By Greg Riot
Intro: Two legends clashed last night in a bout that lived up it all the hype it deserved. As neither Fedor nor Hendo has ever been knocked out and both were coming into their 36th pro fight, MMA fans were hoping to see this fight end with a jaw dropping KO finisher.
During weigh-ins, Hendo weighed in at 207 pounds while Fedor weighed in at 223 pounds, that’s a 16 pound difference. Having more weight can mean a fighter may have more muscle, thus more power behind their punches. More weight can also give a fighter an advantage during clinch, wrestling and during top mount position as the fighter is harder to move around. The disadvantage is that sometimes it means the fighter is slower than his opponent. During this particular fight, it didn’t look like Fedor had any form of advantage.
Recap: Both fighters went at it slugging it out with no fear motivated by the loud, consistent cheers of their fans. Hendo had aggressive hands that make his opponents cover up, retreat and get cornered by the cage. Once cornered, Hendo chipped away working the clinch. In the clinch Hendo made Fedor uneasy with his knees to the legs, knees to the stomach and wrestling takedown attempts. Hendo broke the clinch with a vicious right then left hook that looked, and sounded like they at least partially connected.
After the clinch it was apparent that Hendo’s game plan was to continue attacking the legs as he opted to counter-attack Fedor’s advances by connecting three leg kicks. Leg kicks slow down opponents’ attacks and can even take some power away from punches as it’s harder to turn your hips into the punch with hurt legs. Fedor’s stance was open and he wasn’t leaning forward so this makes it easier for leg kicks to enter. This was a dangerous move for Hendo as throwing leg kicks leaves him more open to get knocked out in return.
After Fedor wised up to the leg kicks he came in with a big overhand right that made Hendo cover up and retreat. Fedor then came in swinging at the fences and got Hendo to topple so that he can do some ground and pound. It looked like Hendo was in trouble as Fedor was raining down some serious bombs, but none of the bombs connected fully and Hendo was able to escape because Fedor did not have a good mount. Hendo scrambled, took Fedor’s back, delivered an upper cut, some flurries and that was the end of a short but spectacular fight that had an awesome twist in the end.
Conclusion: By defeating Fedor “No Longer the Emperor” Emelianenko, Hendo has proved once again that you can NEVER count him out. Both fighters legacy have now both taken a serious turn, but in the opposite directions. Dan Henderson is 40 years old, has a 28-8 record, is now on a 3 win fight streak and has never lost 3 times in a row. Fedor on the other hand is 34 years old, has a 31-4 record and is on his first 3 loss streak.
What’s Next? I suspect that Hendo will fight Gegard Mousasi, who’s has a 3-0-1 record over his last 4 fights. As for Fedor…Strikeforce may try to milk whatever is left out of his big name and pit him against Alistair Overeem. If not, and if Fedor doesn’t retire, I suspect he will go against an eliminated Strikeforce: World Heavyweight Grand Prix contestant. What do you think is next for each fighter?
