Fedor wasnt knocked out-Herb Dean's premature stoppage robbery-Dana compliments Heb

Sure, that's exactly what I said.

Turpin he knocked out in an immediate rematch. So yes, that goes a LONG way towards erasing that defeat. Same as Lennox's brutal and dominant KO of Rahman in their rematch goes a LONG way towards enhancing his legacy.

Maxim was a special circumstance and there is not another fight in the last 70 years of boxing that was like it. If you can't see that this was a one-off type of circumstance then I don't know what to tell you. However, Maxim handled the conditions better and fairly won the fight. Additionally, I said "he should have rematched and yes, losing this fight does count against him." How is that writing off this fight? :huh

"Jones he certainly should have beaten." Yep, sounds like I wrote that one off as well. atsch

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What's the punch that knocks you out?

Is it the hard punch, or is it the punch that you never see coming?

Fedor could not see any part of either of Henderson's arms when he swung that punch. It landed beautifully and reset Fedor's brain. Henderson is notoriously heavyhanded and Fedor got clocked with one that he had no chance of seeing and wasn't at all prepared to soak up.

Any fighter can get KOed by a single punch that he doesn't know has been thrown and that lands in the right spot. But you've watched enough fights that you know that's true. :conf

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It's also the kind of punishment that fighters who don't have iron chins cannot soak up. If there were any problems with Fedor's chin at the start of the Bigfoot fight, he would not have taken anything close to as bad of a beating as he did, because he would not have been able to stand up to it.

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And what kind of **** have I talked in this thread about Fedor losing to Bigfoot? Or have I not said flat out "I give him a pass for the Bigfoot fight" often enough? :huh

Part of it would be the manner of his loss. If he gave his best possible effort but lost a decision because his handspeed and reflexes were atrocious and clearly badly deteriorated, that's one thing. If he lost it simply because he fought like a crude brawler who gave absolutely zero respect to his opponent or his abilities, that's another thing.

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Sure, that's the only reason Fedor could possibly lose to Henderson, right? :-(

Fedor didn't see Henderson's punch coming AT ALL. The reason it knocked him out is because

* Henderson has heavy hands,

* Fedor didn't see it coming and didn't know it had been thrown, and

* When it landed Fedor was trying to stand up and shake Henderson off him, not trying to defend himself against strikes. He wasn't prepared for the impact, and because he wasn't prepared and it landed on the right spot with the element of surprise, it reset his brain.

The way you talk about Fedor's last two fights, it's like I could have stepped into the cage and stopped him, he was that much of a decrepit, punch-drunk old man.

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I don't question his ability in his prime. As I've said before, I consider him a certainty for top 3 ATG.

But for the last few years, his attitude has stunk, and in my opinion that negatively impacts his legacy.

When the Greatest MMA Fighter of All Time has the opportunity to add another high-level ATG to his legacy, I expect him to DO HIS BEST TO GET THE WIN. I don't expect him to automatically get the win, but I expect him to put forth his best effort.

Fedor gave nothing close to his best effort against Henderson.

He looked out of shape.

He fought like he knew he'd be out of gas after the first round.

He was wild and sloppy, and completely unmindful of Henderson's unquestioned abilities.

When pressed against the cage, he looked disinterested, attempted no takedowns or strikes, and appeared content to just stand and wait until such time as Henderson decided to let him away.

When he had Henderson in trouble, he waded in looking like a drunken brawler, with no higher-level technique at all.

When he lost the fight, he really didn't appear to even give a ****.


I expect a lot more than that from the Greatest of All Time. And the fact that he put on a performance that would have any other fighter ripped apart on these forums, yet he gets a complete pass, that annoys me.

And it's not just a one-off fight. I could understand that. It's THREE fights in a row, at a stage of his career when the biggest money AND the most high-profile fights he's ever seen were RIGHT THERE for him, IF he wanted them badly enough. But he didn't.

He should have beaten BOTH Werdum AND Henderson, and that would have raised his standing even higher. But instead of that, we get a Fedor who is not interested in improving his fighting game, and who looks like he mentally checked out of his career when he was still well within the ass end of his physical prime. When he still had ALL the tools to operate at the top level of the game, he seemed like he didn't even care. For me, that counts against him. I expect more from a man of his standing in the sport.

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I expect GSP to pass him. He seems to have all the tools, mental and physical. And he appears to have the work ethic as well. Plus he has more than enough time.

Anderson doesn't have enough time unless he beats Jon Jones, I think.

But I know two things for certain.

You will never, EVER see GSP take on a fellow top-10 ATG and look like he doesn't care about maximising his chances to win, and like he doesn't give a **** whether he wins or loses.

And if Fedor had wins over Werdum, Henderson and one or two other top guys on his record, GSP would have a LOT more work to do to catch him. But instead of the Werdum and Henderson fights pushing Fedor even further ahead of GSP, they knock him backwards, closer to where the Canadian is now.

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I don't know if Fedor's punch resistance is all that eroded. George Foreman always said that a heavyweight only had to be 200 lbs to hit hard enough to let you know he was there. Henderson has always had knockout power in his right hand and he did catch Fedor with a shot that he never saw coming with full force behind it. It was a great fight and neither one of them made a mistake until Fedor tried to stand during that split second instead of rolling into guard like a jiujitsu fighter might have done - exactly as Tito did in that same situation when fighting Rashad I might add.

Fedor's reflexes may have slowed a bit but he's still a dangerous opponent for anyone in the world except for maybe Bigfoot Silva who at this point is safe to say has his number.