Is Fedor's untouchable status slipping?

Yeah, I can see his point.		44%	(15)
Nope, Fedor is still as sharp as ever!		44%	(15)
Negative props		12%	(4)

I was talking to a guy today who likened Fedor to Ali. I was agreeing with him all the way through until he said " Fedor now is like Ali was after the lay off".
This took me by surprise especially after knocking out two top 10 HW's back to back. But he has a point...

Ali before the years out was untouchable, he was fast, dynamic, powerful and few if any competitors could catch him and if they did they'd have a hard time damaging him.

Fedor in PRIDE was basically the Ali of MMA. Everything Ali was Fedor was but with subs. Since PRIDE's demise though, Fedor has been getting tagged, taken down and put in trouble, much like Ali after the lay off.

Jay, (the knowledgeable guy) pointed out that Arlovski was frustrating the crap out of Fedor with his technical style and speed, something Fedor had little to answer back with. Rogers used a different approach but non the less Fedor didn't have much of a offense for the fight again.
Although both fights where won by Fedor in stunning fashion he pointed out that he hadn't seen Fedor rely on one big punch ever before.

Sure he'd KO'd people, and he's pounded the crap out of them on the ground but he was always competitive standing.
The CroCop fight was proof of that! But recently he has been slightly slower, less competitive standing, getting caught by things he would have slipped before.

It only dawned on me a few hours after we had talked about it that he was right.
One of the other guys who is a casual MMA fan isn't impressed with him at all and said "He was lucky to win the last two fights he was in".
We both said he was the hugh favorite for a reason but we had little to offer him except fights from PRIDE and his destruction of Sylvia both of which he was quick to point out either happened a long time ago or Ray Mercer had done faster.

I want you to know, at this point I slapped him, pushed him over and took his milk money

If you've read this far I'd love to know what you think about the comparison and hear your thoughts about it. After thinking for a while I'd honestly say its a pretty accurate comparison. But I thought it'd be good discussion her on the playground.

Note: Before people think I'm hating on Fedor please understand once Jay said it, I pointed out Ali was still the best for a long, long time after coming back. Fedor in my eyes is still the HW to beat if you want to be the undisputed HW number 1.

I don't think his status is slipping.
Here's a pretty good video that shows some of Arlovski's combos against Fedor in slow motion : Link (starts at 1:15)
After watching the video, I realized the few times I thought Fedor was outclassed on his feet he actually was not. Arlovski did land a very nice push kick, but Fedor had a pretty good answer for that.

Yeah I've seen that video before and much like the punches Machida hit Shogun with they never landed when you look at them in slow motion. I do have to agree that Fedor's day is growing near. Werdum could very well be that guy. The new generation heavyweights are good at everything, Fedor finds weakness and attacks it, I think he beats Werdum, but what happens against Velasquez or Dos Santos. I think Dos Santos beats him, Cain has a decent chance, Lesner I think he beats. He still has IMO the fastest hands out of all the heavyweights, sambo throws that are among the best in the world, and the ability to finish off his back. I still think he's number 1 overall.

I look at it like this.....
Fedor wins and is the unstoppable force that is Fedor
he doesn't fight for a few months and loses some of his mystic
Fedor comes back and shows why he is king wityh a great win


I would also like to add I have fallen for the Fedor has been off for some time there is no way he is gonna win and BAM he did it and he did had IMO a lot of come from behind wins in PRIDE so what he has done as of late shouldn't be too big of a surprise.

Fedor is still the best HW in the world IMO his last to fights where against two top ten fighters in HW divison.Against arlovski he was pushed back and did not over comitte himself cause arlovski has big power but in the end he got job done and a so wanted arlovski to winthat fight .Against rodgers a think more or less the first punch fedor took broke his nose so that spoilt the fight .He cud not get go proply cause he cud not breath very good.But in the end it was the same outcome that evryone is used to seeing and that is fedor hand raised at the end of the fight.He is MMA answer to Boxings ALI.

WAR FEDOR

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Posted by Copenhagen

I don't think his status is slipping.
Here's a pretty good video that shows some of Arlovski's combos against Fedor in slow motion : Link (starts at 1:15)
After watching the video, I realized the few times I thought Fedor was outclassed on his feet he actually was not. Arlovski did land a very nice push kick, but Fedor had a pretty good answer for that.

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I'v seen this before and although it does show he blocked some of Arlovski's shot theirs also a hell of a lot more that landed and Fedor did very little to mount a offensive.
The same with Rogers, he seamed to absorb a lot more punishment and mount a lot less offensively in the whole fight.

Also I have a sort of pet hate for videos that slow down fights to prove points because its very rare a solid punch will land flush and if it does the guy that gets hit usually goes to sleep. Nate Marquardt's AWESOME video game combo he hit Gouveia with is another example of how this can be used. When you watch that slowed down Nate hits Gouveia with maybe 2 clean shots but he still did enough to put Gouveia on his back foot and land effective shots. The same can be said for Arlovski in the Fedor fight.

Watching it live all those shots look to have landed so they will accumulate points and be held in favor of the guy throwing as appose to the guy absorbing even glancing blows.
The point still stand that Arlovski was beating Fedor to the punch each time and what he did land flustered Fedor and kept him from mounting a offensive.
Compared to 2005 when he was holding his own against a prime CroCop, who was arguably the most devastating and technical striker in MMA at the time and still mounted offensive strikes.

Don't get me wrong, Fedor is a solid striker but I can see why the post lay off Ali comparison is valid. He's still number one but as the great George Forman said "They started to touch him, them shots that he used to be wise to. They started to land".

Fedor just fights differently than he used to. I watched his fight against Herring again though and holy **** that guy used to be a scary aggressive animal.

Now he's just relaxed and it's a much different style. Yo move you die.

But the problem is a guy like JDS can win. So can Lesnar.

Seanfu you make a good point, I'd also like to add that the guys he is fighting now fight with a style that is very different than his previous opponents in Japan. Brett and AA are uber aggressive.....they come forward primarily with a boxing/slugger style that permits Fedor to land big counters and then later on the subs.
Edit: I think his style has changed a little bit to match his opponents, and very well I might add!

Niether Rogers nor Arlovski gave fedor as many problems as was expected.

Fedor's a better fighter now than he was in pride, IMHO

I'll just admit that I am a nuthugger.

Fedor is slowing. I think he (or maybe his coach) has admitted that he isn't as fast as he used to be.

But is his status slipping? Not after his recent set of brutal finishes. Not after consecutive ferocious KOs.
Fedor is the best HW. Arguably, the best fighter as well.

Arlovski and Rogers aren't the first people to hurt Fedor. The problem is that hurting him doesn't help you very much...

I think Fedor is the same as he's ever been.
He's seems invincible,yet vunerable at the same time.

In PRIDE:

1.He had a very lack luster bout with Mark Hunt.
2. Got gashed in one of the Nog fights and the bout was declared a no contest
3.Got rocked by Fujita.
4.Got suplex by Randleman.
5.Though he beat Herring,at the end of the fight Herring has the posistions reversed and was reigning down unanswered knees to Fedor.
The consensus at the time was that if the bout would have continued,Heath would have won.

Post-PRIDE:

1.Had a lot of contraversy in his fight with Lindland.
2. Was on the losing end of his bout with AA until he knocked his head off.
3.Was having a rough time with Rogers.



I'm sure Fedor is going to eventually lose,but If anything I think his punching power is stronger know than it has ever been. Or at least it seems better documented.
I think it's an issue in which every little move,twitch,or step Fedor makes is criticaly analize,then discussed for months.

i still think Fedor is still one of the dominant HWs in the world, but I do see you point that he has showed some slacking in his previous two fights especially, IMO the less and less Fedor fights the more his untouchable status drops, not only because other fighters are catching up to him, but he isnt sharpening his skills as he was in Pride mainly because of the competition. the best HWs are in the UFC or with some other org, I dont mind M-1 but Fedor needs to go somewhere where theres more talent, or take fights against any HWs to keep his head in the game.

fedor is still great but imo will never be seen as the best HW if he dont come to the UFC, and what i mean by that is, 50% of people that know of mma dont know fedor. if he came to the ufc i think he would do good i just wish he would

Its obviously not slipping.....due to the fact he still hasnt been beat

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Posted by mrsmiley

I think Fedor is the same as he's ever been.
He's seems invincible,yet vunerable at the same time.

In PRIDE:

1.He had a very lack luster bout with Mark Hunt.
2. Got gashed in one of the Nog fights and the bout was declared a no contest
3.Got rocked by Fujita.
4.Got suplex by Randleman.
5.Though he beat Herring,at the end of the fight Herring has the posistions reversed and was reigning down unanswered knees to Fedor.
The consensus at the time was that if the bout would have continued,Heath would have won.

Post-PRIDE:

1.Had a lot of contraversy in his fight with Lindland.
2. Was on the losing end of his bout with AA until he knocked his head off.
3.Was having a rough time with Rogers.



I'm sure Fedor is going to eventually lose,but If anything I think his punching power is stronger know than it has ever been. Or at least it seems better documented.
I think it's an issue in which every little move,twitch,or step Fedor makes is criticaly analize,then discussed for months.

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This is the truth, I'd also throw in the epic battle with CroCop where the man was bruised up to high hell. The point being, which you alluded to I believe, is that Fedor is a zen master under pressure and has amazing cardio, those two things are what sets him apart from the competition, not necessarily that he is a better athlete or better equipped skillwise to beat his opponent. Fedor knows how to play the game and that's what makes him great.

MrSmiley hit the nail on the head...

I have seen Fedor in more danger in his pride days than any of his post pride fights...