dont see Brett as much of a competiton for Fedor.. He has a decent puncher's chance against Fedor's weak chin, but other than that he's going to get owned with his sloppy striking.
I think the irony is lost on so many........everyone keeps citing that Fedor striking isnt as good as others......yet he knocked out Arlovski via a punch.....he was getting outboxed up to that point but we are talking several minutes not a complete domination. How many times did we see master boxer Lennox Lewis get outbox only to turn on the style and knock his man out? (Bruno) What about Ali against Lyle......he was outboxed untill stopped Lyle. Fedor striking is not techincally correct that is all......his chin and punching power is second to none, and considering he is explosive, and dynamic then you have a fighter who no matter what will always be hard to defeat even if you stand. Does anyone seriously think bar the very very top boxers that somone like Jameel McCline would beat Fedor standing? Fedor is special.......no doubts about that.
Thing is.......how many top level boxers are actually good at striking ok ok lets call it punching. Foreman is horrendous.......but the man starting strength and raw punching power along with iron clad jaw is amongst the best ever seen on a human body. It let him get away with lots of mistakes........i believe im a better boxer than Foreman........but then techincal correctness is not the be all and end all. You are right........when fedor does slow down his techincal abilty could have a profound affect on him. But Mike Tyson was techincally brilliant yet the moment he slowed down or didnt have the conditioning his abilty went tits up. So for me its a black and white afair when you've made your analysis when really there is alot of grey area. Us hardcore boxings fans are forever analysing and dissecting the art of fighting, boxing was our only combat sport that we could look at....but now MMA has taken to a new and respected level in the last 3 years and now we can start to bring ideas and theories togeather to make a proper inform belief. Still guys Fedor or as if we wanted to look at another combat sport like boxing then guys like foreman got away with loads of mistakes. So saying his striking is his weakness.....i feel is to simple in its analysis.
His wild style of hitting makes the fight even better and more difficult. I mean no idiot is going to want to block those haymakers, they'd damn near break bones.
Not to mention you can hardly block them because they loop around and hit you behind the ears which disorients the **** out of you. He's hit plenty of people that way, and once 1 shot lands it's hard to recover from.
100% with you. Bret can win. He has a chance albeit not the favorite. Fedor should win and big as well.