What were your impressions rewatching Fedor vs. Maldonado?

[PancraseForever]

I thought Fabio won one of the other rounds initially (either 2 or 3) but it does seem they were Fedor's. I thought Fedor was dropped round 2 but it actually doesn't look like that was what happened... So draw via 8-10, 10-9, 10-9.

Fedor threw some of the worst combinations I've ever seen though, throughout the entirety of the fight. Wild but with far less finesse than combos landed on Goodridge, Ogawa etc. some of them were straight Leonard Garcia swinging, hitting elbows, shoulders. Just missing the mark every time on a few combos, even though Fabio wasn't moving.

I think some UFC legends have been given as much leniency regarding stoppages. There were a few moments where it felt like it was one punch away from being stopped, but then Fedor would scramble exactly at that moment. This happened both on the ground and standing.

Fedor should have lost though, because everyone knows PRIDE 10 minute first rounds are the real deal. I don't think he would have made it out of the first in that scenario. He should have pulled guard perhaps? But I guess his ability to maintain guard is poor so possibly not the best decision. No idea why he hasn't worked on that aspect of his game by the way, it's been the same since PRIDE... And he's also always been poor at maintaining any other position than being in his opponent's guard, even Cro Cop easily regained his guard.

But yeah I think that was an obvious draw and an impressive comeback in the sporting context... He'd probably be fucked with PRIDE round times or an extra couple of rounds though (he was completely gassed and Fabio wasn't close to being finished) so it doesn't feel like a great draw.

 

[Themonsoon]

Fedor got his ass beat by a washed up c level former ufc fighter.

And got a typical russian hometown gift.

 

[Daniel4802]

It was a draw with round 1 being a clear 10-8 raping. Fedor was one of my idols but he's done enough and should stay retired. As much admiration I have for him, I have zero interest in the bar room brawler he's become.

 

[Fight To Win]

Round 1: Oh come on Fedor's about to wreck this guy in a minute or two? Typical Fedor f-- OH SHIT! What the hell is going on in the Octagon?! This is nearly unexpectable!!! OH SHIT! 10-8 Maldonado, oh shit. This is a fight Joe.

Round 2: What.. the hell is Maldonado doing? Why is he only throwing gentle double jabs and letting Fedor recover and use him as a heavy bag? 10-9 Fedor.

Round 3: Really WHAT IN THE HELL is going on in the Octagon? This is nearly expectable and fishy. Oh Maldonado's starting to come back a bit. This is a much closer round. Fedor looks like shit and so does Maldonado. 10-9 Fedor but much closer, very conceivably could be Maldonado's.

Final score: 28-28 draw, wouldn't be mad at a 29-27 Mal.. What? There's no way Fedor won that... This is disgusting.

 

[PancraseForever]

Round 1: Oh come on Fedor's about to wreck this guy in a minute or two? Typical Fedor f-- OH SHIT! What the hell is going on in the Octagon?! This is nearly unexpectable!!! OH SHIT! 10-8 Maldonado, oh shit. This is a fight Joe.

Round 2: What.. the hell is Maldonado doing? Why is he only throwing gentle double jabs and letting Fedor recover and use him as a heavy bag? 10-9 Fedor.

Round 3: Really WHAT IN THE HELL is going on in the Octagon? This is nearly expectable and fishy. Oh Maldonado's starting to come back a bit. This is a much closer round. Fedor looks like shit and so does Maldonado. 10-9 Fedor but much closer, very conceivably could be Maldonado's.

Final score: 28-28 draw, wouldn't be mad at a 29-27 Mal.. What? There's no way Fedor won that... This is disgusting.

Both got decked pretty good in round 3. One of the times was when Fedor started winging punches and hitting shoulders and what not lmao, after making the same mistake in round 1. I think Fedor decked Fabio more than vice versa, though. Also slightly more active and landed a few knees and shit.

I really hate that Fedor said his preparation in camp was great. He just doesn't get it does he? He doesn't understand that his training partners aren't good enough to prepare him for an opponent who isn't Jaideep level.

Legit wondering what the hell was going on in the octagon when he refused to land the takedown even though he was SOOOO badly rocked in the standup. He could've gone for the sub in rounds 2 or 3. He says this stuff about wanting to fight to Fabio's strengths yet he took Jaideep down so you have to wonder whether he's being completely honest there.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

My impression is that whether they love him or hate him, MMA fans are oversensitive when it comes to Fedor. The first probably should have been 10-8, but the fact that anyone is surprised that it was 10-9 instead is pretty funny to me. Even funnier is that some people actually think Fabio took the 3rd.

 

[Mixfight]

My impression was that Fedor's plan A was to get Maldonado out of there in first round. Plan B was to coast to a dominant decision. The biggest mistake Fedor made was plan A. Had he done his homework he would have known that Maldonado just fought Rampage this past year and even Rampage couldnt put him away and said after the fight how tough Maldonado was to hurt. Knowing this and that hes fighting a counter punching boxer who fights off the back foot Fedor should have been super patient in the first round and used kicks and distance control and body shots mixed with takedowns or at least feinted takedowns and clinches to keep Fabio guessing and way more honest, making Fedor's atacks way less predictable.

Fedor did none of that. He came out there swinging wildly hitting Fabio on the arms and shoulders and blowing his wad. When I saw Fedor was throwing all these punches and hitting nothing but arms I knew he would be getting countered sooner or later and the question was how was he going to take it. Then BOOM Fedor comes in way from the outside with those leading hooks, slinging from the hips and Fabio counters him similar to the way Fujita and Bigfoot did only he was more precise and really made the old Fedor pay.

From that point on Fedor was concussed and fighting for his life for the next 14 minutes and basically KOd on his feet. Its easy to pick at how awful he looked but Im sure his brain was shaking like crazy and he ate 91 punches AFTER the knockdown in that first round. The fact that Fedor, at 40 years old, after a 4 year retirement was able to somewhat recover and come back from that and win the second round, fighting a lot more cautiously but just as aggressively and landing good strikes and kicks and busted up Fabios face was pretty fucking impressive. That flying knee was pretty awesome as well. I dont see how anyone could watch that and not be excited. Seeing a LW like Conor gas from one round and then seeing Fedor brawl it out like that for 3 was pretty impressive as well for the old fella!

As far as everything Fedor did leading up to the concussion causing knock down, he did everything poorly. Poor homework, poor gameplan, and poor execution. Should have been patient, should have kicked, should have chased less, and then after softening Fabio up MAYYYYBE look for the KO in later rounds if it presented itself. There would have been nothing wrong with coasting to a dominant decision over Fabio after a 4 year layoff but instead Fedor went for the HOMERUN and paid big time and probably suffered brain damage for his troubles but showed in incredible will and mental fortitude.

What we see now is the GOAT still showing some flashes brilliance with his handspeed and toughness but overall thats what he is. A legend with fast hands, shot chin and lost mental edge and dynamic approach to fighting. Striking-wrestling-grappling-GnP-sub grappling etc... Now Fedor is just a deteriorated head hunter training in a sub par camp at 40 years old after taking 4 years to retire.

It is what it is. Still the legendary GOAT.

 

[Kalmah]

Shocked when Maldobabo basically repeated Shogun vs OSP, then impressed by Fedor's heart and surviving when it probably should have been stopped to win the last two. Was an ugly fight though, not interested in seeing him go through something like that again. That was just depressing to watch.

 

[BiC Fist]

My impression is that Fedor didn't take Maldonado seriously. Also, Fedor needs to improve his scramble defense ffs and just improve on his striking defense in general. Leaning back with your hands down to dodge a strike is just sad for a man considered to be the GOAT. How the mighty have fallen...

But kudos on diversifying, Fedor! Clinch knees and leg kicks are some attacks he should keep in rotation.

 

[Repsac]

Fedor got his ass beat by a washed up c level former ufc fighter.

And got a typical russian hometown gift.

I remember people said the same when Fedor lost to Werdum. A year or two later Werdum was UFC HW champ lol.

 

[CJ86]

I remember people said the same when Fedor lost to Werdum. A year or two later Werdum was UFC HW champ lol.

A year or two? It was 4 and a half until he got the interim, 5 until it was unified lol.

 

[Repsac]

A year or two? It was 4 and a half until he got the interim, 5 until it was unified lol.

So? Old Werdum became UFC HW champ lol

 

[bjpenngoat]

how on earth did FAbio win that fight? People saying it was a robbery, how on earth did fabio win that fight? he won ONE round of a THREE round fight. did you see the first half of the first round? Fedor controlled it. Fabio had him on spaghetti legs later in the round and righfully won that round but it was ONE round in a THREE round fight. The debate is whether that was a 10-8 round or not. imo it was not a 10-8 round. Fedor weathered that storm and came back to fight back that round. So fedor controlled the beginning of the round and came back to make it a fight later in the round. I dont think it is a 10-8 round based on that. if fabio was in total control the entire round I would have given him the 10-8. Look at fights where guys like Chael were on top of Anderson the enire rounds pounding them, those arent 10-8 rounds and one fighter is in control the entire round.
At worst this fight was a draw, it all depends on how you score the first round. Either way it was an amazing fight and both men put on fantastic performances of heart and will. Two warriors and this is why Fedor has such loyal fans, the man is a warrior.

 

[Pelosi2020]

how on earth did FAbio win that fight? People saying it was a robbery, how on earth did fabio win that fight? he won ONE round of a THREE round fight. did you see the first half of the first round? Fedor controlled it. Fabio had him on spaghetti legs later in the round and righfully won that round but it was ONE round in a THREE round fight. The debate is whether that was a 10-8 round or not. imo it was not a 10-8 round. Fedor weathered that storm and came back to fight back that round. So fedor controlled the beginning of the round and came back to make it a fight later in the round. I dont think it is a 10-8 round based on that. if fabio was in total control the entire round I would have given him the 10-8. Look at fights where guys like Chael were on top of Anderson the enire rounds pounding them, those arent 10-8 rounds and one fighter is in control the entire round.
At worst this fight was a draw, it all depends on how you score the first round. Either way it was an amazing fight and both men put on fantastic performances of heart and will. Two warriors and this is why Fedor has such loyal fans, the man is a warrior.

According to Pride rules Maldonaldo would have won that fight because he was closest to finishing it. That makes me wonder how Fedor would have reacted in rd2 and 3 knowing that he was losing unless he finished the fight. Just something to ponder about.

Maldonaldo, give him credit, did a great job in the 1st round and I think he overdid himself like Carwin when he fought Lesner.

Initially I thought he was fighting scared but in re-watching it, he was trying to counter Fedor's predictable lead in left - and he landed a massive right on Fedor's jaw. I am really surprised that didn't KO Fedor. I do think that one shot and the follow up shots had Fedor hurt the rest of the fight.

All in all, great fight to watch, and the fans win. Sorry about Fedor's face, Maldonado was having his way with it. Great game plan by Maldonado and great defensive stance. Most of Fedor's flurries landed on his hands and arms. Great work by Maldonado who is also an aging fighter and small for a HW. I was impressed.

Fedor was probably in negotiations with the UFC. He needed to test himself against a good striker as the level of striking in the UFC is going to be / would be at higher level than what he has seen in quite a number of years. Fedor has great striking but he is getting older, slower, and has a ton of ring rust from not fighting competitively for so many years. As the result of the fight was not a blowout, it still leaves a lot of questions. He would still do very well in the division but Fedor wants to win it and that proposal doesn't look very good right now. If he is tired of getting his face beat in, it might be a good time to hang um up. :-(

 

[fightfan84]

The 10 piint scoring system i dontnknow how the first is a 10-8 round. Fedor had to many moments in that round to give 10-8. Definitely a solid solid 10-9 round for fabio vut fedor did mount offense early came back near the end with effort. 10-8 is a round where one guy does zero offense.

 

[bjpenngoat]

The 10 piint scoring system i dontnknow how the first is a 10-8 round. Fedor had to many moments in that round to give 10-8. Definitely a solid solid 10-9 round for fabio vut fedor did mount offense early came back near the end with effort. 10-8 is a round where one guy does zero offense.

finally someone who gets it!

 

[UJustGotChaeld]

The only question was whether Fabio won with a 10-8 or 10-7 first round. The best case was a 28-28 draw. That decision was pure corruption.

 

[HHJ]

Fedor got his ass beat by a washed up c level former ufc fighter.

And got a typical russian hometown gift.

Yup. He's my favorite fighter ever,but this is what happened. Lets not mince words.I mean maybe he deserved the decision,maybe he didnt,but i really dont care,after a performance like that.

 

[UJustGotChaeld]

The 10 piint scoring system i dontnknow how the first is a 10-8 round. Fedor had to many moments in that round to give 10-8. Definitely a solid solid 10-9 round for fabio vut fedor did mount offense early came back near the end with effort. 10-8 is a round where one guy does zero offense.

Because he was half unconscious most of the round and almost finished. The fight could have been stopped without anyone able to complain. That is the epitome of a 10-8 round.

 

[PancraseForever]

The only question was whether Fabio won with a 10-8 or 10-7 first round. The best case was a 28-28 draw. That decision was pure corruption.

Probably 10-8 because Fedor also fought back and landed some strikes, even while dying. NO way to score it a 10-9 though, 10-9 is a travesty. PRIDE nevar die and it should have been a 10 minute first round anyway.