Fabio Maldonada is fighting for the NABF HW title Dec 1st

Philtard said:
Lol at their records. Especially Maldonado.
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He's got the most padded record out of any name fighter that I can think of right now. His last two fights were against the same guy in his 40s, who has a losing record, who he KO'd both times. It just really doesn't make any sense.
 
Maldonado is a legit boxer. Sure, his record is padded, but he's had a lot of MMA success boxing people up. He nearly stopped Glover and he almost beat Fedor, probably should have been a Draw.
 
george14 said:
Maldonado is a legit boxer. Sure, his record is padded, but he's had a lot of MMA success boxing people up. He nearly stopped Glover and he almost beat Fedor, probably should have been a Draw.
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Maldonado fought a 40 year old washed up version of Fedor that had been retired for 3½ years. His only fight prior to facing Maldonado was a fight against a kickboxer as a tuneup with two professional MMA fights to his name. The last relevant opponent at the time that Fedor had faced was Hendo in Strikeforce which was clear back in 2011. It had been a half decade since he'd been in with a top contender much less an elite opponent. Monson, Ishii and Rizzo were gimmes that he took before his retirement after his three fight losing streak in Strikeforce.
 
Kovalev's "Man Bag" said:
Maldonado fought a 40 year old washed up version of Fedor that had been retired for 3½ years. His only fight prior to facing Maldonado was a fight against a kickboxer as a tuneup with two professional MMA fights to his name. The last relevant opponent at the time that Fedor had faced was Hendo in Strikeforce which was clear back in 2011. It had been a half decade since he'd been in with a top contender much less an elite opponent. Monson, Ishii and Rizzo were gimmes that he took before his retirement after his three fight losing streak in Strikeforce.
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Fedor is one of my favorite fighters ever, you don't need to defend him lol.
 
george14 said:
Fedor is one of my favorite fighters ever, you don't need to defend him lol.
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I don't have to considering he beat Maldonado. It could have gone either way and I actually had Maldonado winning that fight. But to act like Maldonado did something special in there against Fedor is comical given where he was at in his career.
 
Kovalev's "Man Bag" said:
I don't have to considering he beat Maldonado. It could have gone either way and I actually had Maldonado winning that fight. But to act like Maldonado did something special in there against Fedor is comical given where he was at in his career.
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Could have gone either way my ass. That fight, properly scored, was at worst a draw for Maldonado.
 
Kovalev's "Man Bag" said:
I don't have to considering he beat Maldonado. It could have gone either way and I actually had Maldonado winning that fight. But to act like Maldonado did something special in there against Fedor is comical given where he was at in his career.
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Considering Maldonado's quality as a fighter and the perceptions of each man going into the fight, it was pretty special. A grappler of Fedor's calibre, even if he's shot to shit, shouldn't lose to someone like Maldonado (there is no reasonable way to score that fight for Fedor; you can maybe argue a draw). Of course, Maldonado is far from a "legit boxer", though.
 
Phisher said:
Could have gone either way my ass. That fight, properly scored, was at worst a draw for Maldonado.
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JayE said:
Considering Maldonado's quality as a fighter and the perceptions of each man going into the fight, it was pretty special. A grappler of Fedor's calibre, even if he's shot to shit, shouldn't lose to someone like Maldonado (there is no reasonable way to score that fight for Fedor; you can maybe argue a draw). Of course, Maldonado is far from a "legit boxer", though.
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Maldonaldo officially lost, and yes, it was a drawish fight.
MEDIA SCORES
Tim Burke
BloodyElbow.com 29-28 Emelianenko
Rob Tatum
CombatPress.com 28-28 DRAW
Jim Edwards
MMALatestNews.com 28-28 DRAW
SevereMMA.com 28-28 DRAW
John Pollock
Fight Network 28-28 DRAW
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http://www.mmadecisions.com/decision/7053/Fedor-Emelianenko-vs-Fábio-Maldonado
 
JayE said:
Considering Maldonado's quality as a fighter and the perceptions of each man going into the fight, it was pretty special. A grappler of Fedor's calibre, even if he's shot to shit, shouldn't lose to someone like Maldonado (there is no reasonable way to score that fight for Fedor; you can maybe argue a draw). Of course, Maldonado is far from a "legit boxer", though.
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Fedor abandoned most of his grappling skills a long time ago. I remember being sort of surprised while watching it because I was a huge Fedor fan, but also not so surprised considering how stiff and old he'd been looking during his comeback.
 
Minowafanatic said:
Fedor abandoned most of his grappling skills a long time ago. I remember being sort of surprised while watching it because I was a huge Fedor fan, but also not so surprised considering how stiff and old he'd been looking during his comeback.
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He has consistently fought like an idiot since the Rogers fight. He had an odd decline, really. He was always very reliant on his freak athleticism at HW, so a steep decline shouldn't necessarily be viewed as shocking, but he was also extremely well-rounded and intelligent in the ring. I guess he just stopped caring and everything went to shit rather quickly. Having said all that, with the state of HW in MMA, it's not completely impossible to imagine him as a top 10 fighter in the current division. Bader probably whoops him at this point, though. The LHW and HW divisions in MMA are in a very sad state.
 
JayE said:
You can argue a draw, but there is no reasonable argument that Fedor won.
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I mean, I just showed you every media score from MMA Decisions, 4 draws and 1 card for Fedor. None of them had Maldonado winning and the same score that Tim Burke (Bloody Elbow) had for Fedor matches two of the official judges' scorecards.

Tim Burke's Play-by-Play from Bloody Elbow
Round 1 - Fedor comes forward with a jab and some big shots. Fabio is just covering up, but he's still in it. Big knee from Fedor. Maldonado looks okay. Double jab, winging right from Fedor. Fedor is feinting, steps in with a huge left but misses with the right. Fedor fell down and Maldonado is all over him! Big shots from Fabio! A series of lefts. Fedor is trying to tie him up. More big shots. Big right, Fedor is stunned. He's up! And running away! Maldonado is stalking him around the cage. Fedor is barely on his feet. He ties Fedor up against the cage and works the body. Fedor backs away. He's still really wobbly but he's throwing. Big shot from Fedor sends Maldonado staggering across the cage! He's back in Fedor's face, against the cage. Fedor with an uppercut! He's throwing wild shots but missing. This is a great round, if a bit sloppy. Big combos from both. Maldonado with two big rights. Back against the cage, and some uppercuts from Maldonado. Fedor spat out his mouthpiece to get a break. Uppercuts from Maldonado! Knee to the body from Fedor and he separates. What. A. Round. 10-9 Maldonado.

Round 2 - Fedor's face is beat up. His hands are down but he's stalking Fabio. Straight right from Fedor, counter right from Maldonado. Fedor with a jumping knee to the head! Didn't see that coming. Big right, and a knee. Fedor opens up! Another knee! Maldonado is gassed out, it looks like. Hard leg kick from Fedor. High kick from Emelianenko, and a leg kick. Maldonado isn't doing much in response now. Double jab, winging right, leg kick from Fedor. Maldonado finally comes forward with a combo, but there's nothing behind it. Fedor with a big combo, but Maldonado blocked most of it. Maldonado's face is busted up, but he's still there. Dounle jab from Maldonado. He landed a glancing right and Fedor is down briefly! It looked like a slip more than anything. Body shot from Fabio. Body kick from Fedor and he slipped again. Fedor with another big combo against the cage that Fabio defended. 10-9 Fedor.

Round 3 - Maldonado lands the first shot. He backs Fedor up and lands a knee to the body. Fedor spun him around and hurt him with a right! Maldonado responded with a nice left hook though. Low kick from Fedor. Maldonado with a leaping left hook, Fedor responds to the body. Fedor with a counter and he's unloading on Maldonado against the cage. Fabio weathers the storm. Another wild combo. Jabs from Fabio. Left hook from Maldonado, and he just misses with a kill shot. Fedor kicks low and high. They're both gassed. Maldonado with a big combo coming forward. Fedor pops in a counter. Fedor with two right hooks, Fabio with some jabs. Fedor opens up again, and finishes with a knee. Fedor going for broke, but Maldonado responds. 10-9 and 29-28 Fedor in my eyes.

Fedor Emelianenko defeated Fabio Maldonado by majority decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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EFN 50: Emelianenko vs. Maldonado results and live discussion
 
Minowafanatic said:
Fedor abandoned most of his grappling skills a long time ago. I remember being sort of surprised while watching it because I was a huge Fedor fan, but also not so surprised considering how stiff and old he'd been looking during his comeback.
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Like you said he largely abandoned what made him great. He mostly turned into a head hunter, wasn't in the physical shape he was in during his Pride run, got married and had kids (which some believe distracted him), got increasingly more religious and less interested in fighting as a whole. His entries and transitions from striking to grappling in particular were what made him special along with his speed, ferocity, power, well-roundedness, resilience, composure, and IQ. His hips were great. He could sub you in a split second from positions you wouldn't even expect him to be able to get to from the bottom.
 
JayE said:
He has consistently fought like an idiot since the Rogers fight. He had an odd decline, really. He was always very reliant on his freak athleticism at HW, so a steep decline shouldn't necessarily be viewed as shocking, but he was also extremely well-rounded and intelligent in the ring. I guess he just stopped caring and everything went to shit rather quickly. Having said all that, with the state of HW in MMA, it's not completely impossible to imagine him as a top 10 fighter in the current division. Bader probably whoops him at this point, though. The LHW and HW divisions in MMA are in a very sad state.
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I think someone could fairly argue that the heavyweight division in MMA is the only division in that sport which hasn't progressed at all in the last 10-15 years. I fully expect Bader to beat Fedor up, but I just hope Fedor retires win or lose.
 
Kovalev's "Man Bag" said:
Like you said he largely abandoned what made him great. He mostly turned into a head hunter, wasn't in the physical shape he was in during his Pride run, got married and had kids (which some believe distracted him), got increasingly more religious and less interested in fighting as a whole. His entries and transitions from striking to grappling in particular were what made him special along with his speed, ferocity, power, well-roundedness, resilience, composure, and IQ. His hips were great. He could sub you in a split second from positions you wouldn't even expect him to be able to get to from the bottom.
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Totally agree, and I don't know a lot about it but I would've thought his style of striking and throwing his looping punches etc, that that would lend itself more towards getting into clinches and grappling exchanges rather than being all that effective in pure striking when facing guys who are throwing tight shots straight down the middle at him that will get to their target faster than a big casting punch will. And then Fedor stopped trying to enter those grappling exchanges completely and would just swing for the KO, so he's throwing these looping punches at a guy who can throw reasonably short and tight punches in Maldonado, and Fedor's not bothering to try and set anything up anymore, and then we quickly also find out that his chin is shot too, it's all just a recipe for disaster.
 
Minowafanatic said:
Totally agree, and I don't know a lot about it but I would've thought his style of striking and throwing his looping punches etc, that that would lend itself more towards getting into clinches and grappling exchanges rather than being all that effective in pure striking when facing guys who are throwing tight shots straight down the middle at him that will get to their target faster than a big casting punch will. And then Fedor stopped trying to enter those grappling exchanges completely and would just swing for the KO, so he's throwing these looping punches at a guy who can throw reasonably short and tight punches in Maldonado, and Fedor's not bothering to try and set anything up anymore, and then we quickly also find out that his chin is shot too, it's all just a recipe for disaster.
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That's exactly what his looping punches (as you know the techniques are based in Combat Sambo, the casting punch being a main staple) were designed for, to close the distance with his punches in order to get into clinch range where he could do his best work. His transitions were very quick and smooth, punching into a clinch-based takedown and from there he could work his brutal GNP to soften them up for a sub or transition directly from a TD to sub if he still had an arm, finished the TD with a trip or throw to land in side control, etc. He was very fun to watch at his best during his Pride years. He also understood that the mere threat of the takedown was a major key in outstriking or at least hanging with opponents that were on paper superior strikers to himself. He had a strong background in Judo but his success in Combat Sambo really separated him from the rest of the pack given how complete that discipline is.

The rest is spot on. He didn't bother setting up his punches, swung wildly, head hunted, and seemed to be in a rush to get out of there. Even against Sylvia (Affliction days) he was rushing his work like he had a hot date 20 minutes later. I saw this regression during his Affliction days both tactically and technically.
 
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