Ok, since noones Mentioned it yet, FEDOR...

What can I say?....in about an hour and a half, Im going to go to my Boxing/Muay Thai class, and Im going to tell all the uppity kickboxing purists that the "frumpy, out of shape looking grappler with the oddball, unorthodox strikes" beat the slick, strong, technically perfect deadly striker.....and he beat him standing up.

Fedor is absolutely my hero...even all the smarty critics on here were saying that Fedor couldnt stand with Cro-Cop...that it would be too dangerous...suicide....well he did....and he didnt have a nice, tight gaurd, he didnt throw straight, accurate punches, or perfect kicks....and he tooled Cro-Cop....to be sure.


I am just really impressed and happy with his performance overall....I myself am not the most athletic looking fella, nor am I Technically perfect.....I am very much akward, and clumsy looking.....I get yelled at a lot by my coaches for doing things "the wrong way"....but they work for me.....and they work for Fedor as well.

No disrespect for Cro-Cop meant...I think he is an awesome striker...I think that he IS a deadly striker, and his ground game looked damn good in this fight....he keeps workin on that gaurd and he'll be subbin people in no time....

but this is about Fedor...and how he shocked everyone...myself included, for doing what he did.

It really gives me hope.

Talk about it, will ya?

 

Fedor has an amazing mixture of skills. There are better ground technicians, there are better strikers, one may even say that there are better takedown artists. But nobody ties it together like Fedor. It's a deadly combination, making him dangerous at any situation.

At least that's my take on it. It's clear that CroCop is a better pure striker, and I say that while admitting that he easily lost the standup battle in their match. But the combination of skills that Fedor has make him the ultimate striker, submission artist, ground and pounder -- you name it. MMA is his game and you can't strike with him, sub him, or do pretty much anything under MMA rules.

 

I just gotta deal with a lot of flack in the kickboxing department....the MMA class, everyone is very open minded and dont mind if you work on something that is "technically unsound"....whereas in the muay thai class, its all rigid...."Do it THIS way!"....and honestly, I hate that!...I put up with it, because I believe in my coaches abilities, I put a lot of stock in thier opinions, and I know they know what theyre talking about...but just because I do something different, I dont believe that it is nessasarily WRONG.....boxers like Augstus, Soliman....I like these guys....we get into discussions about them in class, and I hear remarks like "I cant stand those guys...I like technical fighters....Im big on technique".....well I like technique too....but I also like ingenuity, creativity...thinking outside the box....Ive never gone along with the status quo with anything in my entire life, and when it comes to martial arts, its been no different......I can relate to Fedor in that respect....he does things his own way...and they work.

you look at this guy...he still trains at the little dojo in his little town...with all the little guys.....he doesnt go to some amazingly state of the art gym, with the BEST trainers, BEST training partners, BEST equippment and BEST training techniques....but he still gets the job done....

being a guy who lives in the middle of nowhere, I can really relate to that....and like I say, Fedor really gives me hope for the future.....will he lose someday?...sure....will he get knocked out?...possibly.....by Cro-Cop?...thats also possible...but it didnt happen tonight. and that means something to me.

 

Some people say about Fedor "He is so well rounded! If you are a good striker he'll outgrapple you, if you are a good grappler he'll outstrike you.". I have to say: He is so well rounded! If you are a good striker he'll outstrike you, if you are a good grappler he'll outgrapple you! Sort of.

 

this is a huge debate amoung guys who train... sap for example is better when he swings like crazy then fighting tight.

Some times things that arent text book does work, but here the thing: who was the text written for? we're not all built the same and out boddies are all different. some times the most alternative route is the most effective route.

but HOWEVER...

look around your class.. howman people who can do things their own way and still make it work? 1 or 2 in a class? given you ahve an normal ratio of skilled student to a avg gym or studio of 20 person class? if your the instructor what would you do? you let one kid do it his own way it sends a msg to everybody to do whatever the fuck they want and not everybody can do it theri own way and make it work.

you happen to be a guy in a rough spot. you can step out of the nrom and still be effective not everybody can do that. i hope you ahve sr. classes where its more relaxed..

i've always been better fighting with a bit of pudge, then cut.. so i'm on team plump ass too lol

 

the strange thing is, Im a light weight guy too....I walk around at 150......one of my coaches told me my ideal fight weight would be 135...but like guys like Fedor and Sylvia, I dont think it matters how much I work out....Ill never have one of those bodybuilder bodies.....how many guys my size do you know have a damn beer gut?....sometimes I feel cursed...but I feel good when some superstar who is all cut up gasses way before I do.

 

great observation, in th same night a abu dhabi champion, bjj legend was omoplated and side mounted and koed by a chute boxe guy

that's one of the beauties of mma, and fedor is truly a great inspiration for all the fighters and fans

how many times i showed pics of fedor for brazilians fellows and most of them usd to say "o c'mon how a fat guy like him will be a champ???"

 

TO tell you the truth I dont even know If i think the guy is human lol. Crocop..who probably has the hardest strikes in pride. Hit him with some pretty solid punches. and it didnt even really phase him. Thats the first time Ive seen him stumble a bit but he got back into a prper state pretty easily after that. And that randdleman slam.. good god... Hes an experiment

 

for this fight he trained with Ernesto Hoost and his coach in holland.

 

and red devil mainly a stand up gym.

 

fedor is fat? he seems very solid to me

anyway yes he is a GREAT fighter , no doubt about that .

 

What i'm wondering is where are all these people that were saying Fedor was ducking Cro Cop and all that garbage.

 

Disappeared together with all the people who were saying that CroCop would get slaughtered on the ground.

 

Yeah, it's a big advantage when you are able to take three hard shots to face in exchange to deliver a devestating body blow. In the corner, Mirko had a look on his face like "jesus, what do I have to do to knock this guy down, hit him with a sledge hammer?". Fedor has freakish power and stamina. That's not fat, he stores his energy cells in his waist.

 

the most feared man in mma

 

I don't follow MMA much, but props to Fedor for apparantly shutting up the doubters and know-it-alls.

When Muhammed Ali burst onto the boxing scene, he likewise had an unorthodox fighting style, doing any number of things that the experts and literalists said was wrong (i.e. dodging punches by leaning back). Since then he's become a man who's name invariably comes up in any discussion of who the greatest fighters in sport history were.

 

I'm glad someone brought this up.

The main thing that I was impressed by with Fedor was his game plan. His plan to eliminate the threat of the LHK by giving constant pressure. Basically staying inside the range of it.

There is a certain sweet spot range for a kicker. When people are at that range life is good. When they keep the pressure on it can be a nightmare. If Crocop had gotten Fedor back pedalling he would have KTFO of him. But Fedor was too smart for that.

Good lesson for all of us to consider. Especially those of us with a TKD background. There is a time to kick, a range of kicking. We've all seen the part where Crocop almost had Fedor backing up. He hit him with two good shots. If he had chosen to follow up with his hands and get Fedor moving backward he might have had a chance to kick. Instead he went immediately for the LHK and got dropped on his ass.

I also think that part of Fedor's strategy was to drop Crocop hard if he ever caught the LHK. Basically sent the message, "You throw that fricken kick, you're going to hurt."

That makes the guy stop pulling the trigger of his most deadly weapon.

Heck of a fight to learn a lot from.

Finally one more thing. I hope Crocop sticks with it. I think he can win. He went to the ground with Fedor and survived. He now knows he can survive on the ground with Fedor. So maybe he can come back in a rematch with that knowledge and pull the trigger more. Still a huge Crocop fan. I think he can do it. The question is, "Does he still have the desire?"

 

yup the same against mino "you're going to try the guard? ok i will punch you from there anyways..."

 

Ive read several interviews with Fedor in which he says that he doesnt really train at the Red Devil Gym.....they are merely management representation for him, and he trains in the same little place he has trained since he was a kid, with his coach.

as far as the going to Holland thing, thats news to me, but its smart thinking...who else but Ernesto Hoost could tell you what Mirkos gonna do, how he is gonna do it, and what you can do to nullify it.


that said, Fedor still didnt look like any K-1 superstar in that fight.....he still had wide open gaurd, his punches were mainly hooks, and he opened himself wide when he threw them.

it would also be interesting to know how much time he actually spent in Holland beforehand.