Fedor is amazing

For those who don't follow MMA, last night CBS aired four fights that Strikeforce promoted in Chicago. The highlight and main event of the group was the heavyweight match between Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianeko and Brett "The Grim" Rogers. It was another win for Fedor, amazing not because he won, which everyone expected, but because of the path to victory.

Fedor, as pretty much everyone calls him, is a legendary heavyweight who entered the bout with 30 wins and 1 loss--and the loss was a stoppage due to a cut. He's really never been beaten.

Rogers had 10 wins and no losses and was the bigger of the two by over 30 pounds. He also had a huge reach advantage.

Rogers began by hitting Fedor with a jab that cut--and, as we later learned but suspected from watching, also broke--his nose. Fedor's expression never changed. Rogers did everything right in the first round, even escaping when Fedor took him down and reversing the position another time. I think you could make a good case that Rogers won the first round. Rogers definitely did everything he should have done to shake Fedor.

Rogers, though, was clearly gassing.

Fedor was not. His expression was also not visibly affected in any way by the first round's events. His face was battered, but he remained completely calm.

Fedor opened the second round looking more confident despite the broken nose and, we later learned, an injury to his left hand. He began hitting with more confidence. After a short back-and-forth bit, Fedor ducked under a Rogers punch and hit with an almost jumping right hook that sent Rogers down and, after a few follow-up shots, gave Fedor the win.

Fedor doesn't look like the best heavyweight MMA fighter alive. He doesn't look a lot like a fighter. His expression almost never changes. He won't speak to the press before a fight. He lives and trains in his hometown. He doesn't ever seem to worry about the latest techniques or the hottest training camp.

He just wins, his expression never changing, a slight smile at the end all the public celebration he seems to permit himself.

In a world full of athletes hyping their every accomplishment, and in a sport charged with chest-thumping fighters trying to boil off their testosterone after shorter than expected fights, Fedor's unchanging demeanor remains an amazing and welcome change--and his skills once again prove to be beyond question.

Fedor is awesome

If you don't know the person to whom I'm referring, you're not a serious MMA fan.

Fedor Emelianenko is the best heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, as he proved again last night in his fight against Andrei Arlovski. I'm going to watch the fight again in a few minutes, because it's interesting to see Fedor actually thrown off his game for a few minutes--until he knocks out Arlovski with a single punch. He doesn't have a ripped body, and if you're not watching closely he often doesn't appear to be all that fast, but of course he's deadly quick and insanely powerful, as his opponents usually learn the hard way.

He's won 26 consecutive MMA bouts, which is an amazing streak made all the more astonishing by the fact that many of those fights have been against some of the best in the world.

Like many, I was wondering if Fedor's time off had left him rusty, and then in his previous fight he beat Tim Sylvia in no time at all. Last night, he polished off Arlovski in less than four minutes.

Amazing.

Home

I'm home, and though that normally makes me happy, I'm still a bit wistful about leaving the beach. Returning to my normal, work-around-the-clock, high-stress life is going to be tough. I've got to make some changes to lessen the stress and give me back more time. I owe a lot of time to my kids, and I need to get healthy. I suppose it's good to have challenges, such obstacles are character building, and so on. Still, I'm reminded of what my old friend, Randy, used to say: "I'm enough of a character already."

Tonight, we gathered to watch a ton of MMA fights from two promotions: the UFC, and Affliction. The highlight of the UFC card was Anderson Silva proving that he is amazing and one of the only two legitimate candidates for the label of best pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world. The peak moment of the Affliction broadcast was the fight with the other contender for that honor, Fedor Emelianeko, who demolished his opponent even more quickly than Silva took out his. Both men are amazing fighters and athletes. If you're into MMA and didn't see these fights, try to catch them in reruns or online.

I'm going to crash soon, but I have a bit more writing to do. I actually liked the work I did yesterday, but today's leaves me nervous. I suppose that's normal, at least for me.