Fedor Emelianenko crushes Andrei Arlovski in Affliction MMA main event

Andrei Arlovski did a good job executing Freddie Roach’s gameplan against Russian fighting god Fedor Emelianenko. Arlovski’s handspeed, slick punch combination and power appeared to be giving “The Last Emperor” a lot of grief.  It was all going Arlovski’s way—until he made a mistake, got reckless and wound up on the wrong end of a TKO loss in just over three minutes of the first round.  With the victory in the main event of Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Fedor retained the WAMMA world heavyweight championship and solidified his claim as the best at the weight in the world—if not ever.

The atmosphere at the Honda Center was electric, with both fighters receiving an enthusiastic response.  Arlovski had his share of fans, while Fedor always evokes a mixture of supportive cheers and awes struck admiration.  While many of the fans before the fight spoke of a Fedor victory as certain, there wasn’t the vibe that it was going to be a “slaughter” that was in evidence before the Sylvia fight.  Even in the most ardent Fedor supporters there was at least a tinge of doubt and concern that Arlovski’s slick striking skills combined with his significant height and reach advantage would prove problematic.

Arlovski started very well, with his boxing giving Fedor problems.  Emelianenko would contend in the postfight press conference that he was never really troubled by his opponent’s unique physical skills but that was clearly a bit of “revisionist history” afforded by his victory.  After “The Pit Bull” got the better of the initial striking exchange, he and Fedor stalemated as they each tried to throw the other.  Emelianenko probably gained the advantage from this scrum as he was able to bull Arlovski into the corner, allowing him to close the distance.  After a few moments, referee “Big John” McCarthy brought the men back to the center of the ring. The challenger took advantage of the restart to regain the advantage with his striking, and the crowd collectively gasped as an overhand right/push kick combination appeared to wobble Fedor.

Then it was all over.  Arlovski made the mistake of abandoning the Roach “boxing” gameplan and leapt high for a flying knee into the corner last seen in his Affliction: Banned slugfest against Ben Rothwell.  Fedor saw it coming and caught Arlovski near the apex of his leap with a perfectly placed right hand counterpunch.  “The Pit Bull” hit the canvas in a heap and McCarthy quickly covered him before Emelianenko could inflict additional damage.  In the blink of an eye, Arlovski had gone from controlling the fight to a TKO loser.   While Fedor has set the bar for decisively quick finishes pretty high with his beatdown of Tim Sylvia, the finish of this bout was downright shocking in its jarring suddenness.

As the crowd collective stood to applaud the best heavyweight in the world, Arlovski sat up on the canvas wondering what happened—though he was as much exasperated and disappointed as he was hurt by the punch.  He’d come into the fight in great shape, with a world class training team and a game plan that was clearly working.  One mistake borne out of aggression cost him the fight.

Fedor’s next challenge will likely be Josh Barnett, who won a brutal battle against Gilbert Yvel earlier in the evening.  While that is certainly a compelling matchup against the only top PRIDE heavyweight Fedor never faced in the legendary Japanese fighting promotion, Arlovski’s performance was good enough to make the prospect of a rematch very intriguing.  As is typical in these postfight situations, everyone concerned equivocated about the future matchups but Arlovski made an interesting comment that suggested a possible rematch:  when asked what he learned about Fedor from the fight, Arlovski responded “he’s human”.

Of course based on Fedor’s track record and until someone clearly demonstrates otherwise, Arlovski’s comment remains open to debate.